Absolute Lovers (Absolute #2) (13 page)

"Of course not. I loved every second of it," I
whispered, feeling my chest tighten.

"I did, too.”

I couldn't take the distance between us anymore and pulled
her into my arms before crashing my lips against hers in a searing kiss. I
groaned when she sucked on my tongue and picked her up so she could wrap her
legs around my waist. Unlike the other times I had done this, I didn't push her
up against the wall and grind against her. This wasn't about sex. It was about
the fact that I simply couldn't get close enough to her. I held her tighter and
kissed her as if my life depended on it—and in some ways it did.

I didn't want everything to change when Julia left my
apartment. I wanted us to continue what we had started when she came here to
stay with me, and I was worried what might happen once she left. Would she
still be my girlfriend or would she change her mind once she remembered how
many other choices were out there?

No, don't think that way. Julia loves you. She told you,
remember?

It was the truth, but I was still scared. I had finally
found love and happiness, and I was deathly afraid that it would somehow slip
through my fingers if I didn't have her with me all of the time.

"Please," I whispered against her lips. I set her
down but kept her body pressed against mine as I cupped her face in my hands
and made her look up at me.

"Please," I begged her again, unable to voice my
emotions.

Please love me forever, Julia. I can't imagine my life
without you. No, that's not true. I
can
imagine it because it was the
same lifeless existence I had before I met you, and I never want to go back.

She took one of my hands and placed it over her rapidly
beating heart.

"Stephen, I—" She struggled with herself for
a few seconds, her gaze holding mine. I could see tears forming in the corners
of her eyes and silenced her with a gentle kiss. Julia wasn't ready to say the
words and that was fine with me. The fact that she wanted to was plenty.

"I'm sorry," she said in a defeated voice.

"Don't be," I said immediately, placing her hand
over my heart as well.

She looked up at me.

"I know how you feel about me," I whispered.
"I feel it, too."

She nodded and threw her arms around my neck. We held each
other until we were broken apart by a car horn honking outside. Julia laughed
and shook her head.

"I guess they're impatient," she said. "In
all fairness, I’ve never gone this long without seeing them."

This time it was my turn to nod. I refused to say good-bye
to her. I couldn't get myself to say the actual words. She picked up her bags
and I reached out to help carry them to the car.

"No," she protested softly. "Can we say good-bye
here?"

"Not good-bye," I implored her.

"You're right. Not good-bye," she said seriously.
"See you later?"

I nodded again. That worked much better.

"See you later," I whispered.

“I'll miss you."

"Me, too," I mumbled.

And then she left. I sighed and leaned up against the closed
door, wishing that I had asked her to stay with me for at least a little while
longer. After taking a few seconds to compose myself, I started to clean up. When
the apartment was spotless once more, I searched the couch cushions and found
my phone. I was happy to see that I had a missed call from my brother and a
recent text asking me if I wanted to work out now that I was a free man again.
Obviously he knew about Megan and Sophia's plan to collect Julia, and I was
glad for the distraction. I messaged him that I was up for the gym and whatever
else he wanted. The last thing I needed today was to hang around my empty
apartment.

I berated myself that I hadn't made any definite plans with
Julia and didn't know exactly when I would see her again. Today was Thursday
and it was plausible that I wouldn't see her until the party on Saturday. For
the first time, that seemed like a really long time.

* * *

Thankfully, Shawn and Matt were free
because the girls had plans together, and I ended up spending most of my time
with them. We went out to dinner Friday and watched an incredibly violent
action movie afterward followed by beers at the bar. Of course, we also talked
a lot about the girls and it thrilled me that I was able to do so. In the past,
whenever the subject of women had come up, I couldn't relate. That wasn’t the
case anymore. Shawn seemed just as in love as I was, and even though Matt
denied it, he couldn't hide the way his eyes lit up whenever he mentioned
Megan's name.

