Big Girl Going On Tour: Big Girl Series Bk2 (3 page)

“Kiss me, Julian,” she said. “I want to feel you against me.”

He obliged, and she felt his lips soft and warm against hers at first. Then the kiss grew harder, more insistent. She moaned against his skin.

They were so engrossed in each other that Shannon didn’t hear the door opening until it was too late.

Brynn.

The door swung a few inches open, hitting Shannon directly in the back. Immediately she pushed back against it, slamming it shut. She heard a shout from the other side.

“Shannon?”

The doorknob started to turn again and she grabbed it. It jostled under her hand.

“One second, Brynn!”

Shannon extricated herself from Julian’s embrace, keeping her hand on the doorknob while she picked up the towel from the floor.

“Shannon? What the hell are you doing? Let me in!”

“I said one second!” She waved the towel at Julian, motioning him to go down the hall. Julian was laughing silently. Shannon yelled through the door of the apartment.

“Sorry, Brynn, I was just walking around naked. Give me five seconds to get to my room before you open the door!”

She let go of the doorknob and then sprinted down the hall, pulling a laughing Julian along with her. As they reached her room and slipped inside she heard the apartment door open.

“Naked? Shannon?”

Shannon poked her head out of the room back into the hallway.

“Sorry, Brynn, I’m getting dressed.”

“Why are you walking around naked in the apartment?” Brynn dumped her books on the counter in the hallway. “And why is there water on the floor?”

Julian poked his head out above Shannon’s.

“We’re just getting ready to go to dinner,” he said.

Shannon elbowed him in the side and he fell back into her room, cracking up. Brynn’s eyes went wide at the sight of a guy in Shannon’s room. She had never brought a boy back home before.

“Oh, right,” she said. “Sorry to interrupt. I’ll, um, I’ll just get my study binder and go back to the library.” She gathered her books back up into her arms.

“Sorry, Brynn,” Shannon said. Julian pulled her back into her room and shut the door.

“Getting ready to go to dinner?” Shannon put her hands on her hips. She was completely naked, water dripping down her body from the wet ends of her hair, but for whatever reason she didn’t feel the least bit self-conscious at that moment, standing in front of Julian.

“That’s actually why I came here.” Julian sat down on her bed and gazed around. Shannon saw the room through his eyes: the clothes strewn on the floor, the photography assignment spread out across her desk. There was even a stuffed animal on her pillow.

“Oh?”

“To take you to dinner. As part of my repayment for being a - what did you call me again? An idiot and a jerk?”

“No!” Shannon flushed now, embarrassed that she had let out her frustrations on him.

“I think the words you used were ‘the dumbest man in the world’, if I recall correctly.”

“Oh, hush!” she cried.

“No, it’s true,” Julian said. “I was an idiot to leave you, and a jerk not to call.” He stood up. “So I want to take you to dinner.” He bent down and kissed her gently on the mouth.

“Okay,” she said.

“Good. Our reservations are at seven.”

“What? I’ve got to get dressed!” Shannon spun around toward her closet.

“As much as I like this view,” Julian said, “I have to agree. You’d better put on something before I get too tempted.”

“Uh huh,
right
.”

“You made me lose control back there, but I don’t want to be late, so you’d better hurry.” He spanked her on the butt and Shannon let out a squeal that was more surprise than pain.

“I don’t know what I have to wear,” she said apologetically, pushing aside half of the hangers in her closet. “Is this a fancy place?”

“The fanciest. Are these your photographs?” Julian had walked over and was looking at her desk. Shannon felt the urge to sweep all the photographs into a drawer. Her work… There was a portrait study there of Brynn, studying as always, her hair brushed to one side as she focused on a mathematical theorem. Another set of photographs showed the landscape behind her college, the desert lit up red and orange by the early rays of sunshine.

“Um, yeah,” Shannon said. She felt naked. “They’re for class.”

“They’re wonderful.” Julian held up a photo of a bar scene. Shannon didn’t really drink, but she liked going to bars to take pictures. There were always the most interesting people there. When Julian put down the photo, she thought she saw a twinge of sadness in his eyes.

