Twenty-nine
“Julianne! Julianne!” Annabeth clamored through the house shouting.
Julianne, Carly, and Nicky rushed into the kitchen to find her gasping, tears running down her face.
“Annabeth, where have you been?” Julianne raced toward her mother-in-law, panicked by her distress. “I’ve been trying to call you since I got here yesterday.”
Carly pulled out a chair and Annabeth sat down, her face a mixture of smiles and tears.
“Well, we’ve been trying to call the two of you for the past hour,” Annabeth said.
Carly grabbed her purse off the table and pulled out her cell phone. “Ohmigosh! She’s right. Shane, too.” She yelped as she read the text message on the screen. “It’s over, Jules. The hearing never took place!”
Julianne looked from her friend to her mother-in-law. “Is this true? Will didn’t have to testify?”
Annabeth shook her head as her smile beamed. “Nope. He wasn’t even named by Coach Zevalos as one of the offenders. Will is totally cleared.”
Shaking with relief and joy, Julianne retrieved her own cell phone, desperately hoping for a message from Will. Her body sagged as she scanned the screen and saw only missed calls from Annabeth.
“Give him time,” Annabeth whispered as she came up beside her, draping an arm over her shoulder. “He needs to process everything first.”
Leaning a head on the older woman’s shoulder, Julianne pushed out a breath. She’d never been a very patient person, and giving Will time was killing her. Hopefully, though, when Will processed everything, he’d see she hadn’t meant to hurt him.
“You did something to make this happen, didn’t you?” Julianne asked.
“Nothing that I shouldn’t have done years ago,” Annabeth confessed. “But the less you know the better.”
Julianne smiled at her. “I’m just glad it worked out.”
“The rest of it is going to work out, too,” she reassured Julianne. “You’ll see.”
“You still haven’t answered my question, though. Where have you been?”
Annabeth’s face flushed beneath her broad smile.
Julianne actually laughed. “Never mind. Your face just told me everything I need to know.” She hugged her mother-in-law. “Good for you. At least one of us is happy.”
“Hey!” Carly clicked off her cell phone. “Shane says they’re having a big party at the training facility. Roscoe and Will are supposed to get there soon. Jules, let’s get Owen and bring him.”
A spasm of misery clenched in Julianne’s stomach. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. At least not for me to go.” She turned to Annabeth. “You should take Owen, though. Will would want to show his son off to his teammates.”
“Oh, no you don’t, Julianne.” Annabeth’s hands were on her hips. “There’s no chickening out anymore. You two are going to resolve this if I have to lock you both in a room together.”
“Oooo,” Carly chimed in. “I know the perfect room, too. Shane and I had a nice little talk in there once. It was very productive.” Her grin and rosy cheeks told Julianne that a lot more than talking went on between Carly and Shane in that room.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Carly, get the baby.”
Nicky excused himself, saying he had business in Washington. The two women somehow managed to get Owen packed up quickly, bundling him and Julianne into the car before she could protest. When they arrived at the facility, the celebration was in full swing. All that was missing was the guest of honor.
Shane greeted them at the door, hugging both Annabeth and Julianne before wrapping his wife up in his arms. “Hey there, Dorothy,” he murmured, using his favorite pet name for Carly before kissing her soundly. He pulled away a little reluctantly, their gazes still locked in a form of nonverbal communication that hinted of something more to come later.
Julianne bit her lip to keep from weeping out of sheer jealousy. She and Will had briefly had that.
Hank slipped an arm around Annabeth, and Julianne’s anguish gnawed a little harder in her belly. Everywhere she looked she saw happy people, happy couples. Coming here was a ridiculously bad idea. She turned to make her escape, but Brody blocked her way.
“Little dude,” he said, holding his arms out for Owen. “Come to Uncle Brody and I’ll introduce you to the guys.”
He had the baby out of her arms before she could stop him. Owen squealed with delight. Tears stung her eyes as she realized even her infant son was having a better time than she was.
“Julianne.”
She whipped around, and her heart leaped as she once again found herself peering past Roscoe in search of Will. But he was nowhere to be found. She pulled in a deep, calming breath, forcing her gaze back to Will’s agent.
“I owe you an apology,” Roscoe said, sheepishly. “It seems I jumped to some very wrong conclusions about you.”
Julianne was too stunned to reply.
