Page 34 of Barefoot Dreams
Mind and…other body parts.
Sixteen years…sixteen damn years of running and here we are.
“Um…yeah, I guess I am.” I rub the back of my neck while blinking rapidly as her eyes lock in on my feet. I completely forgot about it. That’s how rattled this girl has me.
“Why?” Julie asks, tilting her head but not lifting it up to my eyes.
I swallow hard, grateful she couldn’t see. “I…I liked to do it from time to time,” I admit because I know I can. To her, I can.
“You do?” She finally snaps her head up, those mossy eyes, so wide they’re about to pop.
“Mm-hmm,” I hum, hoping she drops the subject at that, and thankfully after a few seconds, she does.
“Please, come in. Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you out.” Julie’s cheek flush slightly as she turns and walks inside. Who would’ve thought it was possible for my dick to get any harder right now from that alone.
How deep does it run? How bright would it get when I had her underneath me, my cock pushing…
Nope…I don’t need to know that, I chastise myself as I follow her into her home. Or rather, I follow the tantalizing curve of her ass that’s barely hidden beneath that shirt.
Miraculously, my attention is pulled away from her body and toward her home. Her uniquelyJuliehome with potted plants anywhere you look, tasteful, colorful furniture with cozy throw blankets and pillows everywhere. Clearly thrifted and given a new life in her home.
The space is small but very well organized with each room flowing into the next one until it all ends in her kitchen and that large, picturesque window I found her sitting at.
No wonder she was so lost in her thoughts with a view like this. I step closer and immediately get lost in the sight of the night ocean with that single beam of moonlight, slicing it in half.
“Wow, Julie, this is amazing,” I say in awe.
“Yeah.” Her murmur behind me sends a shiver down my body, and I suck in a sharp breath but barely noticeable one. “It’s one of the reasons I decided to live upstairs my workplace.”
“It’s not just the view,” I say as I turn around to face her. “This”—I wave around—“all of this…it’s so you.”
“You think so?” There’s a hopeful sparkle in her green eyes as she asks me the question.
“Yeah. It’s all so very you and it looks amazing.”
Her cheeks just went back to their normal pearly white composition when the pink hue returned with my comment and she bites the corner of her bottom lip. Fuck…could it be? Could I be affecting her like she is me? “Thank you, it means a lot to me. Of course, I didn’t do all this myself. Jacob and my parents were here to help but yeah, I love this apartment.”
“So, you and Jacob…” I trail off as soon as her eyes grow so wide they’re about to pop out and she waves her hands in front of me frantically. I was going to ask about their friendship but she doesn’t let me finish.
“No, no, there’s no me and Jacob apart from friendship. Never was. He’s more like Cal to me, filling in that older brother role while my own is out saving the world.” Julie smiles faintly, but it doesn’t quite reach her sparkling eyes.
I already knew all this, of course, but seeing her so panicked over my possible implication was quite cute and I have to bite down on my lip to hide the pleased smile.
Yeah, I know I’m an idiot because I’m smiling for no damn reason, but whatever.
“Would you like some tea or cookies?” Julie asks, and I’m getting ready to open my mouth and sayno, thank youwhen my head is already nodding.
That’s it, my body can’t be trusted around this forbidden woman.
Julie tucks a wayward strand of her fiery hair behind her ear and rushes into the kitchen as she turns a hand painted kettle on. “Please, make yourself comfortable,” she tells me but there’s no comfort for me when she lifts up on her tippy toes, reachingfor a mug on a shelf and that T-shirt of hers rides up to just the curve of her ass.
For the second time today, I choke on my own saliva that’s been pooling in my mouth at the sight of her.
She was beautiful, irresistible at fifteen, but now?
She’s my own brand of heroin. That’s exactly what she is.
“Are you okay?” Julie turns her concerned gaze at my coughing, and I rasp out “Yep, fine” while slapping my chest and turning slightly away to hide how not fine I was.
