by Hailey Smoke
I smiled and saw him smile in return. “Henry it is.”
We made the few minutes drive to Andy’s and quickly grabbed an empty table. We placed our order then went back to our interrupted conversation.
“I was born hearing about this feud between our families. Our grandfathers did not get along at all. The story of how your grandfather cheated mine is told every time I’m home for Christmas.” He pushed his sleeves further up his forearms, and I was treated to the view of lovely dark hair. There was something about a man with hair that I liked.
“At least you heard it only once a year. Every time Christopher came home with another story about what your wench of a sister had done to him in school, the whole cheating saga was rehashed yet again.”
“What story have you been told? Let us see if it matches mine.”
“Both our grandfathers put up capital to attempt a merger of the hotel and restaurant services. The ‘Arleigh bastard’ went behind his back and took out all the funds. The accountant uncovered the theft and told my grandfather what yours had done. He confronted him, and he denied it. They split shortly afterward and took the matter to court. End of story. Let’s hear your version.”
“It’s the same as yours. The only difference is that it was your grandfather who wronged mine. Again, thanks to the sharp eyes of Edgar, the theft was discovered.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Don’t you find it uncanny that the same accountant told both men the same story. I wonder if…”
He narrowed his eyes. “Wonder if what?”
“Let’s examine the facts that we have. Money went missing. Each partner thought the other had taken it from the account. Both accused each other. Both got their story from a third party. A third party they both trusted and did not think of revealing as the source of their information. How did no one see it this way before?”
He shrugged. “I guess both families have been so caught up in the next episode of the feud, us working together, that no one has ever thought to look into the matter any deeper.”
I leaned back in my seat. “Wow! And just like that, I think we’ve solved the feud. I do believe the accountant did it.”
He laughed. “That sounds plausible. But I, for one, am not going to bring it up at the family dinner on Tuesday.”
I gave him a weird look. “We have a family dinner on Tuesdays too. Christopher comes over, and all four of us have a lovely evening together. Sometimes, afterward, I remind Chris who was the MVP for her basketball team throughout high school.”
“I knew you had that look.”
“What look?”
“Like a girl who knows her way around a basketball court. Maybe one of these days we can take to the court. I played a bit in my time.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but our meal arrived. We dug in hungrily, and in no time, our plates were clean and taken away. We chatted for a little while longer, and I got the feeling that a wall between us had come down. I found Henry to be a genuinely lovely person, and that knee-jerk attraction I had felt at the door returned in full force.
A yawn caught me out of nowhere, and I saw him check his watch.
“Wow! It’s nearly eleven! I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize it was this late. Let’s get you home. Do you have any errands to run for the weekend, or will you be fine without your car? I could play chauffeur.” He quirked an eyebrow at me.
I laughed. “The offer is appreciated. But I can borrow mum’s or dad’s if I have to go on the road. Besides, just because we aren’t at war any more doesn’t mean the family isn’t. Tonight it can be hidden in the dark, but can you imagine picking me up or dropping me off in the light of day? We would be disinherited and exiled faster than either of us could say Hudson-Arleigh.”
He nodded. “You have a point.”
“Thank you for making the offer, though.”
“No problem. Let’s get going, shall we.”
We walked to the almost deserted parking lot of the restaurant. It was a quick ten-minute drive home with random conversation. I gave him directions and, he soon pulled up at my gate. He looked down the driveway.
“I’m not letting you walk all that way in, Juliet.”
“The gate code is 246478.” He was about to wind down his window, and I stopped him.
“Cameras. I’ll get out and punch it in.”
I punched in the code, and the gate opened slowly. He drove up the driveway and stopped in front of the double doors. I gathered my belongings then reached across to shake his hand. He had a firm grip.
“Thanks for coming to my rescue, Henry. It is appreciated.” I attempted to remove my hand, but he tightened his grip. In the semi-darkness of the cab, he met and held my gaze, then slowly raised my hand to his lips.
“Fare thee well, milady. It was no doubt an honor to come to the rescue of such a pretty damsel in distress.”
