• • •
“I’m really not taking on any new clients right now.”
Julianne stared into the annoyingly handsome face of Brody Janik. If Will was a Viking god, this man was all Hollywood glamour boy: sparkling blue eyes, perfect teeth, and a ripped body that he wore with ease. Brody was one of those dangerous men who looked like sin and knew it. What his perfect physique didn’t get him, his charm likely did. Julianne normally loathed men like him, but it was not hard to make an exception for Brody. Something about him was irresistibly likable.
“Did I mention her future husband is a veteran?”
Julianne sighed. He had mentioned that fact, several times. Brody’s sister was marrying a young doctor who’d served as a military reservist on the USS Comfort for eight months. While that didn’t actually qualify as combat duty, he was performing a service for those men and women who had seen combat and paid a price for it. It was a nice emotional touch, and Brody used it to his advantage.
They were sitting in the bright kitchen, Julianne sipping coffee while Brody guzzled a mineral water. He’d arrived at the house twenty minutes after Will had left for his daily workout at the gym in town. Dressed in running shorts, a sweaty Baltimore Orioles T-shirt, and a well-worn baseball cap from a Boston bar, he’d seemed only mildly chagrined at having missed Will. Instead, he made himself at home in the kitchen, insisting that he’d come to see her anyway.
Owen chortled from the other room. He was lying on a quilt on the floor, swatting at a mobile held over his head by a colorful stand that straddled his body. Will was right; their son’s dexterity was awe-inspiring.
Brody pulled his iPhone from his pocket. “Here, let me show you a picture of them. You’ll see that Tricia deserves a special gown.”
She tried to protest, but it was too late. An image of an adoring couple flashed on the screen before she could stop him.
“They make a beautiful couple,” Julianne remarked. “And lucky for your sister, several of my gowns will be affordably mass-produced later this year and she can get one then.”
Information about the sale of JV Designs had not been made public yet, but she needed to shake Brody loose. Aside from the quick image of the christening gown on the plane, she hadn’t had an additional epiphany since. What was once as easy as closing her eyes and seeing a design was now a gift locked away in the far recesses of her brain. She had only three months to unlock her muse and begin making money again.
“She doesn’t want a store-bought gown. She wants an original. And money isn’t the problem. I’m paying.” Brody reached over and grabbed her hand, gently squeezing it. “Whatever it costs. Just please say you’ll do it.”
Julianne wanted to cry. She was touched by the sweet gesture of Brody buying his sister a wedding gown, but she couldn’t design one for him. It was impossible.
“Get your paws off my wife!”
She jumped out of her chair, pulling her hand out of Brody’s as Owen let out a startled shriek. Will stormed into the kitchen, making a beeline for Brody.
“Dude, is that all the time you defensive types spend working out? No wonder we keep getting scored on.” Brody leaned on the back two legs of his chair, clearly unfazed by the menacing wall of muscle descending on him. Of course, she figured he wouldn’t be in the NFL if he couldn’t stare down a linebacker.
“I swear, Janik, I’ve had enough of that pretty mouth of yours,” Will snarled.
“Stop it!” Julianne picked up a crying Owen. “You’re scaring the baby.”
She watched as Will took a moment to physically dial back his temper, but when he finally looked over at Julianne, his face was a grim line. Stuffing a pacifier in the baby’s mouth, she stepped between the two sparring mountains of testosterone. “Brody just wants me to design his sister a gown.”
“I told you I’d talk to her about it, Brody.”
“Obviously you haven’t, because it’s been three days since I mentioned it to you and she didn’t know a thing about it.” Brody’s shine was wearing off; he was starting to annoy Julianne with his taunting of Will.
“It doesn’t matter! I’m not making the gown!” She practically had to shout to get the two men to hear her.
Brody slammed the chair down and stood. “Don’t let him tell you what to do! You can do it if you really want to.”
Will was chest to chest with him in an instant. “Don’t you dare talk to her like that!”
Owen started crying again, the pacifier dropping to the ground.
“No!” Julianne cried. “I can’t! I can’t design gowns anymore!”