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“One of my first clients told her about me. After her husband died, I was there for her when she had no one. We grew close. Over time, we became friends. She’s someone I trust, someone I respect.”
“She sounds special.”
“She is.” He cleared his throat and took her hands, causing her to brace. “After I saw you at the awards banquet, before you came to me, I slept with her.”
She flinched.
“Shit,” Julian said. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what—”
“It’s okay. Finish,” she said.
“You sure?”
She nodded.
“Afterward, Margaux told me I wasn’t the same. She said she knew I’d met a woman–one I was meant to love.”
“Really?” Skylar breathed.
Julian nodded. “And she was right, of course. But because of my past, I fought to admit it far longer than I should have. And after you came to me . . . after pizza and the strip club . . . I tried to prove you weren’t under my skin by going to a different woman.”
He tightened his grip on her hands and pulled her forward slightly, instinctively drawing her closer so she wouldn’t pull away. To her surprise, she wasn’t even trying. “This was Elena?”
Julian’s eyes widened. “What? How do you know her name?”
“The night I came to your apartment in my trench coat. Before I faked my orgasm. She called your landline; I heard her message. That you’d been to her and that she wanted more of . . . more of . . . ”
His expression was suffused with pain, and he shook his head. “It’s okay. I can only imagine what she said. Yes, I met with her. But I couldn’t sleep with her, Skylar. As soon as I saw her naked, I knew it. Touching anyone but you made my skin crawl. I told her I had changed my mind.”
“And yet she still called again, hoping you’d change your mind again.”
“Yes, but I didn’t know that. I haven’t checked that answering machine in forever.”
She nodded and took in several deep breaths, appreciating how candid he was being with her. But they both knew Elena wasn’t who this talk was about. “What about Margaux?”
“I’ve seen Margaux again but only platonically. And we’re not going to see each other again.”
She jerked with surprise, unable to deny the automatic relief she felt. “Never?”
“No. She’s met someone. Or rather, reunited with someone. She’s in love. I’m in love. Whatever there was between us is done. Because I love you, and I can’t have you doubting my love, my faithfulness, my attraction to you— I can’t have you doubtingme— not even for one moment.”
Skylar stared at him, soaking up his words. He didn’t sound regretful or look it, but she knew some part of him had to be. As much as he was there for Margaux, she’d been there for him.
Skylar thought of the foster boy he’d been. He’d had so little love in his life, and she didn’t want him to have to give up any more. Still, she didn’t want to make a grand gesture for Julian if, in doing so, she’d regret it in the future. How would she feel if Julian kept up a friendship with Margaux, who obviously meant something to him?
She thought about it.
Then she kissed him softly and snuggled in his arms, feeling his relief when she did so.
Then she thought about it some more.
And it all came back to one word.
Trust.
She trusted that Julian wasn’t the man he’d once been.
Trusted that he was stronger now.
