“Julian...”
He’d just closed his eyes, but the gravity in her voice caused him to summon the energy to open them again.
“You’re scaring the hell out of me, you know that?” she said. “What’s wrong? Are youdying?”
He chuckled. “No.”Not yet, anyway. He thought he’d rather die than live what he believed his life might become, but maybe he was just feeling sorry for himself.
“Thenwhat is it?” she pressed.
“I don’t want to be alone tonight,” he replied. “Stay with me—at least until I fall asleep.”
She looked undecided for a moment. Then, while he scooted down under the covers, she closed his bedroom door, came back and climbed in beside him.
“I wish you’d trust me,” she murmured as he found her in the bed, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up against him.
This was better than nothing, he thought. “Idotrust you,” he said. “I trust you too much. That’s the problem.”
“How can that be a problem?” she asked.
His eyelids were so heavy, he could no longer keep them open, and neither could he bring the words swirling in his head to his lips.
Charlotte woke up slightly disoriented. She wasn’t in her own room. It took a moment, but as soon as Julian shifted beside her, she remembered putting him to bed and how closely he’d held her, seemingly comforted to have her in his arms.
She told herself to get up and quietly let herself out. But his words—I’d marry you—echoed in her ears while the memory of that kiss they’d shared on the beach played in her brain. What was going on? Her life was taking some unexpected turns, but she wasn’t eager to leave him. Quite the opposite. She wanted to touch him...
Her heart banged like cymbals in her ears as she imagined running her hand over his bare chest. She knew what that chest looked like. She’d been trying not to focus on it every time they went to the beach or got in the hot tub. She’d become fixated on him and his body. She’d just explained to Cliff that she wasn’t going back to him. Why wasn’t she in her room crying? How could she be feeling so much desire for another man?
But this wasn’t just any man. Jules had been part of her life long before she’d ever met Cliff. And there’d certainly been periods when she’d flirted with the idea of having a romantic relationship with him. They’d just never really had an opportunity.
Until now. Why shouldn’t she take advantage of it? Her marriage was over. And Julescouldn’tthink of her as a sister, notif he said he’d marry her if he could. As much as she’d tried to talk herself out of it, she’d recognized the desire in his kiss...
He was shoving her away for some reason. But maybe he needed her... Maybe the only way to reach him on a deeper level was to pry away the layers.
She knew it was a risk. If tonight turned out badly, she could lose his friendship. But she also knew that whatever small flame had started to burn inside her felt like a beacon in the storm.
Gathering her nerve, she reached over and smoothed the hair off his forehead.
When he opened his eyes, she slid closer to him, cupped his face in her hands and gently pressed her lips to his.
He stiffened at first, enough to make her fear he was about to break away like last time. But then he groaned and rolled her beneath him while deepening the kiss—and only stopped kissing her long enough to get rid of her shirt.
She wasn’t wearing a bra.
Julian had sobered up enough to know he was making a mistake. But he’d been making a lot of them lately, so it didn’t seem all that alarming. Charlotte in his bed was just too tempting to resist, especially since she was already wriggling out of her sweatpants.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked as her panties came off right after.
“Stop it,” she said breathlessly. “Don’t you dare ruin it like you did when we kissed at the beach.”
He didn’t want to ruin it. He wanted to forget about having Parkinson’s disease and make love to her with all the confidence he’d once had. But it wasn’t fair not to tell her there was something seriously wrong with him…
Problem was that woulddefinitelyruin what they were doing, and she’d just told him not to.
He started to touch and taste her, to give in to what he wanted, but then his conscience got the best of him once again. “Wait. I feel like I need to say something.”
Suspicious, she glared up at him with those gorgeous eyes of hers. “Not now,” she warned. “If you screw this up, I’ll seriously never forgive you.”
Her bare body was pressed against his, and he held her breast in the palm of his hand as he nibbled at the curve of her shoulder. Finally making out with her was a heady experience. That and her nakedness were clouding his judgment, but he decided to take her at her word.
