He wrapped her in his embrace, holding her close. “Christ, Julia, I’m not embarrassed. I just want you to be okay.”
“I’m fine. I just have weird dreams sometimes.”
He let out a humorless laugh. “You think?”
An hour later, after Elliot had fed Julia breakfast, they made their way to where everyone was waiting on the beach. Julia was severely embarrassed but she didn’t want Elliot to worry, so she told him it was no big deal. Considering she’d agreed to spend the weekend with these people, she figured she better get it over with and put it behind them.
The weather was gorgeous, warm, and breezy, and the water was beautiful. Elliot looked rugged and strong, striding through the sand in his bathing suit. He was tall and broad with a scowl on his handsome face, gray eyes intense and watchful as they walked down the beach.
“What are you scowling about?” she asked.
He looked down and slid his aviators up. “I’m trying to look intimidating so none of these idiots get any ideas about approaching you.”
“No one’s going to approach me.”
Elliot looked skeptical. “Babe. Have you looked at yourself?”
She looked down at her long cover-up and then back up at him confused. “What’s wrong with this?” He just shook his head, his eyes hidden behind his glasses again. “Are you sure we’re not interrupting something?” Julia asked as they neared a larger group than she’d imagined.
There were a bunch of women and men, all laughing and enjoying themselves.
Elliot took her hand in his as they walked. “Don’t be nervous. They’ll all love you.” He smiled. “Like I do.”
Her lips turned up, thankful that he was there to support her when she was feeling anxious. Kelsey looked up from her phone and sent them a smile and wave as they approached. Julia took a deep breath, ready to do something she’d never been very good at.
She was going to try to make friends.
When they got to the edge of the blankets, Elliot introduced her around.
She met Logan, Elliot’s cousin. She could tell right away that he was easygoing and kind. He was also missing a leg, a shiny metal prosthetic sticking out of the bottom of his shorts.
“Nice to meet you,” Julia said quickly as they shook hands.
“We’ve met actually,” he explained with a smile. “I’m thankful that I got to see a beautiful stranger in her underwear one last time before I get married.”
He then introduced his fiancée, Beth, a slip of a woman with hair the color of fire and eyes as blue as the Caribbean ocean. “Beth, this is Julia. Julia, Beth.”
“I heard about this morning,” Beth said with a nod. “Are you okay?”
Julia nodded, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment. “I’m fine. Just a very vivid dreamer.”
Beth smiled in understanding and called her sister over, a stunning woman in a bikini with long black hair and the same blue eyes as Beth.
“This is my sister Lexi.”
“Alex,” the woman corrected. “Or Alexa. No one calls me Lexi and lives. Except Beth,” she added.
Next came Andy, Alexa’s twin, because when you have one ridiculously gorgeous woman why wouldn’t there be an identical twin? Andrea seemed more reserved than her twin, smiling shyly, and introduced her daughter, Jenna, who was a beautiful young teenager, already taller than her mother. Her father, Owen, was already in the water and Jenna pointed him out. Beth came back and introduced her brother, Spencer, and Julia had to stop herself from taking a step back. She’d thought Elliot was huge, but this guy really took the cake. He had to top Elliot by a few inches, at least.
“Jeez, you’re almost as short as my sisters.” Spencer laughed.
“You should see her in some of her heels,” Cole said as he strolled up, took her hand, and pulled her away from Elliot. “Killer,” he finished with a wink. He put an arm around her shoulder when they stopped walking and looked out over the water. “You okay?” he asked.
“This morning, you mean?”
“Shit yeah, this morning,” he confirmed.
“I do that sometimes. Just have really vivid dreams.”
“But you’re okay, right?”
She looked up at him confused. “I said yes. What’s this all about?”
Now it was Cole’s turn to look away. “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to you much since you started your therapy stuff.” He said it quietly so he wouldn’t be overheard. “I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”
It struck Julia that Cole was, once again, just trying to be her friend. He was checking in with her and trying to make sure she was healthy and whole. She wrapped her arms around his waist from the side and hugged him.
