If You Only Knew (And Then Came Love Book 1) (11 page)

She recoiled. “If you say innocence, I’m going to hit you. I’m not this delicate flower you need to protect. Nothing horrific happened to me and I’m not
that
experienced, but I’m no pushover either.”

“I never said you were. You tend to see the best in people and I admire that. No matter how many bad things happen you still look at someone and say I could trust them.”

“But I don’t trust everyone. I—” She picked up her drink.  

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, darling. I admire it.”

Liza sprayed her drink then coughed, turned her head and quirked an eyebrow at him. “Darling?”

Julian wiped the liquid off his face. “Sugar-lips?”

Liza snorted. “Absolutely not.”

“Aren’t we lady-like today?” He winked.

Liza’s mouth dropped open in mock offense. She smacked him in the arm.

He grinned. “My uncle Robert calls his wife Poopsy.”

She shook her head. “I won’t be anyone’s Poopsy. You’ve called me babe before and got away with it. We’ll leave it at that.”

“Oh, don’t think I won’t try others on the way. For entertainment value.”

“Ha! Like your lines?”

“You got it.”

“You’re a riot.”

“I know.”

*****

Liza paced the cabin, glancing at the clock as she went by.

Julian grinned from his perch on the couch.

“What?” She raised her arms to the sky. “My friends treated me like crap today. How are two complete strangers going to treat me?”

“Once you meet them, you’ll understand.”

There was a knock on the door.

Liza closed her eyes.

“I’ll get it.” Julian opened the door and two women came inside. “Hey, girls.”

“Girls?” The taller of the two girls repeated. “Dear brother, I grew out of the girl stage a long time ago.”

Julian chuckled and turned to Liza. He gestured with his thumb toward the woman he was talking to. “Liza, this is my sister, Terra. And shorty over there is my favorite sister-in-law, Audrey.
Girls
, Liza”

“I’m your only, sister-in-law.” Audrey and Terra smacked him at the same time.

Liza laughed. “Oh I like these two.”

“Yep, neither of these women put up with any of my shit. I figured you three should get along great.”

“Wait, you’re still dating a woman who doesn’t put up with your shit?” Terra eyed him and then put her hand on his forehead as if checking his temperature. “Who are you and what have you done with my brother?”

“Ha ha.” Julian shrugged off her hand, pulled out his wallet, and walked over to Liza. He handed her a card and kissed her cheek. “Spend what you want and have fun. I’m leaving you in the capable hands of my sisters.”

“I can’t take this.” Liza tried to hand the card to him. “On top of the fact, I don’t want your money, I can’t sign your name. The last thing I need is to be arrested for credit card fraud.”

“Why are you so worried about taking my money? You’re not asking for it, I’m offering.” He caught her arms and backed her into the kitchen. “Listen, I know you’ve had a crappy morning. Don’t worry about it. Terra forges my name just fine and no doubt she’ll pick something up for herself as well.” Julian hauled her into his arms.

Liza looked into his eyes. “I can take care of myself.”

Julian smiled. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He caressed her cheek. “But sometimes it’s fun, to take care of each other.” He kissed her forehead.

Liza wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed him tight. “There are days you know exactly what I need to hear.”

“Oh how cute! My big brother is playing kissy face.” Terra called.

Julian flipped her off. “Just remember that for the days when everything that comes out of my mouth is the wrong thing.”

“I will.” She bit her lower lip.

Julian brushed a kiss across her lips. “Go have a good time. Because tonight, you’re all mine.”

“I like the sound of that.” Liza traced a finger under his chin. “Maybe tonight?”

“You bet your sweet ass.” Julian smacked her ass and winked. He turned to Audrey and Terra. “All right,
girls
, I’m off.”

“Oh, we knew that already,
boy
. You’re always off.” Terra smirked.

“Ha.” Julian waved at Liza as he left the cabin.

Terra waited until she heard his car start before she turned to Liza. “Just how much do you want to torture that boy tonight?”

“Torture him?” Liza let a smile creep across her face.

“I have the perfect hunter green dress in my closet at home that would look gorgeous with your hair.” Terra scanned through the photos on her phone.

“And how is that torturous?”

Terra showed her phone to Audrey first before turning it to show Liza. “It’s slit up to your upper thigh.” She beamed.

Liza fell in love. “It’s gorgeous. Why wouldn’t you want to wear it?”

“Green’s not my color. I picked it up on a whim, because it’s a beautiful dress, but I’ll never wear it. I was going to see if my cousin wanted it, but I think it’s perfect for you.” Terra took the phone and dropped it in her pocket.

“I’ll take it.” Liza nodded. “And I don’t have to spend any of his money.”

“Oh honey, we’re not done yet.” Terra wiggled her fingers at Liza. She gave Audrey a conspiratorial grin. “The lingerie store is on the way to my apartment.”

“You and Ava have been talking again, haven’t you?” Audrey shook her head.

“Who’s Ava?”

“Ava Steele. Terra’s best friend and resident wild child. If she still lived in Indiana she’d be here today. At the moment, she’s in California, living it up in the big leagues.” Audrey stood up. “Can we get out of here? This place brings back more memories than I care to remember.”

“What kind of memories?” Liza grabbed her purse and tucked Julian’s credit card inside her wallet.

“My first time with my husband was on this property.” Audrey said as they headed out of the cabin. “There was no cabin here at the time, so it was in the back of Jake’s car.”

Terra threw her head back and laughed. “Dad read Jake the riot act when he found out you two had sex.”

“I feel like I’m missing out on a really funny story.” Liza said as she climbed into the backseat of Terra’s car.

“You have to understand, Audrey is essentially another one of our sisters. Jake may have brought her home, but we adopted her into the family right away.” Terra got in the driver’s seat.

