Serendipity (Inevitable) (35 page)

Julia did wince as she recalled the slight discomfort she’d experienced doing the full splits pose. “Um, no, just, er, sore. I, um, was –well, for lack of a better description, let’s call it wallbanged last night. Guess I’m just a little tender this morning.”

Sasha’s light green eyes widened, and then she laughed behind her hand. “Well, I hope it was worth it. Sounds a bit kinky, but I’m all for a little kink every so often.”

Julia flushed. “I can’t believe I just told you that. You must think I’m shameless.”

Sasha gave a rather undignified hoot. “For getting fucked against the wall? Sweetie, not much shocks me anymore. I grew up in a very bohemian household, so I’m generally pretty open-minded about most things.”

“Well, thanks for checking on me. I promise to be back to normal by next class,” vowed Julia.

“So, no more wallbanging for you?” joked Sasha.

Julia’s mouth tightened. “Not with the same guy, anyway. I’m officially not speaking to him.”

“Too bad. Any guy who can fuck you hard enough to make you walk funny must be pretty awesome in the sack.”Sasha’s eyes twinkled. “Or in this case, against the wall.”

Julia rolled her eyes and gave her teacher a quick hug before leaving the practice room to retrieve her shoes, jacket, and mat bag. The reception area was already filling up with students for the next class, so she got ready to leave quickly.

Only to stop short upon leaving the studio when she saw who was waiting for her just outside, his tall, leanly muscled frame slouched against the side of the building.

It wasn’t fair, she thought wildly, that she kept having these sorts of reactions to him. He looked so handsome, so yummy, that he ought to be illegal. He was casually dressed today – dark jeans, loafers, and a midnight blue V-neck sweater with a white shirt beneath it. His beautiful, thick hair was as well-styled as ever, his expression somber and unsmiling.

And then she remembered how desperate, how passionate he’d been last night, only to leave the banquet with Cameron, the woman he was going to marry next Valentine’s Day. And given the way Cameron had been hanging over him all night, Julia wasn’t naïve enough to believe she hadn’t expected a rollicking fuck from Nathan. Had he gone from her arms right into Cameron’s? She shuddered at the thought, refusing to torture herself with it.

Julia gazed at him for a moment longer before recalling her vow not to speak to him. Sliding her yoga mat bag over her shoulder, she started walking down the block away from him, silently fuming that he would just show up this way. What the hell gave him the nerve to think she would ever speak to him again after the way he’d treated her last night?

Not surprisingly, he caught up to her before she’d gone half a block, his voice low and pleading. “Julia, wait. Please. We need to talk and you know it. Stop.”

Stubbornly, she kept on walking until he took hold of her arm, stilling her. She refused to look at him and tried unsuccessfully to pull her arm free.

“Let go of me, Nathan,” she said quietly. “I don’t want to talk to you.”

“You don’t have to talk, just listen. But can we go somewhere more private? Can I buy you a coffee? Please, Julia. I need to apologize, make sure you’re okay, and I really don’t want to do that here on the sidewalk.”

She gave a small shrug. “I’m fine. You’ve apologized, Nothing left to say. Now let me go.”

“No. Hey, I get that you’re pissed off at me and I don’t blame you. But please – it’s just coffee, okay?”

Julia emitted a little huff. “Fine. There’s a place on the next block.”

“Is that where they serve the chocolate croissants?”

She blinked at him, wondering how in the world he would know about that, and then it dawned on her. “Angela. That rat. She told you where to find me. Nice to know I can count on my friends when I need them.”

Nathan smirked. “If it’s any consolation, she warned me to play nice. Threatened to tell your sister if I didn’t.”

Julia fought down a sense of panic at the very thought of Lauren ever figuring out that the bastard who dumped her back in New York was now her employer. “Well, that would be a very bad thing. My sister isn’t known as the Queen of Confrontation for nothing. And she’s coming for a visit next month so Angela needs to zip it.”

“How does your neighbor know your sister so well?”

“We all grew up together in Carmel, went through school and all. Angela is actually more Lauren’s friend than mine but we’re still close. When she learned I was moving here she told me about the flat for lease below hers.”

Nathan kept hold of her arm as they continued walking. “Your friend isn’t exactly warm and sunny, is she?”

