Ask For It (18 page)

“Boyfriend,” he inserted easily.

Her grin kicked up until her beautiful blue-gray eyes sparkled.

“A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Ross,” he said and extracted his hand from Julia’s just long enough to shake her agent’s.

“Likewise. You’ll have to come with us to dinner. I was just telling JJ about this great little place I know where all the agents and editors hangout.”

“Oh…” Julia said, glancing between them. “I’m sorry, Jessica. Trevor had already invited me to meet his mom tonight. Can I take a rain check?”

“Sure. Sure. Take care of our girl,” Jessica Ross said and gave him a quick eyebrow quirk to punctuate the order. “Great to finally meet you JJ. It’s gonna be big!”

Something about the way she said it told Trevor she was already seeing dollar signs. And with that, the woman with the short black hair turned on her heel and faded into the crowd. Trevor couldn’t resist pulling Julia closer, even in such a public location.

She turned those amazing eyes up at him. “Hello, boyfriend.”

“Like how I staked my claim?” He wasn’t sure what had possessed him to spit out that proclamation without consulting her first, but it had felt natural.

“Very much.” She got that faraway look in her eyes like she was imagining them together, naked.

That could certainly be arranged.

“Hey, aren’t you Trevor Wyatt?” a feminine voice asked from his left side.

Slowly, he turned toward the voice. A plump middle aged woman and a somewhat taller but just as plump man stood before him, their jaws practically on the sidewalk.

“Yes, ma’am.”

The woman smacked her husband in the stomach.

“I told him you were still living in New York, but George never listens to me, do you George? We’re huge fans of yours, huge.” She was talking with her hands. “I’m so sorry to interrupt.” She sent an apologetic look to Julia. “Could we trouble you for a picture? No one back home will believe we bumped into you.”

“Sure thing,” Trevor said. He sent Julia an apologetic look of his own but she just smiled and shrugged. Such a trooper. Where had she been all his adult life? A woman like her would keep a man grounded while stroking his ego.

He stepped in between the man and woman as they handed Julia a camera. “Do you mind, dear?” the woman asked.

“Not at all.” Julia took the camera, found the shutter button and lifted it to her eye. “Say cheeseburgers!”

The couple at his sides laughed and he smirked.

“Great picture,” Julia declared, handing the camera back. A brisk wind bore down on them, whipping her hair around her face.

And just like that, Trevor fell the last little bit head-over-heels for one Miss Julia Fairchild.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“So tell me everything,” Trevor said as soon as he had her bundled into his Land Rover. Despite the traffic of the city, he preferred traveling by car so he could maintain his personal space. Ten years ago he'd thought nothing of hopping on the subway. How times had changed.

He took a right out of the parking deck and immediately stepped on the brakes, but that just gave him the opportunity to steal a glance at the woman at his side. Her lips were curved up in a pleased smile.

“They seem really enthusiastic about the book.” She seemed surprised by that. “I didn't expect that. My editor, Scott, seems a little young, but as grandma Fairchild used to say 'he's as sharp as a tack.' And after seeing their plan for launching the book, Jessica is trying to get me a bigger advance.”

Once again Trevor bit back the irrational surge of jealousy. Just because her editor was young and male meant nothing. Nothing. She didn’t sound the least bit interested in the guy. “That's good.”

“I know it's her job but their first offer was...way bigger than I'd expected.” He wasn’t surprised that they wanted the book and were willing to pay for it. It had all the elements of a bestseller. He should know. He’d had plenty of time to catch up on his reading this past year. Still, she sounded a little stunned. But then, he knew she had some money quirks…who didn’t?

From the corner of his eye he saw her press her palms against her cheeks. Damn, she was cute.

“You're worth it. It's an incredible story, sweetheart.” It'd taken him a few hours before he'd been able to tame the anxiety monster and dive into her book. But she'd blown him away with the characters and intimate details of the sport he'd loved for so long.

“That's what Jessica said.” She turned the air vents toward her face and took advantage of the dual climate control to lower the temperature on her side.

“You alright?”

“Yeah. I think it's just nerves. Should we drop my stuff off at my hotel?”

