“You act different around her,” Liam told him later that night. His friend flew immediately to Las Vegas, obviously excited to see how he was holding up, and to meet the girls.
“What are you talking about?” he said it with a snort. Of course he knew what—or rather who—he was talking about.
“You know what I’m talking about. And you know who I’m talking about,” his friend whispered to him before sipping his brandy. “You can’t take your eyes off her.”
“I don’t really know what you are referring to,” he insisted, leaning back against the couch.
“Do you want me to say her name out loud?” Liam taunted, his brown eyes twinkling with obvious amusement.
“It’s nothing,” he uttered with a sigh after a few seconds. Julianne was sitting across from them, looking at nothing in particular. Hanna and Tanya were enjoying themselves at some games at the other table right behind her. They were at The Deuce Lounge and there were quite a number of people around. But it seemed that Julianne was the only one who seemed to be out of place. She was dressed up, yes, much to his insistence earlier, but her face was as blank as the players playing poker around them.
“You obviously like her,” Liam chuckled. “But she doesn’t like you, does she?”
“Of course she does. Why else would she be here if she doesn’t?” he asked incredulously. He would never admit to anyone that Julianne was desperate to get out of the show.
“She’s not into you, I can see that,” Liam said, further aggravating his frustrations.
No, Julianne liked him, he denied. She was not just in the position she wanted. But he was willing to change her mind.
And then what? You can’t have her in the end anyway, the silent fun-killer part of his mind cried out.
“So, Julianne, what are you into?” he heard Liam ask aloud.
Julianne snapped her head towards his friend. “I’m a writer,” she answered, her voice emotionless.
“What do you write?”
She shrugged, “Stuff.”
“What stuff?”
“She writes—” he started, but then he remembered Julianne’s choice of privacy and stopped. “She writes almost anything, right Jules?”
Liam turned his head towards him, frowned with amusement and chuckled. “Jules?”
“I call her that,” he said defensively. He looked at Julianne and stood up. “Okay, I know you’re tired. You’re tired right?”
Shocked, Julianne looked up at him and slowly nodded.
“Okay, I’ll take you back upstairs,” he said hurriedly. He looked back at his friend who was looking too appalled and too amused to even speak. “Hey, man, why don’t you take the girls to some poker while I take Julianne upstairs? I’ll be right back in no time,” he instructed.
Slowly, like Julianne, Liam nodded his brown head and said, “You sure you’re coming back?”
“Zach, I can go back on my own,” Julianne spoke up.
“Yes, Jules can do that,” Liam nodded his head vigorously with a wicked glint in his eyes.
Zach was getting annoyed at his friend. He was not making this easier. “No, she’s as frail as a bug and she might get lost. Her eyesight is poor.”
“What?” Julianne asked, startled and confused by his stupid remark.
“I can see she can see you’re acting like a child now so I guess her eyesight is—” Liam broke his sentence and held up his hands when Zach sharply turned to him with a murderous look. “Okay, it’s probably the best idea that you take her upstairs. Take all the time that you need.”
“Good,” Zach nodded and turned to Julianne. “Let’s go, Jules, you’re ruining the mood by your sour look. I know you prefer to be alone with your computer,” he took her hand and pulled her to her feet.
“Zach, I can go back on my own—”
“I take you back upstairs or you stay here. You choose,” he said it like he was talking to a toddler.
“Fine,” she huffed and looked at Liam, “Goodbye, it was nice to meet you.”
Liam gave a salute and said, “Anytime, Jules,” and Zach could have punched the man with the taunting look he threw at him as he called her by the name he preferred using.
*****
As they rode the elevator alone to their room, Zach suddenly felt restless. He had two dilemmas at the moment.
One, he knew Liam was sensing something was going on with him and he realized it was a mistake to have invited him. He acted on his impulses and the need to be desperately alone with Jules again tonight that he did not think of how his friend would see things as they happened. And two, he didn’t know if Jules was even aware he had gone through—and risked—a lot of things just so he could get her alone to…what? What did he even want to do once he was alone with her? He was so focused on his desire to just be with her that he did not get the chance to think about what he wanted to do with her. It seemed that all he wanted was to be with her.
Just be with her. Hell, he didn’t even care if she gave him the cold shoulder that she usually threw at him.
I’m really going crazy for this weird girl with ugly eyeglasses, he thought silently as he watched the numbers above them light up.
“You shouldn’t have left them,” Julianne mumbled beside him.
He turned his head and studied her once again. She looked marvelous—as usual—in her black strapless dress. He had the sudden urge to take her in his arms and devour her right there and then.
“Liam can take care of them,” he waved off. “I’m feeling tired myself as well,” he lied.