Julia’s eyes flashed green fire. “She used to be, until some prick did a real number on her a couple of years ago. She was a total wreck for a long time – stopped eating, lost a ton of weight, wouldn’t leave her flat except to go to work. Things haven’t improved much, either.”

“Why didn’t she just sic your sister on the guy? Sounds like your twin is a force to be reckoned with.”

“Because Angela won’t tell us his name, and we never met him. Lauren and I think he had her wrapped up in some sort of borderline BDSM relationship where he controlled her entire life. Then when he dumped her she couldn’t cope.”

He shook his head. “That sounds pretty sick.”

“Yeah, I wonder sometimes if she’ll ever get back to normal. Here we are.”

They scored a small table for two in a back corner of the coffeehouse, and Julia waited uncertainly while Nathan placed their order. She was conscious of not exactly looking her best – no makeup, pale from lack of sleep, her hair scraped back off her face into a long braid. At least her yoga clothes were as stylish as the rest of her wardrobe – fitted black Lululemon pants and a cute black and white graphic print tank with crisscross straps. Due to the foggy morning she had thrown a long, fitted black cardigan on over her outfit. And yoga class was just about the only time she ever wore flat shoes – black Keen Mary Janes.

Nathan returned with a tray bearing her café au lait and croissant, along with his own black coffee and toasted bagel. They ate and drank in silence for several minutes, Julia being very careful not to meet his eyes even though she could feel his gaze upon her. Then, he unexpectedly reached out and ran his fingers along the side of her neck, wincing when he saw the dark purple marks he’d put there the night before.

“Sorry about that,” he said hesitantly. “I, uh, hope they don’t hurt.”

She shrugged his hand off. “I’ll live. I must say, though, no one’s given me a hickey since high school. At least I don’t have to hide it from my parents this time.”

Nathan smiled. “I’ll bet you had a ton of boyfriends in high school. And with two of you, your parents probably went a little crazy.”

“Not exactly. Lauren was a huge tomboy, and was more interested in sports than boys. She didn’t really date until senior year, and my parents always knew she could take care of herself.” Julia took a sip of her coffee. “My sister has studied martial arts since she was six years old. And not the tamer stuff like judo or tae kwon do. We’re talking karate, kung fu, capoeira.”

“Jesus.” Nathan gulped. “No wonder everyone is terrified of her. What about you? Did you do martial arts as well?”

“God, no.” She gave a little shudder. “Too violent for timid little me. I did ballet and gymnastics and then yoga when I was in high school. Besides, it was always important for Lauren and me to have our own separate identities and interests. Thank God my mom never believed in dressing us alike once we became toddlers.”

He chewed a bite of bagel. “You didn’t answer my question about boyfriends. Did you date a lot in high school?”

“One boyfriend for all four years of school. Plus almost two years of college. Sam and I were the classic high school sweethearts. At one point I was convinced we were going to get married and spend the rest of our lives together.”

“So what happened?”

Julia gave him a sad little smile. “He wanted to move on, date other people. It was hard maintaining a relationship during college. I mean, we tried. One of the reasons I chose Cornell was because it was only a three hour drive from Penn State.”

He frowned. “That’s not really close. Why didn’t he find a school closer to Cornell?”

“Because Penn State was the top school to recruit him. Sam played football there.”

Nathan set his coffee cup down and stared at her in surprise. “Wait. Sam – Penn State. You’re not talking about Sam Patterson, are you? The quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals?”

Julia nodded. “That’s him. I’m guessing you know who he is?”

“Uh, yeah, he’s only like one of the top-rated quarterbacks in the NFL today. Jesus, you dated him for what – six years?”

“About that, yes.”

“Were you upset? I mean, when he told you he wanted to move on?”

She nodded. “I saw it coming, though. In our sophomore year of college, Sam was named the starting quarterback when someone else got injured. Suddenly he was way busier – more practices, press conferences, publicity. He told me he would get approached by people all the time who’d never known he existed before. Especially women.”

“Hmm. And being – what – nineteen, twenty years old? Guess that’s hard for a guy to resist too long, especially when his girl is three hours away.”

“That was most of it. We’d probably started drifting apart a bit before then anyway. At least Sam had the decency to tell me before he started dating other people.”

“Still, it must have been hard for you.”

“Yeah.” She studied her café au lait for long second. “I was more sad, I think, than upset. We’d been together for so long, been such a huge part of each other’s lives. But we were able to remain good friends. I still keep in contact with him, and even saw him briefly at Christmas when he came to visit his parents.”

