Chapter 192 Public Confession Goes Viral 

Right there on stage, she had answered point–blank that she and Julius were officially dating. 

Harlan must have seen those videos. 

“Yes, it’s true,” Quinn admitted without hesitation. 

Silence hung on the other end of the line. 

“Harlan?” Quinn finally coaxed. 

“Quinnie, I-” Harlan had only managed the first word when Quinn suddenly drew a sharp breath. 

Julius had dipped his head and pressed a swift kiss to the soft curve of her earlobe. 

His warm lips and the gentle rush of his breath against her neck sent a tickling heat racing through her ear. 

“Quinn…” Julius’s voice, low and rough, rumbled in her ear. “How long are you going to keep talking on the phone? It’s bedtime.” 

“Quinnie, is Julius right there with you?” Harlan sounded as though he were grinding his teeth. 

“Yes, he’s right here. What were you about to say?” Quinn asked. 

“You and he…” Harlan paused, then snapped, “Forget it!” 

He hung up. Quinn stared at the darkened screen. 

“What are you thinking about?” Julius murmured. He slipped the phone from her hand, set it on the coffee table, and with an unmistakably predatory grace boxed her in between the couch cushions and his own body. 

“Nothing,” she muttered. “I was on the phone with Harlan when you randomly kissed my ear and said that. He probably heard everything–totally mortifying.” 

“Do you hate when I do this?” He bent again, brushing soft, deliberate kisses over the shell of her ear. 

That feathery, tingling sensation exploded along her nerves. Cheeks warming, Quinn tried to push him away, but her shove only encouraged Julius to roll to the opposite end of the couch, one arm still looping her waist. 

Suddenly, she was sprawled across his chest, breath mingling with his. 

“Do you hate it?” His obsidian eyes locked on hers. 

She felt the arm at her waist go taut, as though he were bracing himself for her verdict. 

“What if I said I did?” she teased, a tiny revenge for his mischief during her call. 

To her surprise, those dark eyes dimmed; his long lashes trembled, and he murmured with a trace of self- mockery, “If you hate it, I won’t do it again.” 

Quinn froze, her chest giving a faint, inexplicable ache at the sight of his sudden dejection. 

“So, Quinn, don’t hate me, okay?” he pleaded softly. 

1/2 

The ache sharpened. 

She regretted her words at once. “I don’t hate you, or what you just did. I was just… a little embarrassed, 

that’s all.” 

Raising one hand, she stroked his face, unwilling to see that lonely expression again. “If you really must do things like that, just avoid doing them while I’m on the phone.” 

His eyes lit up. “So you don’t hate it.” 

“No, I don’t hate it.” With the words, she bent and whispered in his ear, “It just tickles, and I’m not used to it yet.” 

Imitating him, she parted her lips and gently took his earlobe, planting a tender kiss. 

She watched his ear flush red, the color spreading to his cheeks until a faint rose hue tinted his entire face. 

“Quinn…” His Adam’s apple bobbed; his breath hitched. The midnight–dark phoenix eyes shimmered with a glossy, half–lidded daze that was somehow both seductive and bewildered. 

At that moment, lying beneath her, Julius looked breathtakingly beautiful. 

Quinn had only intended to let him sample what it felt like to have one’s ear kissed; she hadn’t expected to find herself ensnared by him instead. 

Especially when he rasped her name in that husky voice and stared up at her with those bewitching eyes- he was pure temptation. 

Quinn was at a loss for words. 

Did he have any idea that looking at her like this made it almost impossible to hold back? 

That night, Quinn had no idea how much self–control it took to restrain herself. 

It wasn’t that they weren’t married; she simply wanted to be absolutely certain of her feelings before taking that step, not driven by a fleeting impulse or sheer physical attraction. 

Julius, however, seemed a little crestfallen. When they finally lay down to sleep, he wrapped an arm around her waist and murmured in her ear, “Quinn, I love you, so I’ll wait until you fall in love with me. When that happens, you’ll want me too, right?” 

He sounded like an oversized puppy begging for affection. 

She had never known that a man like Julius could have such a clingy, coaxing side. 

The next morning, Quinn needed to visit the Bridger residence out in the village, so Julius drove her 

there.