José smirked as he looked at me. “Seeing the chairwoman of the company has it’s perks, huh?”
I almost choked on my food with what José said. I didn’t bother to hide my attraction to Audrey with the boys because I knew that they would figure it out one way or another so there was really no point in hiding or denying it. Still, claiming that I was already ‘seeing her’ implied that we were dating and although I would love for us to go in that direction, that was still an audacious claim.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied coolly, composing myself.
José clucked his tongue. “Don’t be sly with me, Julian. We both know that you’re screwing Audrey behind closed doors and we’re not going to judge you on that. I’m just curious, what made you do a complete 180? Did the sex change your mind?”
“First of all, screwing Audrey behind closed doors is a disrespectful claim.” I put my fork down and fixed my gaze on José. Out of the boys, he was the one who was with me when Audrey kicked me out in the hospital and he was the one that knew just how much Audrey pissed me off that day. “And second of all, you know how detached I am with feelings when it comes to bed.”
José furrowed his eyebrows. “Then why the change of heart?”
I finished my food and set it in the sink. I had a lot of things that I needed to do today if I wanted to make Audrey mine. “Sometimes someone just comes along and turns your world upside down.”
José snorted. “I never thought the day would come when Julian Hudson would sound like a fool in love.”
Fool in love. I was meant to leave the kitchen after what I said to José and ignore whatever comment he has to me afterward but that one made me stop. I’d been with so many women in this lifetime but not once had one ever made my heart beat so fast and drove me crazy in a good way.
“I think that’s a too soon kind of statement.”
When I looked at him, he had a knowing smirk on his face. “You better figure that one out soon, Jules, before it becomes too late.”
Eyebrows furrowed in confusion, I couldn’t help but shake my head at him. “You’re making yourself sound like you’re some kind of sensei when it comes to love.”
“You may be the one that girls throw themselves to the most but the one thing that the three of us have as an advantage over you is how we’ve all been in love once in our life and Carlos is still in the process of that, lucky him.”
I could only shake my head at José and chose not to respond to his statement. Sometimes silence was a better answer and I really needed to head out if I wanted to make sure that my plan happened according to how I imagined it to me. I pulled out my phone and called the team of people that I asked help from. In all the years since I’d started going out with girls, I never thought that there would come a day that I would pull some strings in the name of effort.
I called Audrey the moment I buckled in my car. “Hey, what’s up?”
The smile that spread over my lips seemed automatic after hearing her voice. It was silly, if you asked me, but then sometimes I just couldn’t stop myself from feeling giddy when it came to Audrey. It was weird, to be honest, because the last time that I checked, the idea of Audrey seemed to piss me off to no end.
“What time are you done with work?” I set the phone on the phone stand I had in my car as I backed out of the garage.
There was a pause on Audrey’s side. “Why?”
“Can I pick you up?”
“Julian…” I smirked at the sound of a warning in her voice. She hated it every time I tried to get across the line that she was setting. I understood why she wanted to make things clear between us that we couldn’t go out in public together lest we be seen and for people to speculate about what was going on between us but it never meant that I didn’t like poking on her about it just to see her reaction.
“And I’m taking that as a no. I’m only being chivalrous.”
Audrey let out a soft sigh as I turned the car in a corner. The place that I had in mind was a little far from where I lived but closer to where she worked. Not a lot of people knew about the café and it was owned by someone I knew which made it even better. It wasn’t as if I rented the whole place for us because I also wanted to enjoy being with a crowd.
The thing was, the owner wasn’t a fan of getting artists to perform and announce it to the whole city just so he could profit more out of it. Since he had the place running, I would come by and do cover songs, sing in a room filled with people who just wanted to listen to good music without having to worry about fans going crazy. It also helped that he banned phones the moment you come in so no one could ever have the chance to record me singing.
It was the perfect place to let Audrey reacquaint herself with her first love.
“Why do you want to pick me up?”
“I miss you,” I replied without hesitation and I listened to Audrey suck in a breath and I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself, aware of the effect I now had on her. “Have dinner with me at a café. Don’t worry, not so many people go there but the food is good and I know the owner. Plus, I’ll keep myself lowkey so people wouldn’t be suspicious of who I am.”
“Like on a date?”
I grinned as I entered the freeway. “I told you that I want you to go on two more dates with me. Go on with me on this one and then by the next, I promise I’ll make you say yes.”
“You’re a little too full of yourself, Julian.”
“Would you rather be full of me?” I teased and Audrey let out a hissing noise of irritation. “I’ll wait for you in HeBrews Café. It’s near your company, about fifteen minutes away. I’m already on my way there. I’ll text you when I arrive.”
I didn’t even bother to hear her response because I didn’t want her to give an excuse to say no on the date that I had planned but I had a feeling she wouldn’t say no. Nearly twenty minutes later, I finally arrived at the café that I planned to meet Audrey in and I couldn’t help but feel a little sheepish when I saw her car already parked in front and she was waiting for me outside of her ride.
She had her arms crossed over her chest as she looked at me. She was dressed in the same manner she was the day she marched into my house but a lot more colourful. She had on a pastel green suit and an orange dress shirt that was tucked in her high-waist pants. Her brown hair was tied in a messy ponytail and her brown eyes were narrowed at me as I got out of my car.
“What happened to riding your toys?”
I shrugged and approached her, circling my arms around her waist and pulling her close to me and inhaling her cinnamon scent. Audrey visibly relaxed in my arms, as if even she had now come to terms that maybe my arms were her safe-place. She looked up at me with her brown eyes and in the golden hour, I never thought brown could look so beautiful.
I kissed the side of her cheek and turned my face to the side so she could kiss my cheek. I caught her rolling her eyes before I fully turned my face away and I couldn’t help but inwardly chuckle when she pressed her lips on my face. “Sent them to a shop to be tuned up and polished. José invited me to bike outside of town and I’m totally game for it.”