Chapter l452

Chapter 0452

Either way, I was now here, standing in my human form, watching Julian unbutton his shirt.

Julian glanced backwards and me and waggled his eyebrows. “I thought it would be nice to

go

for a swim.”

“And you are going to get naked to do that?” I asked.

Last button unbuttoned, he shucked his shirt off down his arms. Then he folded it nicely and placed it over his suit coat. When he reached for his belt, I immediately swiveled. Blushing, I put my back to him.

I had seen enough already to be embarrassed. Julian had a slimmer physique than Nicholas, but he was still toned and handsome. That much bare skin nearly set my face aflame.

“You wouldn’t have me wet my clothes, would you?” Julian said, a laugh in his voice. “I could get sick!”

Even though I have my back to him, I still covered my eyes. “Julian!”

He laughed, loud and strong. “Fine. I’ll leave my boxers on.” Then his voice dropped lower, şultry and dangerous. “Why don’t you join me, Piper? A good moonlight swim always clears the head.”

I shouldn’t. I really shouldn’t.

But the moon was bright, and with all the wild freedom pulsing through my veins, I couldn’t really resist. Especially with the promise we would be keeping on our underwear.

A heard a splash behind me, and turned to look. Julian was already in the water.

“Come on, Piper!” he called. “Live a little! While we’re still alive!”

“Turn around!” I called back to him.

“What? Why?”

“I can’t undress with you watching!”

Even at this distance, and even with the darkness, I could still tell that he rolled his eyes at me. Yet, because he was a gentleman at heart, no matter how much he tried to convince others otherwise, he turned his back to me.

I hastily undressed and threw my clothes into a pile rather than folding him. Truthfully, I

+15 BONUS

knew he was a gentleman at heart, but I didn’t fully trust that playboy to not at least sneak a peek.

I jumped into the water a moment later, making a splash that crashed down over Julian. He turned toward me, just as my head resurfaced above water.

“Holy shit! It’s freezing!” I cried. God, it was like ice water prickling my skin.

“You’re being dramatic,” he said, but this close I could see his teeth chatter.

“You jerk! You tricked me to come in here!”

“All I did was suggest it! A little cold water does a world of good. Good for the heart.”

He was making that up entirely. I glared at him as I waded my way over to the edge of the water. He laughed as he followed me out.

Fortunately the night air was warm, so we were not in much danger of catching colds. Even so, Julian handed me his suit jacket.

“Use it as a towel,” he said. So I did, patting myself gently down, then I handed it back to him so he could do the same. I avoided looking at him as much as I could.

After we dried, we changed back into our clothes. Then he laid down side by side at the bank of the lake and looked up at the starlight.

“It’s a shame,” he said.

I turned my head to the side, to look over at him. “What is?”

He didn’t look back. “If we had met each other first, maybe we would have fallen in love with each other, and none of this heartbreak would have happened.” (1

I looked away, back up to the stars. It didn’t matter now, I supposed. Maybe he was right. Maybe he wasn’t.

It would only hurt to think about what could have been.

Silence lingered between us. It was comfortable but a bit sad. Bittersweet, maybe.

“How do we move forward from this, Julian?” I asked. “How do I heal my heart?” Julian said, “If I knew that, Piper, I would have done it long ago.”