It was only then that he noticed that there was not a camera guy standing at the corner. Didn’t they notice them get out? Well, they were obviously focused on filming the other ladies what with their plunging necklines and tight-fitting clothes.
And not being filmed didn’t matter to him. Maybe, just maybe, it was a sign that this might just be his lucky night.
*****
“You should get back,” Julianne said as they entered the villa.
“Liam can handle them,” he answered, going to the bar. “You want a drink?”
“No, I think I’ll go sleep,” Julianne lied. She could never sleep tonight. She was feeling different…weird even. She didn’t know what to think anymore. It was like Vegas had this powerful magic that would open your eyes to almost anything beautiful and right now, since they arrived, she couldn’t help but not notice Zach’s green eyes.
As pointed out, it was really weird.
She had been able to stand too close to him—even to the point of kissing him—a lot of times during their stay at the island, but she had never noticed how beautiful his eyes were. Even now, when he was standing far away from her, she could still see the color in them.
She was really going crazy. Why the hell, of all things, she suddenly took notice of his eyes?
Because she had seen them flare up with anger earlier that morning when he saw her with Jack, because she had seen them flicker towards her from time to time during their plane ride, because she saw them twinkle when hers met them, and because she saw how they glittered every time he laughed and how they would search hers to see if she was having fun as well.
She didn’t realize she was getting lost into their green depths once again, and she didn’t realize he was walking slowly towards her, his face serious and solemn and tender.
Finally, when she felt his strong presence, his warmth, she blinked and snapped back to her senses. She cleared her throat and turned her head to the window and said, “I’ll go in first,” she whispered hoarsely and stepped sideways so she wouldn’t bump against his chest.
“Jules,” he whispered and his voice was low and manly. Not the boyish kind she was used to. Not the playful tone she was so aware of. This was a different Zach calling her name and she surprisingly liked it.
“I really need to go to bed, Zach,” she whispered.
“You’re avoiding me,” he pointed with a slow grin.
Okay, so the Zach she knew was still somewhere there after all. “No,” she snapped. “I’m just tired.”
She felt his hand on her arm as she passed him, pulling her back, but it was not harsh, rather it was gentle and tender.
Julianne didn’t know if it was the knowledge that they were in the city of sin or the alcohol she took earlier, that she felt the air around them was just different. It was, in some ways, different from the one that surrounded them in the island when they first kissed. She closed her eyes and bent her head when Zach took one step closer. She was getting warmer and that dangerous yearning she felt before started to integrate inside her once again. This is really crazy…
“Stay,” he whispered in her ear, his breath tingling and warming her all at the same time. Julianne stifled a gasp.
Say something, anything… she willed herself, but couldn’t.
She could feel Zach’s breath against her skin, his lips touching her cheek in a feather-like kiss as it travelled across her face. She anticipated the moment. She was fully awake, but she felt that she was in a dream.
A very slow, sweet, dangerous dream.
And when Zach’s lips finally hovered over her lips, she almost gasped with impatience. He was teasing her and she was aware of that. With the little amount of strength that she had left, she tilted her face forward just a little to send him the message.
He got her answer and she was suddenly crushed against him and his mouth devoured hers in a desperate grateful, hungry kiss. One hand restlessly roamed around her back, pressing her against his hard length, the other at her nape, holding her head for a deeper kiss.
Fire surged up inside Julianne. This was completely different from what they shared at the island—that one time she could remember, at least.
Mindlessly, her hands spread across his chest and she felt his muscles tighten. Their breathing were coming fast, but neither of them chose to break away, knowing that if they did, she would come back to her senses and the magic would go away. Heat was coming fast and they could either extinguish it or take it to higher heights.
*****
Zach couldn’t believe what was happening. He didn’t plan it this way, really.
Okay, so yes, maybe it crossed his mind, but he rejected that idea knowing Julianne would not go as far as that.
But it seemed that he was wrong about that too because she was answering his kiss and touch with the same yearning and burning passion. Her mouth tasted like heaven and her body felt like it against his.
He slowly led them towards the nearest possible makeshift bed he could think of and it was the couch. Going upstairs was out of the question. She could go back to her senses and he would have to suffer alone once again.
They dropped on the couch and he was grateful she didn’t budge and continued to unbutton his shirt with shaky, urgent fingers. He had been undressed countless of times, but why did it feel like it was his first time as Julianne’s restless fingers undid his buttons?
He traced his hand along her thigh, going higher.
This is really happening… part of his brain said in disbelief as Julianne arched towards him.
With a soft chuckle against her mouth, he took off her glasses and threw them on the carpeted floor.
But he didn’t expect it to make a ringing sound. His lips froze against Julianne’s and a frown formed across his face. What was that sound?
