by Len Webster
“Olive you, Stephanie,” he breathed against her lips.
Her hands rested on his chest before she pushed him off her and laughed. “Seriously? I’m reconsidering my offer of spending the weekend together.”
The smile on his face quickly vanished. “The hell you are. Come into Max’s place and sit while I pack a few things.” Julian let her go and went to the door. When he reached it, he paused and peered at her from over his shoulder. “Don’t knock the fruit puns, Blondie. You love them.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “You’re such an idiot.”
“Yeah. And you’re in love with me,” he said as he opened the door and entered the apartment.
“That I am,” she whispered to herself as she smiled and followed him into Max’s.
“Stephanie, your phone is ringing!” Julian yelled from the kitchen.
Stevie quickly ran from her bedroom and towards the kitchen. She was lucky she hadn’t tripped over the small weekend bag Julian had stolen from Max. When she reached the island bench, she had just managed to pick up the call.
“Hello,” she said breathlessly into the speaker.
“Hey, how are things?” Clara asked with a lot more cheeriness than this morning at the airport.
Stevie climbed onto the barstool and let out a heavy sigh. “Good. Are you and Noel doing okay?”
There was silence for a moment then Clara also let out a heavy sigh. “Yep. We talked out the whole Liam issue. It’s not really an issue. Noel knows I’d never leave him. He just wants to help me get over my guilt.”
“Let me guess, the make-up sex was amazing?” Stevie asked humorously.
Julian quickly turned away from the stove and raised a brow. “Tell her we need details or it didn’t happen.”
“Julian!” Stevie exclaimed and threw the tea towel at him. He caught it with ease and smirked at her. Then Julian rested his elbows on the bench and studied her. Stevie squinted at him and had her index finger to her lips to signal him to be quiet. The roll of his eyes was the response she received.
“Well, that sounds promising,” Clara remarked.
“Don’t overthink it, Parker,” Stevie warned. “We’re figuring things out.”
“Clara, she said she loves me!” Julian said, loud enough for Stevie to hear Clara gasp. Then he stood up, rounded the bench, and set his hands on the base of Stevie’s neck.
“You told him you loved him?” Clara asked, astonished.
“Hang up,” Julian whispered before he dipped his head and placed a wet kiss on her neck, then another before he ghosted his lips up and down her neck.
“Clara, I’m gonna—” Julian took her phone from her and hung up on Clara. Just as she was about to tell him off for ending her call with her best friend, Julian set her phone on the bench and lunged for her lips. The feel of his mouth on hers was sheer, untainted relief.
“Wrap your legs around me, Blondie,” he instructed, and she did. Julian let out a groan as he lifted her up off the stool.
Stevie’s hands held his face as her lips travelled to his jaw and then back at his mouth. Her need for him was great. Her need for release was even greater. She couldn’t help but grind against him, needing to feel him. Julian’s fingers dug into the back of her thighs as he walked her around the bench and then sat her on top of it. Panting, he broke contact long enough for him to twist and turn off the stove.
“We can’t have sex here,” she said breathlessly.
Julian faced her and tilted his head, confused. “We can’t?”
She shook her head. “For several reasons.”
“Like?”
“Well, for one, Noel and Clara had sex on this bench. Two, I’m not a big fan of cold surfaces. And three, you’re making dinner.”
Julian hummed as he settled his hands on her knees and spread her legs a fraction wider. Then he let his fingers trail up her thighs. His groan of approval met her shiver.
“I’m going to counter your arguments with my own. One, I don’t give a shit where Noel and Clara have sex. My thoughts are always about you. Just you. Two, we’re doing this in your bed. Three, I’m a shit cook. I was winging it. So, we should probably order takeout. And four…”
“Four?” she squeaked when he gripped her waist and slammed her body against his.
“We’re not having sex, Blondie. Not even gonna fuck,” he groaned.
Stevie bit her lip before she released it and breathed, “Oh?”
