Page 67 of The Husband Diet
Her eyes swung to Julian’s as she tried to stifle a laugh and warmly waved from the hall.
‘Hello, pet. I’ve heard so much about you. I’m glad I finally got a chance to meet you,’ she said graciously in Julian’s same British accent, then kissed Julian on the cheek. ‘We’ll do the papers some other time, dear. No hurry.’ And then she turned to me once more and smiled. ‘Hope to see you again soon, Erica,’ she said and was gone.
Preferably with my clothes on, I cringed to myself as Julian saw her to the door. What a classy lady. Cool as a cucumber.
When Julian came back in, I was fumbling around on all fours for my trench coat. Where the hell had I put it? Damn, was I a total loser or what? Never had I done something more disastrously embarrassing than that. It was a sign. I had to scram. If I could just…
‘Looking for this?’ he asked, my coat hanging from his index finger, a strange look on his face.
‘I’m so, so sorry,’ I mumbled. ‘I wanted to surprise you and—’
‘Well, you certainly did,’ he agreed, chewing on the inside of his cheeks to stop from laughing. ‘What were you planning?’ he whispered as he came into the room slowly, like a panther stalking a big, juicy rabbit.
‘I-I… nothing,’ I said, reaching for my trench coat.
‘I’d like you to continue where we interrupted you,’ he said, his eyes now hooded.
I swallowed. ‘You would?’
He nodded, taking his own coat off and throwing it aside with mine.
‘Lie down again,’ he directed me, ‘just as I found you.’
As I obeyed, he kneeled between my feet.
‘Open your legs,’ he whispered.
Oh, boy! This was suddenly looking up. I obeyed, my heart pounding in my ears.
‘I’m going to love you now from head to toe,’ he growled softly.
And with that, he took my stilettos off (thank God) and gently brought my foot to his mouth, kissing my toes, one by one. As I watched through half-closed lids, he kissed my ankle, my shinbone, traveling up my leg and thigh, his eyes never leaving mine. Before he reached my panties, he pulled himself up and kissed me on the mouth, deep and hard, as I melted into a puddle at his feet.
‘Erica, before we go any further, I have to be honest. I lied to you.’
My eyes snapped open, alarmed. ‘What? You’re married?’
He chuckled. ‘No, silly. I’m single. But this,’ he said, his mouth easing its way back down to our target, thank God, ‘doescome with strings attached.’
I frowned. ‘Strings… what do you mean?’
His mouth swept over me right there and I lurched like a bolt of lightning had hit me, almost knocking a nearby lamp over.
‘I simply mean that this comes with dinners, dates, movies. The works.’
‘Oh!’ I exhaled in relief.
Julian sat up, his hands keeping my thighs apart. ‘I mean it, Erica. I don’t want to be just your rebound boy.’
I stared at him. ‘Rebound? What are you talking about?’
‘That I don’t want you to start this if in your heart you know I can’t be more for you. I’m serious, Erica.’
Yes, lately my world had fallen into the twilight zone, no doubt about it.
I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out, so I simply nodded, feeling like the most beautiful woman in the world as he bent over me once again. He made love to me on that chaise and somewhere in the middle, I remember him carrying me to his bedroom upstairs, where it started all over again. Bless the Brits.
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