Sinful Desires Vol. 4(6)

I was thinking about how well the move back was going when a car pulled up to the curb and honked. I jumped and nearly flipped off the driver when I heard Julien laughing.

“Didn't mean to scare you,” he said as I walked over to the driver's side window.

“You keep showing up here when I'm walking home and I'm going to start thinking you're a stalker,” I teased.

“You caught me,” he joked back. “I have my camera in the backseat.”

I rolled my eyes. “What's up?”

“I want to show you something.”

“What?”

He gave me an enigmatic smile. “It's a surprise.”

My eyes narrowed. “I'm not really that fond of surprises.”

“It's a good one,” he said. “I promise.” He made the childhood gesture of crossing his heart.

“Promises, promises.” I walked around to the other side of the car and climbed in. “Let's get this over with.”

“Wow,” he said as he pulled the car back into the correct lane. “You'd think I was taking you to get a tooth pulled or to meet my parents or something.”

I shot him a sideways glance. “I wasn't aware that we were at that point in our relationship.” The horrified expression on his face made me laugh. “Relax, Julien. I was kidding.” He still looked tense, so I added, “We're way past that. You've already seen me naked and slept over.”

He chuckled and the tension eased. I breathed a silent sigh of relief. I liked what we had and I didn't want it to change. I needed a friend and stability right now. I didn't even want to think about anything else.

“Where are we going?” I asked as he turned away from Anastascia's.

“You'll see,” he promised. “It's not far.”

We went one more street over, which meant the restaurant where I was going to be working was now halfway between school and wherever we were. He parked next to a church and climbed out. I followed, but couldn’t imagine why he’d brought me to a church. He'd never said anything that made me think he was very religious.

“This way.” He led the way down one of the cobblestone side streets. We went about a third of the way down and he stopped.

Like the other apartments on this street, it was more of a row house than the kind of apartment I'd had back in Vegas. Red brick with concrete steps that led up to a door with chipped and faded paint, it was a bit more run-down than the buildings on either side of it, but it was still vastly larger than the place Rosa and I had shared. Still, I didn't understand why Julien had brought me here.

“It's not officially on the market until tomorrow, but the owner's willing to take less if he doesn't have to advertise or wait. It needs some work, so I got him to accept a pretty cheap offer for the first year's rent.”

It all began to click in my head now. “Wait…what? For me?”

“Of course for you. What do you think?”

Think? My eyes widened. I didn’t know what to think. I seriously hoped he wasn't about to offer to pay my rent. I really didn't need another person offering to give me things and money. He'd never made a move on me, so I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt that there was something I was missing.

“Julian,” I started then had to pause and look back at the building and its surroundings. “I can't afford to live here. Especially when I haven't even started work yet.”

Julien handed me an envelope. “Actually, you can.”

I had taken the envelope automatically but now just looked at it in suspicion. “What's this?” I asked, an eyebrow raised in question.

“The money Brock promised you.”

My jaw dropped.

Julien's eyes shone with a hard light. “I went to see him yesterday and told him that if he didn't pay up, he'd have to leave the state to get a date. Everyone would know what he did.”

I threw my arms around him without thinking and he staggered back as I caught him off guard. “Thank you.” I had to whisper the words because I wasn't sure I could say them without crying. This wasn't prostitution money. This was more like the settlement I would get if I'd gone after him for assault. That, I didn't feel guilty about taking.

I pulled back, but didn't completely step away, which meant I was still in Julien's arms when I looked up at him. Our eyes met and, for a second, I thought he was going to kiss me, but then he was letting me go and the moment faded away. He ran his hand through his hair and I thought he looked a bit shaky. I wasn't the only one who'd felt the almost-kiss then. What I didn't know was how I felt about it. I'd just gotten out of a bad relationship that had begun due to a rebound from something that hadn't even been a break-up. I groaned at how stupid that sounded in my head. Besides, I didn't even like Julien that way. Unbidden, Reed's face came to mind and I shoved it aside.

