“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, holding the carafe above his mug.
“It’s brown swill. Although, that explains your many stops at Brewed Moon”
“I’m sorry. I don’t normally entertain many coffee connoisseurs, such as yourself.”
“It’s fine.” She shrugged. “I’ll go back to my regular coffee when I can go back home. Speaking of, do you have any idea when that will be?”
He shook his head. “No, sorry.”
“When do you think I’ll be able to go back to work? I need to get the café up and running again.”
“Crime scene techs should be releasing the scene today. But I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go back there yet.”
Juliana couldn’t accept that. “Really? Mitch, you can’t keep me locked up in here forever. I need to reopen my business, or I’ll lose it. I can’t afford to keep Brewed Moon closed for too long.”
Mitch sighed, and drank his coffee, making a face at the cup. “This really isn’t very good, is it?”
“It’s not.” She knew that he was changing the subject. “Come on, Mitch, answer my question.”
“Okay,” he relented. “You can go back and reopen tomorrow. But I’ll schedule a security detail to stay with you. Between me and the team, you’ll be covered at all times.”
“Is that really necessary?”
He looked at her, eyebrow raised skeptically.
“Okay fine,” she said, relieved and grateful that she could start getting back to her normal life. She took a look around. “You know, I never noticed when we came here this morning, but this is a really nice place,” she told him, her head on a swivel from left to right as she took in his oversized kitchen.
“Thanks, I like it,” he said. “It’s probably a little more than I would normally be able to afford on my civil servant salary. But the developer was a friend and he cut me a pretty sweet deal on the place. And the building manager likes having a cop on the premises.”
“And this kitchen,” she said. “I love it. Do you cook much?”
He took a sheepish look around, and he smiled. “Not as much as I like to. But every now and then, I’ll throw something together.”
“You’re a bit of a gourmand, are you?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but I know my way around the kitchen.”
“Then why did you pick up pizza instead of cooking me something delicious?”
He laughed. He took another sip of coffee and grimaced at the taste, before dumping it in the sink. “Honest answer? Because I’m exhausted.”
Juliana looked at him closely, only just then seeing the fatigue that lined his features. He wasn’t a robot. He was a human being, who was going out of his way to keep her safe, and she was throwing a major wrench in his orderly life. She frowned. “I’m sorry about all this.”
“Don’t be sorry. Serve and protect, it’s my job.”
“That might be the case, but don’t pretend you aren’t going above the call of duty here. I’m staying at your home. Something tells me that you don’t bring every witness to crash in your bedroom. I really appreciate it.”
They shared a quiet moment where they watched each other carefully. Juliana was certain she felt more than just a small stirring of interest from Mitch’s gaze, but he broke away first. “Want some pizza?”
“I thought you would never ask. It wouldn’t have been lady-like to push you down and take it all for myself.”
He opened the box, and she was never so happy to see a greasy, cheesy pizza. He opened the fridge door. “I’ve got beer, too.”
“You’re an angel. I’d love a beer,” she said as she joined him in the kitchen where he took two plates from the cupboard. “Or, you know, seventeen.”
He twisted the top off a beer bottle and handed it to her. “I understand that. You’ve had a crazy couple of days.”
“Yeah, it’s really been insane. I’ll never again complain about being bored.” She lofted the bottle to her lips and drank, savouring the flavour of the beer, before accepting a slice of pizza.
Juliana took a bite. “This is really good,” she said between mouthfuls.
“Yeah, it’s my favourite pizza place.”
“Mine too.”
After a few more beats of silence, she spoke again. “But seriously, I never thanked you for… Well, everything.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he told her. “I’ll let you return the favour if I’m ever in danger.”
“I don’t know about danger, but I can save you from that coffee at least.”
They shared a chuckle, both pleased to have a little levity after the rollercoaster experiences of the previous day. They finished the rest of the pizza in silence, and Juliana leaned back, full. She patted her stomach, and realized that she’d skipped her regular run two days in a row. She needed some exercise, or some other way to release the excess energy that she’d been feeling. She hoped Mr. Fox wasn’t missing her too much.
Mitch sat back as well, and watched her. “Why don’t you go get comfortable. I’ll clean up in here.”
“You don’t need any help?”
Mitch cast a skeptical look at the empty pizza box and their plates. “I think I can handle it. Want another beer?”
“That’d be great. Thanks.” She pushed herself up from the table and walked into Mitch’s living room. For the first time, since the previous morning, she felt relaxed. It wasn’t just the delicious pizza and refreshing beer that did it, it was Mitch’s company. She felt safe and at home with him.
The overhead lights of the living room were too bright for her relaxed state of mind, so Juliana turned them off, opting instead for the muted glow of the lamps that flanked each side of the couch. The dim lighting instantly helped her settle into the pleasant glow of relaxed satisfaction.
“Oh, bad news,” he called. “Out of beer. But I do have…” he trailed off as she heard him open and close cupboard doors. “I do have red wine. Would you like some of that?”
Wine sounded great to her, as she settled onto the couch. “I’d love some.”
He came into the living room, holding the bottle and two glasses. He stopped in his tracks and his lips parted before he spoke. “You turned down the lights.”