“I’m great,” she told him honestly.
He kissed her head. “I’m glad. I’ve been worried.”
“I’m sorry,” she told him. “I haven’t been a very good friend.”
He shrugged. “You’re learning. We’ll get there.”
“Watch your hands if you want to keep them attached to your body, little brother!” Elliot called.
“My turn,” Kelsey said, grabbing Julia’s hand and pulling her off to the side. “Work calls.”
“No work,” Elliot said pointedly at Julia.
“Just for a few minutes,” she bargained with Elliot.
His brow furrowed and he put his hands on his hips. “A few minutes,” he conceded after a second.
“I’ve been trying to get you all morning.” Kelsey sounded urgent as she pulled Julia aside. “Don’t you have your phone?”
“Of course.” Julia reached into her dress pocket but came up empty. She sent a wide-eyed, panicked look with Kelsey. “It’s not there,” she breathed. Uselessly, she patted her pockets as if it might appear.
“Whoa. Look at you cut loose, boss,” Kelsey joked. “I’ve got mine for now.”
Julia couldn’t believe she didn’t have her phone. She was still looking around as though it might pop up somewhere. “Where would I have put it?” she asked herself. “Maybe it’s in my bag.”
Kelsey rolled her eyes. “Hey, Lover-boy!” Elliot glowered in her direction. “Have you seen Jules’s phone?”
He bent down and rummaged through their bag and pulled it out. “You left it on the kitchen counter,” he told her when she rushed to get it. “Wasn’t sure if you’d need it.”
“Thank you,” she breathed and pulled him down for a quick kiss. “Thank you.”
He went to reply, but she was already checking her phone, scrolling through her emails, her arm still around Elliot’s neck.
“It’s like you’ve become a piece of furniture,” Spencer marveled.
Julia’s eyes widened as she found the email that Kelsey had wanted her to see. Her heart pounded as she touched the screen to open in.
This was it. This was the sale proposal for the contracting software.
A big box store was putting an offer on the entire kit and caboodle and she’d been waiting for the email. They’d told her it would be a few weeks, possibly months, since she’d sent them the prototype.
“It’s in,” she whispered.
“Come on,” Kelsey pulled her away.
Elliot held on to her. “What’s in?”
Julia ignored them and looked through the proposal. Everything looked good: bla-bla-bla, all sales final bla-bla, a few prototype glitches to work out before papers signed and checks sent.
“Glitches?” she murmured indignantly. “There are no glitches.” She looked angrily at Kelsey. “What glitches?”
“Come on, Jules.” She held her hand out. “Let’s let these guys have some fun and we’ll be back.”
Julia wasn’t sure what Kelsey was talking about. No one seemed to be paying them any attention but Elliot. Glitches? She’d worked that software inside and out before she’d sent it for review. There were no glitches; most likely it was user error. She looked around and watched Cole and Tucker toss a football around as the women laid in the sun enjoyin
g their time together.
Elliot stood off to the side, not far from her, watching. She realized he was waiting to see what she was going to do. This was his time, she told herself. This was a family event that he’d invited her to and she wasn’t about to leave him high and dry over some work issues. This wasn’t anything that couldn’t wait until Monday.
“I’m not going,” she said it to Kelsey, but she was looking at Elliot. “I’m busy right now and will look at it later.”
Kelsey stood stock still. “Are you blowing off work?” she asked incredulously.
“Don’t second-guess her, honey. Come play.” Tucker appeared behind her and promptly threw her over his shoulder and took off.
Elliot slowly stalked her, approaching her slowly. “I’ve never seen you blow off work.”
“Who wants to do work when I have you and this beach?” she asked.
“Who are you and what have you done with Julia Hawkins?” he joked.
“It’s not what I’ve done to Julia Hawkins, it’s what you’ve done,” she told him when he wrapped his arms around her and began nuzzling her neck.