“They’re just assignments,” Shannon said, secretly proud.

“They’re really wonderful.” Julian said. “You’re an amazing photographer.”

“Oh hush already,” Shannon said. “Where are we going?” Her stomach rose nervously. Was he going to take her downtown? Maybe to that new French seafood restaurant. She didn’t really like seafood, but she would go anywhere with Julian.

“It’s a secret,” Julian said. “How about you wear that slinky dress you wore to the concert?”

“That’s way too sexy,” Shannon protested. “Wayyyy too sexy.”

“If you think it’s way too sexy, then it’s perfect.”

“What? Where the
hell
are we going to eat?”

Shannon sighed. She really didn’t have anything else. Jeans and sweatshirts, the college student’s outfit, and an ankle-length black dress with long sleeves that she had worn to her grandmother’s funeral the year before. It didn’t really fit her. Maybe if she just put a cardigan on over her slinky dress it would be okay. Maybe.

“Alright, alright, you win.” She pulled the slinky dress out of the closet and threw it on the bed next to Julian. It shimmered under the light.

Julian watched her as she quickly put on her bra and panties. Thank goodness she had just bought a new set. Her underwear never matched normally, but now she pulled on the red lace and thought to herself that it was a good thing she had done a shopping therapy trip with Jason.

“Sexy,” Julian said. “I like it.”

Shannon smirked and reached out to grab her dress. She stepped into it and pulled it up, smoothing the fabric over her hips.

“Zip me up?” she said, turning her back to Julian.

“I like watching you dress,” Julian said, kissing the place between her shoulders before pulling the zipper up all the way. “But not as much as I’m going to like watching you undress later.”

“Is that so?” Shannon said, arching her eyebrow. She pulled out a cardigan from her closet and slung it over her arm.

“That’s so,” Julian said solemnly. “It’s part of my repayment plan.”

Shannon grinned and picked up her purse from the mess all over her desk.

“Alright,” she said. “Let’s go.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Julian opened the door for Shannon to get into the car. Its yellow hood shone dimly under the last rays of the setting sun.

“Nice rental,” she said. Her fingers ran along the edge of the car door and Julian felt the familiar ache of desire inside of him. He wanted to take her hand and slide her fingers into his mouth, suck on her salty skin. He wanted to slide her hands between her thighs and make her come again, just as he had before. He wanted to-

“I’m sorry, what?” She had said something to him.

“I said what kind of car is it?” Shannon grinned, a smile that made his heart melt.

“It’s a Datsun 280z,” he said. “I asked the guy at the rental place to give it to me just for tonight.”

“It looks like an old racing car or something.” Shannon twisted in her seat, showing more than a hint of her cleavage. She was breathtaking.

Julian slid into the seat next to her. The leather seats smelled warm and inviting, the steering wheel oversized under the palms of his hands.

“This was the kind of car my dad had when I was a kid.” Julian breathed deeply, running one hand along the dash. “Of course, ours was a junker. He bought it for three hundred dollars and was always trying to get it to run.”

“Did you help out?”

“Yeah, that’s how I learned about cars. Hell, if I hadn’t joined
Wilder Side
, I would probably have become a mechanic. We must have replaced every piece of that car, twice!”

Shannon laughed as Julian continued. His mind drifted back to the past.

“I was ten years old or so, and he would bring me with him to the junkyards to find the scrap parts. It was so fun, like a scavenger hunt. I remember he would always examine the pieces I brought to him, even if they were completely rusted out and junky, even if they were the completely wrong part. He’d tell me what was wrong about them and I’d go running off to look for more. The junkyards were just filled with acres and acres of scrap cars, and I’d go climbing around on the old piles of junk looking for that one perfect piece that would make the car work.”

“Sounds like an adventure.”

“It was.” Julian sighed. “It was.” He reached down and turned the key in the ignition. The Datsun’s motor roared to life, then backed down to a murmur. He pushed down on the clutch and shifted into neutral, revving the car to hear the engine purr.

“So did you ever finish it?”

Julian paused. There was a lump in his throat. Even now, even after so long.

“No,” he said. “My dad died before we were done.”

