First with the Garrett thing. And now just thinking about her sleeping next door made him toss restlessly in bed, frustrated beyond measure.
Tonight, it had been raining outside when they loaded up her suitcases. By the time Molly had stepped into his apartment, she’d looked so…wet. God, he’d really tried not to look at the way she needed to peel her shirt back from her breasts, but he lacked the willpower.
Lying back in his bed, he tried to cool down his roiling blood, his head swimming with the sight of her breasts, perfectly round, with those pointy nipples straining against the fabric of her top.
And when she’d kissed him upstairs, so happy to be painting the mural for him, it had taken all his willpower not to turn his face and capture that kiss with his lips, kiss her long and hard as if he’d wanted to back in her apartment—where she’d been flushed and gasping for breath after the silly little peck he’d given her. And those cherries. Goddamn the sounds she made as she ate those miserable cherries!
It had been a miracle Julian hadn’t lunged across the seat of his car, taken her face between his hands and suckled each and every cherry from her cool and sassy mouth.
Hell, this is the worst idea I’ve ever had in my life.
For years, Julian had grown up with rules that he’d tried to follow, knowing the only girl he’d ever respected and admired was out of his reach. Molly was the one woman Julian would want to be locked in a closet with. Stranded on a deserted island with. She was the only good and pure thing in his life, and despite some failed efforts, he’d tried to keep it that way. Unsullied and unsoiled, happy and protected.
Growing up, he’d always imagined they would have each other. Molly had never liked to date, and she’d always needed Julian. Julian had kept his hands off her and on just about anyone else in his efforts to keep busy, stay focused and more importantly, stay away from Molly.
But now—she wanted Garrett.
A Gage.
Julian’s stomach roiled with nausea at the reminder. God. He’d never imagined this could ever happen.
At first, he’d thought she was
pulling his leg, or trying to make him jealous. In the back of his mind, he’d always imagined that if Molly ever fell in love with one of the Gage brothers, it would be…him. Dammit, him and only him. Because she sure as hell never seemed to look at anyone else.
Even his family had thought Molly wanted him, which was why every time he got close to Molly, all hell would break loose. His mother, Landon, Garrett, even Kate would pounce. Julian had suffered endless lectures from them all about being good to Molly, staying away from Molly, respecting Molly or finding another home. For the most part, he had been good. Really good.
But now, years and what felt like aeons later, the fact that Molly wanted his brother was a game changer. Julian had been living in this hell long enough, and he could no longer kid himself that the magic, the pull, the impossible chemistry between Molly and him was only due to friendship. He knew full well that when she made his groin throb with her smiles, they were not friendly feelings. Much less brotherly ones.
He’d been dreaming about her for years. Powerful dreams. Sexual dreams. Dreams that left him drenched in sweat and groaning in pain and reaching for the first pair of female legs that passed him.
Yeah, he’d thought if he’d had sex more often, his powerful reactions to her would diminish. But all it did was make him want her more—because none of those women were Molly.
No. No one could ever even compare to that effervescent little bombshell—no one.
Now he just needed to play his game right. Julian might have a long comfortable fuse where his temper was concerned, but when it came to Molly, his fuse had run damn short. If she kept this up he was going to do something reckless and stupid.
And he didn’t want to be reckless and stupid.
He’d been moving his pieces all in the direction of one goal so he could stake his claim on her once and for all.
Now he’d prove to his family that he did not need them, and that he would never hurt a single hair on Molly’s beautiful head. He needed them to see that he was worthy of her, that he wanted her for real and not just for sex—though of course when that happened, it was going to be damned amazing, too. But more importantly, he needed to show them that he would do whatever it took to have her. Even cut his ties with them all.
If Molly was ever going to settle down with a guy, she was settling down with Julian. Whether they liked it or not.
And as for Molly…
He had to make her see that he was the man for her and always had been—and once and for all, he had to finish what he’d started the night he’d kissed her heart out at the masquerade party.
Four
Something about sleeping in Julian’s apartment made Molly restless.
Well past midnight, still tortured by the memory of Garrett’s kiss, she found herself tiptoeing down the hall toward the kitchen in the hopes of finding some sort of sleep aid in his cupboards. She had her heart set on Sleepytime Tea, but valerian root or chamomile would do, too. Hey, at this point, she’d take anything as long as it meant quieting her troubled brain and getting some rest.
But what she found on her way to the cupboards was a beautifully sculpted, seminaked man instead—and the sight of him was sure to give her permanent insomnia.
Wearing only a pair of white cotton briefs that hugged his buttocks perfectly, he leaned against the open refrigerator door, his head stuck inside as he surveyed the food.