The Bachelor - David Dower (freenovel24 .txt) 📗

her hands as she scribbled her signature on that book she was holding right now. He looked at Julianne and something inside him--and he was pretty sure it was right at his chest--skipped or leaped or stopped.

He couldn’t recognize it, but it was a very new sensation.

“Oh, shit,” he cursed under his breath. I’m going crazy. Chapter 6

As he’d thought, this was all new to him. This feeling of breathless anticipation every time Julianne looked up and he was hoping she would glance at him. He felt like a complete idiot just standing there doing nothing like a schoolboy staring at his teacher. Damn, he never even felt that stupid thing when he was young. And damn again, he honestly didn’t know what he should call it.

She is definitely staying, he thought with so much conviction. Yep, she’s staying.

He received a call from the driver that Pauline was done at Sabon and that she was on her way to The Book Table.

“No, no,” he said hastily. “Uh, take her to…” he thought for a moment and finally said, “900 North Michigan. Tell her to pick anything she likes. We’ll be there shortly.”

As he brought his phone back in his pocket, he stared ahead and realized Julianne was looking at him, question in her eyes. Just the thought that she was actually looking at him made him smile like a total idiot that he was. Then, before she could return her attention back to the book in her hand, he tapped his watch with his finger, indicating that she had to hurry.

 *****

Julianne just nodded and went back to work. The hell with the man. This was her day to return a little favor to her fans for all the support that they had given despite her secrecy regarding her real identity.

She was not at all unaware that he had been looking at her in a weird way since they entered the bookstore. And she didn’t know if it was supposed to be a good sign or a bad one. Anyway, she was busy to think about that for now.

She continued on with her signing. Diane was sitting behind her along with some other people.

“Looks like you have to leave,” Diane whispered beside her ear.

“What?” she asked, handing a book back with a smile to a bubbly teenager.

“Your date is getting restless,” her friend said.

“Let him be,” she almost hissed. “Hi, what’s your name?”

A teenage boy with glasses said, “Andrew.”

“Okay, Andrew, how old are you?” she asked as she signed the book.

“Thirteen,” he smiled.

“Here you go, thank you very much,” she said.

“That’s cool. You’re cool,” he said shyly and walked off.

“He’s staring at you like he’s going to eat you or something,” Diane uttered.

“He’s a jerk,” she answered, smiling up once again at an older lady who was holding two copies of the book.

“For my niece,” she answered. “And this one is mine.”

“Cool! What’s your niece’s name?” she asked, completely ignoring everything else.

 *****

It was almost two hours when Julianne finally stood up. Zach transferred his weight from one foot to the other as she spent another five minutes talking to her friend and to some people who stayed behind. This was the longest time he ever spent waiting for a girl.

“Can we go now?” he asked when she started walking towards him.

“Yes,” she answered without a smile.

Whatever happened to that pretty smile?

“That’s good. Pauline’s waiting for us at 900 North Michigan.”

“Sure,” she answered, looked back at her friend and waved, and then they were off.

In just about five minutes, they reached the big shopping mall.

“I’ll go find some café and you go to Pauline,” Julianne told him as they entered the big entrance.

“Jules,” he complained. “I’ve been waiting for like three hours back there and we haven’t really spent that much time together.” He was getting desperate—if that was the right word.

She looked up at him with that strange look of hers that he was not yet able to decipher the meaning of. “Okay, since you were kind enough to take me to Chicago and waited for hours while I worked,” she finally uttered.

“The best decision you’ve ever made, Jules,” he beamed at her and grabbed her hand. “Let’s go,” he said excitedly. He felt jittery and giddy. And again, it was the first time.

“Let go of my hand, Zachary,” she ordered.

“Why?”

“Because I am not used to people holding my hand,” she replied seriously, pulling at her hand.

“Why?” She gave him a look and he immediately let her go. “Okay, but you promise not to complain any further,” he negotiated.

“Whatever,” she said, walking beside him.

He shrugged. At least she was walking beside him and not ahead of him.

“You’re the J. Green, wow, that’s awesome,” he said moments later.

“You know me? I mean, you know J. Green?”

“Of course? Who doesn’t?”

“A lot of people,” she concluded.

“A lot? Okay,” he turned his head to his right and saw a lady in a pink dress, “Excuse me miss,” he said with a smile, stopping the lady with all her Gucci bags.

“Yes?”

“What are you doing?” Julianne hissed beside him.

He ignored her and said to the lady, “Can I ask a really fast question?”

“Yes, of course,” the lady said, smiling at him.

“Do you know J. Green?”

“The author?”

Zach chuckled and looked at her. “See? Thank you, miss,” he added to the lady and then walked off. “Do you want me to ask someone else? An old man perhaps?”

“My God, no,” she uttered beside him. “Okay, so a lot of people know who I am—”

“Not a lot, Jules, almost all. You’re like the next Dan Brown!”

