by Abby Brooks
“And you didn’t do anything to incite said male craziness? Take his stuff? Ruin his life?”
Juliet bristled. “Of course not.” She hadn’t finished her sandwich, but wasn’t all that interested now that the butterflies in her stomach had morphed into plain old nauseating nerves. She set it on its wrapping paper on the roof of her car and took a drink of coffee.
“Hey,” Ian said, holding out his hands, “you can’t fault me for asking.”
“No, I guess I really can’t, but can we please change the subject? First day of my new life and all that. I’d rather focus on looking forward.”
Ian stared off into the distance and Juliet took the time to try and calm down her churning stomach. All the awesomeness of starting her fancy new life was starting to wear off and all she had left was the realization that she had very little money, no job, and nowhere to stay. And to make matters worse, she was going to cry. And there was nothing worse than crying in front of anyone, let alone a man.
She swiped at her eyes and hoped he wouldn’t see, but of course he did anyway. “Oh hell, what have I done?” While he sounded totally put out, that didn’t stop him from reaching into the paper bag and pulling out some of the extra napkins Ellie had put in there. He wiped her eyes, leaning in close enough for her to smell his cologne and then stayed there even after her eyes were dry. He ran his thumb across her cheekbone and Juliet’s breath caught in her throat. Her lips parted. The muscles in her stomach clenched. It didn’t make any sense. None at all. But in this moment she thought that if Ian kissed her, she’d kiss him right back.
And then Ian pulled away and cleared his throat. “That’s settled then,” he said, as if it really was.
“What’s settled?”
“I have a place that I just got my hands on—”
Juliet started to explain yet again that she couldn’t afford it and Ian gave her a stern look.
“This isn’t up for discussion, Juliet.” The tone of his voice had her snapping her mouth shut against what she was about to say. “The bones of the house are good,” he continued, “but the whole thing needs renovating. You’ll stay there in exchange for helping to get the place ready for a real renter.”
“How much?”
“Work? Oh, it needs new paint, new floors, new cabinets, a new deck. New everything, really.”
“No. That’s not what I meant. How much for the rent?”
“I won’t take your money. Just your help.”
“It’s a house on the beach?” Juliet bit her lip, trying to hold in the excitement.
“The ocean practically touches the back door.”
“And I could live there while we fix it up? For free?”
“Oh, darlin’, it won’t be free. I’ll need your blood, sweat, and tears.”
“And you’ll be there every day, while we work on it together?”
“Every. Day.” Ian gave her the cutest little ‘what do you think’ face. “So? You gonna agree with me on this or keep me standing out here on the street?”
Juliet wanted to jump up, wrap her legs around him, and plant a great big kiss on his face. What did she think? It sounded absolutely perfect! A house on the beach. No lease agreement for Michael to trace back to her. The ability to work off her debt. And, she’d get to spend lots of time with Ian while he did manly house fixing stuff. With his shirt off. Oh, please let him spend most of the time with his shirt off.
She held out her hand and put on her New York City businesswoman face. “I believe we have a deal, Lt. Moore.”
Chapter Six
When Ian had seen those long legs standing in front of him at Good Beginnings, that dark hair swept up into a swinging ponytail, heard that sweet voice complimenting Ellie on her cafe, Ian couldn’t believe his luck. After deciding last night that he was going to stop by and check up on her this morning, he’d changed his mind once he woke up. He told himself it was because she was probably too flighty to be worth his time, but he knew it was because he wasn’t so sure he could keep himself from getting involved with her. He hadn’t been able to get her out of his head the rest of last night, his dick twitching merrily away in his tuxedo pants for the entirety of the party. As soon as he’d gotten home, he’d taken himself in his hand, stroked his hard length while envisioning his hands on her tits, his fingers playing inside her, that surprised little face she’d make when he slapped her ass…
He had come so hard thinking about her last night that he was still smiling this morning.
And now, here he was, shaking her hand, getting ready to move her into his newest property for the super low price of absolutely nothing. He took one look at her thin arms and manicured hands and knew she wouldn’t be much help with the renovations. But, he would get to spend every day with her. And she might actually have a decent head on her shoulders. And she definitely needed his help. He should have known she was running from trouble. Everything about her screamed ‘help me.’
Of course, she’d deny it if he told her. She’d been trying so hard to be strong and brave. Hell, she probably thought she was strong and brave. So much so that she’d get all offended if he let her know he could see straight through to the scared little girl inside. And it was that scared little girl that had him wanting to protect her, to give her the help she needed. To put four solid walls around her and a roof over her head so he could keep her safe.
It wouldn’t have been a big deal to let her stay in one of the already renovated rental properties, but he could tell she’d have fought him tooth and nail over that. He hated the thought of her in the rundown home he’d just agreed to get her set up in, but at least it wasn’t her car. His jaw clenched at the thought of her curled up and uncomfortable, nothing but a few thin pieces of glass between her and the world.
“Well, Ms. Lane,” he said, keeping up the formality she’d used to accept his offer, “why don’t you hop in your former abode there,” he indicated her car and was rewarded with the sweetest little giggle, “and I’ll lead you to your newest abode.”
