The Allure of Julian Lefray (The Allure #1)(46)

“I like it. You have a knack for making the best out of any situation,” I said, turning in a circle to get a better look.

“Well at least let me take you on a tour,” she said, reaching for my hand. I tried to act casual about the fact that our fingers were twined together, but I was sure she could read the shock on my face.

“Here is the kitchen,” she said, taking a step to the left.

I took a step as well, pivoting my body in the direction of the small kitchen area.

“And then here’s the bathroom, bedroom, living room, and foyer,” she listed off, taking a step to the right and gesturing to the rest of the small room.

I laughed.

“Damn, after all that walking, I think we need some pizza,” I said.

“Definitely,” she confirmed with a nod.

I pulled her toward the couch. We fell back into the cushions, aligned hip to hip with the box balanced across both of our thighs.

I opened the box so she could reach in for the first slice. The pepperonis were about the size of my head and I could tell from the smell that they used garlic and basil in the sauce. I could have eaten the entire box myself. We each took a piece and folded them in half to keep the cheese from spilling off the edges.

“I like your place,” I said.

She stared around at her apartment, chewing her bite. I studied her profile as she processed my compliment.

“Yeah. It’s really not so bad. My neighbors are really nice.”

I nodded, happy that she had nice people in her building.

“And bonus: technically I get to eat every meal in bed,” she joked, patting the black futon beneath us.

I paused, mid chew, and processed her joke.

“You sleep here?” I asked, staring down at the black fabric with a pepperoni slice lodged in my throat.

“Yeah, it pulls out into a twin-sized mattress thing.”

Before I could help myself, my brain took a very G-rated comment and twisted it into every R-rated fantasy. This is where she sleeps. This is where she has sex.

“Which way do you sleep?” I asked.

“Why?”

“I pride my fantasies on their accur—”

I barely got the words out before I felt a greasy pepperoni slice hit the side of my face.





Chapter Twenty-Six


Josephine





The second I threw the pepperoni slice at Julian, I regretted it, and not because it got pizza sauce on his cheek. No, it was because I really like pepperoni and the pizza place had been stingy bitches about putting it on our pizza. (Four pieces a slice? Might as well order Chinese.)

“Wait, give that back,” I said, reaching for the pepperoni.

He jerked out of reach. “Finders keepers.”

I watched him pop it into his mouth and chew like a smug jerk. You’d think the pizza sauce on his cheek would have made him look silly, but he looked as sexy as ever, just with a tad more garlic to bring out his tan. His dark eyes were still focused on me, watching me watch him, and before I could think of the hundreds of reasons not to, I leaned forward and licked the sauce right off his cheek.

I thought I was being cute and clever, licking his cheek like it was nothing.

It wasn’t.

The tension in the room shifted in an instant. His breath hitched and I realized that I’d pushed him too far. Before I could lean back, he turned his head and his lips met mine in a crash of pizza sauce and lips and garlic and sweet, delicious lust.

He reached for my arm, grasping right below my elbow so I couldn’t lean away. At first I was too stunned to do anything. My heart hammered against my chest and my hand shook, trying to keep hold of my pizza slice. Finally, my brain caught up.

Julian is kissing you.

KISS HIM BACK, YOU FOOL.

And then like a magician snapping his fingers, my hesitation disappeared. The pizza box, along with our half-eaten slices, was shoved to the floor like yesterday’s news. My eyes fluttered closed and I slipped my hands up over his shoulders, gripping either side of his neck for dear life. He slipped his tongue into my mouth and I twisted my body so that I could face him even more.

He was so in control of the kiss, so much better than me that I felt like I could hardly keep up. I knew I wanted to impress him. I wanted to seduce him with my kiss, but he was too busy seducing me with his.

His fingers skirted the edge of my sweatshirt until he found the patch of bare skin just above my pajama pants. I shivered when his hand pressed up against the base of my spine, tugging me closer until we were chest to chest, heart to heart. He lifted my sweatshirt up, exposing my bare stomach.

I had a moment of hesitation before I lifted my hands up over my head and let him tug my sweatshirt off.

I wasn’t wearing anything underneath besides a cream colored bra. There was no lace, no filigree. It was a tad too small, which meant Julian got one hell of show. I couldn’t even bear to look down. I knew how unruly my boobs were at times. They were very good at hypnotizing men even when properly contained.

At least Julian seemed to like them.

His finger dragged along the line of my bra, tracing each cup as excruciatingly slowly as possible. I shivered at the sensation and gripped his neck, giving him unspoken approval. Of what? I didn’t care. He could have it all. I just wanted him to keep going. I wanted him to unclasp my bra and get on with it.