Chapter 3

Julie

Julie was sitting alone, at a table, in a club she hadn't even wanted to go to. One of the few friends she had at school had begged her to go so they could hang out, but the second a guy looked her friend's way, she'd taken off with him.

What Julie really wanted was to be at home, in her pajamas, relaxing on the couch with her laptop in front of her. She wasn't a social butterfly and never had been, but she wasn't lazy either. When she wasn't at school or studying for school, she was working on her laptop or the computer in her room.

Her sister Jessie tried to get her to put it all away and hang out so many times, but Julie couldn't be bothered. The two of them shared an apartment together, so it wasn't that she blew her sister off. They ate, watched their favorite shows, and spent time together, but Julie preferred to stay home while her sister liked to go out with friends. Those were the times Julie would soak up the silence and get to work the most.

As Julie watched her friend's one dance turn into another and then another after that, she decided it was time to leave. Just as she moved to stand up, someone plopped down in the chair her friend had vacated way too long ago.

“Going somewhere?” she heard a deep, manly voice ask.

When she looked up from the table at the very fit, t-shirt clad chest, to the sexy face, with a huge smile, she knew her eyes widened. Cody Williams, her father's biggest competition, was sitting in front of her.

“I was just leaving,” she let out in almost a whisper.

“That's a shame,” he said, with a slight laugh. “I was coming to chat.”

“With me?” she asked.

“You're the only one here,” he stated.

“My friend was here, but she's off dancing,” she said, with aggravation in her tone. “I didn't want to come here in the first place.”

“Why not?” he asked.

“It's not my scene,” she said.

“Oh really?” he asked, and she nodded. “What exactly is your scene, Julie?”

“Honestly?” she asked, and he nodded. “I'd much rather be home in front of my computer than here, Mr. Williams.”

“Cody,” he said quickly. “Please call me Cody, and if I'm being honest, this isn't my scene either.”

“It's not?” she asked.

“Not at all,” he said. “I'm actually a pretty boring guy.”

Julie caught her eyes scanning down his chest before moving back up to his face. That was when she noticed his eyes. They were dark and mysterious. It was the first time she'd ever really noticed a guy's eyes. Her best friend Jason had gorgeous eyes, but even his had nothing on the ones in front of her.

“I highly doubt that,” she said, as a tiny laugh escaped her.

“It's true,” he said, as he lifted his hand and ran his fingers through his thick, dark hair. “I'd much rather be home, in a pair of sweats, with my computer on my lap.”

“Then what are you doing here?” she asked, giving him an I think you're full of shit look.

“I came here because of you,” he said, and Julie felt her jaw drop a bit.

“Me?” she asked. “Why would you do that?”

“It probably comes as a shock to you,” he said, “especially after you laughed at me while I was speaking to your class.”

“I wasn't laughing at you,” she said.

“Oh really?” he asked.

“I swear I wasn't,” she said, trying to defend herself. “It wasn't like that.”

“Than what was it like?” he asked.

“I was just thinking about my family,” she said.

“So you were thinking about your family while I was talking then?” he asked.

“No. Yes. It's complicated. So you came here because I laughed?” she asked, trying her best to change the subject.

“Not at all,” he answered. “You're the real deal.”

“What?” she asked.

“Unless all those notes you were taking while I was talking were bullshit,” he said.

Julie felt her eyes widen again.

“Were you drawing pictures of your family while I was talking?” he asked, with the corners of his sexy lips rising.

Julie felt her eyes roll before she could stop them.

“I was not drawing,” she answered, a bit more harsh than she should have. “I was taking notes.”

Julie was always a calm, sweet person. She made it a point to be. She'd seen her sister come off like she didn't care about the feelings of other people enough to know that she never wanted to be seen that way, but there was something about Mr. Williams, Cody, that was getting to her.

“Other people might have just stared at you while you rattled on, but I was actually interested in what you had to say,” she said, before she could stop herself.

“Rattled on?” he asked, as his hand went back up and ran through his hair again.

Julie couldn't help the smile that spread across her face at his response.

“I liked your ideas,” she said. “You probably won't believe it, but I've had a couple of those very same ideas.”

“And?” he asked. “What did you do with them?”

“Nothing,” she answered, as a sad feeling moved through her. “Well, not nothing exactly. It doesn't matter. I just meant that I found the things you said valuable, so I wrote them down to look at them later.”

“To steal them?” he asked.

“What?” she snapped out. “No! I don't need to steal ideas. I have plenty of good ones of my own.”

“I bet you do,” he said.

“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked harshly.

“Settle down,” he said, with a laugh. “I meant it. I bet you do have good ideas.”

“Really?” she asked, immediately feeling a confidence she'd never felt before run through her veins.

“Of course,” he said. “You liked what I said enough to take so many notes. That means you must be pretty smart.”

“Seriously?” she snapped out, and he burst into laughter.

“You should see your face right now,” he said, as he reached across the table and covered her hand with his. “I was just kidding. You seem very smart. Shit! Your teacher even said you were.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Yep,” he answered. “He said you were brilliant.”

“I am,” she said.

“I bet you are,” he said. “So, what notes did you take? Can I see them?”

“I don't have them with me,” she said. “I'm not sure I want to show them to you anyway.”

“Oh yeah,” he said. “Why's that?”

“Those are trade secrets,” she said, with a laugh. “I'm going to lock those babies away in a vault. You never know when I might need them.”

“Need them for what?” he asked.

“To kick your ass,” she said, as she pulled her shoulders back, feeling more confident than she had ever remembered feeling before.

“Kick my ass?” he asked, with a smile on his face.

“You heard me,” she said. “Keep smiling, buddy.”

After a few seconds of silence, they both burst into laughter.

“I'm serious,” he said. “You were the only person that took a single note. I'm genuinely curious to know what you found valuable in what I'd said. I'd really like to see them.”

“I'll think about it,” she said.

“Really?” he asked.

“Yes,” she answered.

“You're something else, Julie,” he said.

“So are you, Cody,” she replied.

Just as he'd opened his mouth to say something else, her friend walked up. What a time to pick to want to hang out, Julie thought, wishing her friend would turn around and go right back to the guy she'd been dancing with.

“And who's this?” her friend asked.

“I was just leaving,” Cody said, as he stood up, not taking his attention off of Julie. “Can I see your phone?”

She shook her head but handed it to him anyway. He messed around with it, and seconds later, she heard his phone ding from inside of his pocket, but he didn't reach for it. Instead, he handed her phone back to her.

“It was nice chatting with you, Julie,” he said, as he turned to walk away. “We'll have to do it again sometime.”

“Hey,” she called out to him, and he stopped and turned to look at her from over his shoulder. “How did you know where I was?”

A giant smile filled his face. Then he turned back and walked away.

“Damn him,” she growled out from under her breath.

The man had looked really good in a suit just hours before, but seeing him in jeans, that settled against his ass in just the right way, and a t-shirt that clung perfectly to each muscle had Julie undecided on which look she liked better. They were both so damn sexy.

“Who was that?” her friend asked, as she turned and watched him leave. “He was at the school today, wasn't he?”

“He's nobody,” Julie answered, knowing it was a total lie, but not ready for the million questions she knew would be coming her way if she told her friend the truth.

As she watched him walk away, she hoped she hadn't just made the biggest mistake of her life by giving him her number.