“Were you able to move on?”

She blinked. “Eventually. But that didn’t turn out so well. I seem to have atrocious taste and very bad luck with men.”

Nathan flushed. “I’m guessing that’s a ding on me.”

“Not just you. I ought to have known better, going off with a complete stranger. But our ill-fated one night stand was nothing compared to the guy I was involved with after Sam.” She scooped a dollop of foam from her mug and licked it off her fingers. “I was with him for almost two years and never knew he was married. With a small child.”

He stared at her slack-jawed. “Shit. So when I told you I was engaged, you -“

“Felt cursed. Pissed off. Lied to. And royally screwed over once again. Hence the aforementioned bad luck. No, make that really, really shitty bad luck.”

Nathan ran a hand over his face. “I’m so sorry, Julia. For everything. For lying to you in New York. For being a total jerk to you when you moved here. And for treating you so roughly last night. I worried about you all night long.”

“Really?” she asked sarcastically. “That must have put a real damper on your evening with Cameron.”

“What?” He gaped, astonished. “Hell, please tell me you do not think I took her home and fucked her after what happened. Even I’m not that big of a douchebag.”

She stared at her plate, crumbling the last bit of her croissant into tiny pieces. “I have no idea what to think, Nathan. I mean, she is your fiancée, after all, and she seemed awfully amorous last night. Not to mention, it’s obvious she went to a lot of trouble to look hot for you.”

He gave a visible shudder. “It – wasn’t exactly a good look for her. Instead of being turned on like I’m sure she intended it was just the opposite.”

Julia held up a hand. “Okay. Stop right there. I really don’t want to hear this. Speaking of which, I think you’ve apologized sufficiently. Can I go now?”

He placed a hand on her forearm as she began to rise. “Not yet, no. I’m not finished. Hell, I’ve barely begun. Look at me, Julia.”

Reluctantly, she dragged her gaze up to his. “What?”

Nathan caressed her cheek with exquisite tenderness. “How could you possibly think I’d go to another woman after being with you? Believe me, baby, I had nothing left after that – nothing. Even if I had – God, I would have felt like a dirty manwhore being with someone else so soon afterwards.”

She closed her eyes, fighting off tears. “Yeah, well, now you know how I felt. Twice now. Used, dirty, -“

“Hush.” He placed two fingers over her lips. “God, don’t say things like that. You are so far from being dirty or cheap, Julia. You are the finest, most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Her voice choked on a sob. “Then why did you treat me like a whore last night? The way you talked to me, taking me up against the wall. You didn’t even take your jacket off, for God’s sake.”

Nathan looked shocked at her words, the color draining from his face. “Oh, my God, baby. No, Julia, no. It wasn’t like that. Listen to me.” He gripped both of her hands urgently. “I was jealous, baby. So fucking out of my mind crazy jealous. I had to watch you all night long, looking so sexy, so hot that you almost set the room on fire. All I could think about was how much I needed to kiss you and touch you, especially wearing that goddamned dress that showed off every curve of your body.”

She flushed at his words. “Nathan, don’t -“

“Let me finish, because I’ll be damned if I want you thinking I treated you like a whore. Nothing is further from the truth,” he assured her.

“Go on,” she said tiredly.

He interlaced his fingers with hers. “I wanted you so badly but couldn’t do anything about it. Except to watch that bastard you brought along as your date touch you and stare at your tits. I kept getting more and more pissed off, and as a result kept drinking – a lot more than I normally do. And what made me even angrier was knowing I didn’t have any right at all to be jealous – no right to
you
at all. But that only made things worse. “

Julia was silent for an uncomfortably long while, not at all sure how to respond. “You really don’t have the right to be jealous, you know,” she murmured. “You told me to date whoever I wanted. So I did.”

“Yeah, and don’t think I wasn’t kicking myself all night long for having said that. Especially when I didn’t mean it. I’m aware of what a selfish asshole I am, Julia. I can’t offer you anything myself, and yet I don’t want anyone else to have you, either. When I saw you with him – Todd – I just went off the deep end a little. The thought that he was going to be the one to take you home and fuck you instead of me – it was more than I could handle. All I could think about was having you first, spoiling you for him. I wanted you to be so thoroughly fucked that there was no possible way you’d let him touch you.”