“I grew up in foster care and didn’t have the greatest experience.” Audrey looked down at her hands.

“I know all about the foster care system. One of my best friends from Elementary school was in the foster care system. She was beaten by her foster father and at the age of ten he raped and killed her. I took this job, because of her.” Liza wiped the tear from her eye. Talking about Susie made her cry.

“That’s so sad.” Terra hugged Liza.

Audrey hugged her next. “I hated the foster care system. I felt like such an outcast. I was made fun of a lot. Jake saved me one day, him and Everett brought me home the next day and I’ve been with the family ever since.” Audrey shrugged. There was a wistful look on her face.

“Aww – sounds like you ended up with your happily ever after, that’s sweet.” Liza smiled.

“I thought I had, as well. Until Jake disappeared on me. Five years ago, he came home from a conference said he was leaving to start a company in Houston and that was it. Out the door he went.”

“What?” Liza’s mouth dropped open. “I thought you two were still married?”

“We are.” Audrey nodded. “Neither one of us has filed for divorce.”

“How come?”

“Because stupid me still loves him. I don’t think I’ll ever get him out of my head. Give it another year and I may, but I guess I’m still living in denial.”

“I don’t think I could ever do that.”

“It’s not the easiest thing in the world, but I’ve made it so far.”

“Happy thoughts, ladies, happy thoughts! We’re going to buy lingerie!” Terra pulled out onto the highway.

“You’re buying lingerie – I have no one to wear it for.” Audrey laughed.

“I don’t have anyone to wear it for either.” Terra shook her head.

“Let’s go shopping.”

*****

Julian leaned against the wall at the charity event. He adjusted his tie.

“Your date and your sisters are fashionably late.” Jackie came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Naturally.” Julian smiled. “What’d you expect? Terra’s in charge of getting her ready.”

A punch landed against his arm. “Ouch.” He turned to see Terra and Audrey behind him. “Where’s Liza?”

“We told her to enter from the front.” Terra sent a grin Julian’s way. “You can thank me later.”

“Huh?” Julian’s eyes scanned the crowd. Coming in the front door, in a sea of sparkling hunter green. His mouth went dry.  

The crowd parted, as she walked across the room, looking straight at him. Heads turned, all staring at her. A pang of jealousy surged.

“Try and keep her by your side and you’ll do fine. ? Remember it doesn’t matter who looks, unless someone is touching.” Jackie kissed him on the cheek. “Good luck.”

They met in the middle. He cleared his throat, stepped back, and looked her over from head to toe.

Liza twirled around with her arms out. “You like?”

His eyes gravitated to the thigh high slit on her left side. He hauled her into his arms, blocking out everyone and everything else. “You did that to torture me, didn’t you?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Liza smiled as she ran a finger down his chest.

“Sure you do.” He caught her hand and twirled her around, dipping her at the end of the spin, and making her squeal. His fingers caressed her bare thigh and he brought her up to her feet. “Stunning, sexy, and I’m going to have a hell of a time keeping my hands out of your dress.”

“Well, try and keep control of yourself because your mother’s watching us.”

Julian glanced behind him to see Terra and Audrey grinning at him and his mother trying to fight her own smile. “Not that I care, but what did that little slice of heaven set me back?”

She squeezed her arms together and her boobs popped up a bit. He drug his gaze to her eyes, only to find her grinning at him. She was playing with him.
Sexy
.

“Nothing.” Their eyes met. “It was hanging in Terra’s closet and she’d never worn it.”

“You picked her dress over a shopping trip?” His lips curled.

She leaned closer, resting her forearms against each of his pecs, her hands on his shoulders. She shifted her arms, pressing her boobs closer together.

He tried to keep his eye contact, but when she dropped her gaze to her own cleavage, he gave into the temptation. Black lace peaked out from the dress. As if he wasn’t hard enough already.

“We did go shopping.” She brought her lips close to his ear. “The corset alone was one hundred and fifty dollars. Then there’s the black lace thong.”

Julian swallowed hard and then smiled. He traced the bodice of the dress, sliding his finger between the dress and the corset to take a peek. “I don’t care how much you spent. It’s the best investment I ever made.” He buried his hands in her hair and pulled her close to him. “I think we should head to my place.”

Liza wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Nope. You got me all dressed up, you’re going to have to deal with me in public for awhile.”

*****

As they were dancing later Julian felt a tap on his shoulder. The classic, ‘I’m cutting in tap.’ He frowned and turned his head to find out who had the audacity to cut in on him and Liza. No one was there. Next thing he knew Liza was out of his arms and dancing away with his grandfather.

His lips curled up into a smile. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

Gramps danced Liza back over to where Julian was standing.

Julian gave the man a hug. “Liza, this is my grandfather, Don Vitalli. Gramps, my girlfriend, Liza.”

“Girlfriend, huh?” Don held out his hand to Liza. She accepted and he brought her hand to his lips. “And what a beautiful woman she is.”

“Stop flirting, old man. You’re not as young as you think you are.” His grandmother joined them as well.

Julian kiss her cheek before introducing her to Liza. “Gram Lucille.”

“You do realize I have full intention of taking her away from you—-for one dance that is.” Don smiled as he grasped Liza’s hand and stepped closer to her.

“And you’re the only one in this room who can get away with that.” Julian raised his voice to the old man, who pushed him away as he swept Liza onto the dance floor.

“I would have done it anyway.” Don twirled Liza away.

“It’s hard to believe you two are in your eighties.”

“That’s just rude, don’t remind me.” Lucille put her hand on Julian’s arm. “Unless you’re set on dancing I’d prefer to sit down. My feet argue with heels anymore.”