Modern Girl's Guide to One-Night Stands (10 page)

This sort of thing happened. In the past, he’d run into one-night stands in social settings and managed to be civil. But something about Julia got under his skin.

For one thing, she wasn’t like any of the other women he’d had affairs with. She displayed a raw honesty that was rare in his world. It was what prompted him to follow her upstairs that night, and it’s what had had him spying on her now.

He tried to imagine what they were talking about. Had Peter turned on his charm? Did she like his attempts at seduction or did she immediately see through his game?

He watched as Julia silently left Peter and Megan huddled on the lounge chair, totally oblivious. Without being noticed, she wandered to the side of the house and stared longingly at the lake, lost in her own world. She had that intense set to her face he’d noticed at the bar when they’d played that silly guessing game. Something had caught her eye.

He stared at the lake, but for the life of him, Simon couldn’t figure out what was she
looking
at. He searched the horizon, seeing nothing unusual. It was the same view he’d seen hundreds of times. Sure it was nice, but nothing that required that level of scrutiny.

He glanced back down to the deck, but she was gone.

Simon frowned, searching for any sign of her. Maybe she’d escaped the afternoon heat for the coolness of the house. Resisting the urge to search her out, Simon went back to his desk and started in on his current work problem: the Star Atlantic account.

He wasn’t lying when he told Megan he had to work. This particular account was falling apart and
needed
his personal attention.

But despite his best efforts to concentrate and get some real work done, Simon’s stomach decided it was time for a break. He’d skipped breakfast. And after almost an hour of ignoring the insistent grumbles, he finally broke down and went in search of food.

As he approached the kitchen, the sound of laughter poured from the closed door.

It was Julia’s laugh, and Simon paused outside trying to figure out what he was listening to.

“You’re doing it wrong. Your strokes need to be nice and long with lots of pressure. Here, let me show you again.”

“I’m doing it exactly like you showed me,” Peter said.

“Here, watch my hand. Move from the top all the way to the bottom. Do it in one long continuous motion. The key is to keep your wrist locked.”

“I swear that’s what I was doing, but you didn’t like it. I give up,” Peter replied. “I’ll just watch you. It’s far more entertaining.”

“Oh, no. I don’t work well with an audience,” Julia chided. “You either join in or get out.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll leave you to do your magic.” Peter’s voice grew louder as he approached the door. “Just be sure to share when you're done.”

Simon went around the corner so he wasn’t caught eavesdropping. He’d almost made it back to the steps when Peter called his name.

“Simon. I see you’ve finally decided to come out of your cave,” he said.

“Um. I was just coming to grab a bite to eat.”

“Perfect timing. Julia’s fixing us all
lunch
. Megan said she’s an incredible cook.”

Simon frowned again. What he overheard didn’t sound like cooking. Was Megan trying to fix her up with Peter now? The idea didn’t sit well with him.

“
Seems
like things are going well with Julia,” he said.

“She’s nice. And I’m happy to help, but I’m not sure what Megan wants from me. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the girl is beautiful and sweet, but…” Peter said with a shrug. A pained look crossed his face and he sighed. “It's been less than six months. You know what I mean?”

Simon had no idea what he meant. Did he know what happened that night in January? Had Julia said something? He had said he’d reveal their one-night stand if she tried anything with Peter. Leave it to that brassy spitfire to take the initiative and tell him herself.

Peter was loyal, and wouldn’t poach. But he and Julia were just a one-time thing. If Peter was interested, Simon should let him off the hook.

“Does it bother you? It was months ago, and I’d be surprised if it even meant anything to her,” Simon tried to explain.

“God, I hope it meant something. Breaking an engagement can leave a mark”

“An engagement?” Simon was confused now. “Why would the fact Julia left her fiancé bother you?”

“It’s not that she left him. From what Megan tells me, he treated her like shit, was controlling. Then to catch him cheating. But it’s not just that. Julia's sweet and shy, and I like her, but I don’t want to be the rebound guy.” Peter shrugged again. He seemed to be struggling to explain, and Simon waited for him to find the words. "We all have baggage, but I want a girl who wants to be with me. And not just because I’m not the last asshole.”

Had Simon been the rebound guy? Was that why she had picked him? If he remembered Megan’s emails, that night was just a few weeks after Julia moved in with her. The idea didn’t sit well with Simon, and he understood Peter’s wariness all too well.

Simon slapped him on the back, commiserating with his situation. “I know you and Meg are tight. And I’m sure this was her idea, but I’d appreciate it if you'd back off this one.”

“Something I should know?”

“Call it a personal favor,” Simon said.

“Hands off. Got it.” Peter gave him an amused smile. “I’m going to hang with Meg until lunch. Why don’t you see if Julia needs a hand?”

Simon watched him go back outside, unsure what just happened. Did he really just ask Peter to stay away from Julia? And who was this timid, shy woman who let her fiancé push her around? It certainly wasn’t the woman he’d met. Both Peter and Meg kept talking about Julia like she was some kind of fragile woman. As Simon entered the kitchen, he wondered which Julia was the real one.

As he opened the door a mangled sound assaulted him. Slightly off tempo and way off key, Julia’s voice belted out a tune at the top of her lungs.

