She didn’t need the money, but it was far more than that. It was a chance for her to help the Williams brothers make a name for themselves. Assisting in a worldwide software release would be huge for them. If there were glitches, then she needed to take care of them as soon as she could. Already it was late Friday afternoon. If she hustled, she could get it in by the end of the day and still solidify a contract.
“Go,” Elliot said with a resigned laugh. “It’s painful watching you two.”
“Thank God,” Owen breathed in relief. “I thought it was just me that was getting blasted with stress.”
Cole gave Kelsey a push. “Please you two, go work. You’re killing us.”
Julia didn’t think twice. She jumped up, grabbed her cover-up and phone, and started walking away.
She stopped short.
Turning around, she hurried back and leaned over to kiss Elliot.
“Sorry,” she told him before turning to the group. “Nice to meet you all.” Her eyes cut specifically to Jenna. “Bye, Jenna.”
Kelsey said her quick goodbyes and they hurried away, heads together, working as they walked.
“My God, that would drive me insane if I had to deal with it on the regular,” Spencer said.
Cole laughed. “That was tame for Julia.”
“Mellow she is not,” Tucker agreed.
They all turned to Elliot for confirmation and he just shrugged. “She likes to get her hands dirty.”
Beth quirked her lips into a smirk. “I think I like it more knowing that she works hard for all that money. That she’s not some rich, trust-fund bimbo who’s rich from doing absolutely nothing.”
Her sisters agreed with silent head nods.
Elliot stayed quiet, thinking about how hard Julia worked when she was in the middle of a project. Frankly, he didn’t even know what she was working on right now. They’d spent the last few weeks so immersed in each other that he hadn’t even thought to ask her about her work. He wondered what, in Julia’s eyes, her future held now that she’d sold her company.
“You still with us over there?” Logan interrupted.
He looked over and nodded. “Yeah, why? You want to get creamed again at football?”
Julia sat at the desk, in their luxurious suite, working furiously. She was grateful that Kelsey had brought some of her computers, knowing that something usually came up when it was least expected.
So, there she sat, three computers set up on the same desk, headphones on, completely engrossed in ironing out the glitches. Glitches was somewhat of a strong word. Frankly, it was user error that had caused the problem, but if it was so easy for a user to misuse the program, that was a problem.
Kelsey was on her phone and opening the door for one of the hotel staff who was graciously delivering a fax machine to the suite at their request. Her assistant was talking to Julia’s lawyer, who was talking to the conglomerate’s attorney, who was dealing with the company’s board trying to finalize the deal.
Julia’s fingers flew over the keyboard, writing code and entering numbers furiously. She then pushed a button and the screen flipped to one of her other computers to show what she had just changed. She was vaguely aware of shadows moving around her as she worked and assumed that the guys had returned from the beach.
She worked, back and forth, from computer to computer like that for some time. She didn’t even bother to look at the clock. Kelsey was on and off the phone, faxing back and forth and red-marking the documents, and sending them back to Julia’s attorney. Finally, much later than she anticipated, she fixed the final problem. She looked up, bleary-eyed and found Kelsey sitting on the edge of the coffee table, elbows on her knees, phone in hand.
“It’s done?” Kelsey asked.
Julia noted Tucker, Cole, and Elliot sitting on the sectional behind Kelsey along with Spencer and Alexa Walker watching the television quietly.
“Let’s see the final contracts and get some signatures,” Julia said, her throat parched.
Kelsey immediately got on her phone and walked away, and Julia smiled tiredly at Elliot. She noticed that not only was he wearing a suit, but so were the other men, and Alex was in a dress.
“Did we miss dinner?” Julia asked, hoping the answer was no. Tonight was the rehearsal dinner for the wedding and she’d secretly felt honored to be invited. She’d never been to a rehearsal dinner before.
Elliot sat across from her and nodded, letting her know that she had missed it, but he also smiled gently. His feelings weren’t hurt, but unfortunately, hers were. She hadn’t wanted to miss that dinner. She wanted to see what the tradition was all about. She wanted to know what happened, what kinds of toasts people made, how happy Beth and Logan looked together.
Elliot must have noted the expression on her face.
“Don’t worry about it, baby.” He reached across the desk and held her hand. “Everyone knew you were working.”
That did nothing to appease her.
“Okay.”
“You’re all done?” he asked.
“I’m done on my end. Kelsey’s waiting on papers from the attorney.”
“What are you working on?” he asked.
Julia’s head reared back in surprise. “The contractor software we’ve been building.”
Elliot seemed just as surprised. “I didn’t know you were still doing that,” he admitted. “You hadn’t said anything in so long.”
“I’d never give up. I told you guys I was finishing it,” she said. “I submitted it to a company and was waiting on an offer.”
“Oh,” he murmured. “I didn’t know.”
It was strange that he hadn’t known, but, if she hadn’t told him she was doing it, how would he ever know? It was just as much on her for not sharing as it was on him for not asking.
“It’s my fault,” she admitted. “I’m not always very forthcoming with what I’m doing.”
