Julien's Book (24 page)

Nadine gave him an incredulous look, but he just shrugged.

"You already relented. Don't act like you're not mine. I'm taking you with me because I have a hotel room with a view of the Eiffel Tower, and that's a much better place to compromise you than at your parent's house."

Nadine gasped in mock horror. "I know the meaning of compromise, mister."

"I hope you do, because it's about to happen to you." He reached in and gave her a quick but gentle kiss on the lips. He licked his own lips afterward, tasting the salt of her tears. "I think you should probably never leave me like that again," he added.

"I'm sorry," she said sheepishly. "I was just so overwhelmed."

"I know, and I'm really sorry about that. I should've picked a better time to tell you about it. I was just so relieved everything was over. I didn't even think about how hard it would hit you."

"I feel like I overreacted."

"It doesn't matter," he said. "We're here now… in Paris, the city of love. And I happen to have a hotel room waiting for us."

"Sounds fun."

He smiled. "That's my girl."

Chapter 25

Nadine's parents could not understand why the same girl who'd been so adamant about things
not
working out with a guy wanted to leave with that same guy only ten minutes after he'd arrived. She was like a completely different person when she came out of her room with Julien to tell her parents she was leaving with him.

Julien waited patiently as the three of them had a conversation in French. Nadine was snuggled up next to him the whole time, making it obvious to her parents that she meant it when she said she was okay going with him.
After a few minutes of conversation with her parents, the two of them set off for Julien's hotel room.

"I didn't know what to tell them when they asked how long we'd be here," Nadine said to Julien from across the console of the car Julien had rented. It was almost the same model sports car he rented the last time he was
there, and he had fun driving something so fast. It was a world away from his old Jeep, and he smiled at how responsive the gas pedal was. He had to remind himself he was supposed to be thinking of their immediate plans.

"I know we both have to be getting back, but I was thinking we could stay a couple of nights. There's not enough time left in this night to compromise you the way I want to.
Not to mention, I'm freaking tired of being on airplanes and don't really want to get on another one tomorrow."

"I think t
hat sounds perfect."

"Me compromising you for multiple nights?"

She smiled and reached across the console to put a hand on the back of his head. She let her fingertips glide through the closely cropped hair. The short, soft hairs bending under her touch reminded her of velvet. She sat up in the seat and leaned over to whisper in his ear, stretching the seatbelt to the max.

"I can't wait to be compromised," she said. She gave him a quick, open-mouthed kiss on his earlobe, sucking the smallest amount of it into her mouth.
"How about you? Are you excited about it?" She was intentionally making her accent heavy, and Julien laughed at the ridiculousness of the question.

"What?" she asked.

He looked down at his own lap, but it was dark in the car and she had no idea what he was doing.

"I'm excited about it," he said.

"Can I feel?"

He looked at her for a second before putting his eyes back on the road. Then he reached out, took her by the back of the hand, and placed her open palm on his ever-hardening erection.
She could feel the hard ridge of him through his jeans, and wanted so badly to unzip them to see what was underneath.

Unfortunately, i
t'd have to wait.

They were getting into heavy traffic
and Julien would have to pay attention to the road.

Julie
n handed the keys to the valet and put his bags on his shoulders. Nadine's luggage had been lost in the shuffle when she changed courses on her trip. Thankfully, her parents still had some of her old clothes. She had a small bag, which she carried by the handle. Julien put his arm around her shoulders as they walked in to the amazing hotel.

"I've been to this hotel," Nadine said.

"Really? When?"

She pointed to the beautiful, curved staircase in the lobby.
"We used that as a background for our family pictures one time."

"I think I saw that picture,"
Julien said, remembering back to a framed family portrait he noticed at her parents' house. "You looked like a little kid."

"It was only about five years ago," she said, trying to
count the years.

"
Exactly. Had you even hit puberty?"

She pushed at his shoulder playfully, but it was their turn
to speak with the front desk, they both schooled their expressions. The guy at the front desk spoke some English but Nadine took over the conversation in French, making everything much easier. He loved watching her interact in French and didn't care a bit that he had no idea what she was saying. In fact, not knowing what she was saying made it that much hotter. She was laughing as she conversed with the hotel guy and Julien imagined her saying, "Why, yes, we
will
be having hot sex in our room tonight."

"What were you smiling at back there?" she asked on their way to the elevator.

"I was just imagining what you were saying," Julien said.

"You should learn to speak French so you won't have to imagine."

They got in the elevator and Julien reached out and pushed the button for the eighth floor. "I already thought about having you teach me to speak French, but I'm afraid that will take the joy out of me listening to you do it."

"You like hearing me speak
French, Monsieur Breaux?"

He gave her a teasing glance out of the corner of his eye and smiled mischievously.
The sight of his gorgeous face provoked that familiar yearning feeling in the pit of Nadine's stomach. She was just about to make some witty comment about speaking French to him later that night, but before she could, the elevator opened onto the eighth floor. They made their way down the long hall and into their room, which was as nice as the lobby promised.

"What's this?" Nadine asked as they walked in the door. Julien had arranged for flowers and chocolates to be delivered
, and they were set out in a beautiful display on the table. The curtains on the window were open far enough to see the lights of the city and outline of the Eiffel tower. Nadine had grown up there, and it still took her breath away. It was a structure that begged to be admired, and even in the darkness, Nadine couldn't help but stare out the window at it for a few seconds before turning her attention back to the table full of goodies. Julien just watched her take everything in. He loved seeing her happy, and couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

"What's this?" she
repeated.

"I wouldn't feel right about bring
ing you to a fancy hotel without some candy and flowers."

"You had this sent up here?"

