Page 27 of Kissed and Missed

Damnit, we wereso close.

Barely suppressing a groan, I turn to see Julian strolling out of the office he was occupying for his call, rolling up the sleeves of his button-down. “I’m sorry that it took so long. Are you hungry? I was…” He falters, words trailing off as he spots the small group lingering by the door.

“Julian, meet my father, Bram.” I do my best to sound cheerful and casual, as if this were a preset meeting, prompted by no unfortunate circumstances whatsoever. “And this is my best friend, Sophie. Whom he is in a serious relationship with.” Dad glances at me, obviously catching the not-so-subtle emphasis on this statement.

Julian recovers first. “I’m sorry we have to meet under these circumstances,” he says, holding out a hand for Dad to shake.

My father accepts the gesture with obvious reluctance and offers a single gruff word in response. “Agreed.”

“I want to assure you my team is doing everything in their power to minimize the impact this incident will have on Honor’s life.”

Dad makes a short, skeptical noise of acknowledgement. “I’ve hired an independent firm to verify your plan is in her best interest.”

If Julian is surprised, he doesn’t show it. “If it makes you more comfortable, of course.” He nods. “I’ll speak with my people and instruct them to cooperate fully with the audit.”

Judging by the look on Dad’s face, he really wants to hate Julian—and probably does—but knows he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. What is he going to say? That I’m too young for Julian? That we shouldn’t be together if it may hurt his daughter?Ha.

“Bram,” Sophie says, a little more insistently. “Come on. We need to get to work. Think of the donuts and lack of awkwardness. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

God, dating my dad aside, this girl really is the gold standard of besties. I shoot her a thankful look when Dad nods in agreement. He hugs me and makes me promise to call him when I’ve finished talking to the firm he hired. Then, they’re gone, and the moment the door closes behind them, I throw myself into Julian’s arms.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble, burying my face in his neck.

He hugs me back, and my lower abdominal muscles seem to melt as he presses his lips to my forehead. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Honor. Your family loves you, and this is a concerning situation. I’m glad your father is looking out for your best interests.” There’s a hint of worry in his voice that makes me look up, frowning.

“What’s wrong?”

Julian chuckles, and I feel warm all over as he gazes down at me, his expression full of unguarded adoration. “It’s been a long time since I worried about making a good impression.”

“When things settle down, he’ll be a lot more amiable, I promise.”

When, notif. Am I that certain of our life together beyond this? Already? Now that my initial panic about the situation has faded, it’s getting a lot harder to pretend I don’t know the answer to that.

“Come on.” He tilts my chin up to kiss me gently and releases his hold on me to take my hand, leading me out the door Sophie and my father just left through.

I blink. “Aren’t we supposed to stay in the room?”

Julian offers the two security guards outside our door a brief nod. “I want to take my new girlfriend out for a casual lunch date. It’s only downstairs in the hotel restaurant, and I’ve taken precautions.”

The place he’s talking about is a popular spot in town, the kind of place you can’t get a table at without making a reservation weeks in advance. Despite my childhood home being only ten minutes away, I’ve been here only once, for my dad’s company’s Christmas party the year I moved home after college.

In retrospect, the man asking Soph if he could get her anything from the bar half a dozen times, probably should have been a red flag.

When we enter through the completely empty hotel lobby, however, Julian is guiding me through the door with his hand on the small of my back (a move that I can’t pretend I don’t love), and the place is empty. Not a single table is occupied, and the only person in sight is the hostess, standing ready behind a wood stand.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Ballard, Miss Vogel.”

His fingers skim my bare forearm, and I blink up at him dumbly. “Are we early?”

“We’re right on time,” he assures me as the hostess gathers up menus.

“Right this way, please.”

She leads us to a plush leather booth in the farthest corner of the room. It’s the only table in the entire restaurant that’s set, and I start to get the first flickers of suspicion about this “casual lunch date.”

Numb with disbelief, I sit down across from Julian, watching the hostess pour out glasses of water for each of us. “So. Um,” I begin after she leaves with the promise someone will arrive shortly to take our order. “You didn’t, like, rent this entire place out, did you?”

Julian blinks at me, obviously surprised. “Of course I did.”

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