“Yeah, I hope you don’t mind. It felt too bright in here. I think we both need to unwind a bit.”
“No, it’s fine,” he said quickly, taking his seat next to her on the couch. “How about some music?”
“That’d be great,” she told him.
He picked up a remote control and soft guitar music filled the room from some unseen sound system. Using a manual corkscrew, and a couple quick twists of his wrist he opened the bottle and poured it into two glasses. He passed one to Juliana, leaned back into the couch and closed his eyes. Juliana could feel the tension as it left his body and he seemed fully relaxed. She wondered what was going through his mind. Even though his body was in repose, she doubted that his mind was. He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, and she felt the intimacy of the moment. He was a hard man, and in letting her see him so relaxed, she felt that he’d lowered a wall with her, there on that couch.
Juliana looked away from him, to let him enjoy his quiet, private moment, and she played with a strand of hair. It had gotten too long and the ends were getting curly. She’d put off getting a haircut, being so busy with work. It was ridiculous, and while hiding from a dangerous mobster, the state of her hair should be the furthest thing from her mind. She twirled it around her finger, and leaned back and relaxed as well, savouring the sound of the music that filled the room.
She looked over at Mitch. He drank from his glass and stared straight ahead, his eyes focussed on a point on the far wall, deep in thought. They might not have been touching, but she could feel his heat, and his strength just radiating from him on his side of the couch. Juliana knew that she would be safe with Mitch, and that no matter what happened, he would protect her. She took another look at him, and this time
, her eyes lingered, not able to pull away. She took a deep breath, and pulled in his scent. She loved his cologne, leather and vanilla, but there was something else. It was a scent that was only his, and every time she was with him, she craved it, getting closer to him, so that she could inhale him. She hadn’t spent much time around him until recently, yet there was something in his scent, and the way he carried himself that was so familiar.
His eyes were closed and he hadn’t opened for a while, and she wondered if he’d fallen asleep. Without warning, however, just like the night before when he’d been lying on the couch in the safe house, his eyes popped open and he looked over at Juliana, catching her staring at him again.
Unembarrassed, she smiled and looked away, sipping from her wine. “You know, if we’re going to be spending so much time together, we might as well get to know each other,” she said.
“What would you like to know?”
She thought about it. There were so many things she wanted to know about the man beside her. "Why did you decide to become a cop?”
"Well, my father was a cop. As were both of my grandfathers, some uncles, Peter, obviously. We’re a big police family."
“Wow, you’re telling me. And Peter’s younger than you, right?
“What makes you think that?”
“You look after him like a big brother would. Same with your team. It’s like you’re responsible for everyone.”
“I am,” he told her. “But you’re right. Peter’s a few years younger than me.”
“And how old are you?”
“Thirty-eight.”
“Wow. You’re an old guy!” she laughed. “I would never say that you were close to forty.”
He laughed. It was a great, deep chuckle. But it was true. Between his dark hair that boasted no silver, and his smooth skin that only crinkled at his eyes when he smiled, and the youthful glint in his eye, when he wasn’t being completely stone serious, had he not just told her his age, she would have guessed him to be a man only in his early thirties.
“Ouch,” he said, still laughing.
“I never said once that it was a bad thing,” she defended her stance.
“But I’m curious,” he said. “I know I should never ask a woman her age, but how old are you?”
“I’m sure you could just look up my ID if you cared to, but it’s no problem for me. I just turned twenty-nine. It’s not like we’re breaking any laws here or anything.”
“We’re just sitting on my couch. What rules exactly are you looking to break?” he asked her with a raised eyebrow.
Technically, the room was set for romance –the wine, the lighting, the music, and his raw magnetism that pulled her in every time. But it wasn’t a romantic situation. She knew that she was only in his apartment because she witnessed a crime and he needed to keep her safe to prosecute the guy who did it. If anything, he was just trying to help her relax and shed some of the stress that had been dumped on her lately. She didn’t answer him, and just stared at him while he stared back, a knowing look in his eyes.
“So how does your mother feel about you and Peter being cops and having such dangerous careers?”
He paused, took another sip of wine. “My mother died when I was 14. Cancer,” he explained, looking into his wine glass. Juliana frowned, after so many years since then, she could still hear the thick emotion that coloured his voice.
Juliana’s mouth dropped. “That’s awful. I’m so sorry.” She moved closer to him on the couch, turning to face him. “What about your father?”
“Yeah, it was a pretty hard time. Dad couldn't really cope with it so he dove headlong into his work. And when he wasn’t at work, he turned to the bottle, strange women. He was never home.” He took a deep breath. “So, Peter and I spent a lot of time looking after ourselves. But eventually, Dad got careless, the booze made him sloppy. He made deals with the wrong people, turned dirty, and got himself killed on duty, the year I started university. I left school and stayed home with Peter so he could finish school, and then we both signed up for the police force."
Juliana reached out to touch his arm. His muscles were tense, and she regretted asking the question. But she somehow knew that he didn’t normally divulge that information, and she made herself feel better for prying when she thought about how long he must have carried it around with him. "I'm so sorry, Mitch.”