“And what did I do to you?”
“You changed me. You made me see the things in this world that I couldn’t see before. You made me realize that I was missing life.” He looked at her with a fond smile. “And you’re everything I was missing.”
“You better stop before I tear up,” Cole said from behind them. “My heart is still broken from when you chose that idiot over me.”
“No one will miss you when I kill you,” Elliot said without turning around.
“C’mon, old man,” his youngest brother taunted. “We’ve got a football game going with you old guys against us youngens. Unhand that adorable maiden and get on your side of the field.”
Julia peeked around Elliot, and Cole made a ridiculous show of bowing before dramatically saying, “Milady.”
Julia watched Elliot and the guys play football for a minute. She didn’t understand the rules of the game, but from what she saw, the men were very heated about every toss of the ball. Bored, she stripped off her cover-up and looked for the perfect spot to get some sun.
“Over here.” One of the bride’s twin sisters was motioning her over.
“I’m sorry. I’ve forgotten your name already,” Julia told her as she sat down.
The woman laughed good-naturedly. “I’m Andy.” They shook hands again.
“Julia.”
“You seem to have someone’s attention.”
Elliot was staring heatedly at her. She waved just as Logan slapped Elliot on the back of the head to get him back into the game.
“Is it normal that they’re all so attractive?” Julia asked, watching them all.
“It’s sickening, isn’t it?”
Julia sat crossed-legged and leaned back on her hands.
“I love your bathing suit,” Jenna said, popping her head around her mother, then casting her a glance. “Someone would never let me wear that.”
Julia looked down at her tiny two-piece. It had been sent to her by a designer and was nearly one of a kind. “Thanks.”
Jenna was wearing a much more modest and age-appropriate bikini. “I like yours too. It’s very colorful.”
Jenna picked at the fringe on the side of the bottoms and scowled. “We bought it in the kid’s section.”
“Jenna,” her mother warned. “We’re not discussing this again.”
“I didn’t wear a two-piece until I turned twenty,” Julia admitted. “I always thought my boobs were too small.”
All the women immediately looked at their chests.
“If that’s a thing, I should have never started wearing bikinis,” Beth said. “I think Jenna’s bigger than I am and she’s fourteen.”
“Does that mean I might get big boobs?” Jenna asked, surveying the women around her.
Alex laughed. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up, kiddo. You come from a long line of women that are founding members of the Walker Itty Bitty Titty Committee.”
“Alex,” Andy said with a laugh, covering her mouth.
Julia just looked to Jenna. “I have a bra that makes me look two cup sizes bigger. You can always get one of those.”
“Really,” Beth perked up.
They talked about clothes, and breasts, for long minutes, as if they’d been talking about such personal things for years. There was no embarrassment, no need for it as they all spoke honestly.
Julia flipped over to her stomach, and Jenna did the same after a while, flipping through a magazine together.
“Is that you?” Jenna breathed, pointing to the glossy pages.
Julia grabbed the magazine and brought the picture closer. It was from one of her recent trips into the city. She’d been wearing a Burberry utility jacket with a khaki skirt, her hair in a huge bun, oversized sunglasses hiding her face. She looked good.
“That’s me, alright,” she murmured.
Jenna pulled the magazine back and read aloud. “Reclusive multi-billionaire…holy crap…Julia Hawkins exits her posh Manhattan apartment in her usual down-to-earth classic style. Ms. Hawkins recently sold her lucrative website H-Surf, earning her a cool eleven billion dollars. It’s been said that this well-known loner has been spending her time elsewhere and her expensive digs will soon be on the market.”
Beth whistled. “I read about that deal in the newspaper.”
Kelsey piped up. “So few people read newspapers these days. Do you subscribe?”
Julia let her creative assistant lead the conversation elsewhere and didn’t utter a word, the topic of her money not a conversation she wanted to have.
“What does reclusive mean?” Jenna asked quietly.
