Authors: Suzan Battah
“Are you going to tell me why you’re upset? Did that woman upset you? Because if she did, I’ll, I’ll…” He struggled to find a decent retribution.
Julia wished she could share how she felt. She needed him to be there for her. But she couldn’t say it outright, so she said lightly, “Hold me, kiss me, adore me.”
The space in the bathroom began to fill with the thick, hot air of passion. She turned around, leaning against the bench, wanting to show him that she was still in control.
“I will hold you. Kiss every inch of you. Adore your body. I will comfort you until you are no longer sad,” he murmured softly. “Tell me what’s wrong, sweetheart.”
“Chris, no I can’t.” She tried to break free of his hold.
“Okay, okay.” He soothed. “Don’t worry, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
The man was making her tingle all over, saying the right things. She needed him and he gave without question.
He smiled that angelic smile that warmed her heart. “Julia.” Slowly, he reached out and caressed her thigh. Then he clasped her hand in his to pull her closer, his knees parting to allow her closer between them. Julia felt her insides drop to her toes and shoot back up to her belly. She was sitting half in his lap and pressed against his hard body.
His fingers traced over her face with gentleness, and brushing over her puffy eyes, he placed butterfly kisses there.
“I know you’re hurting right now. Let me comfort you,” he whispered. Julia could see the truth in him. “Whatever the problem is, let me fix it.”
“You can’t fix it.”
Chris’ arms tightened around her waist. “Then let me hold you.” His hand squeezed the swell of her hip.
She bent her head to the side, kissing his neck, needing the physical intimacy. She trailed soft kisses up to his lips.
His tongue flicked out to slip between her parted mouth, tasting the
flavor
of sweet soft appetite.
Molding
body to body.
Heat to heat.
Giving and taking.
He stood in one motion, lifting her into his arms. He carried her down the hall to her bedroom, shouldering the door closed. Then he lay her down gently on the bed and reached behind his neck to pull his shirt over his head. He flicked it to the floor before settling himself between her legs and covering her body with his.
***
The last ring of the phone was loud enough to make them grumble out of their relaxed embrace in her bed. They had spent most of the afternoon between her sheets and the look of chagrin on Chris’ face was so comical, Julia began to laugh. He grabbed the phone quickly and passed it over to her so she could answer. While she did, he climbed out of bed to put his clothes on.
“Hello.”
“Julia, are you all right?”
The frantic voice of her mother over the phone cleared her fuzzy head and she spoke up clearly, “Of course, I’m all right, Mama.” Holding the phone between her shoulder and ear, she twisted the long mane of her hair up into a knot as she sat up, pulling the sheets up and around her bent knees.
“Irene just gave me a call. She said you were very upset about Carlos’ birthday celebration. If you need to talk, I’m here for you.”
Julia sighed with exasperation. “I’m fine. But I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Irene insisted I call. Is it true what she say that Chris was visiting?”
Julia could hardly deny it as the man in question had finished putting his clothes on and was indicating that he had to leave.
“Yes, Chris is here and nothing is wrong. Could you hang on a minute, Mama?” she said briefly. With a quick gesture, Julia stopped him at the door. She shoved the phone down under the blankets so what she said could not be overheard by her mother. She beckoned him over and he bent to kiss her. His hand rested on her lower back, squeezing her hip to show his affection. Welcoming his touch, she rubbed her hand over his. “Thank you.”
He turned to her, astonished. “What for?”
She gave him a hug and kissed his lips. “For making me feel better.”
“I’ll see you soon,” he whispered by her ear, and then, taking his time, he kissed her cheek also. “I’ll be at the Augustine if you need me. Are you feeling better?”
“Definitely.” She gave him a guilty look. “But I’m so sorry. We were supposed to go looking for your new place.”
Tracing her lip with his thumb, he smiled warmly. “Don’t worry about it, another time. Are you sure you’re all right?”
She nodded, a little too quickly. He seemed to be debating for a second whether or not to believe her, so she smiled quickly to reassure him. His eyes softened and he gave her a slow kiss before he headed out.
Even after he left, his scent surrounded her and it was all over her bed sheets too. Julia could never resist Chris. He smelled too good.
Would her desire for him end? Not when he made her feel like she wanted to be attached to his body for the rest of her life.
Chapter Fourteen
Julia was frantic with worry. She hated being out of control, but now she felt like everything was out of control. She was split two ways, trying to complete Chris’ Key Biscayne condo while making sure everything was running smoothly for the Augustine renovations. It was giving her sleepless nights. She knew she was overworking herself, but giving up was not in her vocabulary. And asking for help just didn’t cut it.
At least Randy had now taken on all the new clients. Her other designers were out completing or beginning scheduled jobs. Business was building, so while she desperately wanted to take a breather, she couldn’t. She refused to be defeated. Her body was not up to the pressure she was putting herself under. She would never admit she needed help. Randy had everything under control, but Julia was now working part-time on the Augustine and she wasn’t finding it easy.