“Your brother set Will straight today, though. And he, in turn, set me straight. The assumptions I made were totally off base. Even under the defense of protecting a client and friend. I sincerely apologize.”
Julianne hadn’t heard a word past the part about Stephen setting Will straight. “Stephen spoke to Will today?” she repeated.
“Thank goodness for miracles,” Annabeth said from somewhere behind Roscoe.
“Yeah.” Roscoe stepped back to include Annabeth, Hank, Carly, and Shane in the conversation. “Right after the hearing was canceled. He explained that you didn’t know anything about the hearing. You were simply defending Will, and your brother took advantage.” He looked around, confused. “Will didn’t tell you your brother spoke to him?”
“I haven’t seen Will.”
Julianne’s heart was pounding as if she’d raced up ten flights of stairs. Will knew the truth. Could this possibly mean they could start again? Her knees began to shake and she reached out a hand to steady herself on something. Brody appeared at her side, propping her up.
“Whoa. Are you okay?” he asked.
She was definitely not okay. Instead, she was a quivering mass of nerves as she searched the crowded room for any sign of her husband.
“Will didn’t bring you here?” Roscoe asked, a touch of concern in his voice.
“No,” Annabeth answered for her. “Carly and I brought her.”
“I don’t understand. I dropped Will off at his car an hour ago. He was on his way to talk to you.”
The bottom fell out of Julianne’s stomach, and she gripped more tightly onto Brody’s arm.
“We just left there,” Annabeth said, reaching for her cell phone. “Maybe we crossed paths.”
“No. Like I said, he would have been there almost an hour ago.” Roscoe pulled out his own phone.
But Will hadn’t come to the house. And suddenly, Julianne saw the situation through his eyes. Will was giving up without a fight, most likely figuring he wasn’t worthy of a relationship. She was familiar with his game plan because it had been her own rationale right up until a few weeks ago. Now, she realized true love was messy and worth fighting for. Fury replaced her anguish and Julianne ripped her arm off Brody’s, her weak legs suddenly strengthened by anger. The idiot Neanderthal was jumping to conclusions—again. This time, though, she wasn’t going to let him get away with it.
Annabeth and Roscoe were dialing their cell phones to no avail. Will was off playing the martyr somewhere. Most likely at his loft.
She turned to Brody. “Take me to him. Now.”
Brody flinched minutely at her words, but then his mouth curled in a devilish smile. “Your wish is my command.”
Julianne stalked out of the room. Brody took a few steps before turning back and grabbing Roscoe and Shane’s cell phones out of their hands. “No way am I gonna let you boys warn him. I’d hate to spoil William the Conqueror’s ass-wuppin’.”
• • •
Will tossed the pizza boxes and take-out containers into the large trash bag. His loft was a mess. Thirty years as a neat freak and in one week it had all gone to hell. Time to right the ship. Still dressed in his suit, minus the torturous tie, Will had immediately set out to clean the place up once he arrived home. At the very least, it would keep his mind off Julianne.
As he loaded dishes into the dishwasher, he heard the key turn in the front door lock. Shit! He huffed out an exasperated sigh.
“Dammit, Brody, I should have broken every one of your million-dollar fingers last night and taken my key back.”
When Brody didn’t respond with his typical sarcastic retort, Will turned around. His lungs seized. It wasn’t Brody standing on the other side of his kitchen counter, but Julianne. The rest of his body heated up at the sight of her. Wearing a dress that looked like it untied with the pull of a string, she wobbled slightly on her wedge heels before purposely striding toward him. Silently she placed the key on the counter. Then she slid off her wedding band and dropped it down beside the key. The ping of the gold hitting granite reverberated throughout Will’s nerve endings.
He stood frozen as she maneuvered through the living area, littered with Owen’s baby items and a week’s worth of laundry. She glanced at the sofa he’d been using as a bed, piled high with a pillow and blankets. Reaching down, she pulled out the Elmo doll Owen had been gumming the day before.
Owen!
“Where’s Owen?” The words came out raspy because he was still struggling to catch his breath.
She looked over her shoulder at him, and something flared in her amber eyes. He thought it looked a little like seduction, but he figured that was just wishful thinking on his part.
Her full lips curved slightly. “He’s at the party. The one your friends and teammates threw for you.”
Nope, definitely not seduction. Will flinched from the bite of her sarcasm. His teammates would take his absence as another affront, but he hadn’t felt in the mood for a party after realizing he couldn’t hold her in their marriage.
