A knock sounded on the door, and Luke ignored it, kissing her, sliding a finger inside her. Whoever it was would go away.
“Julie, sweetie, are you in there?”
Luke froze at the sound of Lauren’s voice permeating the wooden divide between them and her. Julie stiffened and pressed her hands to his shoulders. They drew apart slightly, their eyes colliding, hers filled with panic. Luke reluctantly slid his hand from her body.
A knock came again. “Julie?”
Luke lifted her and set her on the ground, watching her fret over pulling her skirt down. “Yes, I’m here.”
His gaze slid over her, and he had to say he was thankful her dress seemed to be wrinkle-resistant or they’d have a much harder time leaving this bathroom.
A long moment of silence. “You okay?”
“Yes,” she said quickly. “I’m fine. I’ll be right out.”
Silence.
Julie’s brows dipped. Luke started to say something, but she stopped him, placing two fingers to his lips and holding up a finger from her other hand.
Then came Lauren’s voice again. “Um, Julie?”
“Yeah?” she said, meeting Luke’s curious gaze.
“Luke wouldn’t happen to be in there with you, would he? Royce is, um, well, worried about him.”
That was when the full implication of what he’d done, how he’d lost control, hit him like a concrete block. Luke squeezed his eyes shut, angry at himself. He was in a public bathroom about to get naked with the very woman he swore he wouldn’t touch until she admitted he meant more than sex to her. And he was doing it during his brother’s rehearsal dinner.
Julie tugged on his hand and made a silent plea for help. He shook his head, not knowing the best response.
Lauren seemed to make her own assumptions. “Okay then. As long as we know you’re both okay.”
Luke dropped his head onto his hand. Fuck!
“Oh, God,” Julie whispered, “I can’t believe I let this happen.”
The torment in her voice drew his sharp probe, and he watched her turn to the mirror to fix her face and hair. He stopped behind her, framed her body with his. Their eyes met in the mirror. “It happened,” he said. “We can’t change that. It’s been a rough day and we were both feeling it.”
Her gaze dropped to the sink and he read the instant withdrawal in her, the return of the vulnerability that had set him off in the first place. He turned her to face him. “I didn’t say I didn’t want that to happen, Julie, but now, and like this, no.” He kissed her and when he pulled back she ran her fingers over his mouth.
“You have all the lipstick I no longer have on me on you.”
“I’m not complaining.”
“I am,” she said, and pressed her mouth to his. ”I need it back.”
He smiled and motioned. “Let’s go back.”
“We’re going to be obvious if we go back together.”
“I have a plan.” He reached for the door and she grabbed his hand. “You still have my lipstick.” She reached up and wiped his face. “I doubt that fits your plan.”
“No,” he said softly. “But you do.” And before she had time to react, he opened the door and checked for a quick exit. The coast was clear, and he motioned her forward. She rushed into the hall and all but ran for the exit, as if she didn’t want to be found in damning territory.
As they cleared the hallway and made their way back to the table, Luke made an announcement. “Cake crisis averted.”
Lauren looked alarmed as Julie sat down next to her, and Luke quickly supplied the answer. “The bakery wasn’t going to get the cakes to the reception in time, so Julie was ordering me to pick them up tonight.”
“Oh no,” Lauren said. “Are you sure it’s okay now?”
“Absolutely,” Julie assured her, grabbing her hand. “They had us mixed up with a different wedding.” She laughed. “That’s why Luke and I ran off.” She cast him a warning look that had a hint of ‘thank you’ hidden within. “You weren’t supposed to know.” She turned a softer expression on Lauren. “It’s handled. Everything is handled. You just have to walk down the aisle and marry the man you love.”
She made it sound easy, as easy as it would have been for him to take her right there in that bathroom. He thought of the intensity of her vulnerability, of how quickly she’d shifted from that softer Julie to seductress, and he knew what wasn’t easy at alclass="underline" figuring out how to crack the mystery that was Julie’s heart. And he was ready to admit that not only did he want to, he intended to.
Chapter Eight
With the rehearsal dinner behind them, Julie and Lauren sat on Lauren’s sofa with a box of double-dutch chocolate cookies. Lauren brushed her hands together to wipe away the crumbs and gave Julie an astute, probing stare. “You seem bothered by something.”
Julie glanced at Lauren, the friend who’d become her sister, emotion welling inside her. “I’m fine.” She forced a smile. “I’m allowed to be nervous over the wedding, but you are not.”
Lauren shook her head. “It’s not the wedding. You’re not yourself.”
Julie shrugged. “Divorce is more depressing than usual with a spectacular wedding in the air.”
Lauren quirked a brow. “That’s a different point of view for you. You’ve always been very unemotional about what you do.”
“Yes, well, Judge Moore’s wife committing suicide really got to me.”
Lauren was quiet a long moment. “Yes, I image it would anyone. They run in our circles. It’s heartbreaking.”
Julie didn’t want to bother Lauren with her concerns over what she thought really happened to the judge’s wife, not the night before her wedding. She waved it off. “A conversation for later. Much later.”
Lauren didn’t look convinced. In fact, she shoved a lock of light brown hair behind her ear and studied Julie more intently. “Leaving the District Attorney’s office to go out on my own with a couple of friends was a huge decision for me. I thought I was fighting for what was right and wrong, but I was tied down by the politics of the office. You didn’t choose divorce. It just happened to you, and Julie, it’s not a good place for you. We both know it messes with your head, even when you pretend it doesn’t.” Julie started to object and Lauren held up a hand. “Don’t deny it, or you’ll make me mad on the eve of my wedding. Look, Julie, why not come with us, and choose what you want to do?”
Julie had already been through this in her head a million times. “The money is good where I’m at.”
“Money isn’t everything.”
“I have no one but me to take care of me,” Julie argued. “It has to be a consideration.”
“You have me, Julie. You will always have me.”
“I know,” Julie said, emotion clogging her throat. But Lauren would have her husband, kids, a future, and even though Lauren wouldn’t say that changed anything, it did. And Julie was happy for her. If anyone deserved a true fairy tale, it was Lauren. Julie smiled. “And I’ll borrow your big grumpy wonderful man to change a light bulb here and there, I promise.”
Julie’s cell phone buzzed with a text and she grabbed it off the table. It was from Luke. Elizabeth moved in with her sister in Jersey after the split. They’re close. Blake has one of our men checking her out and watching her. She’s safe.
Julie quickly typed, Thank you.
Lauren cocked her head. “Speaking of the restaurant and Royce’s family tree. Seems like you have a big Walker man of your own on your hands these days.” She pursed her lips. “Was that Luke texting you?”
Julie was so taken off-guard she just stared at Lauren. Lauren laughed. “It was. I knew it. And so we’re clear, I played along on the whole cake thing, but I didn’t buy it for a minute. You two were in the bathroom doing the–”
“No, we were not!” Julie exclaimed. They’d just come close. “Are you calling Luke a liar, Lauren? That’s rough stuff considering he’s about to be your brother-in-law.”
“Come on,” Lauren prodded, her voice softening. “For once, talk to me about Luke instead of shutting down when I try. Consider it a wedding present.”