CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
SCOTT
“How do I look?”
I looked up. I had been scribbling when Julie’s voice drifted through my mind, but now my hand stopped as I took her in.
She was wearing a pale blue dress that sparkled when she moved and hugged her upper curves—particularly her breasts, which looked snug, with a beautiful amount of cleavage showing. Either I was crazy, or her breasts seemed to be getting…bigger and bigger.
My mouth went dry at the thought and I had to consciously swallow. My gaze then trailed down to where the snugness stopped—just below those tits, where it flowed and stopped at her feet, where silver shoes peeked out. Her hair was up in a simple bun, and her face had light makeup, which she didn’t even need, because she was absolutely glowing.
I forced myself to act all casual, maybe even critical.
“You look like you’re about to order some knight to get out their sword so you can take over the throne,” I said.
She seemed pleased by my assessment, a small smile blooming on her pink-painted mouth. It looked sensual and absolutely kissable, making me remember the impromptu kiss on the race track. That was three weeks ago.
And that was three weeks—no, almost a month—of obsessing over it.
“I bet I’m your best date for this gala, McCall,” she teased. I didn’t know what happened between us, but the awkwardness seemed to ease off day by day, to be replaced by our easy camaraderie before things got too complicated. I liked this teasing and this closeness, except I wasn’t really sure I was liking the closeness that much because it tempted me to do…things.
And Lord knew you weren’t supposed to do things to a pregnant woman.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said dismissively. “You forgot your crown, princess.”
“Queen,” she corrected. She said it so haughtily that I couldn’t help but grin. Queen, indeed. I stood up from the couch and held out my hand.
“Come on; we don’t want to be late.”
“You like being late and getting noticed,” she pointed out.
I pretended to think it over. “Hmm. Now that’s a good point.”
Julie elbowed me and giggled. Still grinning, I tugged on that warm hand and told her we could be a few minutes late.
Besides, with how positively radiant she looked, I didn’t think the attention would be on me tonight.
*****
The annual charity gala for athletes all across Florida was usually held at the same hotel in Daytona, and I’d never brought the same date twice. I guess the press loved that, especially since I always kept my dating life—or the lack of it—secret and never let on who was the current woman I was sleeping with. That was me—the womanizer with some class. It was probably why I had a lot of those so-called sleeping offers in the first place, because everyone knew I wouldn’t blab. The press always anticipated my arrival with a new woman on my arm, and I rebelled in my own way by being always late and never giving a damn about their comments to the point of completely ignoring them.
Tonight, of course, was completely different. I was coming with my wife.
We weren’t late at all, since Julie wanted to be early as she was excited about the food. Her switch to hating chocolates, to not eating a lot, to suddenly wanting to eat everything, was very amusing so I humored her and got us there on time. If anything, it seemed to shock the media more as they took pictures of us before we entered the venue. As predicted, Julie’s outfit blew their minds and I knew she was going to be in the papers before the story was even being written.
Her eyes scanned the room when we got in. Then they lit up.
“Dad!”
Jack was on us right away, wearing a slick black tuxedo and hugging his daughter tight. There was no missing the affection in his gaze as they talked in murmurs, with the man asking how his precious girl was doing and Julie assuring him that she was doing great.
Then that gaze turned to me, and the affection turned to wariness.
“Jack,” I said calmly.
He nodded. “Scott,” he said evenly. “I hope you’re treating my Jules good.”
I nodded back. “Of course. Always the best for her.”
“I’m right here, you know,” Julie said, rolling her eyes. She was trying to lighten up the scene, and I did my best to hold back whatever I was about to say. Jack did, too.
Things had changed between us since the pregnancy and the discovery. Jack wasn’t outwardly cold or angry, but I could tell the friendship had taken a different turn. He used to be so warm with me and would always ask me what I did, but now there was none of that as he treated me as a mere acquaintance. Thankfully, he had some mingling to do and left us alone after the little chitchat.
I had a feeling what Jack was doing—or rather, how he was acting—wasn’t personal, and I didn’t take it as such. She was his only child after all, and it was his protective instincts coming out as he went all papa bear. He’d probably act the same to whomever Julie was going to marry in the future.
Suddenly the thought of her having a new husband bothered me. Whoever that person was would also be a part of my child’s life, and I didn’t want some punk hurting them both.
Setting aside the thoughts for now, I did some mingling of my own and tugged Julie along with me. She was shy at first, and I could tell she wasn’t really used to this kind of scene. But everyone was extra friendly because of my connection—and hers with her father—and soon she was smiling and responding to questions.
By the time dinner was served she had basically charmed everyone in the room and was obviously enjoying herself while doing so. Everyone expected some grand romance and we had both decided to, prior to tonight, keep it at a minimal.
But there was nothing minimal with how she leaned to whisper something funny in my ear, her hot breath making my body all warm and bombarding me with images of what that mouth could do.
There certainly was nothing minimal with how I touched her from time to time—a hand on her lower back, sliding her hair behind her ear, whispering back in low tones. I couldn’t help it—it was like she was some damn flame and I was the moth, tempted beyond reason.
I still wanted her, and it wasn’t going away. But I had dismissed my earlier resolve to actually sleep with her, terrified it would harm the baby. Julie herself wasn’t making any moves on me—and I knew her enough to know she was often always obvious with what she wanted, just like when she’d demanded that practice kiss or tried to seduce me.
If a woman wasn’t giving you signals—or was very, very pregnant—then there wasn’t much you could do except try to keep your hands off her.
And jack off at night. Alone.
“The food’s bleh,” she muttered, picking at her roasted veal. I had to admit it wasn’t as good as last year, but the worry that hit me was all too intense.
“Is your stomach hurting you? Are you nauseous?”
“I’m fine,” she assured, looking around. Her small smile stilled.
“Jules?”
“My father keeps looking at us.”
At first, the thought amused me. Now it just irritated me, because it was like he still couldn’t believe we ended up together. If her father thought that way, how many other people did? And the media, if they found out…
They would absolutely roast Julie.
I’d had enough of that. I really was trying to keep the interaction minimal, but there was no minimal when it came to a watchful crowd like this. Resolve firm, I turned my head towards Julie.
“Jules?”
“Hmm?” she asked, turning to me expectantly.
I had a few seconds to watch her eyes widen, and the hazel turn to green. Then I was pulling her in for a kiss.
I could still remember every detail of her mouth from our last kiss, and our many kisses before that. I could still remember how intoxicating it was. It was just as intoxicating now, pulling me in body and soul until I could no longer think properly. My mind literally blanked as her mouth opened up for me, and without proper thought, I slid my tongue in and tasted her—every hot, wet, addictive bit of her.
Her hands went to my arms, fisting against my tuxedo. Her tongue tangled with mine. She made a tiny sound from her throat, something that was almost like a moan. I swallowed the sound and kept kissing her, wanting nothing more than to drag my mouth across the creamy skin of her throat and suck until her moans increased. Hell, I wanted to drag her out of here and undress her, then proceed to lick every inch of that body that I missed terribly.
Goddamn it.
Instead, I broke the kiss and pulled away, but not before nipping her lower lip. Her breath caught in her throat, creating a soft strangling sound.
I smirked, then leaned down to whisper. “That should appease him.”
Her eyes widened. Then she steadily nodded her head, not saying anything as she looked back at her food. A small smile played on her lips, making them kissable again.
I deduced that smile was because the ploy worked.
It was too bad that I wanted her to smile for a completely different reason.