Daring Attraction

by Melanie Shawn

  “Hey.” Cole placed his hand on her shoulder, and just the feel of her soft skin sent a lightning bolt of sensation shooting up his arm.

  Julianna jumped in surprise beneath his touch. Then she spun around and met his gaze.

  He held out his hand. “Dance with me.” It wasn’t a question.

  “I just got my food,” she said nervously as she gestured to her plate, which hardly had any food on it.

  Other than his left brow rising in challenge, Cole didn’t respond to her excuse.

  “Fine,” Julianna agreed, although she didn’t look happy about it or take his hand.

  As they wove their way through the white linen covered tables, their bodies kept coming into contact, and he could see by the pink flush rising up her chest that it was affecting her as much as it was him. When he rested his hand on her lower back, the feeling that he had everything he could ever want or need in the palm of his hand swelled up in him again.

  Several other couples were dancing, but the floor was fairly empty. The second their feet hit the wood, right on cue, Bell Biv DeVoe’s “Poison” started playing. Julianna whipped around so fast to look up at him that her hair slapped his shoulder as it fanned out. She was smiling from ear to ear.

  “You didn’t.”

  “I did,” he confirmed as he grabbed her hand, spun her out, and then brought her back again. “You looked like you needed a dance party.”

  Before the first chorus even started, half the room was on their feet and joining Cole and Julianna on the dance floor. There were people shoulder to shoulder. Apparently, Julianna was not the only fan of ’90s hip hop.

  When the second song began, recognition dawned on Julianna’s face. “Is this your playlist?” she asked loudly to be heard over the music.

  Cole nodded as he busted out his Running Man. Several of his teammates were doing much better Kid N’ Play Kicks than he’d ever been able to master. Looking around at the dance floor, he saw that everyone seemed to be having a good time. Even the kids were busting a move.

  Julianna danced. Laughed. And Cole watched her while he tried to keep up.

  When the music slowed and the first notes of Keith Sweat’s “I’ll Give All My Love To You” drifted through the air, Cole pulled Julianna into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed as her body molded to his. When she rested her head against his chest, Cole knew he needed to talk to her, but he was afraid to break the spell they both seemed to be under.

  “I’ve missed you,” he whispered as he kissed the top of her hair.

  “I’ve missed you, too.”

  He could barely hear her over the music, especially since she wasn’t looking up at him, but that didn’t change the fact that his soul had heard those words loud and clear. As they moved in silence together, his hands ran up and down her back. Trying to talk to her out here was not going to happen, so he hoped she felt what he was attempting to communicate.

  That hope was smashed like a plate at a Greek wedding when he felt Julianna’s body tense and she pulled away from him, not meeting his stare.

  “I’m sorry, Cole. I can’t do this.”

  “Why?” He didn’t want to let her go until she answered him.

  Then her golden-brown eyes met his and he saw the look of misery and panic in them. Dropping his arms, he watched as she walked quickly off the dance floor. The second he was no longer holding her, he felt lost. Lost and alone in a room full of people he knew and lost at the stadium, which was the only place that had ever felt like home to him.

  If Julianna was going to walk out of his life for good, there was nothing he could do about it. But that wasn’t going to stop him from trying.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Julianna twisted her hair nervously and tapped her foot on the floor as she sat on the edge of her bed, staring at her phone. She hadn’t put it down since she’d sent Cole her text. So far, there’d been no response. She knew he was leaving for training camp today, and there was a pretty good chance that he was already gone.

  Two hours ago, she’d texted him saying that she had lied and knew he really knew her and loved her. That she did love him. That she was scared, but she wanted to give them a chance. Her heart sank at that thought that maybe her response was too little too late.

  Over the two weeks since the awards reception, where she’d freaked out on the dance floor, Cole had been texting and calling a few times every day. Most of his messages had been funny and creative ways to let her know that he was thinking of her and missed her.

