Page 119 of The Charmer

"Way to put on the pressure," he said. "No plans for now, though we are looking at buying a huge-ass place with a big yard, white picket fence, all that."

My entire body warmed up. Even though I loved the idea of living in the Quarter, the house Julian just painted popped into my head in complete detail.

"Now that sounds like a plan. Keep it up," Robert said. "Ah, speak of the devil."

I glanced over my shoulder. Kyle was heading our way, already frowning at me and Julian.

Oh, this is going to be so good.

"I see LeBlanc got to you first, Robert. Hope you didn't seal the deal already," Kyle said.

"As a matter of fact," Robert said, "we did. Sorry, Kyle. Some things I found out about you weren't to my liking at all."

For the first time ever, I saw Kyle completely bewildered. He jerked his head back. "Whatever lies you found, Robert, I can prove that they are not true. And LeBlanc doesn't exactly have my best interest at heart."

"I didn't say a thing," Julian said, clearly enjoying this.

"Don’t insult me. I do my own research, boy," Robert said in a somewhat cutting tone. "And the buildings go to Julian. Now, if you'll excuse us, we still have to discuss some details."

Kyle looked even more bewildered than before. We moved away from him because he clearly wasn't going anywhere.

Robert shook his head. "He certainly didn’t take that well. Very unprofessional of him."

"Thank you for your trust," Julian said.

"You know what? Let's hammer out some details after all," Robert replied. "Since we're here anyway, let's not postpone this any longer."

"Gladly!"

"I'm going to look around a bit," I said, wanting to give Julian some privacy.

"Sure, babe. Let me know if you need me."

I was still swooning at his description of the house we’d buy. Was it possible that Julian was envisioning a future for us? Because goodness, I definitely was. He and I hadn’t been together that long, but my entire heart belonged to this man. For the first time since the fiasco with Kyle, I dared to think about entrusting Julian with my future too.

I glanced at the buffet, eyeing a jambalaya I really wanted to try. Ever since our night at The Apothecary, I kept wanting to taste every jambalaya I could get my hands on. But I wasn’t very hungry yet, so I moved toward where the band was getting set up.

"What the hell was that?" Kyle's voice came from behind me as I looked at the musicians' instruments.

I turned to look at my ex lazily. There were quite a few people around us, and he wasn't bothering to keep his voice down.

"What are you talking about?"

"That business with Robert and LeBlanc. I don't buy that LeBlanc had nothing to do with it."

"Funnily enough, Kyle, he didn't. But you know what happens when you're being a scumbag? Word travels."

"You take that back," he growled. "What do you know about business anyway?"

"Honestly, nothing at all about your business. And news flash: I don't even care. Never have. But you’re a jackass overall. That I can attest to."

I realized that several other people were watching, but who cared? They should hear this. I had nothing to hide.

"You weren't even man enough to break up with me. You asked your new girlfriend to do it." I raised my voice so everyone close could hear. "That's right. I went to his club to see him, and he actually sent his girlfriend to break up with me.”

Kyle took a step back, looking around. "Take that back."

"It's the truth!"

---