“Don’t be silly,” I huffed. “If you like this guy, I’d have to be a real dick to stand in your way.” I looped my arm around her and pulled her into a side hug. “When are you moving?”
Julie sighed. “Our lease expires six weeks from Sunday,” she said, reminding me that we’d gotten the renewal offer -with a rent increase- while I was at ODI. “I’d rather not renew, especially with higher rent.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” I agreed. “No worries, love. You’re right. This is the perfect time for me to seriously consider making a change. You put in your notice to vacate, and I’ll figure out what I’m going to do by the deadline, okay?”
Julie leaned closer to me and kissed my cheek. “You really are just the best.”
I laughed and waved the bartender over. We were obviously going to need another round.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chuck
“What’s a nice boy like you doing in an airport like this?”
The familiar voice caught my attention before the teasing words did and I looked up from my phone, startled to find Jules’s sparkling eyes looking down at me.
“Hey, you!” I jumped up to wrap him in a hug, nearly upsetting my chair. “What are you doing here?”
“Julie dragged me to a continuing ed slash recruitment thing in Allentown,” he mumbled against my chest. “I just got back.” He squeezed me and then pushed lightly against my chest. “Oxygen is becoming an issue, babe.”
“Sorry.” I loosened my grip and let my hands fall to his hips. “I missed you so much.”
“Really?” Jules said lightly. “But all I rated is a hug?”
“Didn’t want to push my luck,” I admitted, brushing my fingertip over his lips. “I haven’t heard from you in a couple of days, so..” I trailed off, hating that I’d just admitted to my continued insecurity about the status of our relationship.
Jules screwed his face into an exaggerated frown that made me laugh. “Yeah, my cellphone took an unplanned dip in the pool the first night we were there,” he said with a sigh. “Julie and I had a heart to heart that included a few too many margaritas and long story short, she accidently tipped us into the pool, fully clothed.”
“Oh, no!”
Jules groaned and nodded. “That girl really is a menace. Anyway, I should have a new phone waiting in the mail, but until then, I’m incommunicado.”
Ah, that made sense.
“Which is why you’re surprised to see me,” I said with a grin. “This is going to sound stupid, but I was afraid that something had happened to you, so, here I am.”
Jules quirked a brow up. “I think I’m going to need more information than that to make sense of why you’re here.”
Yeah, probably.
“Tell you what,” I suggested, looking at the crowd around us. “How about we get out of here? Do you need to get a bag or anything?”
Jules stared at me. “Are you really here to see me?”
“I am,” I confirmed with a laugh, gesturing to the half empty coffee cup on the table of the small airport table. “I actually just texted you to see if you wanted to have lunch with me and was waiting on a response when you walked up.”
“Oh, crap,” Jules snickered. “If I hadn’t seen you sitting there, you’d still be waiting tomorrow.”
I smiled and shook my head, reaching for his hand. “I’m definitely not that patient,” I assured him, shoving my duffel over my shoulder as I lifted the suitcase at his feet with my other hand. “Now, was that a yes to lunch?”
“It was,” Jules confirmed cheekily.
“And a no about having another bag?”
“Correct,” he agreed with a smile.
“Perfect.” I led the way down to the rental car desk where we joined the line. “This should only take a minute and then we can hit the road. What sounds good for lunch?”