  He’d sent her a meme of the comedy and tragedy masks with the words “My Life With Julianna and Anthony” in a ribbon above the comedy mask and the words “My Life Without Julianna and Anthony” in a ribbon over the tragedy mask. He’d sent her funny texts that said things like, “Just in case you were wondering…I love you.” And he’d even sent a fake news story titled, “Breaking News: Cole Carson Found Love with Julianna Perez.” Then there were several paragraphs in the article that was their story. He’d also left a voice message that said that he would wait as long as it took, until she was ready to stop being scared. Then another in which he sounded miserable where he’d just asked her to call him back.

  Some of his texts and messages had made her laugh. Some had made her cry. But she hadn’t answered any of them. Until two hours ago.

  After setting her phone down, she dumped the pile of laundry on her bed and tried to stop obsessing over waiting for Cole to text her back. As she picked up one of Anthony’s shirts, she wondered if this was how Cole had felt when she hadn’t responded to him. That thought made her feel horrible.

  Her not answering Cole had had nothing to do with him and everything to do with her. That night on the dance floor, when Cole had pulled her into his arms, it hadn’t just been her body that had responded to him. It had been her soul, her mind, and her heart. With one dance, all of the sadness, fear, and worry she’d been feeling had disappeared.

  That had freaked her out enough in and of itself, but when she’d opened her eyes and seen Cole’s teammates, his mother, and Anthony and his friends watching them, she’d felt so on display. So embarrassed. So ridiculous. She’d had flashes of herself on those sites she’d seen Cole with other women on and she’d panicked. The walls had felt like they’d been closing in on her. When she’d gotten back to her table, she’d looked through her purse to see if she’d had a paper bag to breathe into. Luckily, her hyperventilation passed and she and Anthony left soon after the dancing incident. The only thing Anthony had asked her on the way home was if she was okay, and he hadn’t brought it up since.

  After she finished folding a pile of shirts, she checked her phone again even though she’d promised herself she wouldn’t. No missed calls. No texts.

  Picking up a pile of scrubs, Julianna tried not to think about the possibility that taking the time she’d needed to figure things out had cost her the best thing—besides Anthony—that had ever happened to her. After days and weeks of trying to figure out why she had been so against trying any kind of relationship with Cole, it had been an early morning porch session with Megan that had finally made Julianna see what the problem was.

  Fear. That was what all of her “reasons” for not being with Cole were based on. Fear that he would get bored. Fear that he would hurt her. Fear that he would leave.

  Megan had faithfully listened to her go on and on while she’d detailed every reason she and Cole could not be together, most of which centered on Anthony and wanting to create a stable life for him. Then she finally asked Julianna if living a life making fear-based decisions was really the example she wanted to set for her son.

  Before Julianna had even had a chance to process that pearl of wisdom, Megan had hit her with a one-two punch of her own and said that, no matter what happened between Cole and Julianna, Anthony would be fine because he would always have his mom. Nothing would ever change that. Julianna was Anthony’s stability no matter what the circumstances.

  That littl
e “aha” moment had happened at sunrise that morning, and Julianna had written and rewritten about forty versions of the text she’d finally sent since then.

  “Mom!” Anthony yelled as he ran into her room out of breath from playing outside. “Can I see your phone? I need to add some stuff to the list.”

  “Yeah.” Julianna picked up her phone, which had zero alerts of any missed messages, and handed it to her son.

  He typed for a few seconds and then threw the device on her bed before running out of her room, saying over his shoulder, “Thanks, Mom!”

  “What do we have to get?” she called after him, but he didn’t answer.

  Oh well. At least he was actually adding to the list now instead of just telling her what he needed. If she could only have one of the two, she’d definitely take the latter.

  Picking up her phone, she scrolled down her to-do list and saw the entries Anthony had added. One said, “Go to the living room.” The second said, “Pick a ring.”

