If You Only Knew (And Then Came Love Book 1) (5 page)

He swallowed hard and wrapped his arms around her shoulder. “Come on,” he said.

*****

A line of people waited to be seated inside the restaurant. They headed to the hostess station and he flashed a killer smile. Julian murmured something in Spanish and she scuttled off. God, he made McDreamy, look downright McUgly. Liza couldn’t help but notice the way his navy dress pants hugged the curve of his ass
just
right. They had to be tailored. She’d never seen anything off the rack look as good. From his well-groomed hair and beard to the tips of his black lace-up Prada boots . . .
everything
about him dripped sex appeal.

He flashed the smile that made her want to melt into a puddle at his feet and motioned to follow him. “Did you call ahead?”

“I have a little clout wherever I go.” He pulled out her chair for her.

She sat down and he pushed her chair under the table. She looked over her shoulder. His light blue shirt was unbuttoned to the third button, revealing a smooth chest with what appeared to be a tattoo across it. Wanting to get a closer visual of his tattoo, her hand moved toward his chest. She yanked her hand away and hoped he didn’t notice.

The waiter came to gather their drink order when the host left them. They both decided and gave their orders to the waiter.

“Must be nice, being able to afford to eat out like this.”

“It’s okay. I grew up poor, and wasn’t always able to afford this.” Julian smiled. “I prefer a home-cooked meal though.”

“Well, since you’ve been my savior the last couple days, maybe I could repay you and make you dinner?”

“I’m in.”

“I never would have pegged you for someone who grew up poor.” She rested her arms on the table.  

“You have no clue who I am, do you?”

“Should I?”

“Have you ever heard of Vitalli Advertising or Steele Pharmaceuticals? Both are based out of Bryton?”

“I’ve heard of both.” Liza nodded. “I didn’t grow up in Bryton. I moved here after college. I grew up in North Judson.”

“I don’t know why I was under the impression you grew up here,” Julian said. “Anyway, my father owns Vitalli Advertising and I work for Steele Pharmaceuticals.”

“Wait, so your father owns an advertising company and you grew up poor?”

Julian washed his hand across his face. “My twin brother Drew and I were kidnapped from the hospital the night we were born.”

“What?” She straightened and hit her water glass, sloshing it on the table. Grabbing her napkin, she wiped up the mess.

“From what I’ve been told, Mom had some sort of bleeding issue after she gave birth to us. It was the middle of the day. Dad had run home for something. The nurses came in – they saw there was a problem, they ran us to the nursery and went about helping Mom. While we were in the nursery, a crazy nurse kidnapped both of us.”

“That’s awful!”

“The woman who stole us managed to keep us hidden for twelve years. And it was a total fluke they found us when they did.”

“What do you mean?”

“We spent those first twelve years moving from place to place. Somehow, we ended up in Indiana, up North in South Bend. My aunt Margaret happened to be the principal of the school. If you ever meet my siblings you’ll see there are some definite similarities. Aunt Margaret saw us the first day of school and called the police. The woman tried to run when she saw the police. It didn’t take much for her to admit who we were or what happened. They brought us home to our real parents and viola.”

“What an adjustment you two had to be!” Liza shook her head. “I can’t imagine at twelve going to live with a different family.”

“A complete family – with eight more siblings.” Julian rested his elbows on the table. “Talk about a rough transition for everyone involved.”

“So another curious question. How did you get involved in the medical marijuana business?”

“I have a PhD in Botany.”

“That surprises me.” She covered her mouth and then dropped her hand. “I didn’t mean it that way. I’m sure you’re smart enough to have a PhD, I’m—”

Julian chuckled. “I get it. In your world drug dealers don’t have PhD’s. I’m a scientist. I genetically mutate various strains of marijuana for specific medicinal needs. Believe me, in this world of medicine my pot is cheaper and less problematic than most other prescriptions.”

“How can you be so blasé about it? What you’re doing is important.” She was so relieved to find out he wasn’t a dealer.

“No, my father refers to me as a state sanctioned drug dealer and I tend to go with it.” He winked.

“You talked about the lady with cancer earlier, do you have other clients?” Liza felt a little more comfortable with the idea he grew marijuana.

“I do. I’m licensed and follow most of the laws. I also do research for Steele Pharmaceuticals. They pay me to genetically alter plants to make them more effective for pain management patients,” he explained.

“Do you use it yourself?” She was unsure if she wanted to know the answer.  She told herself a long time ago she would never again date someone who did drugs. Even though it was legal in Bryton, she was not sure about its uses. Her parents had used it before it was legal. Her brother had gotten interested in it in Junior High. Trying to avoid it being a problem in the future, her parents had smoked with her brother. But she tended to be the goody two shoes of the family. She had gone outside and cried seeing her entire family as drug users. She dated a man her freshman year in high school who used cocaine and she decided then she would never date a user again.

“I do, for some health issues.” He rested his arms on the table.

Liza bent over the table, placing her head on her hands. Their faces were inches from each other. “Such as?” She ran her tongue across her bottom lip, and he groaned dropping back against his seat.

“So does that mean you want to get to know me better?”

Liza made a quick and rather impulsive decision. “Maybe.”

“What can I do to convince you?”

She shrugged.

“All right, your turn then, tell me about Liza.”

She liked the way her name rolled off his tongue. She was about to say something when the waiter appeared with their food.

Once he departed, she continued. “What do you want to know? You’ve heard about my job and how much I hate it.”

“What do you do for fun?”

“Fun? What’s that? I work sixty or more hours a week, depending on my schedule. My last relationship ended four months ago. . . badly. I’ve gone out on three dates since then, all set up and none worth my time.”