“Jenna,” Andy scolded.
“What?” she asked.
“It’s fine.” Julia waved Andy’s concern away. “Reclusive just means I’m kind of a loner.”
“I heard Logan tell my dad that you spend a lot of time with Elliot.”
Julia nodded, considering. “I definitely do.”
“Then Logan told my dad that Elliot’s a hard son of a—”
“That’s enough, Jenna.” Andy laughed. “No more of what Logan said, please.”
“Logan likes to talk,” Beth chimed in. “Like a woman with his gossip, that one.”
“But you love him,” Alexa sang cheerily.
Beth’s face turned dreamy. “You bet your butt I do.”
“Took you long enough to figure it out,” Andy joked.
Beth and Alexa both turned on their sister, staring openmouthed.
“Me?” Beth asked. “It took me long enough?”
Alex agreed with a nod, looking at Andy with raised brows. “Do you remember how long it took you and Owen to get back together?”
“Thirteen years,” Jenna piped in.
Thirteen years? Julia wondered what would make people wait so long? How was it that they loved each other that long?
Jenna continued to flip through the pages, but Julia stopped her with a finger on one of the pictures in the magazine. “That’s my father,” she told the girl.
“Is he famous too?” she asked.
“I’m not famous,” Julia argued. Kelsey coughed into her fist and no one else said a word. They all just looked at her. “It’s not like I do anything to be famous. I’m not like a celebrity or anything,” she continued.
Jenna showed her the magazine cover, the title Celebrity Life in bold letters splashed across the front. “Your picture was in here,” she said reasonably.
“I’m just rich. It’s not like I do anything interesting.”
“So, who’s this famous father?” Alexa asked, leaning to get a look at the magazine.
“No!” Logan shouted as he ran to their ragtag group of blankets and towels. “Don’t say it!”
The women looked up to find the men all standing a few feet from them.
“Don’t say it!” Logan repeated.
“What are you talking about?” Beth laug
hed.
“I’m serious.” He eyed each of them seriously. “If any of you know, you keep it to yourself.” He seemed to catch himself then, looking mildly uncomfortable. “For Julia’s sake. We don’t want to make her uncomfortable.”
Elliot and Cole snickered behind him, but one word about making someone else uncomfortable had all the women concerned for Julia, which was a strange realization. She wasn’t used to dealing with anyone worrying for her well-being.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Julia told them, trying to ease the tension.
“C’mon, Shorty.” Elliot reached her in a few steps and held out a hand. “Let’s hit the water.”
She grabbed it and let him lead her into the water. It was much colder than the lovely blue Caribbean water they’d enjoyed a few months ago but still lovely in its own right.
“So, I guess Beth has a huge thing for your father,” Elliot told her with a chuckle as he pulled her against his chest.
“What?” Julia cringed. “Gross.”
“I’m sure there are lots of women out there who want your dad.”
She shuddered and pretended to gag. “Change the subject. Fast.”
He swooped in quickly and placed a thorough kiss on her lips. “You look beautiful today.”
“Just today?” she asked jokingly.
He corrected himself. “You look especially beautiful today.”
“What’s so special about today?” she asked, letting out a small squeal as he brought them farther into the water, the cold waves lapping at her lower back.
“Today I know that you love me.” He kissed her again gently. “And I get to see you in a bikini.”
“Every woman on this beach is in a bikini,” she pointed out.
“I’m not looking at anyone but you, Shorty,” he said in a low voice.
It was nearing late afternoon and Kelsey kept sending Julia desperate looks across their section of beach towels. The men were basking in the sun right along with the women in the huge area they had staked out for themselves. After making friends and spending some time with Elliot, everything had mellowed considerably.
Now, Julia’s foot was tapping the sand, her impatience nearly vibrating her body. She had to get some work done. She’d been working on the software deal for months and would be devastated if it fell through.
Elliot: The Williams Brothers Page 23