I had hoped that the two of them were far enough along in
their relationship that Matt would invite Megan to the party, but he told me in
no uncertain terms that neither of them was ready for that. I understood, but
it would have been nice for Julia to have one of her friends there.

On Saturday afternoon, I drove to her apartment to pick her
up for the party, jittery and extremely nervous. Not only was this the first
time that we were taking our relationship out in public, but it was also the
first time I had brought a girl home to meet my parents. Add the fact that this
wouldn't actually be the first time they met the love of my life—that had
happened immediately after them listening to us engaging in loud, mind-blowing
sex, followed by my mother glaring at Julia as if she were a woman of ill
repute.

Jesus. Why on earth is Julia even agreeing to this? She
must be absolutely terrified of meeting them again!

I pulled up at her building and took a few calming breaths
before I stepped out of the car. I was about to knock on her door when it flew
open and Julia jumped up, pressing her lips against mine.

"I missed you." Kiss. "So fucking much."
Kiss. "Baby." Kiss.

"I missed you, too, sweetheart." I grinned,
ecstatic that she had longed for me as much as I had for her.

She pulled back and I finally got a good look at her.

My God!

"You look…"

Julia smiled and did an elegant twirl to show off her
outfit. I had never seen her in anything like this before. She was wearing a
white sleeveless dress with a black floral print. It was classy and sexy at the
same time. She had tamed her curls somehow, giving them an elegant look. Her
makeup and jewelry was minimal and tasteful. The black sandals on her feet
looked brand-new. It was exactly the sort of outfit that I had often pictured
her in back when I didn't know her and merely saw her as a badly dressed,
foul-mouthed nuisance.

It doesn't look anything like her usual style. Did she
wear this because of me?

I didn't want her to think that I expected anything like
this from her. Truth be told, I hadn't given her wardrobe choices a second
thought for a while now. She was simply my Julia and I no longer cared if we
had different taste in clothes. I didn't even think about what she might be
wearing today when I drove over here. I was just excited to see her but now I
was worried that Julia had changed her style because she didn't think she would
fit in at my parents' party.

"You don't like it," she said, the smile on her face
vanishing.

"No, I do!" I said immediately. "Are you
kidding me? You look…gorgeous. Breathtaking.”

"But then why do you look so…worried?"

"I just—this doesn't really seem like you,"
I explained. "I don't want you to think that you have to change for me or
my family. I want you just the way you are."

"Stephen," she said, standing up on her toes to
give me a sweet kiss. "Thank you for saying that."

"I mean it," I continued. "You could have
worn one of your skirts and that, uh, Jones T-shirt you love so much. I still
would have been proud to introduce you as my girlfriend."

"What T-shirt?"

"The band one. It says 'Meat is murder.' ”

"Oh!" she laughed. "They're the Smiths,
baby."

"Smith, Jones. Whatever." I looked her up and down
again. "But you do look beautiful in that dress."

"Thank you," she said. "Just don't expect me
to start wearing stuff like this every day, all right?"

"I wouldn't dream of it. Nothing too conservative and
no pink."

"Definitely no pink," she said with a laugh,
grabbing her purse.

"Are you nervous?" I asked her on the drive over.

"A little," she admitted.

"I am, too," I confessed. "I've never brought
a girl home with me before."

"I'll be on my best behavior," she promised with a
smile.

"Just be yourself," I said. "And don't leave
my side for too long."

"Are you kidding me?" she said and gave my hand a
squeeze. "Like I would leave a hot piece of ass like you unattended? The
party is probably crawling with horny housewives just dying to sink their teeth
into some fresh meat."

"Where do you think my parents live?" I laughed.
"Wisteria Lane?"

Julia gave me a look. “I didn’t think you watched much TV.”

“I don’t. But it's not like I had a thriving social life
before I met you,” I said. “I pretty much stayed in all the time. Sometimes, I
left the TV on in the background. For company, I guess."

"Didn't it ever get lonely?" she asked softly.

