“Where am I?” she mumbles sleepily.
“Julian’s apartment. Don’t worry. You’re safe. Just sleep.” I brush her hair off her forehead, unable to resist pressing my lips above her brow again.
She squirms under the blankets, getting herself cozy.
With the lights off, Julian and I leave the guest room. He offered to let me stay here too, and I have to admit, it feels too strange leaving them, even though my apartment is just down a few flights and she’s clearly safe with him.
When we reach the main living room of his apartment that leads into the kitchen, I see something black jump down from the piano and stalk toward me. When I hear the cat meow, I relax a little.
“Who is this?” I ask, bending down to pet behind its ears.
“That’s Onyx. Be careful. She’s mean. Do you want a drink?”
I glance up at him, seeing that hesitation on his face again. “Sure. Whatever you got.”
He nods, turning away and going to the beverage cart in the corner. The cat rubs against my legs and starts purring as I stroke a hand down her back.
“Well, she likes me.”
Julian chuckles quietly across the room. “Of course she does.”
When the cat stalks off, I stand upright and grin at the sexy man with his back to me. I kick off my brown boots and drop onto the large leather sofa that spans the middle of the room.
I can’t stop thinking about what he said in the elevator that night. In fact, I haven’t stopped thinking about himusingme. I’d let him. No question. I’d let that cocky, self-absorbed rich boy do whatever he wants to me.
Onyx hops up and purrs on my lap as Julian prepares our drinks. He returns a moment later, handing me mine. It’s an expensive whiskey that goes down very smoothly.
As he sits on the other side of the couch, I glance down at the space between us. I wish he’d sit closer. I’d like to feel those lips again, but I also understand how now that she’s not here with us, it’s not the same. Having Julian to myself sounds like heaven but still not as good as having her too.
“So you…have been with both?” he asks, a stutter of nerves in his voice.
My lips tugs into a smirk. “Both?”
“Men and women?”
I hate the question of my sexuality because it feels like a label, and labels just aren’t who I am, but I get what Julian is asking…and why he’s asking it.
“I’m attracted to the person, not the gender,” I reply.
He nods in understanding.
“And you?”
With a shrug, he says, “Same, I guess.”
As he takes a sip, I bark out a laugh.
He looks offended as he glares at me. “What was that for?”
“Nothing, sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh, but…Julian, you’re an ice prince. You don’t strike me as the type to be attracted to…people.”
His brows furrow angrily, a thick wrinkle appearing between his eyes. I happen to love when he gets heated and his already villainous eyes get even more menacing.
“That’s not what I meant,” I say, correcting myself. “What I mean is…fuck, I don’t know what I mean. I’m drunk.”
He takes another sip, still glaring at me with that hard expression. As he sets down his drink, I can tell he’s in contemplation, maybe thinking about what I said. Maybe thinking about how to kick me out.
But then he mutters, “You’re right.”