“I’m sorry,” Shannon said softly. She put her hand over his.

“His fault,” Julian said. His voice turned bitter. “Had too many drinks and headed home from the bar late one night. Crashed his truck into a ditch. My mom opened the door, took one look at the sheriff’s car outside and knew what had happened.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“We had to sell the car after that, sell it for parts.” Julian said. He looked down. His hand was clutching at the gearshift so tightly that his fingers were white. “Only got half as much for it, after all that work.”

He looked up at Shannon and found that there were tears in her eyes.

“I’ll never do that,” he said. He turned his hand over underneath hers, entwining their fingers together. “I promise.”

Shannon just nodded. Julian let out a deep breath. He was surprised to find that there were tears rising in his eyes, too. He stared out the windshield and blinked hard.

“Hell,” Julian said. His voice was shaky. “I didn’t mean to start this off so bad.”

“It’s not bad,” Shannon said. “I’m glad you told me.”

“You still want to go to dinner with me?” Julian said, trying to smile.

Shannon leaned over and put her head on his shoulder. Her hand squeezed his arm, and he felt something inside of him break loose, fall away. He felt as though the world looked a bit brighter, even with the sun setting.

“Of course,” she whispered.

“Good,” he said. He shifted into first gear and revved the engine. “I wouldn’t want to make you get all dressed up for nothing.”

They drove off into the evening. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, and the sky was still dusky with the faint promises of tomorrow’s light. Julian turned off of the main freeway onto a small county road.

“Where on earth are you taking me?” Shannon asked.

“It’s a surprise.”

Shannon peered out of the window. The first stars were beginning to be visible in the east, but rising up in front of them were the looming shadows of the mountains.

“I think you’re taking me out into the middle of the nowhere,” Shannon said.

“That’s right.” Julian grinned. He had planned everything out perfectly. At least, he thought he had. He looked at the dashboard clock. They still had over a half hour.
Perfect
.

“I think you’re secretly a serial killer,” she said. “And you just use your charms to lure your victims into a false sense of security.”

“You are absolutely correct, my dear,” Julian said. He dropped into a lower gear as they wove through the first mountain curve. The road grew steeper and the engine made the whole car shiver with tension.

“You’re going to bring me out to the forest where there’s nobody else around.”

“Yep.”

“And I think you’re going to take me up the side of the mountain push me off of a cliff.” Shannon’s eyes sparked with imagination. Julian wanted to lean over and kiss her, but he was focused on maneuvering around the hairpin turns.

“Not at all,” Julian said. “I’m going to chop you up and feed you to a mountain lion.”

“Oh,” Shannon said, crossing her arms. “In that case, carry on.”

“Thank you for being so obliging.”

“Of course. You know what this means, though?”

Julian darted a quick glance over towards the passenger seat. Shannon was leaning her face against the window, looking down at the mountainside below.

“What does this mean?”

“Well, if you kidnap me away to the mountain and kill me and serve my chopped-up corpse to mountain lions, you’ll REALLY owe me big time.”

Julian cracked a wide grin.

“I promised I’d make it up to you,” he said. “So don’t worry about a thing.”

“All I know is this had better be a hell of a dinner date. I was expecting, like, a sunset sail or something.”

“A sunset sail?”

“Yeah, like, on a sailboat. I’ve never been on a sailboat before.”

“I’m so sorry to disappoint you, but we’re not going sailing.”

“I figured that out once we started up the mountain,” Shannon said. “Unless you have a crazy mountain sailboat or something.”

Julian laughed. “No mountain sailboats, I’m afraid.”

“I am SO disappointed.” Shannon giggled.

Ten minutes later they were almost up the mountain, and Julian recognized the turnout. He pulled the car over to the edge of the mountain, the tires spinning gravel underneath the body of the sleek car. In first gear the Datsun rolled slowly over, and Julian positioned the car near the ledge overlooking the city. He pulled up the emergency brake and turned off the engine.

“I don’t suppose you have a picnic lunch in the trunk,” Shannon said.

“You are one saucy lady.” Julian leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “No, we’re early. I thought you might like to see the view.”