“Wait, you read my book?”

“Of course,” he said proudly.

“You read?”

He tried to look hurt but he was not sure if he was able to pull it off. “Yes, of course. You hurt my feelings right there, Jules.”

“Stop calling me Jules,” she said strongly.

“I like calling you Jules. Hey, wait, here’s Gucci,” he said before she could say something like, “I’ll go away if you call me Jules one more time.”

“I’m not going to that store,” she said when he started to walk towards the entrance.

“Come on, we’ll just look around.”

Well, he was lying when he said that because he ended up buying her a pair of high-heeled shoes much to her annoyance. It was a good thing though that she considered the people in the store and didn’t make a lot of dispute aside from her constant favorite word which was no.

“No, I don’t think I like that store,” she said when he pointed at Prada.

“Come on, I’m going to buy Pauline something,” he said, grabbing her by the hand.

And once again, he was lying when he said that because by the time they exited the shop, he was holding three bags full of dresses he picked for her. Of course she didn’t comply to fit them but that was no problem because he had expert eyes and he knew her size.

“You better take me to Pauline now,” she insisted with warning in her eyes.

He knew he couldn’t fool her into going to Bloomingdales. “Okay,” he said resignedly.

He took his phone and dialed a number and called the camera man that was tailing Pauline. “Okay, tell her we’re on our way.”

“Where is she?” Jules asked.

“King Café,” he answered when an idea struck him. “Why don’t you take these,” he handed her the bags, “and you go meet Pauline. I will be there in a flash. I just need to get something,” he did not give her time to answer and left, knowing full well where he was going.

 *****

Julianne made her way to King Café grumpily. If it were not for waste of money, she would throw away all the bags she was carrying.

I can run away, she thought. There was no camera following her and no one around knew she was one of those ladies in line for a freaking white rose that was considered special by most women who wanted a taste of their own bachelor.

But then, the stupid contract she signed stopped her and returned her to her sane thoughts. She had to handle Zachary Astor well if she wanted to get out of the show soon.

The weight of the bags she was carrying made her think she was not doing so well at the moment though.

She found Pauline seated inside the café with a decaffeinated drink, the camera guy standing nearby doing nothing. When her friend saw her, she received a welcoming smile.

“So, how was it?” Pauline asked her.

“Great,” she uttered, sitting right next to her friend.

“I see you bought stuff,” Pauline said, looking at the bags she dropped on the floor next to the table.

“He insisted.”

“Looks like I overdid my shopping though,” Pauline said, cringing.

Julianne looked behind their chairs and saw almost a dozen shopping bags. It took almost all of her willpower not to bulge her eyes.

“I took advantage,” Pauline winked. “He paid for everything and I just couldn’t help myself.”

Julianne smiled and kept silent.

“Where else did you go?” her friend asked excitedly.

“Oh, anywhere,” she answered, waving her hand. “What’s the best coffee here?” she asked, changing the subject.

“This one is the only one I know you shouldn’t order,” Pauline grimaced, adding, “Where’s Zach?”

“He took off, said he’s going to get something.”

“Ah, I see,” Pauline nodded and pushed her cup away from her. “I think I’m going to order a sweeter one.”

 *****

Zach was smiling with contentment as he made his way back to the ladies who were already halfway through their coffees. They spent another thirty minutes inside until they were reminded that they had to go back to the island before the sun came down.

Though Julianne never uttered another word towards him, he was sure she was somehow mellowing down. After all, she got what she wanted.

A lot of times, when he was talking to Pauline during their ride in the plane and at the yacht, he wanted to burst out about Julianne’s real identity as J. Green. Actually, he desperately wanted to brag about it. But he knew she would make a bonfire and burn him in the stakes if he did that. So, like her, he chose to be quiet about it. He would never wish to ruin her trust if that was all it would take for her to appreciate him.

When they arrived back in the island, the girls were having some fun in the beach.

“Do I need to join them?” he asked Jack Carter, feeling tired and exhausted.

“No, it’s cool. You can join them anytime you like. There’s no date scheduled until the next day after tomorrow anyway.”

“Good,” he answered, his eyes travelling meters ahead. “Hey, Jules!”

Julianne looked back with a frown. “What?”

“Good night!” he chuckled when she swiftly turned around and continued walking behind Pauline.

 *****

That night, Julianne was urged by Pauline to join the other girls for some games they had going on down stairs. Considering Pauline’s behavior towards her all these time, she went to show she was not a total spoiler. But by the time they got downstairs, she almost wanted to dash back. Everyone—yes, everyone including her friend—was wearing close to nothing.

“You can’t join the game if you’re wearing that, Julianne,” Chloe said pointedly.

Julianne looked at Pauline and her friend mouthed, “Please…”

“Fine,” she sighed and went back upstairs.

Good thing? Zach took the honor of sneaking three pairs