Elliot laughed. “It’s my fault too. Let’s not worry about it.”
“Contracts are in!” Kelsey shouted as she ran across the suite.
“Slow down before you kill yourself,” Tucker chided from the couch.
Kelsey paid no attention to him and handed Julia the papers with a smile.
“This is good,” Julia murmured, reading each page carefully. It was a great deal. It was more than she could have ever even hoped for. It was more than she’d imagined when she’d generated some pictures for her home remodel.
She looked up at Kelsey and smiled.
“Signature, notary, and courier,” Kelsey assumed.
“Absolutely.”
“I’ll get the pens,” Kelsey squealed and ran out of the room.
“You ready to share the details of this big deal you’ve got going on?” Elliot asked.
Julia stood and then looked to the couch, motioning Tucker and Cole to join them. When they did, along with Spencer and Alex, Julia spoke.
“Ready to sell your software?” she asked them.
“Seriously?” Cole asked. “I thought you’d forgotten about that.”
Julia’s scowled. “What is with you guys? I don’t give up.”
“You really found a buyer?” Tucker asked.
“A good one too,” Kelsey said as she came back in the room with four pens. “The hotel manager is a notary. He’s on his way up.”
“Should we, like, have a lawyer or something?” Cole asked.
“My lawyer is your lawyer,” Julia told them. “But if you want to have your own attorney to look this over that’s fine too,” she conceded.
Elliot was quietly flipping through the pages of the contract and suddenly sat down. It was long seconds before he looked up at her. “Is this for real?”
She nodded.
His brothers flipped to the end of the contract and had similar reactions. Kelsey let the manager in and without further hesitation, the Williams brothers signed their software away, sold to the highest bidder.
“So?” Alexa Walker asked. “What’s the big
to-do? Spill!”
“Williams Construction just sold a software program built by Julia Hawkins for seven million dollars,” Tucker said in a monotone, as if he just couldn’t wrap his head around it.
Julia put her hand on Elliot’s back in a show of silent support. He turned to look at her, thoughtful but definitely not angry. She wondered what he was thinking.
Later that night, well into Saturday, after making love, she and Elliot lay naked together in their hotel bed.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.
“About the deal?” she asked. “There wasn’t much to tell. It was just something I was working on. I thought you knew I was working on it.”
“I guess I did, in theory,” he admitted. “I just didn’t realize it would be so big.”
Julia rested her chin on his chest and watched him. “Are you mad?” she asked, still unsure of his mood.
“Mad—no,” he said. “I think blindsided is a better word. Not in a bad way, but just—blindsided.” Julia said nothing. “That’s like, almost two million dollars for each of us,” he marveled.
“No,” Julia told him. “The lawyers split it, two million for each of you, one for me.”
Elliot’s brow furrowed and he looked down at her. “What?” Now he looked a little mad. “We should all get a fair share.”
Julia sent him a look that told him he was being ridiculous. “Elliot, it’s not a big deal.”
“You did all the work,” he argued. “You should get most of the money.”
“I just did the build. You guys came up with all of the ideas,” she argued.
They went on arguing about who did more work and she found it kind of fun. After a few minutes, Elliot called her on it.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“I enjoy you,” she admitted, her lips turning up a little. “Even bickering with you.”
Elliot rolled her over and kissed her thoroughly, his hands lazily making their way up her body.
“I enjoy you too, Shorty. So much.”
“I feel like a different person,” she told him. “I feel alive now.”
He looked down at her, his expression tender. “I know just what you mean, baby.”
17
Everyone met the next morning, in the dining room, for breakfast, including the bride and groom together.
“Isn’t it bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other on the big day?” Cole asked, his mouth full of pancakes.
Logan looked lovingly at Beth. “Bethy and I make our own luck.”
Elliot took Julia’s hand under the table and squeezed. They made their own luck too. Sometimes, even when it seemed like life had the deck stacked against you, you kept playing.
Julia thought about the scars that lived so secretly underneath her tattoos. She was so incredibly grateful that she was still here.
“I’m sorry I missed dinner last night,” she told Logan and Beth uncomfortably. “I really wanted to be there.”
Beth waved away her apology. “No big deal. It was nothing exciting.”
“I’ve never been to a wedding rehearsal before. I wanted to see what it was like,” she told them honestly.
“Really?” Beth asked. “Never?”
Julia shook her head and pushed her fruit around her plate. Everyone was staring at her and it was making her slightly nauseous.
“So, did you hear we’re millionaires,” Cole blurted, drawing everyone’s attention. He caught her eye and winked.
They spent the rest of breakfast discussing the Williams’s newfound fortune, and the ins and outs of the software program. Julia found out then that the women, herself included, were scheduled to spend the entire morning and early afternoon at the spa before the main event that evening. The men were playing golf and planned to get ready in Julia’s suite, since it was the biggest.
She got herself massaged and washed, and a very brave stylist even took on the job of blowing out and straightening her hair. She sat in a state of awe as she watched the women talk and literally share everything about themselves with each other. It was such a realization to her that women were so nice.