Juliet clasped her hands behind her back and rocked up onto her toes to kiss Ian on the cheek. There was the whisper of her skin against his, the scent of her hair, the rustle of her breath moving past his ear. He wanted to grab her face in his hands and kiss her, part her lips with his tongue and taste her. She paused, frozen, so close to him.
When she finally rocked back onto her heels, he saw his lust reflected on her face, but there was also something else, too. Guilt? Fear? Yeah, that was it. Juliet was scared.
And of course she was. The whole reason she showed up in Bliss in the first place was because she was running from some asshole. Full on leaving the state kind of running. He’d noticed her plates at the rest stop last night. New York. What could possibly have happened that had her needing to put several hundred miles and almost five states between her and this guy?
Juliet smiled and hid the fear on her face and Ian didn’t let on that he’d even seen it. Confusion drew her eyebrows together and she scanned the cars parked on the street. “Where’s your car?”
Ian pointed to his truck—a Toyota Tundra TRD Pro with every single option known to man—parked right across the street. “Right where I left it.”
Her eyes lit with surprise. “Of course you have a truck. Where’s the power car?”
“Power car?” Ian knew she was talking about the M4 she’d seen him in last night, but he just wanted to hear her talk some more.
“Yeah, you know, the sleek and shiny thing you rolled up in last night. The one that says I’m a man who wields money and power and you should all show me proper respect?”
“Is that what you think it says?”
“You don’t think it says that?”
This woman was something else. Of course that’s the whole reason he chose to drive the M4 last night. He liked rolling up to his parents’ house in style. They’d been supportive when he joined the Navy, but they’d not been happy. They’d been even less happy when he was sent overseas to
fly fighters, and even less happy than that when he’d been sent home, injured, with his honorable discharge. That’s not totally true. They were distraught that he was injured, but they were over the moon thrilled to have him home and alive. Especially given the severity of his accident. It’s not every day that someone crash lands a plane and manages to walk away with no more than a back injury. Not everyone gets to be that lucky. Ian knew that all too well.
And they were just as over the moon thrilled to know his military career was over. And even though he knew that all their reticence over his chosen career came from the fact that they loved him so damn much, he’d resented not having their full support when he first enlisted. Flying planes had been his dream since before he could talk. So, when he started making money investing the income from his rental properties, he promptly bought the car just to help solidify the fact that he was okay. If there was one thing the Moore family understood, it was money.
Juliet was waiting for his response. He shrugged and brought out his best smile. “I know exactly what that car says.”
“I see, and just what, exactly, is that?”
“It says get in your car and follow my sexy truck to your new home.”
Juliet laughed and Ian opened the car door for her, shaking his head as Lulu jumped in and parked herself in the passenger seat. He practically sprinted across the street and stepped up into the truck. As he led Juliet through the streets of Bliss—out of the little section of shops and restaurants the inhabitants affectionately called downtown and through the neighborhoods to get to the more remote area where he bought his beachfront properties—Ian went through a mental checklist of Things to Do.
He’d have her sign a lease, but he wouldn’t really do anything with it. Just seemed like it be a better idea to keep this feeling like a business relationship. It was already going to be hard enough to keep his eyes off her tight little body. Well, not just his eyes. He’d like his whole body all over that tight little body.
So, the lease. He’d draw up a lease, make a few amendments to it so it was clear she owed him nothing but help on getting the place in order. He already had the utilities turned on and in his name. He didn’t think it’d take much effort to talk her into keeping them in his name. He suspected she didn’t was going to want to pay with cash for as many things as she could in an effort to stay off that asshole’s radar. She could just pay him each month and he’d pay the bill for her.
I could just keep the money in a little fund somewhere and give it back to her once she’s set up. Looks like she’s gonna need all the help she can get. Ian laughed at himself and turned on the radio. One thing at a time, Moore. How about you find out if she’s worth taking care of before you get yourself totally invested in taking care of her?
He kept an eye on her through the rearview, watched as she started bopping her head to whatever she had on the radio. Smiled as she started lip syncing. And loved it when they pulled up to a stop light and Juliet lifted her hands from the wheel, dancing in her seat and clearly singing at the top of her lungs. So much joy in that girl. A lot of it was hiding right now. Hiding under whatever fear she carried with her out the city. Or at least, he assumed she came from the city. Something about her screamed high-octane lifestyle. She was too comfortable shaking hands with a man. Her strong grip practiced, but not natural. He envisioned her wearing tight little gray suits, hair slicked back into some kind of militant bun. He liked this version of her better. Hair down and singing in the sunshine.
He finished the drive with his eyes mostly on her and pulled into the driveway of the little two story rental that Juliet was going to call home. It wasn’t much now, it truly needed a new everything, but he could see through the problem areas to what it was going to be when he was done with it.
Juliet was already out of her car, running up towards the front door with its wrap around porch, but she stopped short and just stared. As Ian climbed out of the truck, she lifted her face to the sky and spread her arms out to the side. Turned in a circle, eyes closed, white dress flaring out around her gorgeous legs. She came to a stop and beamed up at him.
