“I knew right away that you were the one for me,

There were no reservations or second thoughts.

I saw you and in an instant knew in my heart, that my soul had known your soul lifetimes ago.”

Cassandra’s POV

My eyes widened in surprise. What was Julian doing at my house? I tried to get up but Aunt Caroline shook her head. “Rest honey, you fainted and your friend brought you home. How are you feeling now? I told you not to work so hard. What’s the need to work 3 hours overtime?” “Aunt Caroline, I’m fine. Relax. See?” I said as I picked up Max in my arms and got up from my bed.

Aunt Caroline rushed forward as she took Max from me. “I’ve fed him already. It’s so late. Still, he didn’t want to sleep without you. I’ll put him to bed now,” she said. 

“You both have your dinner. It’s 11 o’clock already and Julian here didn’t want to eat without you. After dinner, show him to Avery’s room. I don’t want him driving home so late at night.” Aunt Caroline left the room with a yawning Max.

“How did you find me?” I glared at Julian. At that point in time, I just wanted to evaporate into the air out of embarrassment. I had a million questions flitting across my mind, but instead of getting answers to them, I just kept on staring back at him.

He just smirked as he leaned against the door with his arms folded across his chest, his biceps bulging. It didn’t seem he was in any hurry to leave. “I was just there,” he drawled as he gazed at me, checking me out.

I felt like an insect under a microscope. Why was he staring? Why couldn’t he just leave? Maybe, if I thanked him well enough, he would. “Thanks for bringing me home. I won’t keep you long. You can go home to your wife,” I said sarcastically.

He left the door and in two strides, came up to me and pulled me to his hard chest, his eyes devouring me with a hawklike gaze. I gasped and clutched his arm to keep myself from falling. The suddenness of his actions had me reeling. What was going on? Why did I feel an electric charge shoot up my body the moment I collided with him? “I don’t have one yet, but soon I will, and I don’t want to go anywhere. Did you hear your aunt? Let’s do justice to the dinner,” he whispered into my ear, as his lips touched my ear and neck, sending electric tingles all over my body. These were new sensations, and they drove my mind into overdrive.

I extricated myself and turned to go downstairs to the kitchen.

"Follow me then," I said with a sigh, glad that I could get away from his nearness. I went to the kitchen and took out two plates, and heaped the spaghetti and meatballs onto them. Julian came in and stood behind me, his hot breath on my neck. I stood like a statue, unable to move since I knew that if I turned, I would be nose-to-nose with him. It would be a grave mistake indeed since his nearness already affected me.

 He chuckled, and holding my waist, guided me to the dining table. I placed the plates on the table, feeling his hot breath on my neck the entire time. When I turned to go to the kitchen to get water, I came nose-to-nose with him. Yet Julian didn’t move. I blushed at his nearness, his hot breath on my face as he stared at me, making all my insides turn to jelly. 

“I’ll get the water,” I said shyly with pink cheeks.

He nodded, but still didn’t budge an inch. 

“Please,” I said, but he came closer. 

“Please what?” I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. With my heart thumping wildly in my ribcage, I ran into the kitchen. It was useless talking to someone who seemed to be the biggest flirt in the entire world! He chuckled loudly, making me, even more, worked up. I was so ashamed of my reaction to him. I chided myself, reminding myself that I was Max’s mom. Yet my stupid body simply didn’t co-operate and I could feel the butterflies in my stomach even while thinking about him.

When I returned with the water, I saw him already sitting down and waiting for me. I sat opposite him and we started eating in silence. I could feel his gaze upon me all the time. It was as if he wanted to talk to me about something, yet was in a dilemma. 

“How old is Max?” he asked suddenly, making me go into a defensive mood. I didn’t want to talk about Max’s dad and about my past. I have always steered clear of that topic. “Eighteen months,” I answered quietly.

“How old are you?” he asked me softly.

“I’m 20,” I said as his eyes popped out. 

“Were you 18 when you got pregnant?” he asked, surprised.

“Yeah,” I sighed. It was a topic I didn’t want to discuss, and I just wanted to draw the line when I saw the understated anger on his face.

“You should have reported to the police, this was abuse,” he retorted. My jaws dropped with shock. I hadn’t expected him to say that at all.

“He is a police officer himself. He threatened to arrest me on false grounds. I got scared,” I said in a small voice. It surprised me, I could tell him so much.

“Your aunt told me about him. So he refused to take responsibility?” he asked angrily. I was upset hearing that. Aunt Caroline shouldn’t have discussed it with him while I was out.

I just shrugged. “it’s getting late. I’ll show you your room,” I said, as I got up and collected our plates. I went into the kitchen, rinsed them, dried them, and kept them where they belonged.