“So, Julia.” Andrea stood behind her and looked at her in the mirror. “Tell us the truth. How in love with Elliot are you? On a scale of one to ten.”
This was her chance, Julia realized. To hide, like she always did or she could come clean, possibly make some friends.
She lifted her gaze and met Andy’s smiling face.
“Twenty,” she said.
“I knew it!” Kelsey laughed. “I’m the best matchmaker ever.”
When they were all finished in the salon and spa, they headed back to the elevators to get ready for the wedding.
“Are you nervous?” Julia asked Beth as they rode in the elevator.
Beth laughed. “God, no. I’m so ready to get this over with so we can just be married. We’re doing this wedding here for our favorite and closest family. In a month or two, we’re going to do a good old-fashioned barbecue at home in New Hampshire for all our friends to celebrate. Family, too—” she added. “You and Elliot are invited.”
Julia nodded. It seemed like a nice idea, getting married in a special ceremony in front of the people you cared about the most. It made her wonder, if she got married, who she would invite. Kelsey, her closest friend. Her father.
Was that really all she had? She imagined herself marrying Elliot with no one there for her while he had family surrounding him.
The elevator dinged when they got the Walker’s floor. “You guys will come back down, right? So we can all get ready together?” Beth asked hopefully.
“We’ll just grab our things and be right down,” Kelsey assured her.
Julia was quiet and distracted as they made their way to the suite.
“You okay?” Kelsey asked as she unlocked the door to their room.
Julia nodded without looking at her friend. She walked in and made a beeline to her bedroom.
“Jules?” Kelsey called after her.
Julia, not able to answer past the ridiculous lump of embarrassing emotion in her throat, threw her hand up in a backward wave and slammed the bedroom door behind her. She went into the closet under the pretense of finding her clothes and braced her hand against the doorframe, biting her lips between her teeth to hold in the overwhelming emotion.
She heard the door click open and soft footsteps behind her. Strong arms slipped around her waist from behind and Elliot pulled her to rest in the cradle of his chest.
“What’s the matter, Shorty?”
“It’s stupid,” she choked out. “And embarrassing.”
“Okay,” he said, holding her tighter. “I’m still listening.”
“Beth was saying that she and Logan are doing this wedding here just for their closest family.” Elliot nodded behind her and hummed his agreement. “It made me think…”
“Think what?” he asked quietly into her hair.
“I imagined what it would be like if you and I ever got married and only invited our families. I’d have no one.” Her voice was no more than a whisper.
Elliot turned her in his arms, leaning against the doorframe, cradling her body as she stood between his legs. He snaked a hand around her waist, the other running through her straight hair.
He smiled gently at her, understanding and warm. “Let’s start with the most important parts okay?”
Julia nodded, knowing that Elliot would tell her the truth. She trusted him to be honest with her. Always.
“You have family, Julia. You have me. My brothers and father will be your family. Plus, you have your dad and uncle and Kelsey.”
“My grandparents—” she started
“Forget them,” he told her firmly. “Family loves, Julia. They don’t hurt like that. You can’t let them keep doing that to you. You can’t let them take your happiness away. And I’d rather we say when.” He leaned in and kissed her gently.
“When what?” she asked against his lips.
/> “When we get married. I prefer to say when.”
“You do?”
He nodded, his intense gray stare penetrating. “You’re it for me, Julia. I’m going to ask you to marry me. You’re going to say yes.”
“I am?” she asked, warmth spreading from the smallest pinpoint in her heart and radiating all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes.
“You are,” he confirmed, his pinky touching the dimple in her cheek. “And then I’m going to be your family so it won’t matter who shows up to see us get married. As long as you and I are there, I don’t care about anyone else.”
Julia rested her head against his chest and squeezed him around the middle. “How do you always know the right thing to say?”
“Because I know you, babe,” he assured her. “Now, aren’t you supposed to be getting ready?”
She nodded and reached into the closet to grab a hanging bag which he promptly took from her.
“I guess we’re getting dressed in Beth’s room.”
He smiled a bit indulgently and nodded, taking her bag and walking her to the door where Kelsey was waiting. He assured her he’d meet her at the wedding and she and Kelsey headed downstairs. Kelsey, being an ever discreet confidante, said nothing about Julia’s freak out.
Kelsey knocked on Beth’s door and they were let in by Jenna, Andy’s daughter. Julia was surprised but pleased to be greeted with a hug. Beth and the other women were all dressed in robes with their hair in rollers. They chatted and drank champagne for a while until the stylist came back and started really styling the women’s hair. Julia easily put her hair into a fishtail braid and knotted it into a loose but stylish bun.
“Want me to help you into your dress?” Kelsey asked.
When Julia looked at her assistant, she noticed her designer knee-length dress, black on top and aqua on the bottom.
“Oh Kelsey, that dress is so beautiful on you,” she told her. Kelsey seemed surprised at the compliment but gave her a happy thank you without more comment. They went into the bathroom and Kelsey helped her get her dress buttoned up the back. When she came out, she wondered if she was overdressed when she noticed the women staring, openmouthed.
Elliot: The Williams Brothers Page 24