Page 104 of I Knew You
My blood ran cold. “Is she okay? Did she call? Wait, how did she call you?”
She didn’t answer but smiled brightly and winked.
“Tell me what she said.” I tried to make my voice stern, but Mel was having none of my tactics.
She just shook her head. “Nope, no info. She called. Go. Now. She’s waiting.”
I felt hesitant about abandoning the employees to complete the grunt work, but I didn’t have to be told twice when it came to Julianna. If she wanted to speak to me, she wouldn’t wait one extra moment. I left Paul, the oldest ranger, in charge of the group and sped off toward Grams’ house in my ranger vehicle. Some part of me thought something might be wrong, an accident or injury, and Mel didn’t know the whole story. Why else would Julianna have had a sudden urge to see me?
I ran to the front door of Grams’ house and rang the doorbell instead of pounding on it like a baboon. If she didn’t answer within ten seconds, I was going to use my code and go in, propriety be damned. I had to know she was okay. The door swung open when I was pushing the numbers on the keypad above the doorknob. My wife stood in the tall doorway, whole and seemingly unharmed.
My jaw dropped.
Julianna had always been the sexiest woman I’d ever seen. Yet this time, she’d taken careful steps to showcase it. Black jeans and a black, long-sleeved bodysuit highlighted every curve and bump of her tall and full figure. Her hair was down, slightly curled at the ends, and lying across one shoulder. Her makeup was light, but impeccable, her lips a cherry red that sent a jolt straight to my cock.
“Julianna,” I said on an exhale. The scramble in my brain due to fear had switched to another, more primal feeling.
She grinned, her smile enough to set my cock at full attention. Her gaze was tantalizing and sweet, and I wanted to fall to my knees and worship her.
“Hello, Ranger,” she replied coyly, ogling me openly up and down as she held onto the door frame.
My face flushed, my desire rising higher. Many ladies I’d met during my career liked uniforms, and I guess Jules wasn’t much different.
“Mel told me to come over, that you needed me?” I mused. Iwanted to grab her and hold her to me. I wanted to smear her lipstick all over my lips as I took her mouth to mine.
Then, later, smear that red lipstick all over my cock…
But I wouldn’t make a move until she told me she was okay with it.
“I do need you. Come on.”
I followed her into the living room, where a candle was lit on the coffee table and a book she was reading was open beside it. Everything was cozy and warm, like she had settled into the space. I didn’t like it, not one bit. She belonged at the farmhouse.
She gestured toward the couch, and I took a seat. She remained standing, looking down at me, her face less pleased and more pensive.
“There’s so much I want to say,” I started.
“I want to speak, please,” she replied. “I will ask you a few things, and I need your honest answers with no elaboration. You can’t deviate from my question with your answer. When I’m done, you can say what you want. And don’t get up from your seat.”
I cocked an eyebrow at her assertiveness. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. As long as you’re where I can see you and talking to me, I’m happy.”
She crossed her arms, showcasing her ample breasts. It was everything I could do to meet her eyes as she spoke. I grinned at her interrogative pacing. She was on a mission.
It was hot.
“That day in the hospital, when you said you didn’t want me, did you love me then?”
She went straight to the point, no pretenses.
I took a deep breath.“Yes,” I said, not taking my eyes from hers, willing everything I had into that one word. “I’m not sure I had the correct word for what I felt since I’d never lovedsomeone before, but yes, I did. I loved you. I wanted only you. That was the worst day of my life.”
She nodded, accepting my answer. It took everything I had not to get up when tears started to flow down her perfect face.
“Why did you come back the night of the wreck?”
“You meant more to me than myself. But I acted too late. I constantly think about how things could have been so different if I’d stayed. I’ll never really be over it, Julianna. But I want to forgive myself now, if you’ll forgive me too.”
“Hmmm,” she said, her gaze narrowed. “You deviated, but I’ll allow it.”
