Julien's Book

by Casey McMillin

  "I need to try it again."

  "Try what?"

  "The kiss," he said. He reached up to her chin and tilted her face up to meet his. He let his lips linger less than an inch from hers for several long seconds. The anticipation was so great, she could have just cried. Nadine was nearly shaking with the effort to keep from taking control of the situation herself when he finally let their lips meet. He pressed his mouth to hers ever so gently, putting a few chaste kisses on it before pulling back to look at her face and then doing it one more time. She let out a little whimper that only he could hear, and he stopped, took a calming breath, and pinched his eyes closed at the temptation.

  "Julien?" she said.

  "Yeah?"

  "I like you."

  He smiled. "I like you too."

  She gave him a satisfied grin. "Did you say you were driving me home?"

  "Yeah, why?"

  "Cause I want another one of those iced tea drinks."

  "I'll go get you one," he said.

  "I don't want it yet," she said. "I'm not even halfway done with this one. I just wanted to make sure you were serious when you offered to drive us home."

  "I was definitely serious. I wouldn’t offer something like that, let you drink, and then change my mind."

  It sounded logical when he said it like that, and Nadine smiled and relaxed in the knowledge that she had a ride home. Okay, she didn't really care about the ride as much as the guy who was offering it, but either way, she was feeling good

  "I have to use the toilette," she said, looking up at him.

  Every once in a while Nadine said a word in French or with a heavier than usual accent, and the sound of it made Julien want to go all medieval on her.

  Lindsay offered to go with her, but Nadine said she'd be fine going alone. Julien was glad to get a minute to talk to Lindsay without Nadine standing right there. He was trying not to let it get to him, but he was still reeling from the news about Nadine's birthday being on Valentine's Day. The scene in the book where Nadine gets shot three times and almost dies, happens on her birthday—which, you guessed it, is also on Valentine's Day. Julien just wanted to talk to someone who knew Nadine, and was glad to get a moment alone with Lindsay.

  "Tell me something I don't know about Nadine," he said, sitting in the chair right beside Lindsay. He figured that was safe enough since it was something a potential suitor would ask. He was hoping for something from her background or maybe even something about the ex-boyfriend.

  Lindsay smiled. "That girl cannot walk down the street without wanting to help someone. Seriously, she has the biggest heart. She wants to meet needs when she sees them, and she notices things about people I'd never even pay attention to. She's amazing. She loves the blues, and taught herself to play the harmonica."

  Julien racked his brain trying to remember if the book had Nadine playing the harmonica. It definitely didn't say anything about that, and he smiled and felt a sense of relief at that being another detail that was off.

  "What part of that made you smile?" Lindsay asked, taking in Julien's expression.

  "The harmonica."

  "I know, right? She's really cute doing it too. She's got that messy hair and wears boy clothes half the time."

  "I like knowing that random fact about her," Julien said. He was hoping Lindsay would keep on with the facts about her that didn't lineup with the book.

  "She's a senior at UL, she's studying to be a teacher, and is student teaching at the French immersion school. Do you know all this?"

  Julien did, but he shook his head, hoping she'd keep going.

  "She's super sweet, I already said that. She's got two sisters. Her whole family's in France, and so is her weird ex-boyfriend named Pierre.

  Julien swallowed his water wrong and began choking and coughing. It took him a few seconds to clear his throat.

  "Oh my God, are you okay?"

  Julien could see Nadine heading back from the other side of the bar and he knew he didn't have much time.

  "How do you know about her ex?" he asked, still working to clear his throat.

  "I see the letters he sends when I check the mail sometimes. His name's in the return address. It's Pierre—something or other. I can't remember the last name. The envelopes have hearts drawn on them like something a girl would do. I've never asked her to let me read one. Actually, I don't even think she reads them. I saw her throw one away without even opening it one time."

  Julien nodded past Lindsay to indicate that Nadine was walking up, and Lindsay had the sense to stop talking about Nadine's mail. Julien was trying to act normal even though he'd just found out that Nadine's ex was named Pierre.

  The conversation that had started with the wonderful harmonica information had turned into a fucking nightmare. He tried to tell himself that Pierre was an extremely common name over there, but he found no comfort whatsoever in that fact. The next thing he knew, Nadine was standing right next to him. He wanted to ask her why the hell her son of a bitch ex-boyfriend has access to her address and tell her that she better hand over everything he sends her from that point forward, but he couldn't really say that, now could he?

  "I don't want you way over there," he said instead. He pointed around the table, wanting her to see that all the seats were taken. "I think this is your only option." He patted his own lap, and Nadine laughed.

  Chapter 16

  "I'll stand," she said, she looked around nervously like she didn't know what everyone at the table would think if she just sat down on his lap. No one else was sitting on laps. There was no lap-sitting going on at all.

  "Get down here." he said. He pulled her off balance, and she teetered and fell into his lap. He picked her up and adjusted her with no regard for the table of his friends who were probably noticing what he was doing. Nadine turned to find that her face was just a few inches from his. The noisy bar faded into a hazy sort of silence as she looked into his eyes. She stared into their icy blue depths until she felt like she'd fallen into them. She felt utterly at home there—in his eyes, on his lap, in his arms.