“I'm glad you're happy about it.” He gestured toward the apartment. “Should I get the paperwork drawn up? You can come by and see inside tomorrow, either before or after work. I should have a key for you by then.”

I nodded. My head was spinning. This was all too much.

“Thank you so much, for all of this.” It was hard to talk around the lump in my throat. “I'll never be able to repay you.”

“Well, there is one thing you can do,” Julien said. “There's this charity event next weekend and I really don't want to go alone. My mom keeps trying to set me up with her society friends' daughters. I'd rather take a friend I can talk to and have a good time with.”

If he hadn't thrown in that part about taking a friend, I wasn't sure what I would've said, but since he'd made it clear we weren't going as a couple, I couldn't say anything but yes.





Chapter 5

I probably should have saved everything I had leftover after paying back Anastascia for the plane ticket and putting down the first two months' rent on my new place, but there was one purchase I knew I had to make. I wasn't stupid. I knew that the charity event Julien had asked me to would include the Michaels and Stirling families. By now, I was sure they all despised me even more than they had before, and they weren't going to be happy with me showing up with Julien Atwood. I had to make sure I didn't do anything else to embarrass my friend.

That meant finding something graceful and sophisticated to wear. And if anyone knew how to pull off that look, it was Anastascia. She'd been a bit disappointed to learn I’d be moving into my new place right away, so having her go shopping with me had been a perfect way to show my appreciation for all she'd done while not giving in to her pleas that I stay longer.

We'd gone Sunday, after my shift at the restaurant had ended, and then spent the rest of the day packing my things. Fortunately, I hadn't brought much, so we'd finished in record time. The rest of the week was spent working around my job and school schedules to get me moved into the building I was still having a hard time thinking of as my place.

Compared to the other apartments I'd lived, it was huge. A separate living room and kitchen downstairs, two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. Just having stairs was mind-boggling and I ran up and down them a few times just for fun. The only thing I was still missing was furniture. Anastascia told me she planned redecorate her place, so she'd hand down anything she replaced. When I'd protested, she gave me that look and asked if I’d prefer she just throw everything out. How was I supposed to argue with that?

I bought a mattress, which sat directly on the floor as I couldn’t also justify the cost of a bed-frame. Anastascia surprised me with a television as a house-warming gift, but that was pretty much the extent of my furniture at the moment. Despite how bare everything looked, I loved it. The rooms already felt more like home than any place had since my mom died.

Julien was coming to pick me up shortly and I just had a few more final touches before I was ready to go. I'd considered pulling my hair up, trying for one of those elaborate styles high-society women always seemed to spend hundreds of dollars on, but in the end, I decided to go along with what Anastascia and I had chosen for my dress. Simple. So the hair stayed down. It fell in waves a few inches past my shoulders, brushing against my skin. The halter style left my arms and back bare, but only offered a hint of cleavage through a diamond-shaped cut out on the front. The skirt was floor-length, and only a pair of five-inch heels kept it from dragging on the ground. The slit in the side stopped just above my knee, offering enough leg to be enticing, but still elegant and appropriate for a formal event.

I kept the make-up at a minimum as well. Not that I wore much to begin with, but tonight, I swept on just a hint eye shadow and mascara and stuck with plain lip gloss. I didn't want to give Julien any reason to regret inviting me. I knew there'd be talk once people realized I was the same woman who'd gone to Britni's wedding with Brock. I shrugged. It couldn’t be helped.

I jumped when someone knocked at the door. “Coming!” I called out as I hurried down the stairs. I still wasn't used to being so far away from the door. When I opened it, Julien was already smiling. His grin widened as he saw me and I smiled back. He looked amazing in a black tux that had obviously been custom made to show off his broad shoulders and athletic build.

“You're gorgeous.” He held out a single flower in a thin, simple vase. It was a rose, but unlike the ones Brock had given me, this one was white. “Thought you might want a bit of decoration.”