The Bachelor - David Dower (freenovel24 .txt) 📗

face toward his. “I’m serious, Jules, I’m in love with you.”

Looking down at her, he saw it in her eyes. Behind the shock was disbelief.

He had the sudden urge to shake her, to make her believe him.

“Most guys say that after sex,” she whispered with a smile. “So don’t worry, Zach, I was not asking for something big like that.” She tilted her head and kissed his nose.

“Jules…” he started to whine, but her eyes were already closed. “Jules,” he prodded.

She was sleeping, or was she? Was she trying to avoid the topic? With a sigh, Zach dropped his weight beside her and pulled her close, resting her head at the crook of his arm. He tugged the blanket over them and planted his lips against her head.

He would let her get over the shock for now, but he was certain he couldn’t let her go. Not when he was finally certain about something for the first time in his meaningless life.

If Liam was here, his friend would laugh at his face and tell him, “I told you so!”

Hell with Liam—and hell with the bet.

 *****

Julianne woke up with the sound of rain still splattering outside the windows. Opening her eyes, she felt Zach’s chest against her cheek, his bare chest moving with even breathing. Slowly lifting her head, supporting her weight with her elbow, she looked down at him. He looked so peaceful, he might as well be dreaming of something wonderful and serene that she wanted to see it as well. She pulled at the blanket and covered her chest with it as she looked around for her clothes. With a smile, she shook her head, finding them across the room. How the hell did they manage to crawl all the way there? Surely Zach did not throw them that far, right? But of course, she would never know that. After all, they were busy with something else last night.

Not a splinter of regret was bombarding her as she made her way out of the tiny bed without waking Zach. Her stomach rumbled while she hurriedly dressed, and mind you, she was looking stupid grinning to herself. Though the storm was not at all calming down, she was feeling…happy. With no sunshine outside, she felt totally happy.

She went to where the canned goods were and searched for a can opener. There was none. Frowning, she turned around and looked at Zach with hesitation. Should she wake him up? Walking gently toward the bed, she peered down at his calm sleeping form.

And then she remembered.

And she froze.

It would have been better if she thought it was a dream, but she was completely awake, as she remembered, when he uttered those words.

“I love you, Jules,” he had said.

You might have heard wrong, part of her thought.

“I’m serious, Jules. I’m in love with you,” she remembered him say.

Now, that can’t be just some crazy sound waves messing up your brain. I guess you really heard right, the voice inside her said with certainty.

Julianne groaned and covered her face with her hands. It couldn’t happen. No, he was just so into it last night he didn’t know what he was saying, she reassured herself. But what if he was serious? What if he would wake up and repeat those words to her? What then? What would she do? Chapter 18

Zach woke up with the most amazing feeling he had ever had. Even before he opened his eyes, he felt somehow…renewed. At first he wondered why, and then he remembered last night. Jules, he uttered.

Moving his head, he felt for her and for a moment, panic rose up his gut. He sat up and smiled when he found her standing across the room, facing the misted window. “Good morning, Jules,” he greeted with a stupid grin.

For a moment, he saw her stiffen, and then she turned with a small smile on her lips. Zach frowned.

Something’s wrong, his mind reeled. And he knew what. He had told her he was in love with her—which was true. And she didn’t believe him. “You don’t believe me, don’t you?”

“Believe what?” she asked, feigning confusion. “I can’t open the cans,” she looked away from him when he didn’t answer.

“Let me,” he offered, grabbed his trousers and dressed up. She was placing the cans on the table for him while he grabbed his knife from his belt. “You should believe me when I say I love you,” he uttered.

He felt her stiffen. He looked up to stare at her, trying to tell her with his eyes that he was serious.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Zach, so just…” she trailed off and turned away.

He reached for the cans and started opening them, transferring the rising frustration he felt to the blade. “I’m not a child as what you might think—”

“You are a child,” she interjected a little bit harshly. Her face was still turned away from him. “You’ve been acting like one since I met you, Zach.”

“I know what I feel,” he insisted, stabbing the blasted can with his knife purposefully.

“We had sex—”

“We made love, that’s different,” he cut in, stopping his work and looking at her with an irritated stare. “Hey, Jules, look at me, just turn around and look at me, damn it,” he cursed.

She whirled around, her eyes strong, her eyebrows stitched in a line. “What?”

“I love you. What do you want me to do to prove that?”

Her eyes wavered for a second as their gazes battled. She did not utter a word and just sighed.