“Oh, Ian,” she breathed. “It’s perfect.”
As she turned back to stare at the house, Ian had to admit, it really was.
Chapter Seven
Ian left her to unpack while he went to go get a lease drawn up and Juliet wandered the house, pinching herself from time to time to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. It definitely needed work. Lots and lots of work. But, she could just see what it was going to be when they were done with it. Almost every room had floor to ceiling windows and the ones in the living room and master bedroom looked out over the beach. The kitchen was super dated and the stove could use one heck of a cleaning, but it had ample cabinet space and even more windows.
Juliet laughed. Ample cabinet space for all the stuff she didn’t have to put in them. Oh well, those things, the material things, she’d gather more of that along the way. For right now, she had all that needed and that was more than enough. Well, she thought, let’s not take that positivity too far. Because right now, you don’t have a couch or a bed and that’s definitely gonna suck.
Determined not to let anything ruin her mood, she reminded herself that she at least had a roof over her head. “I’ll figure out the furniture thing soon enough,” she said to Lulu who perked her little ears and cocked her head to the side. “Maybe someone will have a yard sale or something. Or I could check out a Goodwill.” Now that she wasn’t going to have to use her money on rent each month, she had just a little more disposable income. If she could even find a decent couch, that’d serve as a bed, too, until she was more settled.
It took her all of four trips to bring her stuff into the house. She opened up the box labeled Kitchen and pulled out the dishes that Michael wouldn’t let her unpack at his penthouse. It felt really damn good to slide them up into a cabinet near the sink. Same thing with her silverware and the chunky coffee mug she’d bought from a street vendor when she’d first moved to the city. This stuff might not cost thousands of dollars, might not be fine china or name brand anything, but it was hers and that meant a lot.
The few clothes she’d brought with her looked silly hanging in the monster closet. Didn’t matter if she spread them all out or bunched them together, it just looked sparse. She looked around the empty master bedroom. Looks like sparse was going to be her new normal.
She laughed and it echoed in the vast room. The vast room with huge potential. It needed new paint, and the hardwood floors were damaged under the massive window, but paint was easy. And she bet that Ian knew what to do about the floor. She could just see some gauzy white fabric draped around the window, pooling on the floor and framing the view to the ocean. She’d angle her bed so it was the last thing she saw each night and the first thing she saw each morning.
There was only one thing left to do before she could consider herself completely moved in. She bounded down the stairs, and out the front door, crossed the sun-scorched porch and took the steps two at a time. Lulu chased after her, barking in confusion at her excitement.
The houseplant she’d had since college was in the backseat, probably wilting in the heat. She yanked open the car door and picked the thing off the floor behind the driver’s seat. It had started as just a little shoot of a plant in a pot that fit on her desk near her computer. Now, it was almost waist high and in a pot so heavy, Juliet grunted with effort as she pulled it out of the car. It would go right under the windows in the living room, so that when she looked out towards the water, she could see her old life and her new life at the same time.
The pot hit the ground with a heavy thunk and the leaves shook with the impact. With a gentle heave, Juliet slid the thing into place and stood back to admire her handiwork. Not bad, if she did say so herself.
“So,” came a voice behind her, “what do you think?”
Juliet whirled and her heart stuttered when she saw the shape of a man in the door she’d left open while
dealing with the plant. Logic told her it was Ian, but fear told her it was Michael and it took her a second to get logic and emotion on the same page.
“I love it,” she said. “I mean, I know it needs work, but I can just see what it’s going to be when we’re done, you know? Those windows! And the wrap around porch. And the kitchen … Ian, it’s a dream come true.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far quite yet. You haven’t seen the work we’ll have to do to get us from where we are to where we’re going.”
“I’m not afraid of a little hard work.” She couldn’t wait to show him how much help she could be. She could do the painting in the evenings while he wasn’t here. And she might not have done a lot of construction work in the past, but she was a fast learner and not afraid to sweat. He only needed to tell her what to do and she’d be there, ready to help.
“We’ll see how you feel about that tomorrow afternoon.”
Clearly, Ian was going to need some convincing as to her worthiness as an assistant. “Never underestimate a girl who’s survived in the city for more than a year and hasn’t started talking to inanimate objects yet. You gotta have some fight in you to survive that place.”
“I don’t doubt it. But Juliet?” Her heart surged to hear him say her name. “You talk to that little dog all the time.”
“That’s not the same!”
Ian pushed off the wall and sauntered over to drop some paperwork on the kitchen counter. “Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. I’m just saying, maybe you’re not as tough as you think you are.”
Juliet made a face. He was trying to be silly, and she wouldn’t dare show him that he’d hurt her feelings, but he’d touched a nerve. That’s all she ever heard in the business world. You’ve gotta be tough. Don’t let them see you cry. Be stronger than the strongest man. She’d taken all that advice to heart and built a totally impenetrable wall of sturdy resilience around herself and donned it each morning like armor. She’d show Ian Moore just how tough she could be.
