Shit.Why the hell would she notice that?
Julian continued. “I’ll actually be covering the shop quite a bit since I’m the newest brother to sign on, and everyone else has their teaching credentials already. I have courses to take and some certifications to earn before I can take over any classes.”
That made sense, but…
“I understand your company also does rescue missions, right? At least that’s what I’ve heard,” Petula went on, not sure why she wasn’t already walking back to her truck. “I might havecaught wind of jobs that required underwater inspections and other stuff like that.”
She’d been delivering to Diver Downeast since before it opened, and had been privy to quite a bit during her short forays into the office. “Won’t you eventually be part of those operations?”
“I will,” Julian stated, showing a bit more confidence now that the conversation had turned to business. “I’ve actually been diving since I was a kid, and kept up with my skills during various…situations I faced in the Air Force, so I’ll be an integral participant for any emergency call-outs or commercial jobs we get.”
Petula noticed how he didn’t expound on what he actually did for the Air Force, which made her think,Special Forces.
“Sounds like fun,” she told him, trying to disguise a shiver.
Not.
She wasn’t going to let on that just the thought of getting in water deeper than her ankles, freaked her out.Yup. Petula wasn’t a fan of being in the ocean, or a lake, or a pond. Not at all. There were many things she’d overcome concerning her lousy past, but there were a handful she hadn’t dealt with yet. Her fear of water being one of them. She’d get there, though. Braving H2Owason her bucket list. And there was something about Julian…
Nope.Not going there. She should leave before she opened her big mo?—
“Maybe once you get your certification, you can convince me to take some diving lessons,” she spewed.
Crap. Too late.
Julian brightened. “That would be nice. I’m taking courses next month, so I should be fully ready by the time summer rolls around.”
Great. That, at least, would give her time to come up with some feasible excuses why she was unable to follow through.
“Uh, huh.” She gave what she hoped passed for a smile. “Good to know. Now I’ve, umm, got to go.”
Why was she feeling oddly reluctant to leave? This wasn’t like her, at all.
Sure, she’d noted some months earlier, just how handsome all the other Sothard men were, but she’d never once felt anything more than an objective appreciation for their sculpted good looks. That she had any interest in Julian at all was an anomaly, for sure; a fact that both fascinated and terrified her at the same time.
“Okay,” Julian responded, clearly not knowing the turmoil he was causing inside her. “It was nice meeting you, Petula.” One corner of his mouth twitched upward, adorably, his dimple popping again, and…
Damn.The way he said her name. Like a caress.
She needed to shut that shit down.
“Do me a favor,” she said, fast tracking it now, to the door. “Go with your initial instincts and call me Paul,” she sent over her shoulder. “That’ll be way more fun.”
She then bolted outside toward the safety of her vehicle, not looking back, but as he closed the door behind her, she heard his quiet laugh.
Shit.That sound hit her right in the chest.
As she started her truck and took off for her next delivery, she actually grew worried.
This…interest she was experiencing toward Julian was something brand new; a tingly, fizzy kind of feeling she’d never encountered before, and she didn’t know where to put it. Not once, in all of her teen and adult years, had she had anyactualinterest in men, let alone physical stirrings. She vaguelyremembered elementary school crushes, but that had been long ago, and well before…
No.She wasn’t going to let her mind go there. There was no point in spoiling a good day.
Just because she’d had an odd moment of what could only be described as—if she were honest—a weird, attraction to Julian, it didn’t mean a thing. It might have simply been a reaction to a bit of turned food she’d eaten this morning, or perhaps it was the way the bright sun had been shining through Diver Downeast’s plateglass windows, playing off Julian’s chiseled features.
Whatever.
It was over and done, now, and if she had any concerns that the protective barriers she’d spent so long shoring up, were crumbling a bit, she’d discuss it with Statler. Her brother had been her rock for fourteen years, and he’d know how to set her mind straight; get her back on her comfortable path again.
