Page 78 of Ella Gets the D
“It’s come up, but I won’t push to change his school until I figure out where we’ll land. DC is nice, but I’m not sure I can afford it and a charter school for two kids if it comes to it.”
Falls Church is beautiful, but when I tell you never is too soon to see another cul-de-sac or sprawling lawn. Moving away created new challenges, but nothing beats the freedom we have away from the microscope that came with being Mrs. Charles Hudson II.
Julian’s caress is gentle when his hand strokes my face. “I’m here for you, El. Always am.”
I nod into his touch, a safe haven these last few months, which have passed in a blur. He’ll never understand how much our friendship picked me up and helped repair the broken pieces of my life. It’s now a blank page for me and my children to write our own ending.
“Is this a bad time to say hello?” Nate’s glance shifts from me to Julian who blinks out of the trance that makes the rest of the world around us dissolve away.
“Of course. Ella, this is Nate. Nate, this is Ella.” I don’t miss the inflection in his tone at my name. It’s full of care.
Nate strokes his goatee with a smile playing on his lips. “It’s nice to meet you, Ella.” He withholds “finally,” but it’s apparent in the way he takes me in. He and Julian are close, which means he knows a hell of a lot more than he’s letting on.
“It’s nice to meet you too. The place is beautiful.” I motion to a mural of doodles that scales up the right side of the wall behind the bar. “Is that handmade?”
His smile broadens. “It is. My daughter, Jasmine, brought her sketches to life. It was a summer project she didn’t finish before school started.”
“Where does she go to college?”
“She’s twelve,” Julian says with a smile.
Nate and I share a knowing look, one that tugs on my heart: pride for our children and the accomplishments we have the privilege to witness.
We spend the next hour talking between laughs and Nate helping behind the bar. By nine, it’s time for me to turn into a pumpkin. I say my goodbyes and step into the DC summer night, but not before Julian follows me out.
“Let me walk you to your car.”
The soft glow of the moon filters through the canopy of trees overhead. Our steps slow to a lazy stroll. My car isn’t far from Swigs, and I’m not sure I need a personal escort, but I’m not complaining.
“Did you have fun tonight?” A faint summer breeze carries my question through the rustle of leaves.
The corner of Julian’s mouth pulls. “Always do. I spend most nights here when Nate is on.”
“Shouldn’t a bachelor like you be at the club?”
He tilts his head from side to side. “Clubs are overrated, in my opinion. I go out when I need to but stay in most of the time.” His eyes roam my profile. “Did you have a good night?”
It was better with you here.
“Yeah. It was nice to get out.”
We stop at the passenger side of my SUV. I lean against the door and look up at the trees with a sigh. It’s a beautiful night. “Thank…” My gaze lowers to find him watching me. It catches my breath, but I press out the “you” and clear my throat.
He steps forward and lowers his voice. “The pleasure is mine, sweetheart.” The pads of his thumb and forefinger lift up mychin. “Get home safe. I need to help Nate move a few shipments, but I’m right behind you.”
“Okay.” I swallow hard at the rapid pace of my heart. Another step, and he’ll feel it on his chest.
Anyone on the street would assume we’re seconds away from a goodnight kiss. It’s hard to catch my breath around him, and I have no room to put distance between us.
I dig my fingers into my shorts to suppress the aching urge to reach over and touch him. To wind my arms around his neck and kiss him with all abandon. He’s had his mouth on me, and he’s guided me to ecstasy. Never a kiss to unseal the growing fire between us.
With Julian, intensity and intimacy weave together through an electric current that binds us regardless of time or distance. It’s an equation I’ve yet to solve: how the desires I have for this man are foreign but also feel like home.
The air around us charges, jolting my skin with summer heat and unexplored passion.
He breaks us apart and steps back with a subtle headshake. “I, um, should…” He thumbs behind him.
“Yup,” I say with a quick nod.