“I’m going to make love to you.”
She scrunched her nose at him then she burst out laughing.
“What?”
“Nothing.” She pressed her lips together, but she couldn’t help another belt of laughter that escaped.
“Seriously? What?” he asked in a panic.
Stevie looped her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the lips. When she broke the slow, intimate kiss, she reached up and brushed his hair back. “I love you, but for some reason, the way you just said we’d make love really didn’t hit the mark. It reminded me of Boyz II Men’s ‘I’ll Make Love To You.’”
“Jesus Christ.” Julian pursed his lips and glanced up at the ceiling. Moments later, his eyes met hers. “Do-over?”
She nodded.
He exhaled. “Stephanie Appleton, tonight I’m going to find out what makes you feel pleasure. I also want tonight to cement that spot in your heart forever. I want to not only please you and your body, but I’d like to make your heart mine. I want to be intimate with you because being inside you makes me forget about all the years I’ve spent away from you. Being with you, whether inside you or having your lips on mine, makes me feel like I’ve finally found my home.”
Stevie silently gasped.
“Am I wooing you, yet?” he asked in a low voice. It instantly brought her back to Thailand and the night they gazed at the stars. The way he had described the water was beautiful. At that moment, she had promised herself that Julian would be her first.
“Kiss me and we’ll see,” she said, quoting herself from four years ago.
The smile on Julian’s face told her that he remembered, too. He inched his lips closer and was just a fraction from touching hers when he whispered, “Now I get to make memories where you love me. And I can honestly say, Stephanie, that I look forward to the best memories of my life. I love you. I loved you under those billion stars I kissed you under.”
She tightened her arms around his neck and said in a soft voice, “I love you, too, whether under a billion stars or the brightness of the sun, I love you, Julian Moors.”
No truer words had ever left her lips than at that moment.
“Blondie, wake up for a second,” Julian whispered in her ear.
Stephanie groaned and shrugged away from his touch. “Could you maybe put your erection away?”
He peeked over to see her eyes still closed and her cheek rested on the back of her hand. Julian shook her once again. “You’re naked. Are you always this distracting in the morning? I’d like to wake up just once without a hard-on.”
“Julian, I’m going to give you something for your ego.” She pulled the blanket higher, covering her perfect breasts.
Her breasts are magic.
Perfect rack.
Ducking down, he pressed his lips against the smoothness of her neck. “My ego is ready.”
“I bet it is.” Stephanie took a deep breath. “You are annoyingly good at sex. Go to work and let me somehow deal with the fact that I like having sex with you. Okay?”
Julian had smiled against her skin before he quickly sat up. “Blondie, Blondie, Blondie!” he honeyed while he shook her with more force.
Stephanie groaned before she finally sat up and rubbed her eyes. Pissed off Stephanie Appleton was a sight. So was just woken and admitted he was a satisfying lover Stephanie Appleton. She was an all-round vision. “WHAT?”
Julian formed a fist and held it towards her, waiting. She glanced down at it and frowned. Her adorable frown distracted him from the fact that h
er breasts greeted him this morning.
“Put it there.” He lifted his fist a little higher.
Stephanie’s eyebrows furrowed. “You want me to bump fists with you? Why?”
The smirk on his face had caused her to roll his eyes at him. “You said I’m good at sex. I like to believe I’m awesome at it, but we’ll save that kind of correction for later. You said you also like having sex with me. My ego loves that very much. And for your ego, I’m gonna tell ya that you are ridiculously good in bed. We have to bump fists for great teamwork. I come. You come. We come. What a lovely partnership we have going.”
“Oh, my God! I am never having sex with you again!”
He tilted his chin up at her and then cocked a brow. “What an empty threat. Seriously, put it there. Let’s celebrate what an awesome pair we are.”