“You want me to ditch everyone? I’ll do that. Which reminds me…” he continued opening the can as he said, “remind me to not give your friend a rose next ceremony.” His tone was full of bitterness as he said it.

“Who? Pauline? Why?”

“She hates you, you know,” he said honestly. “You should have heard the words she said against you yesterday. You can’t trust any of them, Jules. I don’t want you to get hurt that’s why I’m telling you this,” he added when he saw her hurt look.

“Pauline? No…she just probably—”

“Hates your gut,” he cut in, finishing her statement in a completely, honest way. “Be careful around her, Jules.”

“So you’re just going to ditch all of them?” she scoffed after a while. He looked up and he almost cried with frustration when he saw her doubtful look.

“You don’t believe I can do that,” he stated matter-of-factly.

She must have realized he was not joking because she turned away once again.

“You know what? I don’t think you don’t believe me when I say I love you,” he said, trailing back to their real topic, “you don’t want to believe me because you’re afraid.”

“Of course not,” she answered too quickly, “I just know that men like you are too impulsive with your feelings,” she faced him once again, this time, her face calm and her eyes gentle. “And I understand that. I’m not that shallow. I completely understand, Zach, and really, I don’t want you to feel pressured because of what happened.”

“Jules, the only pressure I’m feeling right now is the urge to shake you and make you see that I’m damned serious,” he almost shouted.

“I just can’t believe you right now, Zach, I just can’t…”

“You can…you’re just afraid you might feel the same way,” he whispered.

“We’ve only known each other for what? A month? And half the time I spent it trying to calm myself because you’ve been like a child. And I don’t think that’s enough to make you say you love me,” she said indignantly.

“Fine, stay then. Stay until this is all over. I’ll pick you in the end and we’ll have a proper date,” he challenged, silently praying she would say yes.

“No,” she answered, shaking her head and his feelings sank. “We had a deal.”

He nodded slowly, “And I won’t break it, I promised you that. But don’t expect not to meet me after this is all over, Jules. I will still find you after this,” he said with conviction.

“Are you planning not to choose anyone in the end?” she asked.

“If you stay, I’ll pick you,” he shrugged, not willing to answer her question. He didn’t want her to know about the bet. Because if she did, he couldn’t imagine what she would say.

“I’m still going away. I’m only staying until the top four.”

“Yes,” he whispered, turning the knife in his hand as he said so, “I know. But I promise you, Jules, you will see me again after that.”

She looked at him for a long time before she uttered, “We’ll see about that.”

 *****

We’ll see about that? What the hell did she mean by that?

Zach chose to let the topic go because he didn’t want to make her feel smothered talking about it. She was too stubborn and it was getting in his nerves. Why couldn’t she just say she believed him? It was not like he was asking her to say the words right back.

Okay, maybe he was wishing it like a dying man, but he would still respect it if she would say she didn’t feel the same. It would be still be his pleasure to make her love him.

But then again, her outright denial of his feelings told him he should work harder. He didn’t have much time left before she would go home. And he knew Julianne well and that she would really go after the top five, in love or not.

“About Pauline,” he said while they were eating from their cans, “please be careful around her.” He would have said the manipulative bitch instead of her, but he knew Julianne considered the woman her friend.

She nodded slowly, “Are you sure she hates me? She’s been nothing but nice,” she uttered, sounding confused.

“Trust me, Jules, that woman hates your gut. Just be careful around her, that’s all,” he said seriously.

“Okay,” she nodded, “I’ll take your word for it,” she finished with a shy smile.

Wish you’d take it seriously about that other matter I told you about, he said in his mind, not daring to say it out loud. Julianne had the tendency to fuss over things like that.

He knew her enough to know that. And she said they didn’t know each other that well. What was wrong with that?

He knew enough about her. He knew that she couldn’t see without her glasses. For instance, if he would grab and throw the damn thing away, she wouldn’t even see her own hands; he knew she liked her hair up though he loved it when she put it down; he knew she ate without reservations; he knew she must have been probably be alone her entire life, but that was about to change because he intended to be with her the rest of her life; he knew she took her writing seriously. And he knew she had feelings for him. She might not admit that, but he was sure of that.

Now what would he do about it? How could he make her smash the wall she had put up before herself? How would he make her give up and just accept that they just had to be together?

There were too many questions, too many plans, and too little time for actions. Because she would be leaving soon and he fought the