Being Julia Read online

  “Thanks, Connor. You know that I’ll take good care of her,” Jake responded.

  “I know you will and, if you get out of line, she’ll kick your ass. Just like her mother does to me.”

  “That’s right. I taught my daughter well.” My mom smiled as she winked at me.

  “This calls for a celebration. We’re taking the two of you to dinner,” my dad said.

  We went out that night and celebrated. After leaving the restaurant, my dad took us to a club where we drank, danced, and had a good time. Collin and Hailey met up with us and we celebrated into the wee hours of the morning.

  And that’s how, Jake Jensen, the man of my dreams, proposed to me. It wasn’t how he had planned it, and I screwed it up for him, but we were engaged and that was all that mattered.

  ****

  As the months passed, my mom and I were busy planning the wedding and I was getting ready to graduate from college. I was sitting on my bed when my dad walked into the room.

  “Good morning, Dad.” I smiled at him.

  “Good morning, Princess. Do you have a minute to talk?”

  “Sure. Come sit down,” I said.

  He sat down next to me and smiled. “I was wondering if you wanted to spend the day with your dad. I haven’t seen much of you lately between all the wedding planning and school.”

  I could tell he desperately wanted to spend some time together, and I felt bad that we hadn’t lately. I had plans with Jake, but I thought he would understand if I canceled them. My dad needed me and I didn’t want to let him down.

  “I would love to spend the day with you, Dad.” I smiled.

  “Really? You don’t have any other plans?” he asked excitedly.

  “No, not today,” I answered.

  He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into him as he kissed me on the head. “That’s great, Princess. I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Me too.”

  He got up from the bed and walked out of my room. I picked up my phone and called Jake.

  “Hello, beautiful,” he answered.

  “Hey, babe. Listen, I need to cancel our plans for today. My dad asked me to spend the day with him, and I couldn’t tell him no.”

  “That’s okay. You go and be with your dad. I know he misses you. He made a reference about it the other night. I have some work I can catch up on and then I’ll hang with the guys for a while and I’ll see you tonight.”

  “I love you, Jake.”

  “I love you more, Julia. See you later, babe. Have a good day with your dad,” he said as he hung up.

  After I showered and got dressed, I walked downstairs and saw my mom in the kitchen.

  “Hi, sweetheart. Thank you for spending the day with your dad. He’s so happy.” She smiled.

  “No need to thank me, Mom. I want to spend the day with him.”

  “Are you ready, Julia?” my dad asked as he walked into the kitchen.

  “I sure am.” I smiled as I looped my arm around his and we left the penthouse.

  Our first stop was at the Central Park Zoo. My mom and dad used to take me and Collin there every year since we were little kids. We walked around, looking at the animals and exhibits. Our favorite had always been the penguins and we would stand there for what seemed like forever, staring at them. After spending some time at the zoo, we headed to The Museum of Modern Art. It had always been one of my and my mom’s favorite places to go. As we walked around and looked at the various sculptures and designs, my dad turned to me.

  “I know we’ve talked about this before, but I want you to know that I’ve created a division at Black Enterprises for architecture and I want you to head it up. I couldn’t think of a better time than now to branch out and expand.”

  “Are you serious, Dad?”

  “Yes, Princess, I’m very serious. You’re going to be graduating in a couple of months and your spot will be waiting for you. As soon as Collin graduates from college, the two of you will be working together and getting to know the ropes of the company so I can hand it over to the two of you when I retire.”

  “I don’t think you’ll ever retire, Dad. You love that company way too much.”

  He laughed and put his arm around me. “You’re probably right, but I will be gone a lot. Your mom wants to travel the world.”

  “I don’t think there’s anywhere in the world that she hasn’t seen yet.”

  “There are a couple places.” He smiled.

