by Grady, D. R.
Julia dried her hands and made for the door out of the lab. She hurried down the hall and rapped once to announce her arrival.
“Come in,” Mallen called.
She stepped into his office to find him with the phone pressed between a shoulder and ear, a stack of papers on his desk, with his harried assistant shoving more documents on his desk before his massive torso disappeared under the desk. “Are you sure, Lambert? I don’t see anything like that under here.”
Julia crossed the room to determine if she could see what he wasn’t.
His body reemerged from the well and he looked at her suspiciously. “Do you know where the printer port is on this computer?” He spoke around the phone.
“I’ll find it. I’ll also fit under there better than you.” She wiggled her fingers for the phone.
“Lambert, Julia’s going to look for it.”
“I’ll take care of this. You do whatever else needs done here.” She indicated the teetering stacks on his desk with a wave.
Mallen handed the phone over. “His name is Warren Lambert.”
“Hello, Warren Lambert, I’m Julia McNeal. I should warn you, I have experience at this.”
“Great, now she tells me,” Mallen muttered and she ruffled his hair as she passed him and disappeared under his desk.
“Hi Julia, call me Warren.”
“Thanks. What am I supposed to do?” She located the back of Mallen’s CPU.
“Can you tell which cable is the printer cable?”
“Give me a minute,” she responded and started to back out of the space. Mallen handed a flashlight over her shoulder and she gratefully took the light. She patted what she hoped was his knee.
“Okay, here’s what I need you to do....”
Fifteen minutes later, Julia had the printer problems fixed with help from Warren and she finally took Mallen’s hand and yanked him out of his office.
“I should have never let you go to your office,” she grumbled.
“But I still have phone calls to make,” Mallen protested as Julia tugged him down the hall.
“You also have to go into town.”
“But I need to verify—” he started and she stopped, pushed him against the wall and laid a big ole kiss on him.
When they finally broke apart, she sent him a cheeky grin. “Let’s go to town.”
“Okay.” He blinked. “Let’s do that, I can’t think of anything I need to do here.”
“Exactly.”
“It’s not like you don’t get caught up in your work,” he scolded as the love daze slowly faded from his eyes and he took her hand.
“Of course I don’t.” She swung their hands, happy to be with him.
His eyebrows soared. “Right, I could set off a bomb right beside you and you’d never hear the explosion.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe? I am right.” He tweaked her nose. She bumped him from the side, which didn’t even set him off course. She curled a lip in disgust. He laughed at her efforts and that only incited her more.
Julia pinched his bottom.
“Hey!” Julia took off for the garage at an easy clip, victorious laughter billowing behind her.
He set off after her, admiring her running form, she hoped. A moment later, he offered a low wolf whistle and that made her laugh and warmed her too. She doubted she’d ever get used to this man finding her attractive.
With her head start, since he stopped to ogle, she kept ahead of him. He nearly ran her over when she abruptly stopped directly in front of him. He managed to catch her before she tumbled to the floor. Julia barely noticed he plowed into her. Instead, she stood transfixed at the sight of his vehicle.
“You have a big, bright yellow SUV.”
“Yes.”
She held out her hand. “Keys.”
Mallen’s eyebrow ascended but he obligingly fished them out and dropped them into her palm.
“I’ve been lusting after these babies since this model came out.” She all but rubbed her palms together as she crawled into the driver’s seat.
“I chose this vehicle for a couple of reasons.”
She watched him crawl into the passenger seat and nodded. “It offers plenty of leg room.”
“One of only a few vehicles I can actually stretch my legs out in. But this model is also hard to flip, which is important. They’re basically all terrain, which I need when I travel. Some parts of Sandovia are quite remote, and if they are snowed in, I can still get to everyone. The bright color makes it difficult to lose, of course.”
While they talked, she moved the seat up, changed the mirrors and fastened her seat belt. “I just moved your seat and mirrors.”
“I noticed,” he ran a finger down her nose. “While Mom won’t drive this, Giselle and several of our help do. It’s rare to find it in the garage, and apparently going to be harder now.” He sounded gloomy.
“Yep,” she agreed. “What a great car. I was going to buy one of those mini, bulldog stance cars the night you and Giselle kidnapped me.”
He made a sound of disgust.
She laughed. He definitely wouldn’t fit.
“Just drive us into town, safely, okay?”
“Right, Chief.” Julia saluted.
He ruffled her hair. She followed his directions and as they turned a corner, she gasped.
“Welcome to Sandovia City.” He watched her reaction.
Mallen took pleasure in the excitement, reverence, awe, and happiness crossing her face in a myriad of expressions. Her eyes lit on the stone courthouse and the smart shops lining the main street. Then they bounced to the park benches and trees and planters brimming with winter foliage. Her eyes glowed as she turned to him. “This is gorgeous.”
“We love it,” he replied contently. “I have a meeting at the courthouse. You’re welcome to join me…” Mallen realized he’d lost her.
She reached out and snagged his cell phone. She tapped the screen and then turned to stare out the window. He enjoyed watching her.
