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“Well, what did you want me to say?” she whispered.
“The truth. That you care about me. Like I care about you. Like Iloveyou.”
She staggered back as if he’d just hit her in the stomach and not Rex. Not the reaction he was hoping for, but he wasn’t exactly surprised.
“What?”
“I love you, Skylar.”
She shook her head. “Why are you saying that now?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does if anything Rex said is behind this sudden declaration. It matters a lot.”
“Well, that’s not the case. I finally pulled my head out of my ass the second I saw you and your friend walk into the banquet room at the hotel. I’d spent the past two weeks trying to forget you, and all it took was seeing you again for my breath to catch.”
Skylar frowned. “Your breath?”
He nodded. “Someone once told me love can hit in the moment it takes to exhale. And she was right. My confession has nothing to do with what Rex said and everything to do with who you are and how you make me feel.”
She didn’t say anything this time. Not one word, even after they’d stood there for well over a minute.
She’d just had a lot of shit go down. He’d told her the truth, and she needed to process it.
“Come on. Let’s get you home.”
Julian slung an arm around her and pulled her in tight, protecting her from the bitter wind and the even more bitter thugs roaming the street. They walked until he was able to hail a taxi. He gave the driver her address.
When they pulled up, he asked the driver to wait, helped her out of the car, then escorted her to her door. She opened it and turned toward him. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, then said, “I’ll call you tonight. But if you want to talk to me before then, on the phone or in person, I’m here for you.”
With that, he turned and headed back toward the taxi.
He forced himself not to turn around. The last thing he wanted to do was leave her, but he’d dropped a bomb on her, and maybe it was for the best.
“Julian?” she called.
He froze. “Yes?”
“Do you want to come upstairs with me?”
Immediately, he turned around. “Do you want me to?”
She nodded.
“Then yes, I want to come upstairs with you.”
53
When they stepped into her apartment, Skylar offered him a drink. “No thanks,” he said.
He looked around, taking in her private space. It was beautiful, just like her, with cream-colored walls, white molding, and cabinets acting as a neutral background. Several furniture pieces had curved lines instead of straight, and aside from her cream couch and two brown leather chairs, everything else was a riot of color. She had a thing for pillows— in various textures and colors. And even though he’d never thought one could describe pillows as wild and sexy and complex, those were the words Julian would choose.
And, of course, he was focusing on the pillows because hedidn’twant to think about what Rex had revealed and how Skylarwasn’tgoing to confide in Julian about it.
“It’s not what you’re thinking.”
Julian stiffened and turned to face her. She was wringing her hands together. “What do you mean?”