“Nah, lets worry about that later.”

A half hour later Trevor pulled into his mother’s driveway. He wasn’t sure what to expect since he’d never brought a woman home, not since high school anyway. And the few times Momma’d met the women he’d dated over the years, she hadn’t approved.

Neither had he, when it came down to it.

He cut the engine and kissed the back of Julia’s hand. She looked a little nervous. But then she’d had plenty of firsts today. First meeting with her agent, editor, publisher and her boyfriend’s mother. That was bound to have anyone tight as a spring.

“She’s gonna love you,” he murmured as he helped her out of the truck.

“How can you be sure?” she asked, eyebrow quirked up in that adorable way that challenged and charmed him.

“You’re southern. You have that going for you,” he teased, reminding her of her comment about her mother liking him despite the fact that he grew up in New York.

“What is it with you northerners? It’s like you hear a twang and fall all over yourselves.”

He laughed and reached for her hand. “Mom’s from rural Maryland…she’ll feel right at home with your accent.”

“Really? I never knew that.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said, doing his best to inflect a bit of her accent into his voice. He failed miserably and she giggled, squeezing his hand.

“Are you two just gonna stand around all evenin’ or you gonna come in and have dinner?” his mother called from the back deck.

“Coming, Momma,” he called and then tugged Julia along.

“Momma, this is Julia Fairchild. Julia, my mom, Patricia Wyatt.”

He wondered what Julia was thinking as she took in his mom’s salt and pepper hair and beautiful ebony skin. It’d taken him years to realize that all families weren’t mixed race. And that there weren’t many other white kids on his street, but his parents and brothers had never made him feel adopted.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Mrs. Wyatt. You have a lovely home. I love the color palette,” Julia said.

Trust her to admire the decor. But Momma ate it up.

“Thank you. It's all your fella’s doin’,” she said, her lips stretched in a wide smile that showed off her teeth.

As soon as he’d cashed his first big check he’d hired painters to spruce up his childhood home. His parents had refused to let him buy them a new place so he’d had to settle with fixing all the issues that his father was too busy to tend to. Trevor never blamed him for failing to keep a fresh coat of paint on the house; as a doctor, his work was more important than fresh flowers or crisp trim work.

And after his father had died, she’d wanted to stay here so Trevor’d had to be satisfied with making sure her house was the prettiest on the block. She, of course, didn’t mind that one bit. Half the time he came over for a visit, she was holding court on the small front porch, gossiping with the neighbors and watching the world go by.

He didn't miss the way Momma regarded Julia.

“It’s nice to finally meet the woman who gave my son his nickname,” Momma said. Julia must have passed some sort of inspection because Momma pulled her in for a hug.

Trevor was surprised that she knew where his nickname, T-man, had come from. That first article Julia had written documented some ‘out of his world plays’ as she’d put it and since He-man was taken, she’d called him T-man. The moniker had stuck like gum to a shoe and that’s what the majority of his teammates, coaches, and media called him.

“Come on in. Yer brothers'll be here in a few minutes,” she said as soon as she’d released Julia.

Trevor gave a faux shudder. “Aww, why’d you have to invite them?”

She made a tsking sound and ushered them through the back door into the eat-in kitchen. “You’re just scared they’ll try to steal yer girl.”

Julia covered a smile with her hand and Trevor raised an eyebrow. Just the thought of someone trying to steal her from him sent his pulse racing. They may not be in the same city most of the time but he knew they were monogamous and he wanted things to stay that way. The idea that she’d be interested in anyone else or that some man, even one of his brothers, might try to turn her head—

He must have started to let the fierce emotions inside him show because Momma snapped her fingers in front of his face. “You know they’d never do that, Trevor.”

“I know, Momma.”

“What can we do to help?” Julia asked, easing the tension in the room. She always did that. Turned the upside down right side up again.

“Not a thing. Table’s already set and as soon as—” She stopped short as Marcus’ booming laugh filled the front hall. Sometimes it was eerie how much he sounded like Dad. “Speak of the devils,” she said, grinning from ear to ear.

JJ watched Trevor embrace his brothers. There were a few moments of rough housing, some playful jabs, a bit of trash talk. The usual. Seemed brothers were brothers no matter where they grew up.

