Page 92 of Ambiguous
“I don’t want that, but it’s going to come out. Better sooner than later, give it time to settle down.”
“Then let’s talk to the PR team and let them decide what the best strategy is. Until then, we should keep things as is.”
“I don’t want you to have issues with your parents—and I don’t want to hurt the campaign. And actually, there’s something to be said for giving Jules a certain amount of plausible deniability until he’s ready to make a public statement. But I really feel it’s a question of when, not if, the news gets out. If we haven’t managed the story beforehand, people will think I’m cheating on you. Or Jules.”
“Well, you aren’t.”
“But it’s hard to change public opinion once it sours.”
He pauses. “I think if anything happens, we can deal with it.”
I shake my head. “It seems like a recipe for disaster, honestly. If the public found out we’ve been making this up all along, that could blow up into a PR nightmare the campaign might never recover from.”
“No one wants that.” He shakes his head. “That’s all the more reason we should talk to the professionals before we do anything. I can call Mom’s PR lead and try to set up a call. But until then, I say we keep things as they are.”
“One photo of me and Jules, and it will be all over.”
“You can say you’re friends.”
“It depends on the type of photo,” I say wryly. “Some things don’t look like ‘friends.’”
He bursts out laughing, then gets serious again. “In any case, you don’t need my permission to go get laid. We can figure the rest of this out later.”
“Okay,” I say, and give him a hug goodbye.
I’m going to kick ass all week at work and then take Jules up to the woods. Everything else can wait until we get back.
CHAPTER34
Sam
Julian pulls his car up under a pine tree, and we open the doors, get out, and stretch. At this altitude, the air smells cleaner and fresher. The place feels secret and quiet, our steps muffled by the needle-covered ground.
He swivels his head, taking in the mountain vistas. Then he gets a good look at the cabin and blinks. “This place is yours?”
I grin. “Yup. My family’s, but I’m the one who uses it most.”
“It looks like a fairy tale.”
My family has owned the 1930s-style storybook cabin, nestled in the Angeles National Forest, since it was built. “It does. You kind of expect Hansel and Gretel to come out with a big bad wolf.”
“I think those are two different stories.” Jules purses his lips and rubs his chin like he’s stroking a beard.
I shove him. “It’s also very, very secluded. We can be outside and not worry about it.”
We walk up the cobblestone path to the arched door and open it. When we go inside, dust motes dance in the sunlight.
But the place looks good. Jules turns to me and smiles, shutting the door behind him. “This place is utterly perfect. It’s—”
I cut him off by kissing him hard. While I know we should be responsible and bring in the food, all I really want is to pull Jules into the bedroom. When we’re both breathless, I rest my forehead against his. “I wanted to take you somewhere special to me. And this is as private as it gets. We can do whatever we want.”
Jules spins me around so my belly is pressed to the front door.
I moan, because fuck, that’s hot.
He crowds up behind me, his dick notching in the crease of my ass, teasing me through our clothes, and I shove back into him, wanting more contact.
It’s his turn to groan. He wraps an arm around my chest, his lips against my ear, and he murmurs in that delicious voice, “Is this okay, Sam?”