Stephanie playfully pushed at his shoulder and got off the bed. “You’re an idiot. I am not bumping fists with you for that. I’m going to find a way to dent that damn ego of yours. You’re going to slip up sometime, Moors. You can’t be that great in bed all the time.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Julian nodded along with her until she pursed her lips at him. “Or maybe I’m just really great at making love to you. You know, I could be absolute shit with other women. Have you ever thought about that?”
The way the bright morning light hit the side of her face was truly glorious. It reminded him of Thailand and all the mornings he woke up to her. Her hair shimmered and a lovely pink tinted her cheeks. The kind of pink an artist takes his time making by mixing a precise amount of white and red paint on a palette. Julian couldn’t help but wish he were an artist to find that perfect colour her cheeks made. If he could, then he’d paint every wall of her apartment in that Stephanie colour.
Stephanie crawled onto his lap and straddled him. Then her arms looped around his neck and her breasts pressed against his chest. His hardness pressed against her and throbbed. God, did he love the way her eyes glossed over and her lips relaxed. Loved every faint mole and freckle. Loved every strand of her blonde hair. Loved every inch of her skin. Loved every word that passed her lips and every smile she had and would make.
I’m that in love with Stephanie Appleton.
“I doubt you were that terrible in bed with other women, Julian. Trust me, if you even gave them half the attention you gave me, then they were very lucky.” Then Stephanie dropped her right hand and let her index finger trace circles on his chest, above his heart. “But this.” She tapped his chest twice with her finger. “I’m hoping you never give this to any other woman. I want this. I don’t deserve it just yet, but I want to end up being worth you trusting me with your heart. I don’t want to let you down, Julian. Any more than I already have. I’m not saying I’ll be perfect, but I’m trying. I want to earn this. I want to be deserving of every beat of my name your heart makes. I love that you love me. I love that I love you. And I love that you see the good in me that I don’t.”
Oh, fuck me, do I love this woman.
“Stephanie, tell me you love me,” he whispered and held onto her hips.
She took a deep breath and let her palms trail up his neck and to his cheeks, ensuring his eyes never left hers. “I love you so much that I’m terrified of it,” she said in a low voice.
He kissed her softly. There was no game. She gave up all her fighting the day she had said she loved him. Now, her lips tasted of vulnerability and love. It was different. He felt it in the way she kissed and breathed. It was love. He knew it. Julian broke their contact and let his forehead rest against hers, panting.
“Can I make love to you, Stephanie? I need to feel your love.”
She nodded. “Make love to me,” she breathed before her hands brought his lips crashing into hers.
Julian rolled them over so that her head hit the pillows. Every kiss, every swipe of her tongue, and her panting drove him wilder, needier. Just for her. Only ever for her. His left hand left her hip and reached for the bedside table until foil met his fingertips. When he grasped it in his palm, Julian propped himself up his knees and gazed down at her. He brought the condom packet to his teeth and ripped it open. Then he breathed out and rolled it down his hard length before he settled between her thighs.
His lips had met hers for a second before he mumbled, “I love you, my Stephanie. My whole heart, all my love, and my entire life are yours.” He thrust his hips and entered her, connecting them, and finding that one place where his heart had found a home.
“Swish! Nothing but net!” Julian hollered and threw his fist in the air.
“To think the newest VP throws scrunched up paper balls into rubbish bins on company time,” Mona interrupted, shaking her head.
Julian leant back in his brand new leather chair, in his brand new office, and grinned at her. He waved his hand to the free chair in front of him and said, “Please, Mona, take a seat.” Then he crossed his arms over his chest.
“I’m good with standing. You’re wasting paper,” she pointed out.
“Nah. It’s drafts of some awful contract that was sitting in one of these desk drawers,” he explained. “Don’t worry, that’s my recycling bin. I love the Earth too much, Mona. You’re gonna have to stress less, my friend.”
Mona had observed him with squinted eyes before she sighed. “How did you become a VP?”