He visibly shook it off. “Don’t be. It was a long time ago.”
"That's remarkable." she looked at him with complete awe. "That you were so young and sacrificed yourself and your education for your brother.”
"It was no real sacrifice, at all. Peter was in high school. He just needed an adult in the house to keep him out of foster care. It wasn’t even a question of what I should do. It's just what needed to be done. I'm really no hero.”
She shook her head. “I’ll bet if I asked Peter, he would tell me differently.”
He was quiet, and he didn’t look at her. She knew that she had gotten past some of his barriers. “I just had to make sure he had the support he needed.”
She scooted closer. Her legs were crossed in front of her, and her knees bumped his thigh. “What about you?” she asked quietly. “Who supported you?”
Mitch looked at her, and under his gaze, she trembled a little. Like he was measuring his answer, and she wasn’t sure if he was going to respond. Juliana busied herself shifting in place, getting comfortable, although not breaking the slight contact of their legs. After a moment, she heard him take a breath before he turned back to her.
“Do you have any siblings?”
She was disappointed. He wasn’t will to let anymore go. "No. It was just me. But trust me. I was enough for my parents. I was kind of a bad kid. Always sneaking out, drinking, meeting up with boys," she laughed, shaking her head at the memory. “Just stupid teenage stuff.”
He looked surprised. “What happened that you changed your ways? You’re obvious not that person now.”
“I grew up and decided that I had to pull my act together when I was in grade eleven.” She thought about the night in question with regret, but she was grateful for the experience that changed her life. “I found myself in a vulnerable situation at a university house party.” She caught the look he gave her, his posture no longer relaxed, and his eyes were sharp. “No need to go into cop-mode. Nothing awful happened,” she reassured him. “I just found myself in a bind that I couldn’t control. We were at a party, too far out of town, and all my friends left me stranded. After I caught the attention of some sleazy guys, I had to get away and I ended up hitchhiking back into the city at four a.m.”
She closed her eyes at the memory of how terrified she had been that night, walking on the side of a dark, lonely road. She had spent the whole time envisioning all of the horrible stories that start out like that, every urban legend and cautionary tale she’d ever heard growing up had warned her against such thing. “Thank God for the woman who picked me up-Angela was her name. She picked me up, bought me to Tim Horton’s, and she talked to me over cups of herbal tea. And this stranger was the first person who ever expressed concern for my life. She gave me her phone number. She even attended my high school and college graduations. We still exchange Christmas and birthday cards.”
"I guess we both owe her a debt of gratitude."
Juliana smiled at him. “That night was the worst of my life and I promised myself that if I could just get home safely, that I would turn it around. I never wanted to feel that vulnerable again. I was lucky. So, I pulled it together, buckled down, found new friends, studied my ass off, and went to college with a partial scholarship. And I earned a business degree.”
“That’s an amazing story. I’ve seen so many people who drown in the person that they become as a teenager. They make decisions that affect the rest of their lives, and it’s too hard and too late to take them back,” he said, twisted on the couch, turning to watch her, his thigh slid against her knee again, but he didn’t attempt to move away from her.
“I’ll bet your parents are really proud of you.”
“Well, that’s certainly another story,” Juliana laughed bitterly. “They barely noticed my turn-around. Not that I did it for them. And they certainly don’t approve of the fact that I now sell coffee for a living. I'm considered an embarrassment in their hoity-toity circle. I'm not the trophy wife for some ancient businessman their friends’ daughters, my old friends, became. I haven’t spoken to my parents in four years.”
“How did you come to open Brewed Moon?”
“Sorry to disappoint, but that certainly isn't a very exciting or inspirational story. I didn’t want any financial help from my parents, and I only had a partial scholarship for school, so I desperately needed a job to help pay for university. I answered a “help wanted” ad for a café near campus. I worked there for four years and I loved it. And I discovered I had a passion for the business, so I finished my degree, and then I scrimped and saved until I had enough money to finance my own café. And I still love it." She drank from her wine glass.
“I can tell,” he told her. “You talk about that place with a passion that I haven’t heard from many. It’s great that you found a job you love.”
"Thank you. And I have," she spoke, proudly. Her cafe was her life, her baby. She had been shunned by her family, her old friends, but she had a life she loved. "I worked my ass off for all of it. It was just me for a long time. I worked open until close on my own, every day for almost a year until I could afford to hire more staff," she smiled, proud of how far she'd come, and remembering the harder times, trying to establish her business. "Azura and Erica have been with me the longest. We go way back, we were friends as kids, before I fell in with my bad crowd, that is. But now they're my best friends. And I know I wouldn't be able to do this without either of them."
"That’s so admirable, and I understand that, having only a few people in your life and trusting them with it." He nodded.
“Yeah,” Juliana agreed, and she realized that maybe she and Mitch had more in common than she’d originally thought. She carried on. “Plus, I like to be pretty hands on, so if something goes wrong, I feel like I need to be there. Even on my days off I still go down there to make sure everything is running smoothly, hang out, talk to customers, keep my eye on things.
Double Shot to the Heart (Brewed Moon Book 2) Page 9