And then desire came over once again and he continued with his work, inching his hand higher to her waist, taking her dress with it.
“Zach,” Julianne tore off her lips from his.
He groaned. “What, Jules? Please, don’t say no, not when we’re like this,” he emphasized his words by taking his hands to the sides of her breasts.
She stifled a moan, but shook her head. “Zach, it’s the door,” she said breathlessly.
For a short moment, he was lost. “What?”
“The door. Can’t you hear it?”
Of course he could. He just chose to ignore it or identify what it was.
“It’s just room service. Or Liam. I don’t really care,” he rushed, leaning down to take her mouth.
She turned her head away from his lips. “Zach, you’re not the only one who has a key,” she pointed out.
Groaning in defeat, he leaned his forehead against the side of her head, and with what was left of his sensible strength, pushed away from her and buttoned his shirt. “I should have barred it…with nails…and a thousand padlocks,” he grumbled as he grabbed her glasses from the floor and handed it back to her.
The door rang again and he jumped to his feet, crying, “What?!”
“It’s me,” Liam said as he finally opened the door. “What’s keeping you?”
“What do you mean what’s keeping me? We just got here!” he couldn’t help his frustration from showing.
Liam raised his brows in amusement and said, “Uh, no, you were gone for like half an hour now,” he said, tapping his watch.
Zach frowned. They were gone that long? They had been making out that long? What the hell? “What do you want?”
Liam extended his neck to look behind his shoulder and through the crack of the door. “You’re not letting me in?”
“No, because I told you to watch over Hannah and Tanya. You’re not really doing it.”
“They’re asking for you,” his friend stated, leaned closer and added in a whisper, “Why? What were you doing before I rang?”
“Shut up and get out.”
“Hey, I’m serious. Those girls are looking for you.”
Zach took a deep breath. He should have called a more convincing and charming friend.
“Go,” Julianne said from the couch. “I’ll be fine here. I really need to rest anyway,” she added, standing up. She started for the stairs.
There went his lucky night. He sighed in defeat.
“Fine,” he snapped at Liam and pushed him out the doorway and closed it behind him.
“Dude, you’re really into her, aren’t you?”
He did not answer. He was not even sure what to think anymore. All he wanted to do was to break his friend’s neck for intruding.
*****
Julianne lay on her bed wide awake for the next two to three hours. She tried working, but nothing came to mind. She was so full of what happened downstairs and what could have happened. God, she would have allowed that to happen and wouldn’t have had second thoughts. She wasn’t sure if she was glad or not about Liam’s untimely appearance.
She was sprawled on her bed when the silent knock came. She jumped to the floor, and her heart started racing. It must be Zach. She knew it in her gut it was him. What the hell should she do? And why did he come back? It was past three in the morning already. Maybe he finally decided to come back with the girls.
The knock came again, this time it was louder. Slowly, she walked to the door and opened it a crack. And surely, there he was, standing with his hand on the doorway, grinning from ear to ear.
And he smelled like brandy. “Zach, you’re drunk,” she hissed.
“No, I’m not,” he shook his head. “I want to be with you, Jules,” he whispered, leaning closer.
She could feel the touch of alcohol in his breath. “Zach, you’re drunk. You need to sleep it off,” she pushed him gently.
“I want you. I want to be with you. You know that, right? I…” he trailed off as he tried to balance on both feet, “I…I like you…very…much and you’re really making it hard for me, you know that?”
She was surprised by his words. Yes, of course she’d heard the first sentences before, but the last part startled her. She never imagined he felt like that. “Zach, we’ll talk in the morning,” she promised. “Go to sleep.”
“We’ll talk…” he nodded.
“Yes,”
“But I want to be with you…”
“Zach,” she said strongly, wanting him to walk away before she changed her mind. She couldn’t face him like this.
“Okay…tomorrow…” he repeated and she nodded. Slowly, he turned around and walked to his room.
Julianne closed the door and sighed, leaning against it.
She pushed away and paced around her room for another three to five minutes. Sleep was not a choice tonight, she thought.
Blast it…
She finally gave up, turned to the door, opened it, and walked towards Zach’s room.
For a long moment, she just stood there, arguing with herself. Taking up her courage, she held up her hand in a fist to knock. She stopped, changed her mind and took the knob. With the last remaining courage, she turned it and swung the door open.
And wished she didn’t.
There, lying on the bed, was Hanna, her hair rumpled, dressed in…well, nothing but the white sheet of cloth around her.
And there, standing by the bed was Zach, his shirt half open, his face shocked.
“Jules!” he cried out.
Julianne held up her hand, “Save it, Zach.” And then she turned away to walk back to her room with a surprisingly big amount of tears pooling in her eyes.