at my kitchen counter for an hour and not type a single word. I had three blog posts to write for the coming week, a Greyhound ticket to purchase, a giant check to deposit in my account, and a hundred or so emails to respond to, one of which was from Vogue.
I’d yet to tell Julian that I was heading home to Texas for a few days. It wasn’t because I was purposely keeping things from him, we just hadn’t had a moment alone to talk where we weren’t attacking one another. Since Saturday, I’d had interview request after interview request from blogs and news channels wanting the inside scoop about the “Cinderella of New York Fashion Week”. It was all a bit surreal, but with each passing day my social media followers continued to double. I was supposed to have had dinner with Julian the night before, but I’d had to cancel last minute to do an interview with People Magazine. It was just a short piece, not the front page or anything, but still! I couldn’t very well turn down People Magazine. I knew the timing of everything was terrible. Julian and I had finally decided to sleep together, and the very next day, my life had exploded into chaos.
I reached for my phone, knowing I’d have a better chance of getting everything out if I texted him. I drafted a short and sweet message and hit send before I got distracted by another incoming email. My inbox was currently hovering at around 132 unread messages, all from important people, all vying for my attention.
Josephine: Hey, my dad is turning 60 next week, so I have to head home to Texas to celebrate with him. It won’t be for long.
Julian: What? When do you leave?
I glanced at my calendar hanging on the front of my fridge.
Josephine: Three days.
How had the days crept up on me?
Julian: Way to give a guy some warning…
Josephine: Are you mad?
Julian: No. Why would I be? I just wish your dad lived in New York.
The image of my dad wandering around the streets of New York was almost too comical to consider.
Josephine: Believe me, you don’t want him living here.
Julian: How long will you be gone?
Josephine: Just for a few days, but I’ll be bringing Lily back with me. She’s moving into my apartment.
Julian: Sounds like trouble.
I smiled. With Lily moving in with me, there definitely would be trouble…I just hoped it was the good kind.
Chapter Forty-Two
Julian
“Julian, how did my shoe get stuck in the lamp?” Josephine asked as I buttoned up my pants.
I turned to look over my shoulder. Sure enough, Josephine’s high heel was wedged between the wall of Dean’s boat and the bedside lamp. A few inches to the left and I would have busted the light bulb.
“I think I was just ripping stuff off you,” I explained. “I don’t have great aim when you have your shirt off.”
She glared at me and then bent to retrieve her shirt from the floor. I’d wanted to just throw it overboard but I knew she would have killed me. Even still, as she buttoned her blouse back up, I took every opportunity to get my fill of her while I could.
“They’re breasts, Julian,” she laughed. “You can literally type ‘boobs’ into Google and see half a million of them.”
I smirked. “None quite as perfect as yours though. I know; I’ve tried to find them.”
She reached to throw one of Dean’s pillows at my head and I realized I’d underestimated her ability as it clocked me in the side of the face.
“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry!” she said, rushing toward me. “You were supposed to duck.”
I laughed. “It didn’t hurt, Jo. It’s a pillow.”
She held my hands back so she could get a good look at the side of my face and I made the most disgusting face I could imagine.
“It’s okay, right?” I joked.
She rolled her eyes. “Even with pillow-face, you’re still the hottest guy I know.”
I smiled. “Is that why you let me sneak you down here?”
We’d both had a free Saturday afternoon and I’d come up with the brilliant idea to sneak onto Dean’s boat to finish what we’d started weeks ago. Fortunately, I knew where Dean hid a spare set of keys to the cabin. We’d decided to skip over the boat’s bed; laundering sheets isn’t really my thing. Instead, we started out in the cabin and then made our way to the bathroom and beyond. Dean’s boat had officially