Page 26 of Only If You Dare

“I do,” she backtracked. “I am, you know that already.”

Her nervousness was sexy. The light turned green, and I pulled off headed for the hotel.

“I know, what I meant was, say you’ll leave early with me.”

Desiree held her tongue for a moment. “I will.”

That was all I needed to know. Everything else I would take care of. When we arrived at the hotel, I opted to let the valet park instead of heading for the private entrance. Holding Desiree’s door open, I reached in to help her out. We strolled inside hand in hand and headed straight for the elevator. Desiree turned to me.

“I need to stop by the front desk and get a room.”

The elevator doors dinged, and I pulled her inside cuddling her to my chest.

“I’ve rented out the top floor, Bella. I have everything you require.”

Desiree shivered again, and I loosened my grip. It was becoming harder to keep my hands to myself. The doors closed and we moved towards the top floor.

“I’m sorry about Jasper.”

“Me too,” she said. Her downcast expression gripped me again. The doors dinged, and I slid my arm around Desiree’s shoulder as we walked to a suite two doors down from mine. I pulled out a key card and opened the door. Desiree stepped inside and turned to me.

“This is a master keycard,” I told her. “It will get you in anyone of these rooms on this floor including mine. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

As much as I wanted to stay with her, I needed to give her the space she seemed adamant about receiving.

“Thanks,” she said. “For everything… You didn’t have to do any of it, and I’m grateful.”

Hearing this was a welcomed change from Desiree. It was painfully evident that she was independent by choice, and receiving help from others wasn’t high on her list of things to accept.

“Anytime, Bella… anytime.”

She offered me a small smile.

“Try to get some rest,” I said turning to walk away.

“Julian…”

I paused turning back to her inquisitively.

“Will you stay with me until Santana gets here?”

It had taken me two seconds to cross the threshold. The door closed behind me and latched with a snap.

“Come here,” I said grabbing her hand leading her to the balcony. I unlocked the double doors and we stepped outside. The air held a light breeze, and from our floor, we could see the city of Houston stretching around us. I pulled Desiree into my arms with her back flank against my chest and held her there. Her head rested against my throat, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Glancing at the skyline revealed a trail of stars that appeared to hover right above us.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen stars that close,” she said.

I chuckled. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

“There’s that saying about great minds ya know.”

“Riiiigght,” I drawled.

“So, tell me Julian, when you were growing up, did you always want to model?”

She was attempting to take her mind off Jasper. I was more than happy to help her do so.

“When I was younger, my brothers always messed with me about being in the mirror or wanting to take care of my appearance. In school, I was labeled a pretty boy and most likely to become a model. It was always the running joke that they couldn’t get enough of.”

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