Chapter 9

Jules made her way to the door and opened it to Ceaser's gaze colliding with hers then falling down and down as it roamed her body. He stood there staring at her looking so gorgeous and sending tingles over her body without even touching her. When his gaze finally lifted to meet hers, he looked surprised, in a good way.

Jules broke the tension that was beginning to build between them

"Hi." She said and it clearly wasn't a friendly hi because of the things that still bothered her.

Firstly; even though he apologized for not reaching out to her after their dinner, it still didn't cut it for her.

Secondly; he had a way of leaving and coming back later like nothing happened. It made her furious with herself that she wanted to spend more time with him else she would have slammed the door in his face the second time he came back to her house and thrown away the box he had sent the day before and also slammed the door in his face when she opened it a few minutes ago.

"Jules." His husky voice snapped her out of her reverie and put her in a haze making her heart skip a beat "You look...incredible."

Oh.

Well, that was not what she expected but...she'd take what she got.

Jules thought.

It had been long since someone of the opposite sex complimented her and it was refreshing.

"Thank you." A blush crept up her neck to her cheeks "You clean up well."

He smiled at that flashing his dimple which made her sigh inwardly

"Is Ivy asleep?" He asked.

"She's being put to bed at the moment," Jules said

"I guess that means I wouldn't be able to see her." He said.

"Sadly not," Jules said.

He nodded his head

"Some other time then."

"Of course." She said.

"Are you ready to leave?" He asked.

"Yea. Let's go." Jules stepped out and shut the door behind her.

They walked down the short fleet of stairs and Jules noticed the limo that was parked right in front of her house which made her stop in her tracks. Ceaser noticed and stopped to look at her. Jules looked at him then back at the limo and back at him.

"C'mon." Ceaser smiled.

"Good evening ma'am." The driver held the door open for them.

"Good evening." Jules smiled at him.

"Thank you, Patrick, I'll take it from here," Ceaser said as Jules got in before him.

"Yes sir," Patrick said then made his way to the driver's side.

Ceaser got in right after Jules and shut the door after him.

"Patrick," Ceaser said to Patrick and they were on the move.

Jules sighed in her seat, her hands clutching onto her clutch on her lap.

"So...?" Jules began "Do you want to fill me in on where we're headed?" She looked at Ceaser.

"Impatient, aren't we?" Ceaser smirked.

"I'm not impatient. I just want to know where you're taking me"

"You'll find out soon enough."

A few seconds passed and Jules just squirmed in her seat with his gaze on her the entire ride.

So much for communication.

Jules thought.

Minutes later the limo pulled up in front of the venue.

The door opened and Ceaser got out extending his hand to Jules. She placed her hand in his and stepped out of the limo and Ceaser placed her hand in the crook of his arm.

"Thank you, Patrick" Jules said.

"No problem ma'am," he said.

"Please call me Jules."

"Yes..."

"Enough of the pleasantries." Ceaser interrupted Patrick's response.

Jules looked at Ceaser and frowned at him.

Rude much?

"I'll call you when we're ready to leave," Ceaser said to Patrick.

"Yes sir," Patrick said and left with the limo.

"Let's go in," Ceaser said.

Jules walked side by side with Ceaser inside the massive massive mansion. It almost looked like a Castle.

"Wow! Whose house is this?" Jules asked, amazed.

"Kevin McGraw," Ceaser replied as they climbed up the stairs.

"It's..." She couldn't find the words.

"Big." Ceaser smiled at her sharing the same opinion as hers.

They arrived in front of a double door which was wide open. They walked inside and Jules was even more amazed at the brightness of the room; diamond chandeliers hung down from the ceiling and it looked like something out of an actual castle.

A couple of beautiful flower vases were placed on either side of the room and hundreds of paintings hung on the wall as people stood in front of them just staring trying to figure each one out.

Finally, they arrived at another double door, much smaller than the first one but still too tall. Two men stood on either side of the door welcoming them in.

"Welcome sir, ma'am." one of them said as the other pushed the door open.

"Thank you." Ceaser and Jules said.

They walked hand in hand further inside and Jules was shocked beyond words. She'd never seen so many people since New year. She was so caught up with the number of people that were there that she didn't notice all their attention was on them.

When she realized she clutched Ceaser's arm tighter and she swallowed. She felt his gaze on her and she turned to look up at him.

"You alright?" He asked with concern etched on his face.

She nodded still trying to disregard the number of people that watched them.

"Can we go somewhere less open?" She asked.

Ceaser smiled.

"Sure," he said and pulled her along with him, she followed willingly.

"So, are you going to tell me what event this is?" She asked when they had dived into the crowd of people.

Ceaser picked up two filled flutes from the waiter that passed. He handed her one.

"Thanks." She said and took a sip "So?"

"It's a charity event. The invitation requested a plus one and you were the first one that came to my mind." Ceaser looked down at her.

"Nice to know I'm being thought of once in a while. I was beginning to think you totally forgot Ivy and I existed." Jules said truthfully.

"Speaking of Ivy." he said "How is she?" He asked.

"She's incredible, as always." It brought a smile to her face just thinking about her "She's been missing you." She looked at him.

"Oh?" He said.

"There hasn't been a day that went by that she never said 'dada'" She told him "She gets a little bit cranky when she doesn't see you."

So do I.

She wanted to add.

"I'm sorry about that." he said "I was..."

"Ceaser?" Another voice interrupted him.