She stepped into the small, cheerily painted foyer. The three men filled the space to overflowing, so they moved to the living room. JJ had a quick impression of dinged up hardwoods, fresh neutral furniture, and a patterned rug. But mostly, her eyes were drawn to the three tall, handsome men.

“Marcus, Kyle, I’d like you to meet Julia.” Trevor’s hand slid across her lower back. She loved how he called her that almost as much as she loved it when he called her— “My girlfriend.”

“It’s good to finally meet you,” Marcus said, his grip tight and warm.

“We’ve heard a lot about you,” Kyle added, pumping her hand a few times.

They both had their mother’s beautiful dark skin and beckoning dark eyes. She’d bet they got their height and build from their father. And that easy charm that all three Wyatt men possessed, who knew where that came from? But she would bet that they’d been a handful growing up, getting into trouble and then smooth-talking their way right back out of it.

“All good, I hope,” she said and sent Trevor a teasing smirk.

“Very good,” Marcus assured her.

“Come on, dinner’ll get cold,” Trevor’s mom called from the long, skinny galley kitchen in the back of the house.

JJ’s mom had said those exact words so many times during JJ’s childhood. Getting everyone to the table had been a ritual and sometimes, a little like herding cats. The longing to hear her mother’s voice again hit her hard and swift. It’d been a long time since something had set her off, reminding her of her mother with such precision.

Marcus and Kyle headed for the kitchen as she took a deep breath.

“Everything okay?”

Trust Trevor to hone in on an emotional melt down. It was like he had spidey senses. But as she dared a quick glance up at him, she realized he just paid attention to her. Close attention.

That made her even weepier. Damn, she must have PMS.

Wiping the stray tears threatening to spill down her cheeks, she nodded. “My mom used to say that all the time. I miss it.”

He grinned and pulled her into a hug. “I think it’s universal.”

She couldn’t help but laugh and nod as he led her to the back of the house. He was right. And he’d known just what to say to ease her heartache.

While they’d been saying hello, Mrs. Wyatt had pulled all sorts of delicious looking dishes from the oven. JJ stepped forward to help the matriarch of the Wyatt household put the food on the table. Green beans. Rolls. Some sort of yummy looking roasted beef with root veggies.

“Everything smells delicious,” she said as she sat down next to Trevor.

“Let’s hope it tastes that way,” Mrs. Wyatt said, smacking Kyle’s hand as he tried to sneak a roll.

JJ smiled. This was why Trevor was so easy to get along with. So laid back. He came from a good, easy going family and had a mother who clearly kept him in line. It also explained why he fit so seamlessly with her family.

“It will Momma,” Marcus assured her.

“You’re fishing for a cookie,” she said, sending him a knowing look.

JJ snickered.

“You know it.” Marcus laughed. Yep. Charm. And a Denzel Washington smile. Watch out ladies of New York.

“Now say grace.”

Marcus bowed his head. “Dear Lord. Thank you for the food we’re about to eat. Thank you for bringing our family together today and for bringing Julia to our table. And thank you for the cookies I’m going to receive after supper. Amen.”

“Amen!” Kyle said, clearly pleased with that last bit.

Holding back a giggle, JJ glanced over at Mrs. Wyatt who gave her sons a droll look as she put her napkin in her lap. Then she turned to JJ. “Hand me your plate, Julia. Ladies get served first at our house.”

There was absolutely nothing about that statement that should have sent her pulse racing but it did. It reminded her of all the times Trevor had made sure to see to her pleasure first.

Quickly she handed over the plate and prayed her cheeks weren’t as pink as they felt. She took a sip of the ice cold water and studied the old farm-style table. The top planks were at least three inches thick and she could tell by the joints that they hadn’t used nails.

She ran her finger over the well-loved finish. “Your table is lovely.”

“Thank you. It’s been in my family for generations. One day, these three will be fighting over it.”

The men laughed that whatever-you-say-momma laugh that she’d heard from her own brothers over the years. JJ took a bite of the roast and moaned at the delicate texture and delicious seasonings.

“That is so good!”