Oh, yeah. Totally with you ladies, I laughed to myself when I realized they were staring out the window at Julian. Back at the garage, he had changed into a casual outfit as well – a white T-shirt, black leather jacket and dark grey jeans. It was the kind of casual look that I never imagined him wearing, but obviously, he wore the hell out of it.
He looked even better now with the last of the sunset hitting him as he waited for me outside, leaning against the side of the bike.
“Good Lord,” I had to murmur with a little grin to myself. Was it weird to take a picture? Whatever. I did, and with the sound on, too. When a man looked that good, this kind of shamelessness was warranted.
“Oh, honey, is he yours?” one of the sun hat ladies asked me, looking my outfit up and down. “Oh, yes, you match too well not to be with him,” she whistled.
“Yes, I guess he is mine today,” I giggled, the door chiming as I pushed through to leave. Sun Hat Lady stopped me with a wagging finger.
“Ah, ah – just today? Oh, no, no, dear. That is not the attitude,” she clucked, echoing the exact words Lia had said to me today on the terrace. She even shot me a tsk tsk look through the window as I walked back outside. But I caught her little smile and wink as I felt Julian’s hand touch my waist.
“Hey.” He hooked his fingers into my shorts to pull me close. I blushed when he cupped the backs of my thighs with his hands, his eyes on my lips for two seconds before he looked at me. “How does it feel?”
This day? In general? Being with you?
Oh, you know. Fucking perfect.
“You mean the ride?” I asked quietly, struck by how strangely intimate the moment felt. “It’s good. Not bad at all.”
“When else have you been on a motorcycle?”
I wet my lips, briefly hesitant to answer.
“With my best friend in college,” I answered. I couldn’t help the grimace. My heart beat fast when I thought about her, and it was never a gradual transition – it was just sudden, brutal pounding. “Should we get going?” I asked, eager to change the subject.
I could tell from the way Julian studied me that he wanted to ask another question, but to my relief, he handed me my helmet. With his head tilted over his shoulder, he watched with a grin as I mounted the bike.
“Good girl,” he murmured as I wrapped my arms around him.
Then once again, we were off.
22
SARA
By the time we got to Emmett’s restaurant, we were apparently too late to catch dinner. Fortunately, everyone was still there and gathered around the fire pit by the beach. I smiled when I quickly spotted Lia’s silhouette, her hair piled on the top of her head and her arms wrapped around Lukas’s neck as she sat in his lap.
“Ridiculous,” I remarked as Julian and I walked toward them.
“I agree,” he smirked, though it was a semi-hypocritical thing to say, given his hand gently massaging the back of my neck as we walked across the beach. I had mentioned feeling a little stiff from the ride, and since that mention, Julian had subconsciously had his hands all over me – rubbing my back, my shoulders, my neck. I was pretty sure he didn’t even know he was doing it, considering his busy eyes scanning the restaurant for Lukas and Emmett.
But whether he did or not, I definitely wasn’t complaining.
“Oh my God! I knew it!” Lia shrieked, bursting off Lukas’s lap and bounding toward me when she spotted us. “Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi!” she squealed, slamming into me with a hug that sent me hurtling backwards into Julian. I heard him laugh as he caught me, giving my ass a quick squeeze before he put me back on my feet.
“Hey, crazy,” I giggled, kissing Lia on the cheek. She ignored me to point a stern finger at Julian.
“You! You could’ve told Lukas you were bringing her so I had some warning!”
“I did tell Lukas,” Julian replied.
Lia’s face twitched with a second of confusion before she gasped and yelled, “Lukas!”
I laughed as I watched her kick sand up while marching back to him to demand why he didn’t share with her the good news. Julian exhaled as he ushered me with a hand on my back.
“It’s hard to believe stories that she was ever anything resembling a calm or mild-mannered person.”
I burst out laughing. “She really was pretty reserved for awhile.”