"Sometimes." I nodded. "I just didn't realize
it until I started spending all those nights with you. I've really missed you
the last two days, even though I've been out with my brother and Shawn."

"I've missed you, too. I almost called you Thursday
night when I came home from dinner with the girls."

"Why didn't you?" I asked, wishing that she had.

"I don't know. I didn't want to seem too…clingy, I
guess?" She shot me a nervous look and I squeezed her hand to reassure
her.

"You could never seem clingy to me. I love spending
time with you.”

"So you wouldn't mind if I stay over a few nights a
week?"

Mind?

I laughed. "No, Julia. I definitely wouldn't mind. In
fact, I think you should stay over at
least
four nights a
week."

"Really?" she asked. "Because I will, you
know."

I laughed again. It was hardly a threat.

"Awesome,” she said, smiling. "It's settled then—four
nights, minimum."

I breathed out a sigh of relief. Julia wasn't moving in just
yet, but this was definitely a step in the right direction. I glanced at her
and smiled. To think, I would get to spend at least four nights a week with
her. It didn't seem real yet.

"Who’s going to be at this party, anyway?" she
asked as we drove onto my parents’ street.

"Family and a lot of my parents' friends from the
club."

"The club?"

"Country club.”

"Are your parents like high society or something?"
Julia asked, eyeing all the large houses in the neighborhood.

"Not really. Richard’s an accountant and a rather
successful one at that, and my mom works in real estate. I guess they know a
lot of rich people, though," I admitted.

"Huh. And you didn't want to follow in his
footsteps?" she asked as we pulled up at the house.

"No way!" I said emphatically. "I love
literature. Always have. Plus, I’m really bad with numbers. Math was a
nightmare for me in school.”

"Me, too," Julia said with a smile. "Hey, we
finally found something we have in common!"

I leaned over and kissed her. "We have plenty of things
in common, sweetheart. We want to spend a lot of time together, right?"

She nodded.

"And we can't keep our hands off each other?"

"Understatement," she said, laughing.

"We both love wine, music, literature, movies, and
Italian food."

"Also true.”

"See? There's plenty," I said. "Are you ready
to head inside?"

She took a deep breath and nodded again. "As ready as
I'll ever be."

I jumped out of the car and rushed to her side to offer her
my hand when she stepped out. She gave me a curious look.

"More gentlemanly stuff?" she asked, quirking an
eyebrow.

"You may as well get used to it," I replied,
lacing our fingers.

"Wow," she said, looking at our joined hands.
"We're really doing this. Out in public and everything."

"Are you…all right?"

Please don't panic, Julia!

"Do me a favor?" she asked timidly.

"Anything," I promised.

"Kiss me."

I wrapped my arms around her small frame and kissed her
deeply, pouring all my love for her into it. I pulled back and gazed into her
beautiful eyes.

"Don't be scared," I whispered. "They'll love
you."

"You think so?"

"I know so. Do you know why?"

She shook her head.

"Because they'll see how great we are together and
they'll see how much I adore you. You're my girlfriend and you make me so
incredibly happy, Julia. You’ve shown me how to live."

"You make me happy, too, Stephen. I never knew it could
be like this," she said softly.

"Neither did I."

We kissed again and she sighed when we broke apart.

"I'm so lucky that I have you," she said.

"I think it's the other way around.”

She smiled. "Well, I guess we can't agree on
everything.”

"Are you ready now?" I asked gently.

"Yes, let's go."

We only made it a few steps when she stopped.

"Julia?"

"I just need to do one more thing.”

I looked at her curiously.

"Fuck, fuck, fuckety, fuck, fuck," she said under
her breath.

What the—?

"What was that?"

"Just getting all of them out now. My way of ensuring
that I don't offend anyone with my dirty mouth.”

"I like your dirty mouth," I said.

"I suspected as much," she replied, batting her
lashes at me. "Do you need to get any bad words out?"

"I think I'm good." I grinned. "I don't
really swear outside the bedroom."