Arrogant Boss

“What?” Julian twisted towards me. “Where did you get that from?”

“The internet,” I said. “Sasha. Occasionally Rachel or Josef. My own worse nightmares.”

“They love to gossip more than they love their jobs,” he growled. “And you shouldn’t trust everything you read online.”

“I know. That’s why I’m asking you.”

He ran a hand through his hair and looked flustered, and my nerves immediately spiraled out of control. My worst fears had to be confirmed by his silence. Was there a parade of women he’d gone through before me?

“Hey, it doesn’t matter if you have,” I rushed. “Truly. I just figured, you know my relationship history, and I was curious…”

Julian put his hand on my knee, effectively silencing me. “Look, it’s… there are a lot of photos of me with various women because that’s what those events are for. People ask me to take photos with them all the time. Sometimes it’s just a random person who wants a picture, sometimes it’s a date I’ve brought, and sometimes-rarely-it’s genuinely been someone I was dating. But regardless, the press loves to write about it. It sells copies.”

“I get that.” I put my hand over his, traced a wide knuckle. “That must make dating really difficult.”

“It has. It does. And I’m not going to pretend like I’ve always been a saint.” He glanced over at me quickly, hand tightening on my knee. “There have been more than three for me. But I meant what I said, about not having been with anyone like you before. This… it feels very different to me. So much more.”

I leaned back against my seat and glanced at him, his profile and the set of his jaw. This conversation was making him nervous. I was making him nervous.

“That makes me glad,” I whispered.

Julian nodded. “And it’s not always… it hasn’t always been clear when women have wanted me, and when they’ve wanted my money or the prestige that comes with it, you know?”

My heart tore a little at the confession. He so rarely showed vulnerability, and even now, he wasn’t looking at me at all. Eyes glued to the road ahead and no charming smile in sight. All the armor was down.

My hand tightened around his. “I can imagine. That must be hard.”

“It is.”A terrible thought struck me. “Julian, you know that when I joked about you not being a billionaire, I was a hundred percent just trying to be funny, right? Arguably not very successfully, but still.”

He smiled at me. “Yes, I know that. I knew that from the beginning.”

“Good.” I closed my eyes and stretched my legs out in front, threading my fingers through his. “Because I don’t want you for your money. I’m only in it for your unbelievable abs.”

I smiled at the sound of his deep laughter filling the car.

We arrived at Yosemite two hours before sunset at a beautiful campsite. Tall trees circled it, and I could hear the sound of a babbling brook close by. We had seen the High Sierra on the way in and I was already riled up with anticipation for the next day. The whole nature thing was growing on me-and we hadn’t even finished making camp yet.

“When should we hit the hiking trail tomorrow?”

“The earlier the better.” Julian pulled out a massive green bag from his trunk. “If we get up by five we should be able to hit the trail by five thirty. Catch the sunrise.”

I struggled to keep my composure and caught the sleeping bag he tossed my way. “Um. Okay, that sounds great.”

Julian laughed at my expression. “I’m just joking, you dork.”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“Phew.”

He pressed a kiss to my forehead, turning us around so we surveyed our lot. He’d managed to get a secluded camping site, no one close by, and the car parked up close. “This is going to be fun,” he said. “A fun trip. No have-tos, no must’s. We get up when we want to and we do whatever we feel like tomorrow. Alright?”

I leaned against him. “Alright.

He was right. It was fun. Being with him from sunrise to sunset-just enjoying his company-and not worrying about anyone seeing or finding out about us? It was a feeling I could get used to. And though my legs and lungs would ache with the hiking, the views would be worth it. He was worth it.

After a long day of hiking, Julian set up a campfire and pulled out marshmallows. You need to get the full experience, he said, making me a s’more. I want to get you hooked.

But when we let the fire burn down and we snuggled in our tent?

He wasn’t so sweet then.

“Julian,” I whispered, half between giggles and moans. “Julian! We can’t. There are people in the tents around us.”

“No one’s that close,” he murmured and turned me over, his hands gliding across the fabric of my camisole. “Plus, this is the best way to ensure we stay warm.”

“It’s June. I am pretty warm.”

Julian made a show of reaching down to grab my foot, which elicited a fairly loud shriek from me.

“Julian! I’m ticklish.”

“I’d say your toes are pretty cold,” he declared. “I can’t have you getting frostbite on my watch. I’m sorry, Ace, but I just can’t. I promised to bring you back to Turner with all ten fingers and toes intact.”

My laughter died against his lips, slow and insistent on mine. He was right, I thought, luxuriating in the feel and taste of him. The other tents were pretty far away.

I grabbed his arms and turned us over, slipping underneath him so I could feel his body against the entirety of mine.

“Mmm,” I crooned. “You’re the best blanket.”

Julian gave an amused huff and bent down to kiss my collarbone, hands pushing my shirt up. I shimmied out of it and his lips soon followed the trail his hands had left. When he took my nipple in his mouth, sucking gently, I had to bite my tongue to keep from moaning.

“Okay,” I murmured. “Okay, let’s do this. But we have to be quiet.”

“I can be quiet,” Julian murmured, busy with undoing the laces of my sweatpants. “The question is, Giordano, can you?”

I gave a half-muffled giggle and kicked off my pants. “Only if you promise not to pull some crazy ninja move and sex me out of my senses. Don’t go discovering my g-spot or anything, or I’m not responsible for the noises I make.”

I could see his wide grin in the moonlight as he tugged off his own t-shirt. “We’ll keep it vanilla tonight.”

“Good.”But then he bent and tugged off my underwear with his teeth, hands skimming my bare skin, and I had to dig my hands into the sleeping bag to keep from gasping.

Julian kissed me as deft fingers moved over me, inside me. “Vanilla just so happens to be my favorite flavor.”

I moaned into his mouth and spread my legs wider, wrapping them around his hips. “Hey, you’re still wearing your sweatpants,” I protested. “How is it fair that I’m completely naked?”

Julian chuckled silently and knelt between my legs. I could feel his eyes sweeping across me from top to toe, my heaving chest and exposed skin, just barely illuminated in the darkness.

“Only because you look infinitely better clad in moonlight than me,” he murmured, “and I am a greedy, greedy man.”

I rose up on my elbows and nodded to where the deep V of his stomach traveled into the waistband of his pants. “Let’s compare,” I said breathlessly. “I’m sure I can make some arguments in your favor.”