He hoped she was kidding.
Unfortunately, Elliot’s concerns about her understanding his point of view weren’t eased when they finally made it to Rhode Island. His cousin Logan had, in true Logan fashion, fallen deep and hard in love with an adorable, spitfire named Beth. He’d fallen in love at first sight, but Beth had taken a bit longer to come around. They were finally getting hitched on the beach in southern Rhode Island in a hotel Beth had worked at for a short time. It was pricey, but Elliot had sprung for the overpriced room anyway. He hadn’t much choice.
When they checked in, a pushy bellman insisted on taking their luggage up to their room and he and Julia obediently followed. It wasn’t until he opened the door to their room that Elliot understood the reason behind the bellman’s insistence. The room was enormous. It wasn’t even a room, it was an apartment. There was a grand piano, a dining room, and he could see the entire ocean view from a wall of windows.
He and Julia were VIPs.
Elliot let out a long-suffering sigh and scowled at Julia who stood quietly behind him.
“This doesn’t look like the same room I booked,” he pointed out as the bellman brought their bags to a bedroom.
She shook her head but said nothing.
“We just talked about this.”
“We did.” She took a step toward him and tentatively put her arms around his waist. Her face was tanned from the warming spring sun, her eyes even more green in the spectacular light from the impending sunset. “But this came before that. Besides,” she stared at him straight-faced. “I wanted everyone to spend the weekend together. This way we can all be in the same suite.”
Elliot looked around the massive space. “My brothers are staying here too?”
“And Kelsey,” she added. “But we have some time alone before they come tomorrow afternoon.”
Elliot chuckled and ran his hand along her hair. “I like alone with you.”
Julia nodded, but pulled away when the bellman came out of the bedroom. She disengaged herself and tipped the man with some cash.
“I would have done that,” he grunted, frustrated that she never gave him the chance to pay for anything.
“I know,” she agreed, grabbing his hand and pulling him through the penthouse, past a ridiculously well-appointed kitchen and a dining table that seated twelve, and into the master bedroom. Their bags were on luggage stands, but Julia pulled him past those too and straight into the bathroom.
“Shower or bath?” she asked and paused, still holding his hand.
“Whatever you feel like, baby.”
She turned the water on in the shower and piled her mass of curly hair on top of her head. He’d learned over the last few months that when Julia’s hair got wet, it took hours to dry. When she was tired or it was later at night, she didn’t get it wet. She didn’t like sleeping with wet hair.
They met under the hot spray of the water, and she immediately plastered herself to his body, her naked back against his chest, his arms wrapped around her waist.
Her body, now that she’d started eating real food, had filled out a little and she’d somehow become even more stunning than she’d been before. Her breasts had become plump and her hips full.
Julia playfully pressed her rear end tight to his groin, her hand sliding up around his neck and pulling him close.
He grabbed her wet hips, holding her still and pressing against her. His hands slid up to her soft breasts, wet and slick, and toyed with her until her head fell back on his shoulder with a soft sigh.
Elliot sucked her neck, right under her ear where he knew she liked it best and when she sucked in a breath, he knew he’d hit her spot. His fingers slid down slowly, smiling when he found her moist and slippery inside. His thumb flicked her sensitive nub, engorged and begging for his touch, and she reacted by spreading her legs, one of her feet on the bench in the shower.
“That’s it, baby,” he encouraged. “Let me in.”
He circled her for a minute or two, letting her enjoy the feel of his fingers exploring her body. She was writhing and panting, nearly ready to explode by the time he stopped.
“What? Why?” she muttered.
He reached up and moved the shower head so that she wouldn’t get her hair wet and sat on the bench, arranging her so that she was astride his lap.
He held himself straight up, holding onto her hip to guide her, and watched as her body took him inside perfectly, like he belonged there. And holy hell, he belonged there. He knew he did. He held her hips, not just to help her stay steady with her wet feet on the floor, but to keep a connection with her.
She watched him, too. Kept her eyes on his while she moved, rocking back and forth.
Elliot always made sure to keep his hands on her while they were together like this. He wanted her to always feel her connection with him. She’d told him once that when he stopped touching her, took his hands away, she felt lost, adrift.
Not on his watch she didn’t.
So he held her while she rode him, giving her all the support she needed. His head fell back against the tile and his eyes slid closed. Her silky-soft walls squeezed him for long minutes of pure pleasure, loving him from the inside out.
“I’m not going to last long,” he growled, feeling how close she was too.
She worked quickly and when he was at the end of his rope, she was right there with him, holding on as they both let go.
They took a moment to catch their breath and quietly kissed their way through the rest of the shower and their drying-off routine. He watched as she dressed in an oversized T-shirt that said Blink if You Want Me and a skimpy pair of panties. After spending the last few months with her, he’d seen most of her T-shirt collection and he was still trying to get used to seeing her in her panties.
She was so sexy that he swore she could wear anything and make it look good.
Not only that, he found every little thing she did interesting. From the things she said to the way she said them. Her word choice, her opinions, and even her well-thought-out arguments all gave him more insight to Julia’s intense mind. Her relationships with her former employees, who still called her even though she no longer owned the company, was a testament to her commitment to them and their craft. The way she listened when people spoke, that intense stare that told whoever she was talking to that she was listening. She was always listening.