“He was happily ensconced in the heavily tattooed arms of someone named Mongo, who was introducing your son to his first beer.” She tucked the Elmo doll to her breast and moved toward the windows.
She was goading him. Will wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
He decided to play along. “You shouldn’t have left him with Mongo. He’s an offensive player.”
Julianne tsked. “Just because he has a few tattoos doesn’t make him offensive.”
Will stifled a groan as he rubbed the back of his neck with a hand that was less steady than it had been before she arrived. “I assume my mother was there.”
“Yep.” She kept her back to him. “But she’s too busy playing kissy-face with Hank to watch over Owen. Mongo will have to do.”
Ah hell, he should have gone to the party. But he didn’t want to go because he’d been certain that his mother would ensure Julianne would be there. And he’d made up his mind about giving her her freedom. From now on, the choices would be up to Julianne. Seeing her again would just tempt fate.
Except she’d left the party and was standing in his loft. The wedding band on the counter indicated she’d made a choice. His body ached to take her in his arms and persuade her to change her mind, but that was how this whole mess started. They needed to talk.
“Julianne . . .”
“You said there was a view of the harbor here.” She quickly turned from the window. “I don’t see the harbor.”
He’d misread her eyes. They weren’t seductive, they were anxious and maybe a little angry. Her chest was moving up and down rapidly as she drew in quick short breaths. Elmo was clutched in a death grip to her breast. Will wanted to soothe her, but he didn’t dare touch her.
“Um.” His mind tried to wrap itself around her question. “Upstairs. The view is from the bedroom.”
She pointed to the stairs at the side of the room. “Up there?”
No! He couldn’t sleep up there as it was. If he let Julianne up into his bedroom, he’d have to freaking move out. Instead he nodded, like an idiot. “Uh-huh.”
His body throbbed as he watched her sashay up the stairs to his bedroom. Clearly still in idiot mode, he followed her. When he got to the landing, she was standing with her back to him, the glory of the Inner Harbor silhouetting her. He leaned a shoulder against one of the pillars supporting the ceiling, shoving his hands into his pockets to keep from hauling her to the bed.
“I’d like you to explain something to me.” She didn’t bother turning to face him. Her ramrod-straight spine and tense shoulders were his only indication that this was difficult for her. “How is it that you can be so fierce on the football field, never stopping until the play is dead, but you run away from a relationship at the first opportunity?”
An abashed sigh escaped his lips. “It’s not like that, Julianne.”
“Really? It seems that way to me. But then this marriage wasn’t exactly a relationship, was it? Just an arrangement to benefit our son.” He watched her struggle to swallow. “So I guess it really doesn’t matter, does it?”
“It may have started out that way, but it quickly changed to something more for me.” His voice was hoarse as he tried to work around the lump in his own throat. “Hell, maybe deep down I always felt that way and that’s why I pushed for the marriage.”
Slowly, she turned from the window, her eyes shimmering. Will wanted to close the distance between them, but he knew that wasn’t the best course of action.
“So,” she hesitated. “It came down to you not trusting me.”
Will rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. He was ashamed to admit he was guilty of that infraction. “I didn’t want to believe you’d sold me out. But I guess I was trying to sabotage the relationship just like you said.”
Julianne nodded resolutely. “And today?”
His gaze connected with hers. Obviously she’d figured out he’d been by her place earlier. Honesty was the cornerstone to trust, so he led with the truth.
“Today I figured I’d let you make your own decisions.”
Her face was baffled as she continued to stare at him.
Will sighed. “It was something your brother said this morning.”
“Stephen?” she choked out. “You’re suddenly listening to my mercenary brother?”
“No! I mean, yes.” He held his hands up. “Let me explain. Your brother’s rationale makes sense. He felt guilty that he’d allowed me to force you into a marriage. So he used the information against me to help get you out of it.”
“What?” Her eyes got all squinty as she crossed her arms beneath her breasts. Will stifled a groan.
“Okay, the flaw in his plan was that he didn’t ask you how you felt about the marriage. Don’t you see? Neither of us asked you how you felt. We just took your choices away from you.” Will blew out a breath. “Today, when I saw you with your friends, I realized that if I hadn’t gotten you pregnant, then forced you to marry me, you might have been happy with someone else. And I didn’t want to force you again.”
