“I appreciate your vision, boo,” Amber said, kissing her himbo husband. “Cierra, aren’t you going to introduce us?”
“Ah, yes. James, Amber, this is Julian.”
Julian shook their hands, smiling. He effortlessly engaged them in conversation about how they enjoyed living in Williamsburg, if they’d ever hosted any themed parties — the usual get-to-know-you stuff.
“By the way, I think I saw a video on your Instagram page awhile back. You were talking about applying toPlated. Have you heard back yet about the application?” Amber asked.
“No, not yet. But they said they would get back to applicants at the end of next week.”
“Well, we’re rooting for you, girl,” Amber said with a warm smile, before getting distracted by a fresh addition to the group. “Oh, hey, Harry.”
“Hey, Amber. Hey . . .” His eyes widened when Cierra turned around. “Cierra, hi.”
“Hey, Harry, nice to see you.”
“You too.”
Julian’s friendly demeanor cooled slightly. He flashed his eyes questioningly at Cierra, and she nodded subtly. It wasn’t the awkward interaction she had been preparing for, but it was enough to send her heart pumping, nonetheless.
“Harry, um, this is Julian.”
Harry extended a pale hand in Julian’s direction. Julian shook it but never let up his grasp around Cierra’s waist.
“Hey, Julian. Good to meet you,” Harry said.
“Harry,” Julian said, more like addressing a colleague. “Nice to put a face to the name.”
Amber and James exchanged wide-eyed looks, and James piped up, “Hey, man, I need to get another drink. You want anything?”
“Uh, yeah, I’ll come with you,” Harry said, understandably eager to leave the conversation. “Nice seeing you guys.”
“Yeah,” Julian said, his mouth in a tight line.
As the two men walked away, Amber quickly made up an excuse to tend to her husband. “It’s nice seeing you again, Cee. Maybe we can get coffee sometime? Julian, it was great meeting you.”
“Likewise,” Julian said, as Amber walked away.
Alone, Cierra turned toward Julian. “You’re evil,” she said with a devilish smile, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“I don’t like people who don’t see you for the incredible woman that you are.”
Ever since their conversation at Oceans, Julian kept surprising Cierra with moments like these. With every turn, he showed her how into her he was. How committed. She felt like, finally, she’d chosen the right guy. Erik was sweet, but he came from a different world than Cierra — and he still lived with his brother. Julian had two houses, could relate to her, and he was sexy as hell. For the first time in her adult life, she felt like she wasn’t settling on anything. Finally, she’d won.
The couple hung around for a few hours, mingling with various guests and snacking on 70s-themed food like cheese balls, until the lack of sleep caught up with Cierra again. Julian noticed her eyes glazing over and asked if she wanted to go home.
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” she said sleepily, looking forward to snuggling against his muscular frame.
“But I’m not trying to rush you, though. If you want to stick around, I’m happy to. I really like your friends.”
Cierra smiled. She glanced across the funky living room and saw Harry, looking bored while holding Melanie’s drink.
“No, I think I’m ready to go.” She grasped Julian’s hand and squeezed it before they made their way toward the elevators. Erik still hadn’t shown, and she liked the idea of getting out of there before he did.
Julian hesitated. “Should we say bye to Mia?”
“In my experience, an Irish exit is the best policy, unless we want to add another hour.”
“Then, by all means, lead the way.”