“You’re staring,” she pointed out as she put her hair up in some complicated bun thing and covered it with a wrap.
“I love you,” he blurted.
That was not the way he wanted to tell her. He wanted to romance her and tell her on a moonlit beach. He wanted to make love to her and tell her in front of a roaring fire. He wanted to tell her after making love to her like they were the last two people on earth.
Instead, he’d told her while he stared at her ass and spaced out.
Julia’s hands lowered from her head slowly. Her powerful green eyes widened in what he hoped wasn’t alarm. The timing was wrong, but he couldn’t apologize for something he wasn’t sorry for, and loving Julia was something he wouldn’t ever regret.
“You do?” she asked, the words coming out on a rushed breath.
If he had already spilled the beans he might as well go all in.
“I do,” he admitted, taking the few steps he needed to get to her. He took her hands and thought it was a good sign that she didn’t step away. “I don’t expect you to say it back, Julia, and I didn’t mean to tell you like that. I wanted to wait until you were ready, until I was ready, but I was just standing there, watching you, thinking about all the things I love about you.”
“You don’t think I’m ready?” she asked, her head cocked to the side, studying him.
“It’s not that I don’t think you’re ready,” He didn’t know how to explain it. “I just didn’t want to freak you out.”
“So, you’ve known for a while?” she asked.
Elliot chuckled. “For a long while,” he confirmed, plac
ing a kiss on the tip of her nose. “I’m glad you’re not freaking out.”
“I think I love you too.”
Elliot stilled. “You think or you do?” He stared into Julia’s eyes, watching her watch him.
“I do,” she whispered.
“Tell me,” Elliot demanded, his voice gruff with emotion, his forehead resting against hers.
“I love you, Elliot.”
His eyes slid closed in relief. “I love you, too.”
They embraced there, in the master bedroom of that hotel, in their own world. They’d both come such a long way from where they’d started.
Someone was crying.
Softly at first but it got louder and more insistent. Julia could hear the cries but couldn’t figure out where they were coming from. When she opened her eyes, she was sitting behind her desk in her office at H-Surf, the Manhattan skyline staring back at her. She looked around her office but the source of the crying wasn’t in there with her.
“Hello?” she called out.
“Don’t go out there,” her grandmother, in an awful Pepto-Bismol-colored skirt set, approached from the corner of the room. Her face was distorted, older, and gray. “It’s not for you.”
“You don’t get to tell me what’s for me,” Julia told her firmly.
Her grandmother shrugged. “Suit yourself. But you’ll just ruin everything. Like you always do.”
Julia turned away and hurried to the door. When she pulled it open, she found herself in the old pool house. The one that used to be her home. The crying continued, though it had a duller edge to it now, a less urgent feel.
Still, Julia covered her ears. “I don’t know where you are.”
“It’s awful here.”
“Hello?” Julia called loudly, to be heard above the crying. Moving forward, she tripped, her foot catching on a stuffed bunny lying on the floor. Her mind raced with long forgotten memories.
“Mrs. Fluff?” Julia whispered.
“Time to throw that raggedy thing away and grow up now, Julia.”
“Mom?” Julia’s mother melted out of the wallpaper, appearing next to her.
“He’s crying for you,” her mother said.
Julia’s head snapped in the direction of the crying. That was for her? The wailing was loud and booming when she concentrated on it, a soul-deep echo that Julia couldn’t believe came from a human, the vibrations reverberating through her chest.
She rushed to the door and struggled to get it open, pushing her shoulder into it with all her weight. It finally gave and Julia stumbled into the master bedroom of her new home. The wailing intensified and Julia came to a halt. In the center of the room was her bed, an old man lying on top of it. Slowly, Julia crept toward it, terrified of the man in the suit.
“Don’t touch him, love,” her father appeared on the other side of the crib.
“Why not?” she asked.
Bram looked her up and down, shaking his head in disappointment. “Have you looked at yourself?”
When she looked, she was completely naked. Startled she looked back to her father but he was gone. She stood naked and alone in that big empty room, save the man lying on the bed in a suit, arms crossed over his chest.
She approached on tiptoes, afraid that he might be dead. Cautiously she poked a finger into his shoulder, hoping Elliot’s eyes would open and when they did, a flash of white light, so bright she held her hand up to shield her eyes, blinded her and she fell backward. Back, back she fell until Elliot was so far above her he looked like no more than a speck, and then there was nothing.
Elliot woke in the morning, rested and happy. He showered and dressed while, as usual, Julia slept soundly in bed. The hotel provided a catered breakfast he was sure Julia or Kelsey had paid a pretty penny for, and Elliot ate on the patio overlooking the ocean.
By ten o’clock, his brothers and Kelsey arrived while Julia still slept. Kelsey didn’t bat an eye at the opulence of the room, but Tucker and Cole stopped in their tracks, awestruck. When he mentioned to Kelsey that he hadn’t been happy with them going behind his back to upgrade the room, she simply said, “You should see the private cottages on the beach,” then proceeded to bring in two more suitcases and three hanging bags that she told him were Julia’s.