She muttered something in Italian that sounded if not illegal, at least obscene. “That has to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” She was furious. Gorgeously angry. On the one hand, Will was grateful they were having this conversation upstairs, away from the kitchen and its ready supply of knives. On the other hand, her heaving breasts and flushed cheeks were really starting to turn him on.
“First of all”—she stalked across the room, ticking points off on her fingers—“there isn’t anyone else. Yes, I blurted out Nicky’s name that night, but not because we were in a relationship. It was because of some stupid crush I had on him for years. He’d been my fantasy lover for years. Until you.”
Will’s body went rigid as she drew to within six inches of him. “Second, no one forced me to do anything I didn’t want to do. It took both of us to have a baby. And I didn’t have to marry you. I could have contested you. But I didn’t.” Her voice softened to a near-whisper. “I felt a connection to you that first night on Sea Island. One that goes deeper than just our son. Something spiritual. Owen was created out of that connection.” A tear leaked out of her eye. “But I can’t risk my heart if you won’t fight for me. For us. You can’t just hide and ignore the hard stuff. You have to tell me what you want.”
Tentatively, he reached across with the tip of his finger and wiped her tear away. “All I want is for you to be happy, Julianne.”
“Prove it.”
It was all the invitation Will needed. Cupping her face in his hands, he pulled her closer for a kiss, his mouth feasting on hers as she arched her body to meet his. It wasn’t enough. He needed to be skin to skin with her. Without breaking the kiss, he reached between their bodies and tugged at the tie holding her dress on. Julianne pushed his jacket off his shoulders.
Will swore as he broke off the kiss and tore at the clothes on his body. Julianne seductively shed her dress, making him pant as she paraded toward the bed in her high-heeled sandals, bra, and panties. “If you want to be able to put those on again afterward, you’d better take them off before I rip them off,” he threatened as he stalked toward the bed. Her eyes went wide as she did as she was told with a renewed sense of urgency.
Once she was naked, Will tossed her on the mattress, a seductive smile alighting on her face as she landed. He collapsed on top of her, supporting himself on his forearms, bringing his nose down to rest gently on hers.
She traced a finger along his biceps. “You haven’t been sleeping here?”
“I couldn’t. It seems I can’t sleep without you in my bed.”
“Hmm. That’s going to make those away games awfully difficult.”
“Yeah, but I can’t think about that now. I need to tell you something before I totally lose my mind here.” His body was on fire pressed against hers. He needed to get the words out. “I love you, Julianne. I was going to tell you that day when I screwed everything up. But you have to know how deeply I love you.”
Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Like I said before, prove it.”
Will kissed her then, reveling in her hot, silky mouth as his hands found all his favorite places on her body. He took his time pressing his lips to her temple, her ears, her cheeks, her jaw, her neck before exploring the rest of her body. Julianne murmured words of love in a multitude of languages, her hands stroking his skin. A sheen of exertion covered both their bodies by the time he finally entered her. She tilted her hips to better accommodate him and they both abandoned themselves to the fevered lovemaking that was and had always been the foundation of trust for them. Only now, Will understood it.
They spent long, tender moments afterward lying intertwined, whispering to one another about their desires and dreams. Will texted his mother, making sure Owen was being taken care of. He got a smiley face texted back to him.
Julianne chuckled as she nestled in the crook of his arm, her naked body arousing him again. “You see, second chances aren’t so hokey, after all.”
“Speaking of second chances, Julianne, you don’t have to give me your design company.”
She crawled onto his chest, bringing her face to face with him. They needed to have this conversation, but the position was doing crazy things to his body.
“For someone so smart, you can really be obtuse sometimes. I’m not giving it to you. I’m giving it to the town. For you.”
He tried to speak, but she pressed her fingers to his lips.
“You don’t feel a part of the town because you don’t have a stake there. Despite the fact you grew up in Chances Inlet. I understand that. So I’m giving you a stake. Use it or don’t, but it’s there if you want it. You can have as little or as large a role as you choose. Whatever is going to make you comfortable living there.”
Will still didn’t understand her logic. Maybe he never would. The idea of a center for kids was intriguing, though. And if it made Julianne happy to make Chances Inlet their home, he wasn’t going to argue.
He pushed a lock of hair off her face. Unease dimmed her bright eyes.
“I’m going to have to trust you on this, Julianne,” he said gruffly.
Her face glowed as she leaned down to kiss the corners of his mouth. “You won’t regret it. You’ll see.” And she proceeded to show him just how magnificent trust can be.