Love Beyond Words (City Lights, #1)(14)

Natalie watched him hop back into the cab and wave good-bye to her from inside its darkened confines. “Too late.”

#

Julian was absent from Niko’s for three excruciatingly long days, finally returning on Monday night. Natalie watched him approach with apprehension. Their last encounter had ended strangely and he’d left so abruptly. She vowed not to talk about Mendón with such fanaticism again; it was clearly off-putting. If Julian’s an author too, maybe he’s got one of those fragile writer egos. The notion didn’t seem to fit, but then Natalie realized she didn’t know him well enough to say for sure.

A few minutes after ten, when the café was empty, Julian set down his pen, stretched his fingers, and went up to the counter. “I would like it if you joined me again.” He wore that inexplicably shy smile. “Unless you have to work or…”

“No, no.” Natalie endeavored to keep her voice in a normal octave range. “I mean, no, I don’t have work to do now. I could…uh, join you.”

Once again she picked out a pastry and once again he paid for it, carried it to the table for her, and pulled out her chair, not sitting until she had. A silence fell at once. She didn’t want to press him on a subject he didn’t want to talk about but was at a loss for anything else.

“How is...how’s your hand?” she asked lightly. “Working hard, from what I can see.”

“Hard enough.” He smiled dryly—he seemed to know how vague that sounded—and ran his fingers through the loose black curls of his hair. “I’m sure you’ve already decided I’m a rude bastard for not talking about my work. I never talk about it. With anyone. Not until it’s finished. A writerly affectation, I guess.”

“I had wondered.”

“It’s nothing personal,” Julian said quickly. “I feel like if I talk about it while in the process, it disturbs it. Disrupts the flow. I know that sounds a bit ridiculous, but it’s true.”

“Not ridiculous,” Natalie said, “but is that what you do for a living?”

Julian gave a half-nod. “And you go to State? What are studying?”

“Accounting,” Natalie replied. It hadn’t escaped her that he changed the subject with amazing alacrity. He doesn’t want to talk about it. Let it go. “Niko, my boss, got me started.”

“How so?”

“You sure you want to hear this?”

“Absolutely.”

“Well, um…okay. Three years ago, Niko fired his accountant. The guy hadn’t been doing much of anything but coming in for a few hours once a month, fiddling with papers, and helping himself to lots of free coffee. The café’s books were a mess and I offered to help.”

“And it was then your knack for numbers manifested.”

She smiled. “Something like that. Niko appreciated my offer though neither of us had great hopes I could do much. But I was able to get the registers in order, and I was glad to tell Niko his accountant hadn’t been a thief. And Niko, being the overly generous man that he is, gave me a bonus in my next paycheck. That I promptly spent on books.” Natalie picked at her blueberry muffin. “I wasn’t doing much else but reading, so when Niko suggested I go to school for accounting, it just made sense. Anyway. Turns out I really like it.”

“That’s a gift,” Julian said.

“A gift?”

“Knowing your life’s passion and pursuing it.”

“I don’t know that it’s a passion, but it’s definitely what I want to do after college. It seems safe…”

“Safe?”

Natalie’s cheeks burned. The words had slipped out. “Nothing. Anyway, I have Niko to thank for a lot of things. He owns this whole building and when I applied to rent from him three years ago, the job here practically came with it.”

“He seems like a good man.”

“Yes, he is. Him and his wife, both.”

“Why does that make you sad?” Julian asked gently.

“Does it? No, it doesn’t,” Natalie said. “I’m just…tired maybe.” She smiled faintly. “Long day.”

She waited for the next comment or question, something about how her parents must be proud, or if her family lived nearby. But he said nothing and another silence descended.

She nibbled at her blueberry muffin and he took a bite of his croissant. A little flake clung to his lower lip. Such a beautiful mouth. A sudden urge to lean over and run her thumb along his lips came unbidden, and she flinched hard enough to upset her plate. The muffin rolled across the table.

Julian caught the pastry and returned it to its plate. “Are you okay?”

Natalie flushed to the roots of her hair. Did that just happen? Seriously? “I just…you have something…on your lip.”

He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Got it?”

“Uh, yes,” Natalie said. “I’ll try to tell you next time instead of throwing my food at you.”

He laughed loudly, and she laughed with him, her embarrassment evaporating. How does he do that? Make me feel perfectly at ease and absolutely thunderstruck at the same time?

“I really enjoy talking to you,” he said. “If you don’t mind me saying.”

“No, not at all,” Natalie replied. “I like talking to you too.” A silence fell and after a few moments she held up her hands. “But jeez, we’re terrible at it!”