“I’ve been married twice.” Julian’s phone chimed and he fished it out of his pocket. He typed something in reply and then turned his gaze to Liza. “Both women were monogamously challenged.”

Liza snickered. “I like that term. I dated a guy in college like that. He was dating both me and my roommate at the same time.”

“Sounds like we’re both aces at relationships.” Julian smiled. Another text came through.

“If you’ve got something better to do, don’t stop on my account.” She tapped her foot as he read the text message.

“It was my brother. Remember I said I’d have someone pick up the car?” He pocketed his phone. “Back to the previous conversation though, I’ll be honest, I’m not up for anything serious. But I am enjoying your company.”

“I’m not
looking
for a relationship either. I work too much.” Even though she didn’t have the time to commit to a relationship, she was disappointed.

Julian stood and Liza raised her eyebrow.

“What are you doing?” She turned toward the door to see two men . . . one who resembled Julian . . . walked toward their table. “You’ve got five minutes then it’s time to move on.”

The one who looked like Julian chuckled. He held his hand out to Liza. “I’m his sexier, better behaved, and younger twin brother, Drew.”

“Drew, you’re cute and all, but Julian, well he’s downright sexy.” She shrugged. “Sorry, not interested.” .

“Shot down.” Julian roared.

“I think she’s smitten, bro.” Drew smiled.

Julian puffed his chest out a bit higher, giving Drew a fuck-you-brother grin.

Drew smacked him in the arm.

Julian pointed to the other man standing with Drew. “Liza, this is my best friend, Ethan Steele. He’s the CFO of Steele Pharmaceuticals.”

“Pleased to meet you, Liza.” Ethan shook her hand.

“You’re the one who pays Julian to grow pot?”

Ethan raised a lone eyebrow and then looked from her to Julian. “In a roundabout way, yeah – I guess you could say that.” He turned to Julian. “Where’s the car?”

“It’s over at the Yarrow Center. You two going to be in town long?”

“Long enough to pick up the car and then we’re heading home.” Drew raised his eyebrow at Julian. “What happened to your forehead?”

Julian touch his forehead and then glared at his brother. “I’ll tell you later.”

“Wait, you drove all the way here from Bryton to pick up the car?”

Drew shrugged. “Of course, I get the whole dating thing.”

“We’re not dating. In fact, we met for the first time last night.”

“You’re not?” Ethan gaped at Julian.

“Nope.” Julian shrugged. “This isn’t even a date.”

Drew pointed at Liza. “Wait, are you the girl whose car I towed last night?”

“If it’s the one your mother hit.”

“You two—” Drew threw his head back and laughed. “That’s priceless.”

“Stay out of my head, bro.” Julian glared at his brother, who couldn’t get his laughter under control. “I’ll call you later.”

Drew bent to Julian’s level, but made no effort to lower his voice. “Aunt Laura was right.”

Julian punched his brother in the arm, hard.

“Come on, Ethan, let’s leave the lovebirds alone.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Ethan walked away from the table.

“I think I’ve already surpassed that, Ethan, I touched her hand earlier,” Julian called after his friend.

Ethan flipped him off as he and Drew headed toward the door.

“What was that about?” Liza found the family dynamics to be entertaining.  

“Nothing. My brother and Ethan can be a riot when they want to be.”

“I didn’t give them the keys.” Liza tugged the keys from her purse.

“Drew’s got a key to both my vehicles.”

“Well let’s hope he takes the right one home.” Liza smiled. “How long do you think it will be before the insurance company has my car fixed?”

“Your car’s totaled. Drew’s a mechanic. We talked in great detail about your car this morning.”

“Totaled? What does that mean for me?” She was screwed. Now she’d have to get a new vehicle. Maybe she could call her parents and try to work something out with them.

“Well, according to industry terms it means it’s going to cost more to fix than the vehicle is worth,” Julian explained. “A normal insurance company would give you about four or five grand.”

“I could get a decent car for that.” Liza nodded. “Or at least have enough for a good down payment.”

“You won’t have to worry about it. I’ll make sure everything is handled and you get something reliable.”

“You mean the insurance company will?”

“Yeah, that’s what I meant. I’m sure whatever they come up with will be perfect for your needs.”

“Hell, I’ve driving around in a ten year old car with a missing side mirror. It has been in desperate need of an oil change for the last two months. It needed new tires. I’m going to guess four to five grand will get me something better.”

“I figured the side mirror was missing from the crash.”

“I wish. It would make for a much easier explanation.” She shook her head.

“Okay, you’ve got my curiosity piqued, what happened?”

“You know the Yarrow Center has a residential campus for juveniles, right?” When he nodded, she continued. “Anyway, I used to work nights on campus and was coming off a twelve or sixteen hour shift at six am. It was dark and foggy. I was driving home when this man, dressed in dark clothing, stepped off the curb. I swerved to miss him, but heard a bang. I stopped, he hands me my mirror, and tells me he swung his bag and hit the mirror. I spent the next three weeks in terror thinking they were going to find a guy hit by a car dead in the alley.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I would have filed a police report and tried to have him arrested for being an idiot. He should have at least paid for the damage to your car.”

“My insurance had lapsed the day before. There was no way I was filing a police report.” Liza blushed. “I do have insurance now, and I paid my bill the same day.”

Their plates empty they pushed them aside to wait for the check. Liza picked up her purse when the waiter appeared at the table.

“Put that away. I told you, my treat.” Julian pulled out his wallet and handed his card to the waiter. “Besides, you did mention a home cooked meal, remember?”