Julia and Chris found themselves in a chaotic schedule of work and personal commitments. They were both testing their limits with excessive work hours, as neither of them liked to delegate work.
Chris had more support with several high-paid executives capable of taking on a lot of his workload. He was being more generous with his staff to ensure morale was maintained at the highest level.
Julia, on the other hand, was required in a more creative way and had yet to give herself the freedom to delegate in her business. In particular, she was fretting about Carlos’ celebration coming up on Wednesday night. Her stress levels were high, her nerves close to breaking, but she
plowed
on relentlessly.
The Augustine renovation was top on her list of priorities. Chris had arranged for the next two floors of the Augustine to be available for renovations. So they needed painters and electricians to be booked and ready for the most popular floors to be renovated.
Nothing ever went
according
to plan when you need it, everything went awry. Julia was with Chris in her office, going over the plans for the front entrance and foyer of the Augustine when she got the call. One of the painter’s wives had gone into
labor
and he had cancelled last minute. No one had bothered to inform Julia, and they were now a man short. They had exactly three days to paint eleven rooms. With one painter down, they would probably run over schedule, making the whole project late. The Augustine stood to lose a lot of money as long as those rooms were closed.
Chris was calm, but quietly fuming. Julia had already spent half an hour calling around to find a painter, with no luck. As he waited, he grew angrier and more impatient.
“Julia, forget the painting,” he gritted out. “Just get the electrician to come in and start replacing the lights and wiring. I can’t chance more downtime.”
She wondered bitterly how things could possibly get any worse. The Augustine was losing several thousand dollars a day for each room shut
down
on those two floors. This was not supposed to happen, not when she was in charge.
She understood his anger and just wished that such a disaster had not developed while he was right next to her.
“Could you just let me do my job? This is not the first time this has happened in my line of work. Relax. I’ll have everything sorted in a bit. But you’re being a pain, Chris, and making it just a little more difficult.”
“Well, tell me how it’s going to get fixed? If we run over schedule, the Augustine loses more money.” He stood up and started pacing. “Those rooms need to be booked for clients as soon as possible. You’ll have to call Ben and tell him.”
Julia flipped open her cell phone, giving him a hard look when he started ordering her about. He was making her nervous for no reason, but she tried to ignore him. She had to search for the right people to call to get out to the Augustine immediately.
When Chris continued to tower over her, she banged her hand on her desk to get his attention. She wasn’t making another phone call while he was still in her office.
“There’s never a problem, only solutions. But I can’t work with you pacing like that. Go for a walk,” she told him, pointing at the door. “Don’t come back. I’ll call you.”
“Are you sure this is going to get fixed?” he grumbled.
“Would you have a little faith in me? I’m perfectly capable of finding another painter for you. Now stop being a pain in the neck, Chris. I’ve been in this business too long to let something like this ruffle me,” she muttered, her face going red from anger and annoyance. At that moment, she felt like hitting him hard across the back of the head.
“I’ll help you call around. Give me some phone numbers,” he said, crossing to her desk.
“Out!” she cried. “I don’t interfere in your work, so don’t you dare interfere in mine.” To show him she really meant it, she came around her desk to open the door.
Chris was studying her with some confusion. She could tell that all he knew was something had gone wrong with the renovations at the Augustine and Julia sympathized with his need to fix it and quick. It was just that his instincts were to solve the problem himself. But it felt to her that he thought her incapable of fixing the problem. He should have known he had made a terrible mistake the moment her face flamed scarlet and her eyes were shooting daggers at him.
Chris wasn’t stupid. She was glad to see him take a relaxing breath and pick up his jacket to leave.
She stood leaning against the door, waiting for him to go. She was too angry to be polite. Logically, she understood his angst, but she couldn’t help feeling irritated that he doubted her ability.
He squeezed her hip and kissed her still-flushed cheek before walking out the door. She watched him stomp toward his car then she quickly got back to business.
It took another hour and a half to find another painter, but luckily she did. She could tell the young apprentice was really excited about getting to work on the Augustine renovation. Even though he was unable to make it until the next day, she offered extra pay to get the job done on schedule.
Once she finished discussing the details with the new painter, she called the Augustine straight away.
Chris’ perky receptionist was quick to answer the phone. “Hello, Augustine Hotel.”
“Chris Augustine, please. This is Julia Mendoza.” She was packing her briefcase while on speaker phone, waiting for the assistant to get Chris.
“I’m sorry,
Mr.
Augustine is in a meeting,
Ms.
Mendoza. Can I take a message?”
Julia clucked her tongue. She knew he would likely expect her to ring him on his cell phone, but she wasn’t in the mood to speak to him. She would really rather leave a message.
“Could you let him know the painter has been organized? He can ring me if he likes. Can you also pass that same message onto Ben Augustine.”
“Not a problem,
Ms.
Mendoza.”
Nothing was turning out as she had hoped. She felt exhausted from the whole day and glad to finally leave the office to relax with her friend and discuss the big wedding.
As soon as Julia arrived,
Andreena
put her to work making party
favors
for the wedding reception. She silently listened to Julia venting her frustrations about work and the Augustine Boy.