“Giselle?” she asked into the phone. “I’m in town with Mallen. You are not going to believe the dress I’m staring at. It’s perfect.”
He sighed. Long ago he had learned not to stand in the way of women bent on shopping.
“The name of the shop is Raquel’s Boutique. You need to come try this on, the dress is amazing.” She sounded breathless.
“No, I’ll wrestle anyone to the floor who even thinks of trying on your dress,” she agreed with a big grin. “Sweet.” Julia disconnected the call and returned his phone.
“Thanks.”
“You’re not sweet,” she corrected, pinching his cheek. “You’re a brat.”
“I don’t think so.” He tumbled her into his lap. She initiated the kiss.
“The problem is you’re addictive.” Julia sighed when their lips finally parted.
He frowned. “I don’t see a problem.”
“And you’re too kissable by half,” she continued, planting kisses all over his happy face.
“Again, not a problem.” His voice was hoarse with desire.
“Much too gorgeous for your own good.” She settled her hands on either side of his head and kissed his lips again. This time, he secured her head and opened his mouth. She whimpered. He coaxed her mouth open and surged inside, eager to revisit this new territory. A conquering hero couldn’t feel better than he did right now.
She moaned, her hands holding his head in place, her fingers running sensually through his hair. He suppressed the growl forming deep in his throat.
Reluctantly, they parted, both of them panting. “Did I say addictive?”
“I think so,” he managed, barely.
“I meant necessary.” She grabbed the lever to tip his seat back. Sebastian moved in a hurry when the seat back nipped his bottom.
“Now, where were we?”
Mallen answered by pulling her lips to his. He forgot his own name.
***
“Whore! Slut!” Geo
rge raged as he watched the couple inside the yellow SUV. She had shown up in the most unexpected place. While here on business, he managed to locate his trollop of a girlfriend. Sucking face with another man.
Julia McNeal had sealed her fate. She shouldn’t be kissing anyone. She belonged to George A. Chalmers III. He was definitely going to exact retribution. She acted like she had forgotten her master, behaving like the prostitute he’d always known her to be.
Never had she given him kisses like that. Julia had barely kissed him at all. She seemed intent on sucking the face off the big man in the SUV with her. The slut acted like she couldn’t get enough of him.
The whore. He would make her pay for not showing him that type of emotion. Who did she think she was?
But he knew. Julia McNeal, for all of her indiscretions, and her lack of consideration, was his. He could do anything he wanted to her. The harlot should have never asked her brothers to break off their relationship. George seethed as fury welled from the very depths of his soul.
He had hit the jackpot with this worthless assignment. Simon Malcolm, a long acquaintance and business associate, languished in one of the prisons right here in Sandovia. The same place where he had also miraculously located his skanky girlfriend.
George smiled. It made his job so much easier having both of them in the same place. As soon as he obtained Malcolm’s information, he would finish his business with the man. Then he could have some fun with his unfaithful woman.
Then he’d kill her.
Chapter 17
Mallen and Julia finally parted and stared at each other, breathing labored. He smoothed some curls from her temple.
She swallowed, wanting so much more. This however, was not the time or place, again. Julia wanted this man with every cell of her being. Wanted, almost needed to become a part of him. She wanted him inside her very nuclei.
“What do you do to me?” she whispered.
“No more than you do to me, mon ami.”
She hadn’t even noticed she spoke in English.
Her heart melted at the warmth and desire in his eyes. He wanted her, as she wanted him and that knowledge offered her a vast reassurance. She needed this man like she needed corpuscles. Her very foundation was shaken by this magnificent man and she felt no regrets.
“When is your meeting?”
He glanced at his watch. “Now.” That galvanized them into action. “If I’m late, we’ll never hear the end of teasing.”
“I’ll be in the shop across the way.”
“You’re coming home with me?”
She turned solemn eyes on him. “Absolutely.”
“Good.” Relief softened his shoulders.
“Kiss me?”
“Absolutely,” he returned as their lips met once more before they both exited the truck. Sebastian followed Julia and Mallen as they held hands to the courthouse where they reluctantly parted.
“Julia, this is perfect.” Giselle enthused as she held up the dress from the front window.
“I thought so, too. As soon as I saw the gown I couldn’t believe our shopping could be this easy,” she remarked. The sales lady helped Giselle remove her clothing before taking the dress from Julia and assisting Giselle in the donning process.
She stepped back to stand beside Lila. “Do you like it?”
“I do. It’s beautiful and reminds me so much of mine.” Lila wore a few tears as she gazed at her daughter.
The dress in question was a creamy floor length sheath of silk overlaid by chiffon. The gown, while cut in fantastic lines, relied on the wearer’s grace and elegance. The style was very much the sort Giselle favored, and that was why it caught her eye in the first place.
When Giselle turned, both Julia and Lila caught their breath.
“This is it,” Giselle announced unnecessarily. The wedding gown nipped in at the waist but the classic lines came from the bride, not fancy stitches. Lila sniffed, Julia sniffed, and then Giselle sniffed and the sales lady ran for tissues. After wiping their noses the three women caught sight of one another in the mirror and laughed.