  When we were finished at the art museum, we walked down the streets of New York and stopped at Pizzapopolous for some pizza. When we sat down and opened our menus, my dad started to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  “I’ll never forget the first time I stood outside and stared at your mom through the window. I sent Denny to her work to pick her up to have dinner with me, and she told him no, and that if I wanted to have dinner with her, then I should’ve called her and asked her. Denny followed her here and then came to the restaurant where I was waiting for her and told me where she was. So I came here and she was sitting at a table all by herself. She looked so beautiful.”

  “What did you do? Did you join her?”

  “Yes. I walked in and sat down next to her. Needless to say, she wasn’t too happy about it. That was the day that she made me eat pizza with my hands. Your mom made me do a lot of things I would never have done.”

  “You two are crazy.” I smiled.

  “Crazy in love,” he replied. “When we get home, there’s something I want to show you and Jake. Can you tell him to meet us outside the building in a couple of hours?”

  “Sure, Dad,” I said as I looked at him strangely.

  He took my hand and looked at me with a smile. “I’m really happy for you, Julia. You couldn’t be marrying a better man. It’s going to be hard, letting my little girl go, but I know I can’t hold onto you forever.”

  “Aw, Dad. Just because I’m getting married doesn’t mean you have to let me go. I don’t want you to let me go. You’re my dad and I love you. You’ll always be with me no matter where I am or where I go.”

  We finished up our pizza and met Jake outside the apartment building. I thought we were going up to the penthouse, but we stopped one floor below. As the elevator doors opened, we followed my dad out.

  “Why are we on this floor?” I asked.

  “You’ll see,” my dad said with a smile.

  He led us to a door, put the key in, and opened it. We walked inside, and I looked around.

  “Now, follow me,” he said as he led us to the next apartment and opened the door.

  We walked in and I looked around in confusion. “Okay, Dad. You have me all confused. What’s going on?”

  “Well, I’m having both of these apartments converted into one large four-bedroom apartment. I’m having the entire place renovated and redesigned.”

  “Wow, that’s awesome. Are you going to sell it or something?”

  Jake looked at me and took my hand. “Julia, I think your dad is doing this for us. I’m pretty sure he wants us to live here.”

  “Smart man,” my dad said as he pointed at him.

  “What?! You mean you’re doing this for me and Jake?”

  “Yes, Princess. I would love for this to be your new home after you get married.” He smiled.

  “One floor down from the penthouse?” I asked. “Daddy, I can’t. It’s too much. As much as I love it and the idea, it’s way too much for you to give us.”

  He walked over to me with a smile and hugged me. “No, it’s not too much. I love you and Jake and this is part of your wedding gift. You can design it any way you want to. Imagine that the two apartments are your canvas and you and Jake make it your home.”

  Tears started to fill my eyes and roll down my face at the kindness and generosity of my father. “I love it, Dad, and it means so much to me that you would do something like this for us. I can’t believe it. Does Mom know?”

  “Yes, your mom knows, and she’s h
oping you’ll accept it.”

  “We will accept it, Connor.” Jake smiled. “Thank you very much, but let me at least pay you something for it.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, son. The only payment I’ll accept from you is the happy memories you and my daughter will make here. Oh, and a couple of grandkids too.” He smiled.

  “We can definitely do that.” Jake laughed.

  “Thank you so much, Dad. I love you.”

  “I love you too, baby. Now, let’s go upstairs and tell your mom the good news.”

  Chapter 16

  I graduated from Columbia and started my new job at Black Enterprises. My wedding was taking place next week and I still had so much to do. The apartment my dad bought us was finally completed and Jake and I spent two days shopping for furniture to make it perfect. My mom threw me the most fabulous wedding shower and I got everything I needed for the apartment. When everything was in its place, Jake and I took a step back and looked around.

  “This is our home and the start of our life together.” I smiled.

  “It sure is and I love every bit of it,” Jake said as he picked me up.

  “What are you doing?” I laughed.

  “Taking you into the bedroom so we can test out our new bed.”