  “Anthony?” Julianna called out as she walked out of her room and down the hall. “What is this? Why do you need a rin—”

  The phone slipped from Julianna’s hand when she saw Cole on one knee, holding a black jewelry board with four incredible rings on it. Behind him stood Anthony, Megan, Cameron, Robbie—who was holding Chloe—and Cole’s mother, Hillary, who was standing with the middle-aged man Julianna had seen her with at the reception.

  “What is…? What are you…? What the…?” Julianna couldn’t breathe. Her legs were shaking like leaves, and her hands were trembling uncontrollably.

  “Sooooo, I got your text.” Cole grinned, his sexy bad-boy grin. “Sorry I didn’t get a chance to text you back. I was busy.” He motioned behind him. Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and touched the screen.

  A second later, Julianna’s phone buzzed on the ground. Glancing down, she picked it up as tears filled her bottom lids and a smile spread across her face.

  Cole: I love you, too. As far as trying to be together, I have one condition. Marry me.

  Julianna put her hand over her mouth as she lifted her head and looked into Cole’s emerald-green eyes.

  “I love you, Julianna Perez. I know that your life has not been easy, and I can’t promise that everything is always going to be perfect, but I’ve heard I make a pretty good teammate.”

  Anthony laughed, and the rest of the room chuckled.

  “I promise that I will live every day being the best husband and the best father I can be. I’m all in. You and Anthony are my life. So I was wondering if you would make me the happiest man on Earth and let me put a ring on it. Julianna Perez. Will. You. Marry. Me?”

  “Yes,” Julianna squeaked out. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  The room exploded in cheers, and Cole was on his feet and had Julianna in his arms before she’d even gotten the second yes out. Then he spun her around and held her so tight that she couldn’t breathe. But that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Cole was here, he loved her and Anthony, and she was going to be his wife.

  As he set her down, she looked up at him. “I can’t believe… How did you… This was…”

  “Good?” Cole asked, his eyes shining with tears as he brushed back strands of hair that had fallen in her face.

  “Good.” Julianna nodded, smiling the biggest she’d ever smiled, as tears flowed from her eyes.

  For the first time in her life, with Cole by her side, Julianna knew that her and Anthony’s future was…good.

  Epilogue

  The tap, tap, tap of Julianna’s heel on the hardwood floor echoed off the taupe walls. She sat staring at a reflection that she barely recognized in front of a vanity mirror that had been set up in the media room at Cole’s and now her and Anthony’s house. Twisting her hair, she bit her inner lip as she tried her best to quiet the noise that was in her head.

  Today was her wedding day. The day she’d never dreamed of as a little girl, and as an adult never really believed would come, was here. She and Cole were having a small intimate ceremony in the backyard. Cole had wanted to do something bigger and Julianna had just wanted to go to the courthouse, so they’d reached a middle ground. They’d both learned the art of compromise over the last six weeks.

  Everything over the last three months had happened at warp speed. It was twelve weeks ago to the day that she’d met Cole. Once Cole had proposed and she’d accepted, he’d basically put them on a bullet train speeding towards the aisle. She’d quickly learned that once Cole Carson, who would be her husband in the next hour, wanted something, he put blinders on and plowed ahead through any and every obstacle that stood in his way. Julianna had always been a take things slow kind of gal. She needed to analyze, take her time, process.

  Somehow though, as fast as time had flown by, she felt like she’d known her soon-to-be husband for a lifetime. It seemed impossible, but it was her reality. Cole was her other half, and as of yesterday he was legally Anthony’s adopted father. Cole had insisted that he didn’t just want to be Anthony’s step-father—his father because he was married to Anthony’s mother. He wanted to legally be his father—in addition to marrying Julianna. So Anthony would always know Cole chose to be his father, just like he was choosing to be Julianna’s husband. Julianna had agreed but thought that she’d be much more nervous about handing over half of her rights as a parent to Cole. That hadn’t been the case. The second she’d written her signature on the document, a flash flood of relief had washed over her.

  Anthony didn’t just have a new dad, he had grandparents. A family. Those were two things that Julianna had never dreamed that she could give her son. Hillary and Ralph had been at the courthouse when the lawyer had filed the adoption papers. They’d taken pictures and all gone out to lunch afterwards.