"It was some kind of City of Love package they offer. They assured me my lady friend would be
thoroughly
impressed." Julien watched as she continued to investigate the table. "Did it work? Are you impressed?" he asked.

Nadine looked back at him "
Thoroughly
."

Julien moved toward her like he was planning on taking her into his arms. She saw him and stiffened as he wrapped his arms around her.

"What?"

"I'm sorry," she said.

His heart dropped, thinking she was rethinking everything.

"I'm so regretful about taking off like that and making you chase me around the world. I don't like to think of myself as that kind of girl.
I was just overwhelmed and, in the moment, I thought I had to leave."

"I honestly don't blame you," he said. "I fee
l bad for not seeing it coming on the plane after you read the book. I should have been able to tell you were still upset."

"I just want you to know that I'm not, that I never plan on leaving like that."

"That's good, because I'm not planning on ever letting you."

She smiled at him, then cocked her head and gave him a sweet, curious expression. "What are we going to do Julien?"

"About what?" he asked.

"You know," she said, "with our lives."

He rubbed the stubble on his jaw to try to hide his amusement.

She saw him, but didn't care. "I'm serious," she said sweetly. "Shall we live in America? Shall we live in France? Shall we have babies? Maybe we can be explorers and
sail on a ship somewhere."

He laughed. "We have time to figure that out. For now, let's go back to Louisiana. You can finish up with school and I
get a few more fights under my belt. Then we'll decide what's next. I have no expectations. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can get ourselves into." He reached out and touched her hair, and the roughened fingertips of his fighter's hands brushed her hairline, causing chills to ripple over her back.

She shivered
and peered up at him through her lashes. "I think we might fit," she said sweetly.

He couldn't resist teasing her.
"I'm not sure if it will, actually." Julien reached down and pretended to adjust his package. "It's been a long time, and I'm pretty freakin' hung."

She squealed in part delight and part fake fear and turned to run from him. He chased he
r down and swept her off her feet, catching her in his arms. She was so relieved to be in his arms. She was ashamed of herself for leaving him, for assuming it couldn't work out. What had she been thinking?

"What are you thinking?" Julien asked, sensing her distraction.
He sat on the bed and let her rest on his lap.

"That I'm an asshole for leaving."

"Don't say that," he said. "It's over, and I'm here. Everything that happened before this moment was just a means to get us here. This is the beginning for us. Onward and upward."

"
Starting fresh?"

"For the third time, yes. Just forgive yourself already." He reached up and roughed up her hair. "Speaking of starting fresh, I could really use a shower."

Nadine leaned in and smelled the front of his shirt near his underarm. "You smell good to me."

"I was hoping you'd join me in there. I saw pictures of the shower on their website. There's room for at least two in there."

"I was actually thinking I could use a shower too," she said. She faked a sniff to her own armpit.

"Race you," he said. They broke apart, each of them
quickly standing as they started shedding clothes like crazy. It was the first time they'd laid eyes on each other like that, and they stood, motionless. Nadine was down to a bra and panties and Julien was wearing a pair of boxer briefs.

"I didn't think I'd be shy, but now that
I'm standing here I feel like I need something to cover up with."

Julien covered her with himself
. He swooped in (as her mother would say) and took her into his arms forcing her to let out a delighted squeal.

"Julien I'm shy
yyy."

"No you're not," he said. There's nothing to be shy about. It's just an innocent shower.
"

She relaxed in his arms, and he kissed her before leading her into the bathroom. He turned on the
water and helped her out of her underwear before stepping out of his own and getting into the shower. He watched as Nadine stepped in. The streams of water flowing over the curves of her body mesmerized him instantly.

"You're beautiful," he said.

She smiled and looked him over appraisingly. "You're not so bad yourself."

He crooked a finger at her and she moved closer to him.

"You weren't lying back there," she said.

"About what?"

She glanced at his member with wide eyes and he smiled, understanding the compliment. They spent the next ten minutes cleaning each other's bodies. Nadine had never experienced foreplay before, and she assumed the whole sex thing would be over pretty quickly, but Julien started exploring her body, and she liked the fact that he didn't want to rush it. His blue eyes and black hair in the mist of the shower made her want to change her mind about every ten seconds and get down to business, but she reminded herself to enjoy the process.

Once they got out of the shower and dried off, Julien pulled back the covers and crawled into the bed, dropping his towel on the way in. He shifted to his side and propped his hand onto his elbow. Nadine still had a towel wrapped around her chest. A second towel was wrapped around her head since her hair had gotten a little wet in the shower.

"Drop it," he said. He smiled and gestured with a finger to her towel.

She unwrapped
the towel that was around her head and tossed it to the ground shaking out her damp waves. "Don't get cute with me little mama. You knew which one I meant."

She smiled and untucked the towel from the spot where it was
secured under his arm. It fell to the ground in a heap at her feet. He crooked a finger at her again, and she stepped over it and walked toward him.

Then suddenly she disappeared.

She crouched down to the ground and Julien sat up trying to see where she'd gone. Before he knew what was happening, she sprang up onto the bed. She went down on all fours and bent down a little as if she were going to pounce.

Julien narrowed his gaze at her.

"I told you I was a tiger," she said, smiling mischievously at him.

He put his head
back on the pillow and laughed, and before he opened his eyes again, she was on top of him straddling him seductively. "I don't know what's so funny," she said.

She was so freaking cute and feisty, and it took everything he had not to open her up
and bury himself inside her. His hands went down her back and onto her round ass, pulling her down on top of him. Her center rested directly on his erection, and they stayed motionless in that position for a few long seconds, enjoying the pressure caused by him pulling her forward. She started to move slightly, gently grinding his hard length onto the sensitive outside of her center. "Oh my God, that feels so good," she said.