Julien's Book (16 page)

"I hope not," Julien said. "Especially that guy who sends the letters." He was pretending not to remember his name when all he wanted to do was find this Pierre and take him out.

She laughed. "Believe me, he's the least of your worries."

"
Oh yeah? Who
should I
worry about?" he said.

She laughed, knowing he was playing around but still liking
fact that he was at least acting jealous. "I don't need to hear the same thing from you or anything," she said. "I just wanted you to know I like you."

Then it was her turn to give the playful kiss. She popped up and planted one on his cheek. "I guess I'll
see you after the ninth, then." She reached around him for the door handle.

"Hold up." Julien said.
He put a hand out to stop her.

Chapter 17

"Can we have contact when you're gone?"

Two-plus weeks sounded l
ike a really long time to Julien, and he wanted to have the option to talk to her—if for no other reason than to check on her while she was halfway across the world and so close to that creep.

"Are you trying to miss me too?" She asked, not bothering to filter that lovely French accent.

He let out a short laugh. "Yes, I guess you could say I'm trying to miss you too."

"I think you should probably email me then. Facebook's good too, although I don't
check it as often as I do email."

"You should probably text me your email address before you leave. He gave her one last squeeze. "You gonna be sending me pictures?"

"Julien," she said. Her tone was sultry and heavy on the accent. "You're trying to
miss
me."

He shrugged and smiled. "I'm not trying to deny it."

Her wide mouth stretched into the brilliant smile he'd read about in the book so many times. "I like you," she said. She left one last kiss on his cheek, right before opening the car door and sitting inside. The rap music that was audible before filled the air as soon as she opened the door. Nadine turned the volume down before rolling down the window to say goodbye to Julien one last time. She reached her fist out to bump his. "Thanks for the ride," she said.

"
You're welcome, and I like you too." He smiled the smile that had her heart pounding like it could just jump right out of her chest at any moment. The smile fell from his face as he realized she had the vehicle in reverse. "No, no, no wait just a minute. Let me start my Jeep. I'm following you home."

"I'm totally fine," she said.
"Seriously, you're gonna get cold in that thing." She pointed at his old Jeep. She was already driving off and Julien wasn't about to run to his Jeep and try to follow her against her will, even though the thought did cross his mind. He just waved to her reflection in the side mirror as she blew a kiss into it. His Jeep didn't warm up until he was done pulling into his long driveway, and he couldn't wait for a hot shower.

Twenty minutes after he got home, he was clean, comfortable, and ready to eat a snack and space out on
some random television before going to bed. He was actually glad he was home instead of a hotel room in Baton Rouge. Max was at Nikki's house, but it was a given that he'd wait till the next day to pick him up since it was so late. His thoughts went to Nadine and the fact that she'd be leaving the next day.

Two weeks. What bullshit.

He was sitting on the couch in the small living room when he reached out and took his phone from the coffee table. It was the middle of the night, but he typed out a text anyway and sent it to Nadine. He figured she just wouldn't answer if she was already sleeping.

Julien: "
I thought you might want to come over."

Nadine: "Who is this?"

Julien: "I hope you don't get frequent texts in the middle of the night that say that."

Nadine: "Sorry,
I assume it's Julien. My contacts got deleted when I updated my phone the other day."

Julien: "You never answered my question."

It was the middle of the night and he knew they didn't really have time to beat around the bush.

Nadine: "No sex. I like you, but I don't move that fast."

Julien: "No problem. You're leaving for two weeks, and I'd just like to sleep next to you."

Nadine read the text five times, grinning from ear to ear. She wanted nothing more than to fall asleep next to him.

Nadine: "Where do you live?"

Julien: "
BFE. Where do you live? I'll come pick you up and give you a ride back tomorrow."

Nadine: "
Just text me your address. I'll just drive over there, that way I have my car tomorrow."

He'd already learned th
e girl was stubborn, so he just gave in and did what she asked.

Julien: "42884 Water Oak Road."

Nadine: "Just so we're c
lear, I'm coming over right now. That's what you meant, right?"

Julien: "Stop texting me and get over here."

Nadine sent back an emoji of a lightning bolt and one of a kissyface then she put the phone down, changed clothes, and brushed her teeth. She was in her car within five minutes.

What in the world was she doing driving out to
Julien's house in the middle of the night? The further and further out of civilization she went, the more she started to doubt her decision to drive out there. After all, what did she really
know
about him, anyway?  She crept up the long, wooded driveway until her car's headlights hit a rustic, Acadian style house with a metal roof and a porch that spanned the entire length of the front.

Julien was standing near the
top of the stairs leaning against a post, and Nadine smiled at him even though he couldn't see her. He was wearing a plaid pair of pajama pants and a white T-shirt, and was standing with his arms crossed, looking like he was trying to stay warm. He had on hiking boots that hung open. He'd seen her lights coming up the drive, and had slipped them on without bothering to tie them.

Nadine stopped the car, turned it off, and took off for his house as quickly as she could. "What are you doing outside in that?" she said.

He walked down the stairs to meet her. "It's not that bad," he said. "It's Louisiana. Even when it's cold, it's not
really
cold."

"It's cold to me," she said. She shivered a little as they connected, and he put his big arms around her. "Let's get in the house," she continued.

He wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders as they made their way into the house. Nadine couldn't believe her eyes. It was out in the sticks, and quite honestly, the outside of the place, including the porch, looked rustic. The inside, however, was bright and warm and immaculate. It wasn't huge, but it was really comfortable, and for goodness sake, one of the cleanest houses she'd ever been in.
Nadine walked in and made herself at home without thinking to ask if it was okay with him.

