CHAPTER FOURTEEN
SCOTT
There was something seriously wrong with Julie, and I was planning to get her loosened up and relaxed so she could tell me exactly what it was. So I drove her to my apartment instead.
It only cemented my suspicions when she didn’t even say anything to the change of driving direction. The observant Julie usually had a lot to say about all kinds of matters she had an opinion about, but now she was quiet in the passenger’s seat, her brows furrowed in a deep line and a frown marring her face. She looked deep in thought, and whatever she was thinking about was bothering her very much.
I parked in front of my building and looked at her.
“We’re here.”
“Hmm.”
“Wanna have some drinks?” I asked.
“Hmm.”
“We could totally ravish each other later.”
Her head snapped up. I smirked as her eye caught mine, hers widening enough to let me know she was now paying attention. Good. After a few seconds, she finally looked around.
“We’re not…?”
“At your apartment? Why, yes, that’s very observant, Jules.”
“Where are…?”
“At my place. Where we could order pizza and get some red wine in so we could totally ravish each other.”
She rolled her eyes at that. I expected her to decline and demand me to take her back to her place, which I guess was the wisest decision. But Julie surprised me by nodding her head and looking up the building.
“Sorry I made you miss your dinner. I saw a long table of good food back there.”
“You didn’t make me do anything,” I scoffed. “I do things on my own. Now come on. We’d better get that gooey pizza now.”
When we got upstairs, her eyes widened again.
“Holy cow. You didn’t tell me you lived in a penthouse suite.”
I smirked. “Much better than Doug’s house, wouldn’t you say?”
Julie nodded, then wandered around the living room. She looked like a little kid absorbing everything, and I couldn’t exactly blame her. I bought the suite when I had just saved up enough money after my first major wins—another investment of sorts, and I was pretty proud of myself for doing so. I liked luxury, so I made sure that everything was top of the line. Now, after years of living here, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
As promised, I ordered the pizza and got out the wine, then changed my clothes to a shirt and sweatpants before going back to the living room. Julie was already looking very comfortable on the couch—and eyeing a book that I’d just purchased.
“You can borrow it if you want,” I offered.
She looked up, that hazel gaze taking me in. Something must have bothered her again, because she frowned, though I didn’t think it was personally directed at me.
I definitely needed to get to the bottom of this. I held out the wine.
She took it and patted the space beside her. “Thanks. I’ll return it when I’m done.”
As was the usual thing when I brought women up here, I chatted her up. But what was different was I wasn’t actually trying to seduce her now, so there was no need to impress. Not that Julie was easily impressed, anyway.
I had thought that practice kiss would change the dynamics between us, but to my relief, it hadn’t. I still felt comfortable around her despite the slight tension, which I was confident wouldn’t escalate. I had more self-control than that. For some reason, being friends with her was fun, and I hadn’t really been friends with lots of women to begin with.
We found ourselves talking about cars and my plan to acquire a new one, and she gave advice on the things to watch out for. Her vast knowledge on the matter got me excited enough to make my speculation into a firm decision, and we planned a date for us to go look around with a dealer.
The pizza arrived, and our topic switched to our lives outside the race track. I goaded Julie into telling me what types of business she wanted to invest in when she was ready, and she was quiet at first. But my persistence paid off as she glared at me and finally gave up.
“Fine. Maybe a bookstore. Or a coffee shop. You know how much I love books. I think a coffee shop is a good way to bring clients in and buy books, and vice versa.”
My brows rose. Ironically enough, I had thought about getting a coffee shop before Jay convinced me that investing in the club was a good idea. While the business was doing well, the idea of a coffee-slash-book place was still in my mind, lingering in the backburner for now.
We finished the pizza, and I took out a box of my best chocolate.
“Oh, my God,” she said. “Do you use this to impress the chicks you bring here?”
I smirked. “You know me so well.”
She took one piece and bit into it, the caramel at the center oozing out. I shifted my gaze away and gulped on my wine.
“Oh. My. God.” She moaned. “This is so, so good. Switzerland?”
I cleared my throat and pointedly stared at the wall on my right. “Yes.”
She kept making sounds of pleasure, obviously enjoying the chocolate too much. I knew I should be amused. Unfortunately, her sounds of pleasure while eating the chocolate sounded so much like when I was doing my best to please someone, and suddenly I found myself getting jealous of a piece of chocolate.
I also found myself hardening inside my pants.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I reminded myself that we were friends, and this type of friendship was something I was planning to cherish. Finally, I distracted her with more conversation so she would stop making those sounds, not really wanting to tell her about it and make things awkward.
It worked. We were talking once again, and the sounds stopped. I inwardly sighed in relief as I threw out the boxes. When I got back to the couch, Julie had refilled our glasses and was looking at me over her glass.
“What?” I asked.
She tilted her head. “I’m curious.”
“About?”
“Have you ever been with a woman that wasn’t a one-night-stand? You know…like a sex acquaintance or something like that?”
The question was casual, but there was something loaded hidden in there somewhere. I could feel it. I tried to analyze it, then deduced that it must have something to do with Doug. Was she feeling rejected because Doug asked her out on a date rather than sleep with her now?
Shit. I hadn’t expected that, actually. Maybe there was more to the man than I thought.
And it shouldn’t bother you.
Right.
I tried to think of a good answer. In the end, I decided to go for being honest. Maybe hearing my end would help Julie see the contrast.
“There was someone once,” I said. “She was actually the real estate agent who sold me my property in New York. We chanced by the same bar on the same night and got to talking. Talking led to something else, and we decided to hook up. I saw her again whenever I visited New York, though it was all very casual. We stopped hooking up a few months ago.”
“Why?”
“Because she was getting ideas. Wanted to go out on dates. Wanted to be seen in public with me. Giving out hints that she wanted more.”
Julie frowned. “But she knew your deal?”
“Yeah, she knew. So I got out before things got complicated.”
Julie sipped her wine, thinking it over. “And now?”
“I’ve stuck to one-night stands. Ease the urge and all that.”
“No tears?”
“I treat my woman great,” I said, meeting her eye. “I never give false promises, Jules. Men who do are scum. The women I sleep with appreciate that honesty.”
She sipped her wine. Then she nodded. “Good.”
I sipped mine. “Hmm. What’s with the twenty questions? Surely you know by now that Doug is different from—”
Julie interrupted me by plucking the glass out of my hand and firmly planting it on the coffee table. I raised a brow, opening my mouth as I shot her a curious look.
The curious look turned to shock when she began to straddle me.
Her movements had her dress riding up her thighs, and considering how short the dress already was to begin with, it didn’t take much for more thigh skin to be showing.
My mouth watered.
Then Julie placed her hands on my shoulders, and I froze.
But nothing could have prepared me for the shock when she spoke her next words.
“You can be my one-night stand.”
Then she was crashing her mouth down on mine.