A half hour later, his cousin Logan showed up with his soon to be brother-in-law Spencer, but sans his fiancée.
“She’s with her sisters, helping them get settled in their room,” he explained.
Logan was a cousin on their mother’s side. Not as tall as Elliot, but still a big guy. He’d spent years in the navy, having extended his service a few times, but had been discharged the year before after losing his leg. It had been a long road to recovery for him but thankfully, with Beth’s help, he’d found his way.
His light green eyes smiled as he looked around the room. “Holy hell, El,” Logan marveled, running his fingers along the marble of the kitchen counters. “I booked our rooms here. I know how much this place costs. What the hell have you been up to since I saw you last?”
They hugged and gave each other a hearty slap on the back.
“You didn’t hear?” Cole laughed. “Elliot stepped up his game. Got in with Little Miss Moneybags.” He looked to Elliot, a gleam in his eye. “Isn’t that what you called her?”
Elliot straightened and sent his brother a hard look. “That was months ago and before I knew anything about her. Don’t call her that.”
Cole held up his hands in mock fear but dropped the subject.
“Okay, you two.” Logan laughed. “No fighting on my weekend.”
The six of them enjoyed pastries and a refreshing fruit plate, courtesy of Kelsey. The men were discussing whether they should hit the beach or play a round of golf, but Elliot was watching Kelsey. She was pulling a Julia, engrossed in her phone, her thumbs flying over the screen and alternately watching the closed bedroom door.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Kelsey startled, checked her phone again, and sent him a distracted smile. “Nothing.”
He didn’t believe her but didn’t press.
He went back to listening to the merits of a beach day versus golf when the bedroom door suddenly swung open.
Julia stood there framed in the doorway, T-shirt askew, skimpy panties clear as day with her hand up to her face to block the sun.
He jumped out of his seat, but not before Julia stumbled forward, rushing ahead toward them. Her foot hit one of the dining chairs, knocking it over, but Julia barely slowed.
“I have to find him,” she mumbled. “He can’t be dead.”
“Julia,” Elliot said loudly, hoping to get her attention.
They collided right before Julia got to the door to the patio, Elliot grabbing her by the arms.
“He’s dead,” she told him.
He held her in his arms as she struggled to get away from him. “I’ve got you, babe. Settle down.”
“Let me go,” she begged, her body trembling. “I have clothes on.”
He had no idea what she was talking about, but he held her close, hoping she’d wake up soon. Cole snickered behind him but he didn’t find it funny when Julia did this. It scared the crap out of him. He never knew how to help her. In the past months, aside from the incident at her house with his father, he’d found her hunkered underneath the dining room table and twice laying in the empty bathtub staring straight up at the ceiling.
It was creepy as hell, though the silver lining was that she didn’t seem bothered by it.
“Okay, Julia. It’s time to wake up now,” he whispered against the shell of her ear. “Please wake up, Shorty.”
She struggled against his hold again and pulled her body away from him, her upper arms still grasped in his hands. “Please don’t be dead. Please don’t die.”
“Julia!” Kelsey yelled from right next to him, startling him enough that he jumped. Julia stilled. “Julia!” Kelsey yelled again. “Open your eyes.”
When she opened those green eyes
, they were unlike anything he’d seen before, unfocused and glazed, watery with unshed tears.
While she stared at him, her eyes slowly cleared. “I haven’t seen Mrs. Fluff since I was little.”
He didn’t want to keep Julia here in the middle of the room where everyone was watching her. She needed privacy and he needed to be with her. He picked her up in his arms and stalked to the bedroom. The bedding was nearly all on the floor, the sheets untucked and severely askew. Elliot sat her on the edge of a chair and knelt in front of her; she clutched her knees, white-knuckled.
“Julia,” he asked gently.
“It was so real,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“There was crying but everyone told me to stay away.”
“Who’s Mrs. Fluff?” he asked.
“A stuffed bunny I used to have when I was little.” She shook her head, trying to sort it all out. “They told me to stay away; you were crying and lying on the bed like you were dead, but they told me to stay away.” Her eyes were positively haunted. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.” He pushed her hair off her forehead. “Are you okay?”
It took her a few seconds but she eventually nodded her head. “I just need a minute.”
He gave her a second to collect herself, wasting time making the bed into some semblance of order. When he finally threw the last pillow on the bed, she was staring out the window.
“Everyone was going to go the beach in a while,” he told her. “Want to go?”
She turned around. “Who’s everyone?”
“My brothers and cousin. His soon-to-be in-laws and fiancée.” He shrugged.
“When did they all get here?” she asked.
He scratched the back of his neck. “About an hour ago.”
“They were here,” she surmised. He nodded but didn’t say a word. Julia stood from her chair. “I’m sure Cole will have a field day with this.”
“If Cole knows what’s good for him he’ll keep his mouth shut.”
She went to where he stood, hands on hips, and threaded her arms around his waist.
“I’m sorry,” she said into his chest. “For embarrassing you.”
Elliot: The Williams Brothers Page 22