  “I like the sound of that.” I smiled as I brushed my lips against his.

  We lay in bed and Jake held me against him. He softly ran his finger up and down my arm while kissing the top of my head.

  “I can’t believe we’re finally getting married,” he said.

  “You’re not getting cold feet, are you?” I asked.

  “Hell, no. I can’t wait to make you Mrs. Julia Jensen. Then, in a couple of years, we can make baby Jensens.”

  “I love the thought of making babies with you. You’re going to be an amazing father.”

  “You’re going to be an amazing mother.”

  “Somehow, I get the feeling that my parents will see our kids more than we will.” I laughed.

  “Yeah, no kidding. They’ll be kidnapping them.”

  “We need to spend some time together first as a couple before we start having kids.”

  “I agree, babe. I want you all to myself for a while first.”

  I lifted my head and kissed Jake on the lips. “You can have me whenever you want.” I smiled.

  A low growl came from the back of his throat as he flipped me on my back and we continued to break in our new bed.

  ****

  My wedding day. What can I say? It was absolutely perfect. Everything turned out as planned and only a few tears were shed. I was no longer Julia Rose Black. I was Mrs. Julia Rose Jensen and I couldn’t be happier. My dad gave us an all-expense-paid trip to Europe for our honeymoon. We were going to be gone three weeks. I think that was the longest I’d ever gone without seeing my parents. Two weeks into our honeymoon, while we were in Paris, we received a call from a restaurant telling us that reservations were made for dinner as a celebration of our marriage. I thought it was odd that the restaurant did that, but it must have been something my dad arranged when he booked the trip because I remembered him saying that we had to go there because it was his and my mom’s favorite restaurant.

  Jake and I shopped all day and then went back to the hotel room to get ready for dinner. I put on my little black dress and put my hair up in a twist.

  “You look so sexy. Let’s just skip dinner and make love the rest of the night,” Jake said as he kissed my shoulder.

  “That sounds amazing, but we have to go to dinner first. That would be rude of us not to show since reservations were made.”

  “You’re right, but plan on an all-nighter the minute we get back here.”

  “Oh, don’t worry, Mr. Jensen. I’ve already planned on it.” I turned around and looked at him.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “I miss my mom and dad. Isn’t that terrible that I’m thinking like that on our honeymoon?”

  “No, I don’t think it’s terrible at all. You love your parents and it’s natural to miss them. Don’t worry, babe; one more week and we’ll be going home.” He smiled as he kissed me. “Why don’t you try and call them. You’ll feel better once you talk to them.”

  I smiled back and picked up my phone. I dialed my dad’s number first and he didn’t answer. So I dialed my mom and she didn’t answer. “Neither one of them are answering their phones,” I said with irritation.

  “They’re probably having wild and crazy sex and don’t want to be bothered.” Jake smiled.

  “Don’t say that!” I said as I covered my ears.

  Jake laughed and handed me my purse as we left the hotel and headed to the restaurant. We walked through the door and gave the hostess our name. She smiled softly and showed us to our table. I stopped in the middle of the restaurant when I saw my mom and dad sitting at the table that was ours. Tears started to fill my eyes as my dad got up from his seat.

  “Julia,” he said as he hugged me tightly.

  “Dad, what are you doing here?”

  I turned to my mom and hugged her. “It’s so good to see you both.”

  “We just thought we’d have dinner with the two of you. No big deal,” my dad said.

  “You flew all the way to Paris to have dinner with us?”

  My mom looked at me and smiled. “Yes, we did.”

  “I love you both so much,” I said as I hugged them both one more time before sitting down.

  My mom announced that she had to go to the restroom and asked me if I’d join her. I got up from my seat and, as we walked into the bathroom, she looked at me and hugged me. “It’s so good to see you, Julia.”

  “I tried calling you and Daddy about an hour ago because I was missing you guys and you didn’t answer.”

