Page 46 of Julien (Confessions 2)

Julien nodded, and Priest held up a finger, indicating that he give him a minute, so Julien went back to watching their guy, finding himself utterly fascinated and his mind now a million miles away from his troubles.

Robbie was laughing at something a woman had just said to him as he put a wine glass on the counter and filled it with a red, and once he was done and sliding it across to her, he put a haughty hand on his hip and rolled his eyes, making her laugh merrily at whatever he’d just said.

Cheeky boy, Julien thought, wondering what exactly that had been. But whatever it was, Robbie had certainly made the lady’s night, and that was what was so special about Robert Bianchi. That brilliant smile and vibrant energy he possessed. He merely had to flash it in a person’s direction and they would feel infinitely better for having been near him.

“Julien?”

His name had Julien turning to see Priest standing at the far end of the bar in the corner where two stools were now free, and the man on the opposite side of the counter from him was someone Julien had seen twice now but only ever met once, at Priest’s Christmas party this past year—Tate Morrison, Robbie’s boss.

With a head full of curls, smiling eyes, and a grin that was as inviting as it was smug, Julien could see why the bar was so popular. Its owner was charismatic as hell.

He walked over to where Priest was now taking a seat, and as Julien moved in to take his, Tate braced his hands on the counter and said, “Welcome back to The Popped Cherry, you two.”

“Thanks,” Priest said, as Julien laid his coat over the counter beside him. “Busy tonight.”

Tate looked out at the crowd and nodded. “Yeah. Always is Thursday through Sunday.” Then he redirected his gaze back to Priest. “Not a bad thing to be.”

“Not at all,” Priest said, and then turned to Julien. “You remember my husband, Julien?”

“I do,” Tate said, and Julien wondered if there would be any awkwardness between them. Not only because the guy had dragged Robbie away from them the second time they’d all met, but also because Julien wasn’t sure whether Robbie had spoken to Tate about next weekend yet. But when Tate held his hand out for Julien to shake, he took it.

“It’s nice to meet you again. I’ve heard a lot about you,” Tate said as he aimed a look over his shoulder to where Robbie was standing, still oblivious to their presence. “I have to say, this is the second time in my life I’ve had people I know be obsessed with you.”

Stunned, Julien looked over at Priest, who shrugged, and Tate started to chuckle.

“Not him,” Tate said. “My ex-wife watched Chef Master religiously. I would say she was your number one fan, but I think we all know a certain someone who would take issue with that.”

As if Robbie had some inner radar alerting him that people were discussing him, he finally turned his head in their direction, and when his eyes latched on to Julien and Priest, they practically sparkled with pleasure.

“I think you might be right,” Priest said, and Tate nodded as Robbie went back to his customer and slid a pink cocktail across the bar to a young woman who blew him a kiss. “Congratulations, by the way. How’s married life treating you?”

“Pretty damn good so far,” Tate said. “Actually, Logan was supposed to stop by tonight, but he got held up.”

“Now that’s a shame,” Priest said, tongue in cheek, but it was clear to Julien he was happy the other man wasn’t there tonight for some reason or other.

“Well, maybe next time,” Tate said. “I think it’d be nice if we could all catch up. Maybe you could come to dinner at the new house, since the condo is a little smaller.”

Priest aimed his eyes at Robbie, who was saying something to the man up that end of the bar serving with him, and then said, “If you can get your husband to behave himself when we’re around, then I think Robert would like that. What do you think, Julien?”

What did he think? Julien couldn’t believe how nice Tate was. He’d expected him to be judgmental and standoffish. Yet the vibe he was getting from Tate was anything but that. He was genuinely interested in them all becoming…friends.

“I think that’d be really nice, and I know Robbie would love it. Actually,” Julien said, thinking back to this morning and how highly Robbie had spoken of this man, “we can definitely plan a dinner for sure, but how would you and Logan feel about coming to the opening of my restaurant next month?”

Tate’s eyes widened a fraction. He clearly hadn’t expected that, and when Priest turned to look in his direction, Julien smiled and nodded.

---