“We’re being silly, aren’t we?” Giselle offered a watery smile.
“No, love, we’re supposed to cry when the dress is perfect,” Lila corrected. “We should have invited Sophia to join us.”
“I’ll model the gown for her,” Giselle promised as they helped her remove the wedding dress.
“Now we need something for you, Julia,” Lila remarked as she moved aside for Giselle to finish dressing.
“And you.” They shared a smile.
“Giselle, what did you have in mind for us?”
“The dresses in the window with this one.”
The gown Giselle chose for her was cut in similar lines to her own, in a gorgeous green. The same silk and chiffon combination as Giselle’s dress, only the color and empire waist differed. It required a few alterations, but she was pleased with it.
Lila’s dress, a gorgeous amber-green to match her eyes, was a two piece confection with long billowing sleeves and a floor length hem. The dress cut resembled a suit. A beautiful scarf hung under the lapels.
“That was easy,” Julia commented as the ladies paid for their gowns.
Lila sighed. “Yes, I really thought perhaps we could drag the affair out, but alas.”
“I, as the bride, am pleased this did not take long.”
“Me too,” came a masculine voice from the front of the store.
Julia stared at Mallen in surprise. “Your meeting is finished already?”
“It is. We did not need to try on armfuls of clothing.”
“Neither did we,” she retorted. “One dress apiece and we’ve got what we need.”
He turned to Giselle in surprise. “You only tried on one dress?”
His sister nodded as she brushed a tear from her cheek. Her smile was happy.
“We all cried, it’s perfect.” Lila arranged for the gowns to be delivered to the palace.
“You all cried?” Puzzlement etched on Mallen’s face.
“You know it’s the right dress when you cry,” she explained.
“How do you know it’s the right man?”
“You just do,” Lila and Giselle said together.
Julia cocked her head at him. “There you go, from the mouths of experts.” She gestured to his mother and sister.
“Right. We’ll take their word,” Mallen replied. “Do you play hockey?”
She sent him a dubious glance. “Yes.”
He took her hand. Julia waved good-bye to Lila and Giselle as they left. “Why did you ask if I play hockey?”
He gestured to the town center where she finally noticed an ice-hockey game in session. “They’re playing now.”
They strolled to the town center where the action was. He escorted her to a nearby park bench. “Wanna place a little wager on this game?”
“Oh, yeah,” she replied. “What were you thinking?”
“Whoever’s team loses has to cook on Saturday.”
“Your turn on Saturday?” The story was that long ago, Lila, upon learning her family didn’t have a clue how to cook, decreed that each of the family members would alternate Saturdays so that they all learned the necessary kitchen skills. None of her family could think up logical excuses to circumvent this decree so it still stood, years later.
He nodded.
“You’re on,” she agreed and they each selected a team. Julia liked the energy of her team and rather wished they could be playing with the kids as she and Mallen shook on the deal. She snuggled closer when he used one massive arm to cement her to his side.
The kids put on a great show for them.
“That’s game. We tied!” one of the guys shouted.
“Barely,” another said, blowing out an icy breath.
“Great game.” She smiled at them. “What are all your names?”
The kids went around the circle telling her their names and ages, and Mallen filled her in on which parents she me
t at Stefen’s party.
He and Julia waved good-bye and headed for their vehicle. Mallen climbed in the driver’s side this time.
“That was fun.”
“Yes,” Mallen returned as he glanced at her.
“How’d you convince the kids to tie the score?”
“Who says I planned this?” Mallen’s voice was super innocent.
She gurgled with laughter. It was good she liked cooking.
Giselle, Julia, and Lila all snuck into town that evening to buy birthday presents for Mallen. Lila parted company long enough to order a cake for him, as his nose was too good and he’d smell one baking if they made the confection at the palace.
Lila found Giselle and Julia giggling over cards in the card section. They all finally decided on one funny card from all three of them and then each woman chose a sappy one to give him. Then they separated to search for the perfect gift.
Julia headed straight for the bedding department for one selection and the men’s department for the other. She was giggling when she met up with Giselle and Lila.
“Oh, no, that giggle doesn’t bode well,” Lila commented.
“This was really fun.” She couldn’t wait to see his face when he opened the gifts from her.
November fifteenth dawned cold, gray, and snowing. Mallen couldn’t have been more ecstatic. “It’s snowing,” he bellowed as he burst through the panel connecting their rooms.
She and Sebastian both opened an eye and growled.
“Come on you two, it’s snowing. We’ve got outdoor things to do. Slopes to sled, snowmen to build...”
“Snowballs to pummel at you.”
“That, too.” He reached her bed and started adjusting the toasty covers so cold air seeped over her.
She yelped and grabbed the blankets, re-tucking them around her warm body. Mallen, of course, hindered the process with much delight. He flapped the covers. When that didn’t elicit more than another yelp and dire mutters from her, he simply picked her up, blankets and all.
With the sheet trailing after her, she protested. “This is the first morning Giselle hasn’t woke me up at the crack of dawn for self-defense lessons. I’m sleeping.”