Page 25 of Taboo

“Not even in the same league.”

She laughed. “Good. So, what’s your plan.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, Jules, I know that you like to plan, and you’ll have one for this one.”

“Well, I don’t. What do you do with a one-night stand who pops up in your life afterwards? I never planned on seeing him again.”

And she had been sad because of that. Part of it was the sex, but there was something else, something that made her feel happy beyond just the sex.

“He’s coming up here tonight.”

“Up here?”

“To my room.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea? I mean, if you plan on having sex tonight, then yeah, it’s an excellent plan. But otherwise?”

She glanced at the bed. “I understand that, but if we go out, with my security detail and Alek’s looks, we would definitely gain attention. I’m trying to avoid that as much as possible.”

“Is he as big as he looks?”

“God, yes. I felt like a dainty thing next to him.”

“And under him, I presume,” Nicola murmured.

“Nic!”

“Sorry, I can’t help it. So, you’re going to meet up to do what?”

“We need to make sure that we have our stories straight.”

A long silence filtered over the phone. “What?” Jules asked.

“Nothing, it just sounds like an excuse.”

Julienne collapsed on the bed and tossed off her shoes. She often heard Nicola talk about how being in Hawaii changed the way she looked at life, and especially fashion. She claimed to spend most of her days barefoot. Julienne had scoffed at the idea, but she was pretty sure she was starting to understand.

“It might be. I’ll be back on Oahu tomorrow afternoon and I just…he’s so pretty.”

“Yeah, I saw that in the pictures. Listen, you know I don’t judge, and I am not right now. I just want you to be careful.”

“I won’t embarrass the family.”

“Oh, bugger that,” she said, her exasperation easy to hear over the phone. The thoroughly British saying made Julienne smile. “Your brothers have no room to complain about that. What I mean is that I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Thanks, Nic,” Julienne whispered into the phone. She felt silly when tears burned the backs of her eyes.

“Hey, us girls have to stick together. You do what feels good, just be careful with your heart, Jules.”

“I will.”

“Good, now, I want a call as soon as you get up tomorrow to tell me how it goes. I would tell you to call me tonight, but these days I pass out before ten at night.”

“I promise.”

They hung up a few minutes later, and Julienne sat on the bed, trying to decide what to do. Should they go out in public? If they did, they would end up having issues with her security. Even if they stayed at the hotel to eat. Actually, that would be worse than out at a regular restaurant. The hotel was teeming with tourists, albeit at half capacity. There was more of a chance she would run into a Brit here than if they went somewhere else to eat.

---