She and Ceaser turned to look at the person who called his name.

A good-looking woman, around her forties, blonde hair, really pretty accompanied by a middle-aged man walked up to them.

"Mum," Ceaser said when they approached them.

Holy sh*t!

Jules thought.

The woman hugged Ceaser

"My boy, I thought you weren't going to come. I almost lost hope." She said to Ceaser.

"I told you I was going to come, mum." He told her as he hugged the middle-aged man "Dad."

"How are you son?" The man asked.

"Good." Ceaser turned to Jules and smiled "This is Jules Jenna, my date." He said, "Jules, these are my parents."

"Good evening Mrs. Thom..." Jules offered her hand to his mother.

"Oh, please call me Selene." She cut her short, shaking her hand in the process and Ceaser let out a sigh when his mother interrupted Jules.

Jules smiled and nodded.

"It's great to meet you, Selene."

"Same here." Selene smiled.

"You can call me Eric." Ceaser's dad reached out to shake her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." She smiled at him.

"The pleasure is all mine." He said and let go of her hand "Never met any of this boy's woman after..." Eric said referring to Ceaser.

"Dad please." Ceaser said.

"It's true," Selene said, "Always avoids dating women like the plague. Don't know how he made it this far. He still has me wondering how he even got married in the first place."

Married.

Married?!

Jules looked at Ceaser who was looking at her "Married?" Jules asked looking at all of them

"He hasn't told you has he?" Selene asked looking guilty.

"I'm afraid not." Jules shook her head

"Well, I'm sorry for being the one whom you heard it from." She said and looked at Ceaser looking apologetic "He'll tell you when he's ready."

Jules swallowed and nodded at her, forcing a smile even though she felt hurt.

She didn't know why, but the idea of Ceaser being married and not telling her that he was married hit her like a wave and made her want to run away. She shouldn't feel the way she did but she couldn't help it.

"Well, we should probably go back to our seats. The auction will soon begin." Eric said.

"Oh yes," Selene said.

"After you, my love," Eric said to Selene and Jules smiled at that.

Ceaser's hand rested on the small of her naked back and she almost jumped at the contact. She felt his gaze on her as they followed behind his parents to their seats. She didn't want to look at him, she couldn't. She didn't want him to see the emotions that played in her eyes at that moment.

Ceaser pulled out a chair for Jules when they arrived at their table which was reserved for them and a few other people.

"Thanks." She said as she got comfortable.

"You're welcome." He whispered into her ear which sent shivers down her body.

Ceaser got into the seat on her right with Selene on her left and Eric next to her then and two other middle-aged couple were in the two other seats around their table.

A few minutes later everyone was seated and the auction began.

Jules' mind was still processing the marriage thing but she made sure it wasn't obvious.

"So, what do you do?" Selene struck up a conversation with her.

"I'm in the legal affairs department in Thompson's Publishing," Jules said.

"Thompson's Publishing?" Selene asked.

"Yes, it was rebranded on Monday." Jules said, "It was formerly Freddie and Co. Do you know it?"

"No, this is the first time I'm hearing of it." Selene answered truthfully "So, do you work closely with the CEO?" Selene asked.

"No, that's someone else's job. I go through contracts made with other companies or individuals who want to publish books, magazines or newspapers. I make sure the contract doesn't have loopholes that can affect the company badly, if I do find things like that, I send it over to the company's lawyer."

"That sounds fun," she said

"It is. But sometimes, some contracts are either too long, or it gets boring and isn't straightforward. Some get tricky." Jules explained.

"But from the way you talk about it. I'm sure you love it." She said.

"I do." Jules smiled.

"What about your family?" She asked.

The smile immediately fell from her face.

"I have a daughter – Ivy." Jules smiled

"Oh. How old is she?"

"She's one." Jules said "She's adorable. She never troubles me. She's the only kid I know that doesn't cry for little things except she needs a change or she's hungry. Anything else, she tells you in her own way without crying. I just...I love her."

"I'd love to meet her. You talking about her reminds me of Ceaser when he was little. He never cried for little things. He was the happiest baby I'd ever come across." She said happily "Is Ivy's father in the picture?" She asked but added, "I don't mean to pry I just..."

"No, it's fine and Ivy's adopted, so there's no father in the picture"

"What about your parents?"

"Uh, my parents died in a plane crash."

"Oh!" A cloud of sadness passed Selene's expression "I'm so sorry dear." She said.

"It's alright. It's been almost two years now, but sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday. But not with Ivy around. She keeps me happy." Jules smiled.

"I can tell." Selene smiled at me "You know Ceaser's never brought anyone to any of these things. He likes keeping to himself and I was shocked when he told me he was going to bring you today. I was...surprised."

Jules didn't know what to say or feel.

"I like you, you're good for my son."

"I don't know what to say."

"Say 'You'll take care of him'. He's been through a lot since his wife died, at least that's how it looks from my end. I don't really know what he feels. He shuts himself out from everyone. He doesn't like to share anything except it's work-related."

Jules glanced at Ceaser who was in conversation with the man next to him.

"I'll try." Jules smiled.

I'll try? Try what?!

Jules scolded herself.

She and Ceaser had just started seeing each other and she wasn't sure for how long he'd be around. She had no say in his life or anything relating to him. How would she 'try' when she was just getting to know him.

Jules sighed as her mind went ballistic with different thoughts, all about Ceaser.

So, for the sake of putting herself out there as Andy and Sofi had suggested, she'd try.