  Julien.

  He was the right thing.

  "Oh God, Julien," she breathed. She usually wasn’t the type to get dramatic, but the rightness of the situation left her with no other words.

  He smiled and bent to put a little kiss on her cheek. She thought she heard him say, "I know," but couldn’t be sure. He squeezed her waist, securing her to his lap before looking the other way.

  "That dude was out before his head hit the mat," he said, joining a conversation across the table.

  Nadine took a sip of her drink and looked in Lindsay's direction. She was talking to John David and his friend. She heard them say something about Mardi Gras and how John David's birthday happened to fall on it that year.

  "When's your birthday?"

  "March fourth," he said.

  "Isn't that late for Mardi Gras?" Chad asked. "I thought it was usually in February."

  "Yeah," John David said. "It's late this year."

  "Nadine's birthday is on a holiday every year," Lindsay said. "Valentine's Day."

  John David, who hadn't heard her say that at the fights, but had read the book, looked at Julien with wide eyes. Julien smiled at John David as if to tell him everything was under control, and there was no need to panic.

  "You doing anything for your birthday?" Julien asked. He was asking casually even though it was extremely important. It was a key piece of information since the book carefully described the birthday party and all the planning that went into it. Julien felt really nervous asking about it, but figured there was no time like the present if he was going to find out.

  "No," she said.

  He felt overjoyed at the answer.

  "I thought about seeing if a few friends want to go out for dinner or something, but people usually have their own stuff going on for Valentine's Day."

  "You asking me to dinner?" Julien said.

  If he could just get her to make plans
with him for Valentine's Day, that right there would throw the events off course. Right?

  She smiled. "Maybe."

  "I thought we already settled it with that eye contact a few seconds ago," he said.

  "Oh, is that how it works?" she asked, laughing. "We just settle everything sans words?"

  "I think that's an excellent idea."

  "Well, what exactly did we settle then?" she asked.

  "I mean, I thought we definitely established that if you were planning on having dinner with people, then I'd be on the guest list. Maybe even at the top of it."

  Nadine giggled. "And we said all that?"

  "Oh, for sure—at least that. I mean, I was thinking we probably skipped a lot of steps right there. That was some pretty epic eye contact."

  Nadine smiled and put a quick kiss on his cheek. She wanted things to move quickly between her and Julien, but at the same time, she knew she should take the time to get to know him. She'd taken a few of his classes and spent a few hours with him, but there was still so much to learn about him, and she wanted to take the time to do that. The problem was that he was more gorgeous than words, and seemed to be really into her. It would be way too easy to throw caution to the wind and pounce on him like she wanted to do.

  They stayed at Maggie's for nearly two hours before Julien asked if they were ready to get on the road. Lindsay drank almost three Long Island Iced Teas, and Nadine had two. That was a lot considering that they were really strong and neither of the girls drank on a regular basis. Julien had already talked with the guys he'd ridden up with and let them know he'd be going back home instead of staying the night. They didn't bother arguing, since who would argue with a guy for leaving with two beautiful girls?

  There was a group of guys from one of the other south Louisiana gyms standing at the door. There wasn't necessarily tension between gyms since they had a mutual respect for each other, but when it was all said and done, gyms ended up with a certain amount of rivalry. It was the nature of the beast.

  Anyway, there was a big group from one of the other gyms standing at the door, and when Julien walked by to leave with Nadine and Lindsay at his side, one of their fighters, a guy named Cal Doucette spoke up. "I guess the rumors are true. Girls really do fall for it. You girls think he's Julien St. James?"

  He was about six months late with that joke, and there was no way Cal Doucette read that book. He probably couldn't even read. Most of the guys had heard about it, though, and it wasn't uncommon for them to try to use it to get to Julien. It usually didn't work since all it did was remind him that he was the inspiration for a romance novel, but he wasn't in the mood to hear a joke about it that night. He couldn't let Cal say any more.

  Julien, who would have usually been happy to finish a conversation, or a fistfight, or whatever the hell else with Cal, took Nadine by the hand and walked to the door as quickly as he could. It pained him to run away like he was scared.

  Cal called after them, saying something like, "Where you going?" but Julien just let him run his mouth. Chances were, the St. James thing was the only thing he knew about the book, but Julien wasn't about to stick around to find out. The drive home from Baton Rouge was extremely fast since it was late at night, and there was no traffic. It only took them forty-five minutes. Julien was pretty quiet, and the girls, who were fairly lit, talked the whole time. They talked about the fights and other things that came up afterward at Maddie's.

  "I was telling someone about the letters that guy Pierre sends you," Lindsay said, randomly.

  Julien's eyes got big, but he just stayed really quiet, waiting to hear what would happen.

  "What do you mean? Who would you tell something like that?"

  "I forgot," Lindsay said.

  Damn. Julien had no idea she was that wasted or he would have asked her more.

  "That's a weird thing to tell someone," Nadine said.

  "Oh that's right! It was Julien. Wasn't it you, Julien?"

