Page 2 of Once Upon A Valentine
What Bran didn’t know, what nobody knew, was that Julian wasn’t blushing. He wasn’t the kind of man that blushed. Very little could embarrass him despite what they might think. In all actuality, it was only the heat of fire in his veins, of lust filling him up, of need making him crazy, that caused his body to overheat and his usually pale skin to flush with arousal.
“Fuck this.” Bran tore his gaze away and muttered as he downed the rest of his drink, pushing his chair back loudly and standing. “I need some air.”
He turned on his heel and all but stomped out of the room. Felix opened his mouth as if to say something, no doubt as an attempt to stop Bran from leaving, but he couldn’t seem to find the words. He shut his mouth again and glanced at his fiancée. Gibson watched his brother leave the room and then sighed heavily. Julian knew the man he worked for well enough to know that despite the smile he kept plastered to his face, Bran’s exit had upset him. He knew what was coming next even before Gibson patted Felix’s hand and began to untangle himself from his fiancé to go after his brother.
“I’ll go.” The words fell out of Julian’s mouth before he could consider them fully.
Gibson glanced up, surprise and then resignation washing over his face before he shook his head, “You don’t have to do that, Julian.”
“I’ll go.” Felix offered instead but Julian shook them both off.
“No. Both of you stay. This is your engagement party and you should get to enjoy yourself.”
Felix offered a warm smile, “Thank you, Julian.”
“He’s my brother. He’s my problem.” Gibson frowned.
Julian smiled despite the harsh words, “You’re right. He is your brother but for tonight at least, let him be my problem. Enjoy your party and I’ll make sure he gets home safely.”
Gibson still looked wary, “I didn’t invite you here as my assistant, Julian. You’re our guest and our friend. I don’t expect you to…”
“Stop.” Julian held up a hand as he stood from the table. “I’m not offering as your assistant. Bran isn’t a cup of coffee you need me to replace because it’s gone cold. He’s your brother and I’m your friend. As your friend, let me deal with him for you so that you can enjoy the rest of your night.”
“Are you sure?”
“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t.”
“I think he meant, are you sure you can handle Bran?” Felix chimed in, wrapping his arm back through Gibson’s and smirking up at Julian.
If he’d had any doubt whatsoever that tonight had been a setup, Felix had just confirmed it with that smug grin of his. Julian still wasn’t sure if this was all Felix’s doing or if Gibson had been in on it but it didn’t really matter. Bran had been too focused on self-destruction to notice that his brother and his soon to be brother-in-law were trying to push them together.
Julian shot the matchmaker in training a knowing look, “Again, I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure.”
“Let him go after Bran.” Felix squeezed Gibson’s hand. “If you go, the two of you will just end up having another argument, like you always do. It’s our engagement party. Stay here with me and let Julian get your brother home. I’m sure he’ll take good care of him.”
“Or take him over my knee and spank him like the unruly child he’s pretending to be.” Julian smiled so his words sounded more like a joke than they actually were, “You know, fifty-fifty shot.”
“At this point, I’d assume he had it coming if you did.” Gibson managed a sad smile, “Okay. Fine. Thank you, Julian. I owe you one.”
“No, you don’t. Just enjoy your night and congratulations on your engagement.” He gave them both a warm smile before retreating down the hallway in the direction that Bran had gone.
He supposed he should be thankful the man hadn’t stormed out the front door. That would have worried him a lot more. Bran had been drinking since the moment he walked into the house. If Julian had thought for even a second that Bran was heading to his car with a plan to get behind the wheel he wouldn’t have bothered to argue with Gibson, he’d simply have followed him and stopped him by any means necessary.
As it was, he couldn’t be exactly sure which room in the large house Bran had retreated to so he slowly made his way down the hallway, poking his head into Gibson’s home office and then the living area before he finally caught sight of a dark figure standing in the backyard through the floor to ceiling windows of the patio. Julian watched for a moment but the figure didn’t budge so he ducked into the guest room down the hall and grabbed his coat from where Felix had hung it when he arrived before retracing his steps and opening the patio door. A gust of cold, February air, hit him in the face and he shivered but didn’t turn back.
The dark figure standing in the middle of the yard didn’t even turn around to glance at him, “Go back to your party, Gibson.”
“I’m not Gibson.”
At the sound of his voice, Bran finally turned to face him. Slowly, as if he wasn’t quite sure what he would find, though of course he must have recognized Julian’s voice. Bran’s gaze fell on him, heavy and intense and Julian felt suddenly like a deer, trapped in the headlights of a car, unable to move despite the danger he sensed. Bran didn’t smile. He barely even blinked before he turned away from him again, his head tipping back as he looked up at the stars.
“I’m not in the mood, Jules.”
Julian pursed his lips at the nickname. Nobody in his life had ever been allowed to call him Jules. He’d never liked it so he’d always shut it down as quickly as possible whenever someone tried to shorten his name. But Bran had been calling him that for years and Julian had never corrected him. Something about the way Bran drawled his name out made it feel special coming from him and only him. That feeling had kept Julian from telling him to stop and now it was far too late to try dissuading the man who did whatever the hell he wanted from continuing with the nickname that verged on an endearment.
“Oh, I’d say you’re definitely in a mood.” Julian ignored his gruff dismissal and walked closer, hands in his pockets as he stated the obvious. “Damn. It’s cold out here.”
“If you’re cold, go back inside.”