“I don’t know. Lucky, I suppose. But I’m wondering how you’re just a mentor and not sitting in the very chair my ass is comfortable in.” Julian untangled his arms and set his hands on the cherry oak desk. Leaning forward, he shot a brow at her.
“Not VP material, by the looks of things,” she stated with a little sass in her voice.
Julian chuckled. “Mona, I haven’t taken the job. I’m still the consultant and I’m consulting in this office since it was free.”
Her brows met. “You’re tossing paper in a bin. That hardly seems like consulting to me. You should be writing a report on what you think will get us a competitive advantage over our competitors.”
“Are you trying to mentor me?” he teased with a grin.
“You’re annoying. How does Appleton stand you?”
His grin turned into a megawatt smile laced with pride. “I wear her down.”
“I bet.” Mona let out a dry laugh as she backed out of Julian’s temporary office.
When the glass door closed, Julian leant back and stared at the ceiling. Being a VP meant a secured job in Melbourne. Otherwise, he’d have to return to Sydney to Tara’s firm. That or quit and stay in Melbourne with Stephanie. Sydney was out of the question. He’d resign. He was sure of that. All he knew was that he wanted to move back to be with his family and Stephanie permanently. He couldn’t run the risk of losing her again. Not when she had just expressed her love to him. He’d have to find a way to bottle up that love and keep it forever. Ensure it never slipped through his fingers and be given to someone else. Rogers had offered Julian the deal of a lifetime. But it didn’t seem right. The advertising firm didn’t fit him. Or he was using it as an excuse. Rogers was an accomplished businessman, but Julian had never liked being dictated or controlled. Working for Tara had been more than enough for him.
The sounds of birds chirping filled the office. Hearing it made the smile return to his face and Julian reached into his pocket and retrieved his phone.
Stephanie: Hmmmmm.
He laughed at her very descriptive message.
Julian: .... ?
Stephanie: Sorry. I’m bored. You’re probably the last person I should be texting, but unfortunately, I’m lonely. My best friend is on her honeymoon, and my other clueless friend is married to my brother. So you’re my last resort.
Julian: Ah, yes. Priorities. Glad that I’m your first option, Apple-ton.
Stephanie: I know. Don’t you feel the love?
Julian: I felt it this morning ;) Miss your moans, Blondie. I also miss your ‘OH MY JULIAN!’ You say the sweetest things.
Stephanie: More like I say the stup
idest things when you’re buried in me. If anyone read this, then they’d be appalled at our terrible attempts at sexting.
Julian: I’m not into sexting.
Stephanie: WHAT?! I thought you’d be all for it.
A sly smile crossed his lips. To say blood did not travel south would be an understatement. Turned on as hell would be putting it mildly. This woman.
Julian: I’d rather DO the things than describe them. Like for example: I could tell you how badly I want to undress you. Slowly. How much I want to kiss that one spot under your ear that makes you shiver. How much I want to watch you come apart. How much I want you to moan my name and your nails to rake down my back. I could text you all those. Or I could do all that and more when I come home.
Stephanie Appleton induced hard-ons are uncomfortable as fuck.
Julian waited but she hadn’t quickly replied like she had to his previous text messages.
Julian: Blondie?
Julian: Blondieeeee?
Julian: Stephanie I-don’t-know-your-middle-name Appleton, you message me back!
Julian: Did that make me sound needy?
Julian: I am pretty needy. Are you sore from this morning? Four times is a record for us. Definitely worth being late for that meeting.
Julian: Should I send you a voice note of me singing Boyz II Men?
Julian: Stephanie, it’s been like twenty minutes. You have five minutes to text me back or I’m sending you that voice note. I’ve actually Googled the lyrics. Get ready!
Julian: I’m thinking about asking one of the marketers, probably Dwight, to sing backup. It’s going to be beautiful.
Julian: Please don’t make me sing “I’ll Make Love To You.” I love you and you love me, remember?