  Yesterday she’d been as calm as could be. Today, she was a basket case.

  “Put the hair down,” Megan said slowly, imitating the way that cop shows depicted police officers saying ‘put the gun down.’

  Julianna let out a small laugh as she unwound her finger from her hair. She could see her friend standing in the doorway in the reflection of the mirror. Megan was wearing a peach, strapless tea length dress and her curly blonde hair was pulled up in a loose bun on top of her head. She and Cole’s wedding party consisted of Megan, who was Julianna’s matron of honor and Alex Dare, who was Cole’s best man.

  “You look like beyond gorgeous.” Tears filled Megan’s eyes as she walked towards Julianna. When she reached her, she began fixing the mess that Julianna’s nervous habit had made of the soft curls flowing around her shoulders. “But, you are going to be walking down the aisle with dreads if you keep up this twisting.”

  “I know,” Julianna wasn’t sure where all of her anxiety was coming from.

  Setting her hands on the wood table top, she saw that her hands were shaking.

  “Hey sweetie, I just wanted to pop in real quick and say hi before all of the excitement.” Hillary entered the room and shut the door quietly and crossed the room. Then leaned down and embraced Julianna in an all-encompassing hug.

  Julianna held onto her and realized that the Carsons’ hugging ways were really beginning to grow on her. She’d never been a big hugger, but there really was something comforting about the gesture that she was discovering she loved.

  Pulling back, Hillary looked right into Julianna’s eyes asking sincerely, “How are you doing? Really?”

  Julianna felt tears start to pool in her eyes. She could feel the concern that was radiating from Hillary. “Overwhelmed.”

  A knowing expression crossed Hillary’s face. “I know how you feel. I had so many jitters that I almost didn’t make it down the aisle when I married Ralph.”

  “Why?” From what Julianna had seen, Ralph and Hillary were like peanut butter and jelly. She couldn’t imagine what could have caused Hillary to have second thoughts.

  “It just seemed so scary to tie my life to someone. Giving anyone any kind of control was u
nthinkable to me.”

  “How did you…what did you…”

  Hillary’s lips turned up in a smile as she glanced downwards. “When the panic took hold, I was about to call the whole thing off and I sat down and thought about what that would look like the following morning, and all the mornings after that, if I walked away from Ralph. And I realized that having total control of everything in my life, even though it was what I was used to, was isolating and lonely. When it came down to it, going to bed alone, waking up alone, and going through life alone was not what I wanted. Not when I had a man that I loved and trusted who was waiting to make me his wife.”

  Julianna took in what Hillary had told her. The truth was she couldn’t imagine spending her life without Cole. As terrified as she was about tying her life to someone else, the alternative was unthinkable.

  “Anyway, enough about me. Do you have something borrowed and blue?” Hillary asked.

  “Oh…um, no.” Julianna hadn’t even thought about that. In all of her lists, she’d totally spaced on the something new, something borrowed, something blue.

  “Well,” Hillary reached into her small handbag and pulled out a tattered piece of baby blue materiel. “This is the last piece of Cole’s baby blanket, the one that I took him home from the hospital in. I wore it in my shoe on my wedding day, as my something blue, to remind me how far I’d come, and I thought you might want to wear it, too.”

  Julianna nodded as a tear fell down her cheek. As she slipped off her shoe and slid the cotton square in, she felt an overwhelming sense of rightness. Anthony wasn’t the only one gaining a family, she was too.

  The door opened, “Ready, Mom? It’s time.” Anthony stopped in the doorway and his jaw dropped. “Wow, you look really pretty.”

  “Thanks, bud,” she stood up and turned toward her son. He was wearing a dark gray suit and Julianna couldn’t believe how grown up he looked. He’d grown at least two inches over the summer. “You look so handsome.”

  Megan and Hillary said their goodbyes and rushed to go take their seats.