  “That’s because we didn’t want to ruin the surprise.” She smiled. “Your dad was going crazy not being able to see you. He was driving me crazy, so I suggested a quick trip to Paris for one dinner so he could see for himself that you and Jake were okay.”

  “Thank you, Mom. You have no idea how happy I am to see the two of you. I’ve missed you.”

  “We missed you too. Now, come on; let’s get back to the table before your father comes looking for us.”

  I laughed as we made our way back to the table. We had one of the best nights in Paris with my parents. Some might think it’s weird to see your parents while you’re on your honeymoon. But for Jake and me, it wasn’t. We welcomed it, and we were happy they came. A couple of days later, they flew back to New York, and Jake and I continued our honeymoon for one more week.

  ****

  Life returned back to normal after our honeymoon. Jake and I were settled in our new home and settled in our jobs. I saw my dad every day and he couldn’t have been happier. We had dinner with them twice a week. One night at my apartment and one night at the penthouse. Sometimes, we made it three nights a week and we out to dinner. My life was perfect and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I was married to the love of my life and had the best family in the world.

  A few months after our honeymoon, I discovered that I was pregnant. It certainly wasn’t planned, but it happened, and Jake and I were so happy. I waited to tell my parents when we were having dinner one night at the penthouse. My dad was pouring the wine and handed me a glass.

  “Oh, no thanks, Dad,” I said.

  “Why? You always have wine with your dinner.”

  “I just don’t feel like having any tonight,” I said as my mom looked at me and smiled.

  “Julia Rose, is there something you want to tell us?” she asked.

  Jake walked over to me, took my hand, and smiled. “Mom, Dad, we’re having a baby!” I said.

  My mom put her hands over her mouth in excitement. “Oh my God, Julia,” she said as she walked over and hugged me. “Congratulations.”

  I looked at my dad as he stood there with tears in his eyes. He held out his arms and I went to him. He hugged me so tightly, I felt like I couldn’t br
eathe.

  “Congratulations, Princess. I can’t believe it. I thought the two of you were going to wait?”

  “We were, but it just happened.” Jake smiled.

  “Are you happy, Dad?” I asked as I looked at him.

  “Of course I am. I couldn’t be any happier. The thought of a child running around here again makes me very happy.” He smiled.

  This was my life. From growing up as Julia Rose Black, daughter of millionaire, Connor Black, to being Mrs. Jake Jensen, wife and soon-to-be mother. My life was fulfilled and now it was time to start my own family and teach my children about life and the world, the same way my parents had taught me.

  Keep reading for a special preview of

  LIE NEXT TO ME

  (A MILLIONAIRE’S LOVE)

  Coming soon in 2014

  The pain was unbearable but I had to keep moving. I had to keep running because if I didn’t, he’d find me. I looked behind me as I ran through the streets; scared, alone, and in the dark as the mist of rain hit my face. There was no time to think, and there was no time to stop. My shoes were soaked as they sloshed through the puddles of the dimly lit streets. As people passed by, they looked at me strangely. I kept my hand on my side as the throbbing pain continued deep inside me. I started to get dizzy so I stopped in the alley and sat up against the brick wall. My breathing was shallow. I removed my hand from my side and held it up so the dim light could reflect on it. I gasped as the blood soaked my hand and dripped onto the cement. I started to shake, and I felt like I was going to lose consciousness, but I had to keep moving. As I stood up and leaned against the wall, I pressed my palm against my side and started moving out of the alley.

  My mind kept flashing back to what led me here in the first place. The fight, the rage, the look on his face that I’d never forget and the knife plunging into my side. The sidewalk started to spin and the pain was getting worse. I didn’t know where I was, and I didn’t know where I was going until I bumped into a man, and he held onto to me as I collapsed in his arms.

  “Whoa, Miss. Are you all right?”

  I couldn’t speak as I started to fall to the ground. I felt him take my hand from my side as he picked me up, carried me a few feet, and slid me into the back seat of a vehicle.