“When have I ever not finished a job exactly on schedule?” Julia pulled out a bit of lace and started to wrap some of the sugar-coated almonds in front of her. “That Augustine Boy is a spoiled… ah! He just expects everything to happen perfectly. He’s so anal sometimes,” she grouched, holding up the little flower for
Andreena
to give the approval.
“You’ve always finished your jobs, honey. Clients trust you,”
Andreena
responded with a nod.
“So what’s his problem!”
Andreena
handed her a cup of frothy coffee. “I think he doesn’t know how capable you are. He’s just like any new client, and you need to give him reassurance just like any new client.”
“He should trust me,” Julia muttered. “We’re together. He should trust me no matter what.”
“Don’t take it personally, Jules. You’re not thinking of him as your client in this situation.”
The rich, exotic aroma of the coffee made her relax, though her mind remained preoccupied with Chris. Even sitting down with her friend didn’t make her feel any better. She finished the last sip of coffee and sat back, the wedding bon-
bons
in her lap still unfinished. But she didn’t have long to relax.
“Sweetheart, we’re home!” Cole’s voice boomed through the house.
Cole came into the room and immediately turned to Julia, smiling. “How are my two
favorite
women?” Noticing her expression, he stopped smiling, eyes narrowed in a protective manner. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
He placed his suit on the armchair, coming around the couch to give her a kiss on the cheek. Sensing he was determined to find out what was wrong, she pushed him away playfully.
“Nothing’s wrong, Cole. Just some issues at work,” she told him, briefly acknowledging his best man. “Hi, Jerry.”
Jerry waved, looking past her to the paper on the dining table. He grabbed it and quickly flipped it open for the sports section. “Is that Chris Augustine? Check this out, Cole. Did you know he owns half of the Florida Sharks basketball team? It says in this article he bought it last week,” Jerry said, shoving the page at Cole.
Cole started reading the article out loud. “Since the Augustine hotel tycoon turned over his business to his eldest son, Christophe, many aspects of the Augustine Empire has changed. The Augustine Boy is suddenly in the spotlight and feeling the heat. Not yet thirty, Chris Augustine has made some risky choices. According to our sources, he recently sold three of his most successful clubs to buy the struggling Florida Sharks basketball team. Many are speculating whether he is capable of running such a prestigious business as the Augustine after his impulsive business decisions. Sources close to the local celebrity have indicated that even the Augustine tycoon was concerned with his son’s ability to run the family business before he turned it over to him.”
Cole continued to read the article until the end, never noticing Julia’s sudden stillness. Julia wanted to scream as she listened to the story. Chris had never mentioned buying the Sharks.
Andreena
pulled her away. “What’s wrong, Jules?”
“He didn’t tell me about the Sharks.” She took her empty mug to the sink, washing it out. “First, he treats me like I’m an incompetent businesswoman, and now I have to read in the paper he’s gone and bought a national basketball team.”
Andreena
rubbed Julia’s arm. “Men are like that. They don’t always say what they do. It’s just in their nature not to tell us everything. Do we even know it’s true?”
Julia snorted. She wasn’t entirely sure if it was true, but it wouldn’t surprise her that he did something risky. “He’s obsessed with surfing, cars, and sports. He’s not lacking in funds. Of course it’s true,” she scoffed in response. “Something like that is important. I was with him all morning, for God’s sake, and who knows what is
rumor
or not with the Augustine Boy.”
“So he’s keeping secrets from you.”
Andreena
shrugged offhandedly. “Have you told him about Carlos?”
“That’s different,” Julia grumbled.
Andreena
raised a brow at her. “How?”
Julia gasped at her friend’s turnabout. Everyone was harping on her to talk about Carlos, but she thought at least
Andreena
understood.
The phone rang, and Julia, standing next to it, handed it over to
Andreena
to answer. She was still scowling and not really listening to the conversation until she heard her name. Her ears perked up.
“Yes, Hilda, Julia’s here. Of course, you can talk to her.”
Andreena
gave her a shrug and warning look before passing over the phone.
Julia took the phone, her stomach flipping as she wondered why her mother was calling. “Mama, what’s wrong?”
Her mother rattled off in Spanish angrily, speaking so fast that Julia couldn’t quite understand her for the first few moments. It was looking like her day was more than ready to get worse, with her mother blasting her over the phone.
Cole and Jerry both turned as her face slowly began to turn scarlet. “I’ll be right over,” she mumbled quietly, hanging up the phone in its cradle.
“What happened?” Cole, concerned something serious had occurred, followed her into the living room while she grabbed her things.
Julia quickly dismissed his worry and confessed, “Chris has been looking for me. My cell phone must have died because he’s tried calling several times. He’s with Mama and Michael at the house. I’ve got to go.” She grabbed her crutches. “Can you drive me over there?”
Fifteen minutes later, Cole pulled up to her mother’s house. She had charged her phone in the car while driving and now the screen flashed with fifteen missed calls from Chris over the past two hours.