“B-B-B-Bennie…”

He pushed open the door and was greeted with a spectacular sight. Julia was swaying her hips to a butchered Elton John tune, singing her heart out into a metal spatula. Her tight ass rocked to the beat, making his mouth go dry. Simon leaned against the door and watched her for a few seconds, enjoying the way she seemed to lose herself in the moment. This woman, the one who threw her entire body and soul into her pleasures—this was the woman he remembered. The woman he still wanted.

Julia spun around in his direction and jumped when she caught sight of him. With a loud clang, the spatula fell to the floor and she swore. “Holy fuck! Goddamn it! You scared the shit out of me.” She slapped a hand over her mouth, as if just realizing she'd said that aloud. A hot, pink blush crept into her cheeks, lighting up her face. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. I was startled. I didn’t know you were standing there,” she said, babbling.

Simon crossed the kitchen and retrieved the fallen utensil. “If anyone should apologize it should be me. I didn’t mean to surprise you. I came searching for lunch, and got a concert instead. Not quite up to Sir Elton’s standard, but the show was nice.”

Her blush deepened to a flaming red. Simon’s thoughts went back to the last time he’d seen her turn that color. He could picture it in his mind; the color spreading down her neck all the way to the rounded mounds of her breasts right before she came. Her dusty pink nipples, puckering and turning a dark rose color. Suddenly his brain wasn’t the only part of his anatomy that remembered. What the fuck was going on with him? He couldn’t be in the same room with this woman without thinking about touching her, tasting her.

As if reading his thoughts, she bit that plump lower lip of hers and turned away from his scrutiny. He dropped the spatula into the sink, determined to get some lunch and leave before the situation got any more awkward. He had to stop thinking about her in a sexual way. They agreed to forget that night in January ever happened. As far as he was concerned, Julia was just one of his little sister’s friends.

“I’ll just grab something and get out of your way,” he said. But when Simon turned around, she was right behind him.

“Here. I made you one too.” Julia shoved a plate into his hands.

He looked down at the plate and found a delicious-looking grilled sandwich and a slaw of some sort. “You didn’t have to cook for me.”

“Of course I did. I made everyone lunch,” she said and waved her hand to the counter as though he should have realized that’s why she was there. "I was just about to take the tray out to the porch. Are you going to join us?”

Simon looked down at the sandwich and rubbed the soft stubble on his chin. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had made him a grilled cheese. Even the exotic combination Julia had thrown together was far too pedestrian for the women he usually dated. But this humble fare was one of his favorites. He and Megan would sneak down and make grilled cheese on the weekend, much to their father's horror. He paid people to do that for them, he’d always say. However, despite the objections, or maybe because of them, they continued doing it until Simon had moved out. It had been one of the few things he’d missed after leaving home.

Could this be part of Megan’s matchmaking? Did she tell Julia about their Saturday afternoons hanging out in the kitchen? It was possible she was using that knowledge to make peace. Or perhaps tempt him? The fact that Julia was Megan’s best friend muddled everything in his mind, and Simon needed to put some distance between them. He’d have to have a talk with his meddling baby sister and find out exactly what she’d told Julia about him.

“Thanks, but no. I still have to finish up a few things,” he said, and escaped back to the safety of his room. This forgetting the past and starting over wasn’t going as planned.

Chapter Six

Modern Girl Tip #4: Bring Your A-Game—Just because you’re not looking for forever doesn’t mean you can phone it in. If you want to have a great night, try to connect on a personal level.

Dinner turned into a disaster when Simon didn’t show up. Julia sat across the immense table staring at Peter, neither one of them willing to take a bite of the dinner she’d prepared. Megan's instructions had been for them to wait until she’d “pulled her brother's head out of his ass and forced him to have some fun.”

Megan could make a longshoreman blush when she got angry, and right now she was beyond pissed at Simon. A torrent of swears flooded down the stairs, filling the silence.

Julia was almost to the point of packing up dinner and calling the whole evening a wash when Megan came storming out of the office, just to turn around and start yelling at her brother about Cancun and some girl named Maria.

“What’s that about?” Julia asked.

“I can’t believe she’s bringing that up again. It wasn’t even Simon's fault. I’m the one who left Megan at that bar.” Peter shrugged it off and took another drink of wine. She could tell he didn’t feel at all sorry that Simon was the focus of Megan’s anger. “I was a mistake, of course. I thought she was with Simon, but he’d already left with Maria, a woman he'd met earlier. She was pissed by the time she got back to the hotel. And evidently still is. Leave a girl stranded at a bar in Mexico once and she never lets you forget it.”

“Does he do that a lot? Pick up women in bars?” She wanted to take back the words as soon as they left her lips. It wasn’t any of her business what Simon did. And she really didn’t want to know that one of the best nights of her life was just a number on a long list of meaningless hookups for him.

“Who? Simon?” Peter quirked an eyebrow, giving her an assessing look that made Julia squirm.

“I was just wondering.”
Boy, that was lame
. Peter smiled knowingly, and Julia felt like he was reading her every thought. She looked away, finding the china pattern fascinating all of the sudden.

“I’ll admit, Simon had his pick of women when we were younger.”

“And now?”

“His taste has gotten more discriminating. He’s not seeing anyone, if that’s what you're getting at.”

“No…I didn’t mean, um…no." Her cheeks were burning and she knew her fair skin was giving away her embarrassment. She couldn’t meet his gaze, but needed to set him straight. “I don’t know what Megan told you, but I’m not looking for a boyfriend. She thinks she’s being helpful, but it’s just making everything awkward."