Under His Roof

chapter twenty-eight

Julian was talking to Carol Finney, a former investor in the firm, when Daphne joined them and casually wove her way into the conversation. Carol, knowing that the two had been married and were now divorced, quickly became uncomfortable being with both of them and excused herself as soon as it was polite to. As she walked away from them, Daphne smiled cheekily at Julian, "Oops."

Julian rolled his eyes, but a smile found its way onto his face. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

She shrugged, looking up at him through her lashes. "Maybe..."

He laughed, "Well I hope your day's going well. I trust it was good to see everyone again?"

Daphne nodded in affirmation as a nostalgic look clouded her eyes. "It really was. It made me miss working at the firm, but then again, I think it was the right decision for me to leave..."

There was a short silence. They both knew the reason that Daphne left was because of their brutal divorce, and even though they had been talking for the past few months, they hadn't brought it up once. It was a sore spot. One that neither of them was eager to reopen.

Daphne smiled, "Do you want to go have a chat?" she asked.

"A chat?"

"Yeah." She nodded, "Catch up with each other and whatnot."

Julian faltered, "Isn't that what we're doing now?"

He wasn't very fond of the idea of going to a secluded place with Daphne. Yes, he was sure about his feelings for Kimberly, but he also knew that there was still a place for Daphne in his heart. There always would be, and he didn't want to tempt fate. He would be lying if he said he hadn't noticed her when she walked through the door. After a year and some months of being apart, she had only grown more beautiful.

For one, her body was out of this world. It wasn't hard to find himself staring at it when he shouldn't have been. Her breasts were firm – as was her ass, – and her legs looked really good in that skirt she was wearing. Her smile seemed to have gotten bigger, her eyes seemed to have gotten brighter, and her voice seemed to have gotten smoother. It would be a pointless to lie about being attracted to her. He had been all about her once before, and looking at her still made his heart jump a little in his chest. The effects of two years of dating and over three years of marriage don't just go away in one measly year.

But still, he knew he had a good thing when despite all of that, he still saw Kimberly's face in his mind when he closed his eyes. He still wanted to hear her voice – even if it wasn't as silky as Daphne's. He wanted to hear her laugh, even if she snorted and cackled. He wanted to touch her body, whether or not her ass was as big as Daphne's, because it was hers. And he wasn't about to let what he had go, not for all the Daphnes in the world.

Daphne placed a hand on his forearm and leaned in. "I want to talk without all these people around," she said. "You know...just me and you."

Julian nodded, he wasn't too worried. "Come on, let's go to the back hallway," he said.

She looped her arm around his and he led her back behind the kitchen and to the little secluded hallway behind it. He had always wondered what the architect was thinking to build something that seemed so out of place, but it had come in handy more times than he could have imagined.

They sat on the little couch and Julian looked at Daphne, waiting for her to speak, but she just smiled dotingly at him.

"What?" Julian asked.

She looked down to his leg and then back up at his face. "Your limp is cute," she said. "You really can pull anything off."

He rolled his eyes. "Please," he said. "You always did like to flatter me. You really did wonders for my ego, I'll tell you that."