Her father was a rock star. An ultra-famous rock star on par with guys like Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler. She could have mentioned that, Elliot thought sourly as he walked behind her father to his car. Then there was the strange snub in the kitchen when she’d left the room with a snooty sniff.

“Since you’re closer to my age than I thought, it seems strange asking what your intentions with my daughter are,” Julia’s father said to him as they walked. Bram freakin’ Hawkins. Since he didn’t ask a question, Elliot didn’t say anything. “Julia seems to like you, so I’ll say this once.” He turned to face Elliot. “If this is about money, I’d as soon pay you now and save her the heartbreak.”

Elliot crossed his arms over his chest. “You want to pay me off?” he asked quietly, incredulous.

“If you’re after her money, then yes.”

“I don’t care about her money,” Elliot told him honestly.

“She’s not an easy woman. If you’re going to hurt her, I suggest you quit now.”

The idea that Elliot needed this guy to tell him that Julia wasn’t an easy woman was laughable. And if someone asked him to explain, on the spot, why he felt so drawn to Julia, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to do it. They were very personal and also very private reasons he supposed. Though she’d grown up rich and he’d started poor, they’d both struggled with loneliness and a feeling of not belonging anywhere. In fact, he knew that Julia still struggled with that. He had been able to overcome that feeling in his teenage years with ungodly amounts of love and support from his adoptive parents and grandmother. Even his brothers had proven that they’d loved him, even when they’d hated him. Julia hadn’t had anyone to solidify that feeling for her. Her mother had abandoned her, her grandparents had ostracized her, and her father had been absent. It wasn’t any wonder that Julia had grown into a bristly and unapproachable woman.

Elliot didn’t make any comment because no matter how famous he was, it wasn’t any of his business.

Bram’s face spread into a very familiar smile. “You really like her.”

Again, Elliot didn’t answer. It’s not like they were in the sixth grade, gossiping about girls in the hallway.

“Okay, fine. Fine.” Bram held up his hands. “I’ll see you soon.” He walked to his car and went to climb in, but stopped short. “Her grandfather is dying. She knows he’s sick but refuses to call. See if you can get her to come around.”

As he watched the man drive away, Elliot wondered if Bram knew how much damage her grandparents had done to her. How they ruined her sense of self-worth and stripped her of her well-deserved self-confidence. It made no sense to push Julia back into a position of feeling vulnerable when she’d obviously built herself up to be the person she wanted to be.

There were moments when they were together that he swore he knew exactly how Julia Hawkins worked. Brilliant, yet guarded. Deeply guarded. He’d worked his way past those walls though, he knew. Yet, some moments, like the look she’d thrown him in the kitchen, made him feel as though he was firmly planted on the outside of those walls, his nose pressed against the hard stone.

Elliot headed up the front steps and into the house, still admiring the new office space before stalking through to the kitchen, noticing just how outdated that room was compared to the rest of the house. He thought about the plans Julia had for the remodel and realized how much of a service she was doing for the integrity of the property.

Julia really wasn’t the woman he’d initially thought she was. 

Finding the kitchen empty, he poked his head into that tiny back bedroom and found Julia, curled on her side, her head buried under a pillow. She was wearing a pair of black leggings and long-sleeved T-shirt that said Hokey Pokey Anonymous: A Place to Turn Yourself Around.

He sat on the side of the bed and she stirred, looking at him with sleepy eyes when he took the pillow off her head.

“I’m sorry,” she said right away. Elliot shrugged and moved some of her curly hair off her forehead with his fingertips. “I felt awkward. Like I was checking in with you before I left the room. Then I felt angry because I didn’t need to ask permission. Then I felt ashamed because I made you feel bad.”

Elliot sent her a half smile. “That’s an awful lot of feelings for a span of five seconds.” Julia pressed the side of her face into his hand. “You don’t need permission from me to do anything, Julia.”

“I know that,” she said, frustration creeping into her voice.

“I don’t mind the checking in though,” he admitted.

Her jade eyes watched him carefully. Someday, he thought, she’d trust him. She wouldn’t have to look so closely to know he was telling the truth, she’d just know. He swore he’d get her there someday.

“It doesn’t feel strange that I—”

“No,” he interrupted whatever thought she was having. “Nothing about that exchange was strange until you stormed out on it.”

“Oh,” she said almost to herself. “Your brothers—”

“Who cares about my brothers?” he interrupted again. “It’s just you and me, baby. That’s all we’re talking about here.”

“I just thought they’d think—”

“Who cares what they think?” Elliot leaned down and placed a kiss on those incredibly soft lips of hers. Making sure she was looking into his eyes, he stressed his point to her again. “I don’t care what anyone else thinks, Julia. I care about you. You and me. Forget them and what they might think. You need to look at me or talk to me for any reason? You do it. I’m here for you. If I need you for something, can I come to you?”

“Of course,” she answered easily, without any hesitation.

“You and me, baby.”

She nodded her agreement. “You and me.”

He bent a little farther and nuzzled her neck, placing kisses on her throat. She fidgeted for a second and then cuddled farther into his face. Just then, the sounds of hammering came from above them.

“I’ll be right back,” Elliot grunted.

He stomped up the stairs and found both his brothers working in the master closet which was shaping up to be incredible.

“You need to leave,” he said frankly.

The both looked at him like he’d lost his mind. Elliot understood perfectly. He was the one always pushing the schedule, making sure everything was on time. He was the one that worked nights and weekends to keep things going. Now, here he was, halting work on a job in the middle of the week.

“Seriously?” Tucker asked, goggling at Elliot. Cole was doing much of the same.

“Seriously,” he confirmed. “Julia’s tired and needs some sleep. I’ll work over the weekend to catch us up.”

“Homegirl could sleep through a train coming through the house.” Cole laughed. “I can’t imagine we’re keeping her up.”

Cole was right, Julia was a deep sleeper, but he wasn’t, and he wasn’t leaving, so that meant his brothers needed to get lost. When he said nothing and just crossed his arms waiting, Tucker shrugged and started packing up while Cole followed suit.

“Fine. You can be the one to tell Julia we’re taking the day off,” Cole groused.

“I’ll do that,” Elliot agreed.

When they finally left, Elliot went back into Julia’s makeshift temporary bedroom to find her still awake, curled on her side, facing the door. She watched him come into the room and sit on the bed.

“Where did your brothers go?”

“I gave them the day off,” he said as he took his shoes off and stretched out on the bed.

Julia scooted closer and curled into his side, her leg thrown over his hip, her head on his shoulder with her arm around his waist.

“I slept like shit last night,” he complained as he settled farther into the bed and closed his eyes.

“Me too,” Julia agreed.

“When we wake up,” Elliot informed her around a yawn, “we’re going to talk about you not telling me about your dad.”

Julia sighed against his chest. “There’s nothing to tell.”

“Don’t ruin this by lying, Shorty.” He kissed her forehead. “You could have told me anytime, but didn’t. We’ll talk about it later.”

“Okay.”

There were still hurdles for them to overcome. She still didn’t trust him with so many aspects of her life. He didn’t think she trusted herself sometimes. Her eating, which he knew signaled some other kind of disorder, needed to be addressed too, but he fell asleep, knowing that conquering these obstacles was exactly what he wanted to do. He wanted her to thrive and flourish, not just materially but emotionally. He wanted to see her laugh openly and lose that guarded expression that haunted her electric eyes. And he wanted her to be able to love him freely and honestly because that’s exactly what he planned to do with her.