The Allure of Julian Lefray (The Allure #1)(59)

Maybe it was time to mix it up, let her know what it felt like not to have me in her back pocket, ready and waiting for a green light.

I sipped my drink and scanned the bar, trying to glance through the crowd of women with fresh eyes. Then I saw her, near the back: a girl with light brown hair, tan skin, and a killer smile. She was sitting with friends and laughing. To be honest, she looked like she could have been Josephine’s sister.

Yup. She would do just fine.





Chapter Thirty-Three


Josephine





Most people think of life as a merry-go-round, with highs and lows and slight bumps in the road. At the end of the day, you’re riding a pony, so how bad can it be? I looked at my life like a tilt-a-whirl. It spun me round and round until I thought I’d hurl everywhere, and then the carny just kept laughing and kicked it up another notch.

I’d had thirty minutes, maybe an hour tops, where I’d thought things would begin to settle down for me. My best friend was moving to New York. We’d live together and she’d help me pay rent. Life was good, right? No. Life was a pit of snakes.

Julian was going on a date with an adorable girl.

How could this happen, you might ask?

Dean.

Everything bad in my life could be blamed on Dean.

He’d suggested Julian find a girl to date. He’d encouraged him to go over and chat with her.

I hated Dean.

The girl was lovely, of course. Her name was Molly and she’d moved from California the year before. She had this annoyingly cute voice and big green eyes. I hadn’t noticed at first, but I swear she and I could have been related. I mean, she would be the pretty sister and I would be the frumpy weird one with a chameleon, but still, the similarities were uncanny.

I couldn’t figure out if Julian had picked her on purpose though. He didn’t seem like the type to play games, and I knew there were only so many times I could tell him I was uninterested before he actually believed me. The sad part was, I didn’t want him to listen. I was selfish, and I wanted him to keep flirting with me, even if it never turned into anything.

Why?

Because I was immature and in love with my unattainable boss, that’s why.

The next day, Julian and I were riding in the back of a Lincoln town car, rushing from meeting to meeting. We’d already met with two interior design firms and were on our way to meet with a third. The sooner we picked one, the sooner Lorena’s store would go under construction. He’d dressed up for the day in a navy suit with a light blue tie. I loved the way he looked in navy and I loved the way he looked in a suit. The combination was hard to handle all at once. He was staring out the window, his profile a perfect complement to the designer suit: chiseled jaw line, hard cheekbones, hazel eyes staring off into the distance.

“So when are you going to take Molly out?” I asked, peering at him from beneath my lashes.

The edge of his mouth turned down and he kept his gaze steady on the building outside our window.

“Soon,” he answered with a half-hearted tone. I’d never seen him so distant.

“How soon?” I pushed.

“Why do you care?” he asked, finally turning to me with a hard stare.

I looked away and swallowed, annoyed with how short he was being with me.

“Because you’re my friend and I want you to be happy.”

He grunted and pulled a legal pad out of his briefcase. Clearly, the conversation about Molly was over. He uncapped his pen with his mouth and then started scribbling on the first blank page. I had no clue what he was writing, but I didn’t dare interrupt him. If this was Julian in a bad mood, I didn’t like it.

“You know what pisses me off the most?” he asked, recapping his pen and waiting for me to turn toward him.

“What?”

“That you pretend like it wouldn’t bother you if I went out with her.”

I rolled my eyes. We were having this conversation? Now? In the middle of a workday, in between meetings, with a driver in the front seat listening to every word?

“I’m just making the best of a shitty situation,” I replied, trying to be as honest as possible. “I want you to be happy and I think Molly is a nice girl.”

“Bullshit,” he said, cutting me off before I could continue.

“Oh really?” I said, sitting up in my seat and facing him. “You think you have everything figured out, Julian?”

“I think you’re lying to yourself and you’re lying to me.”

I could feel my face growing warm. I was angry and I was two seconds away from letting my temper get the better of me.

“You think this has been easy for me? I moved to New York on my own and you’re honestly the only friend I have here. Do you realize how scared I am that you and I will have a fling and then you’ll move back to Boston, your sister will fire me, and I’ll be left here without you and completely broke? You have no clue what I’m going through so why don’t you save the lecture.”

“Jo—”

I held my hand up to stop him.

“Not now,” I protested.

The tears were already gathering in the corners of my eyes and we were minutes away from stepping into a meeting. I’d look so unprofessional if I walked in with a splotchy face and a choked up voice.

Julian reached out and gripped the patch of skin below my pencil skirt. He squeezed my knee twice, a sort of a gentle apology. I crossed my arms and kept my gaze pinned on the door. I wasn’t ready to give in yet.