  "I think you might have said something about it. You were telling me Nadine had family in France." Julien left it at that and hoped it would be enough of an explanation. Then, he had the thought that maybe he should just go with it. Maybe it was a good thing it had been brought up. "Are you afraid of the guy who sends the letters?" Julien asked. They couldn't see his face in the darkness, but he literally cringed as he waited for her to answer.

  She laughed. "Pierre? Oh God no, Pierre's more of a wimp than I am. Seriously, I could probably win a fight with him even with the tiny bit of Jiu Jitsu I know already."

  Julien wanted to say that Jiu Jitsu didn't really apply when you're being fired at from across the room, but obviously that was out of the question. "Are the letters he sends you creepy or anything?" he asked.

  "I don't really read them. Usually, I just throw them in the trash. It's not like they come every day or anything."

  "How often?" Julien asked.

  "I don't know, what do you think, Lindsay? Once a month or so."

  "Oh God no. More than that."

  Julien's hands tightened on the steering wheel as he listened.

  "I'd say like once a week," Lindsay said.

  "I don’t know," Nadine said. "We broke up a long time ago. It was forever before he contacted me. I'm sure he's just regretting what an asshole he was, and wants me to forgive him so he can live with himself. I'm not gonna even give him the pleasure."

  "You should probably read the letters," he said. He couldn't help himself. There may be something in there she needed to know, some warning or something. He had to caution her.

  "How about I just give them to you and you can beat him up for me?" Nadine said. She was obviously joking because she was laughing the whole time she said it, but Julien thought that was the best idea he'd heard all night.

  "I'd love to check out one of those letters," he said. "Just give it to me next time you get one. I'll handle it."

  That was all they said about Pierre or the letters. Julien didn't want to push the topic. It was 2AM when they pulled into the parking lot at the gym. The girls had been quiet for a few minutes before Julien pulled in, and he wondered if they'd dozed off.

  "Nadine?" he said.

  "Oui?" she asked, her sweet voice filling the otherwise silent car.

  "You think you're okay to drive home if I follow you?"

  "Of course," she said. "You don't have to follow us, I'm fine."

  "I can drive," Lindsay said. "Our house is only like five minutes from here."

  Julien was planning on following them home regardless of how confident they were. He wanted to make sure they made it home safely, but seeing where she lived was an added bonus. Julien got out of the driver's seat and waited for Nadine to come around and get in. Apparently, the girls had decided that Nadine would be doing the driving. He leaned against the car casually with his legs crossed in front of him as he held out the keys.

  "I have to get packed for my trip. Did you know I'm going home?" she asked.

  Julien thought there was no way she could be talking about going home to France, so he gave her a confused expression. "To France?"

  "But of course."

  "When?"

  "I leave tomorrow night."

  He couldn't help but be a little surprised that she had waited until now to mention it.

  "How long are you gonna be gone?"

  "I have an overnight layover at JFK, so I won't be home till Christmas Eve," she said. "I'll be there just over two weeks. I think I get back on the ninth."

  "January ninth?" Julien asked. That seemed like forever.

  She smiled and moved a little closer, hinting that she wanted him to take her into his arms. He didn't hesitate. He pulled her in and she nestled her face into his chest. He was still trying to come to terms with his feelings for her, and she was disappearing to France already.

  There was only one saving grace to this whole trip to France thing. None of it was in the book. Not one time in that God-forsaken book had Nadine LaBelle taken a trip to
France. Julien smiled, hoping that meant that heart-drawing joker named Pierre wasn't the same type of person he was in the book. He marveled at his thought process and wondered if he could ever have a normal life with a girl when the relationship had begun the way theirs had. He wondered when she'd find out and how it would all play out, but that was something he wasn't going to think about right then.

  It had gotten chilly and Julien knew he had to let them get home. He wasn't looking forward to the drive home in his Jeep, which didn't have much of a heater. It was just sort of whatever heat came off the engine once it got warmed up.

  Lindsay had climbed up from the back and was sitting in the passenger's seat. She peered up out of the open driver's door to look at Nadine. "Hand me the keys," she said. "I'm freezing."

  Nadine took the keys from Julien and passed them to Lindsay. She stepped back and pulled him out of the way so she could close the door. Lindsay started the car's engine and turned on the radio so loud that Nadine and Julien could clearly hear the music. Nadine new they couldn't be overheard which made her say something she may not of said otherwise. "Maybe I'll miss you a little bit." She looked up at him, and he pulled her in by the waist.

  He lowered his face to her neck and breathed in, taking in the scent of her. He put a playful kiss on her cheek before picking his head up to look at her again. "Maybe I'll miss you too," he said.

  "I probably won't be hanging out with other guys really."

  "I hope not," Julien said. "Especially that guy who sends the letters." He was pretending not to remember his name when all he wanted to do was find this Pierre and take him out.

  She laughed. "Believe me, he's the least of your worries."

  "Oh yeah? Who should I worry about?" he said.

  She laughed, knowing he was playing around but still liking fact that he was at least acting jealous. "I don't need to hear the same thing from you or anything," she said. "I just wanted you to know I like you."

  Then it was her turn to give the playful kiss. She popped up and planted one on his cheek. "I guess I'll see you after the ninth, then." She reached around him for the door handle.