"I
can't believe this is your house. It's beautiful. This place is so cool."

It was. The kitc
hen had white cabinets with intricately patterned tile floors, and even though his taste was simple, he had little things people had given him or he'd picked up at flea markets lying around here and there—cool, old trinkets, all of which drew Nadine's eye as she looked around.

"I love your house," she said. "Are you the only one who lives her
e?"

Yeah," Julien said, "you should have seen it when I first moved in, though. I would have
never
invited you out here."

"Is this something you
do often, then? Now that you've got your place all fixed up?"

"Never."

She huffed a laugh. "I'll bet."

"Seriously, I never invite girls to my house."

"I feel honored."

"You should."

"I was thinking
you
should feel honored that I agreed to come here since
I
never spend the night at guy's houses."

"I think we did good to make
exceptions for each other," he said. "I'm tired, and I know you need to get some sleep if you're gonna travel tomorrow, but I'm glad you came. I was thinking two weeks sounded a little too long, and I didn't get my fill when I dropped you off at the gym."

"What can I do to help you?" she asked.

Julien knew the perimeters, so he didn't say the thing that would
really
help him. "I think having you next to me in my bed would make for a good night's sleep," he said.

"Can I see
the rest of your house first?"

"Absolutely," he said.

The grand tour lasted all of about four minutes and they ended up in the bedroom, just relaxing on the queen size bed. It was full of pillows, and cleaner than the rest of the house, if that was even possible. She felt entirely comfortable. They talked and laughed for almost an hour before he made a move to kiss her. He knew he had to keep it to a short, goodnight kiss if he stood any chance of being able to resist the urge to wage a full-blown attack.

When he thought they might be going to sleep soon, he looked over at her and said, "I'm about to kiss you. I hope that's okay."

"It's about damn ti—" she started to say, but he cut her off by touching his mouth to hers. The gentle touch made her gut ache. It was a sensation akin to what you'd feel if you were teetering on the edge of a cliff—wonderfully painful. 

He breathed a little laugh. "You went stiff."

"What?"

"When I kissed you. You went stiff as a board."

She let out a little embarrassed laugh. "That's just what you do to me."

"That's what you do to me too," he said.

Okay, so he was trying to be funny. She smiled at his joke, and they stared at each other, for a few long seconds, smiling. He took her by the back of the head and put a kiss firmly onto her lips. The feel of his big hand on her head sent a chill down her spine. She opened her mouth to him instinctually, and he wasted no time in opening his own. He put his tongue into her mouth in a gentle thrust, and she caught it, sucking on it before letting him have it back. She was half-crazy with desire, and took comfort in the fact that his breathing was labored as well. He knew he couldn't let it go too far since he'd promised her it wouldn't, but he couldn't resist kissing her a little bit longer.

"When you get back, we're
gonna do more of this," he said, breaking the kiss reluctantly. 

"You think so?"

"Obviously," he said.

She smiled. "I think I'd like that."  She sided up next to him, laying her head on his chest.
He had a T-shirt on, but she still felt the warmth of his body through the layers. 

They
laid there in silence for a minute before Julien, out of nowhere, said, "I have a dog."

She didn't even look at him when she responded tiredly. "I figured. I saw the bowls. Where is it?"

"My sister's."

"What's it
s name?"

"Max."

"Is he going to bite me or something?"

"Max? God no. Never. He's gonna love you."

"Good," she said, yawning, "then I'll love him back." Aside from wishing each other sweet dreams, that was all they said before they both drifted off to sleep.

They slept until noon the next day. Nadine felt like she could have gone right on sleeping, but she knew she had to get up and get ready for her flight which left from Baton Rouge at 9PM. She was flying from Baton Rouge to Charlotte to JFK, where she'd spend the night and head for France the next day around noon. She wasn't looking forward to all the traveling, but she was excited about seeing her family. One of her sisters had a baby not long before, and she was excited to get her hands on her new, little nephew.

"My sister had a baby since the last time I was home," Nadine said. "It's a boy. I see pictures, but it's not the same, you know?"

Julien had nephews of his own and
appreciated living close enough to watch them grow. "Are you going back to France once you graduate?" Julien asked. He regretted asking it right when she was thinking about her baby nephew, but couldn't take back the words once they were out of his mouth.

"I don't know," she said. "I'd like to stay in the states, but I'm not sure about getting certified to teach in public schools without citizenship. I think there are ways around it, but I'm just starting to look into it."

"There are ways around everything. Why can't you teach at a private school, or college for that matter?"

"I know. I should really have a better plan. Right now I'm just thinking about graduating."

"That's coming soon, right?"

"This is my last semester."

"Wow, I don't guess I realized you were that close."

"Yep."

"How are you making it here? You don't work, do you? I mean, other than the student teaching thing."

"I work at Blue Moon one
or two nights a month, but that’s just so I have a little spending money. I'm on scholarship at UL and my parents help me with housing and my cell phone and stuff."

"What do you do at Blue Moon?"

"I'm a bartender. Remember? I told you at that first class about the fight that broke out?"

Julien had been too preoccupied with thinking she was an impostor to pay attention to her story, but he was glad to hear that this Nadine was a bartender since the one in the book wasn't.

"What night do you work there?"

"Depends. It's usually Friday or Saturday."

"They don't care if you only work once or twice a month?"

"No. Mostly I just fill in for the regular bartenders
when someone needs a night off—sort of like a substitute."