I laughed softly. “My hero!”
He smiled and slowly allowed my hand to slip from his. With a feeling of reluctance that I tried to hide, I stepped out of the truck. It would not have been wise for his face to show up on any of our security cameras. I stood on the front steps as the truck drove off down the driveway. I watched as the gate swung open, and the taillights disappeared into the darkness.
With a heavy sigh, I made my way inside and up to my room. I undressed and was just about to hop into the shower when I heard my cell phone chime. My heart skipped a beat as I picked up the phone. It started racing when I saw the text from Henry.
I’m home safely.
My finger moved like lightning as I typed a response.
That’s excellent. Rest well.
I waited to see if he would answer, my heart pounding loudly in my ears. I felt my hand grow clammy when my phone chimed again.
Thanks and the same to you. See you on Monday, Juliet.
I felt as if I was floating on a cloud when I headed to the shower. My thoughts were still on the evening that had passed and the wonder of it. Who would have thought that a Hudson and a Arleigh could be friendly toward each other? I sighed as I closed my eyes. My last thoughts were of my tall, black-haired blue-eyed hero.
8
Henry
As soon as I opened my eyes on Saturday, I called the tow truck company. A brief conversation made the arrangements for the car to be taken to my mechanic. I made another call to my mechanic and gave further instructions for not only the changing of the battery, but a full service, interior cleaning and exterior wash, and wax. I asked them to ensure that the car would be ready by sometime on Monday and delivered to the campus.
After that, I made a few calls and sent a few emails. My last text was to Juliet, reminding her that she would have her vehicle back on Monday and therefore needed to either take a taxi or get a ride to school on Monday. She responded that she would be dropped off by her brother. I felt a slight twinge of disappointment, as I had thought for a split second that I could have offered. But when I thought about the probability of being recognized in the light of day, I concurred with her choice.
Throughout the rest of the weekend, snippets of Friday night played over and over in my head. She had this way of tilting her head when she was deep in thought or about to give a rather intense response. Her eyes were back to being warm liquid pools of honey, and each time I looked into them, I felt as if I wanted to lean in closer just to look into her eyes. I had caught myself several times as I was about to do that. I had to remember there were several factors at play: our families and our professional statuses. In hindsight, I realized we should have probably taken our meal to go and eaten in my truck. Who knows who had seen us out together off-campus? On the campus during work hours was plausible, but what could the reason be for this time on a Friday night? I decided not to worry about it and deal with any consequences if push came to shove.
I spent the rest of the weekend finally unpacking and settling into my space for the next three months. I could have easily rented an apartment but thought it better to just stay
at home for the three months. I would get to spend some quality time with my parents, especially if I did not extend my stay, and I packed up and moved back to my home at the end of the semester. I had someone house sitting and feeding my dogs and watering my garden while I was away.
All too soon, Monday morning came, and I hastened to work. I had a little quickness in my steps as I had seen Juliet’s car in the parking lot. I had been specific enough to describe where it was to be parked. As I entered the foyer, I stopped by the receptionist’s desk.
“Good morning, Professor Arleigh. I have a delivery for you.”
I gave her a broad smile. “I must be psychic. I knew you were going to say that.”
She handed me an envelope, and I thanked her and continued to the office. I was pleased to see that Juliet had not yet arrived. I set the coffee pot and took out two mugs. I could only hope that being picked up by her brother would mean that she would not be able to stop for the coffee she came in with each morning.
The coffee had just started to perk when the door opened. I looked up and smiled and felt my heart lurch the tiniest bit when she smiled back. This morning she wore a dark green dress, which was a perfect contrast to her bright hair, which hung in a braid down her back. It was not tight but hugged her curves in all the right places without being too revealing. It stopped just at her knee, and for the first time, I was treated to the sight of the graceful curve of her calves. Brown low-heeled pumps completed her look.
“Good morning, Juliet. I trust you had a good weekend?”
“I did, Henry. Thank you for asking. How was yours?”
I enjoyed the way my name rolled off her tongue. “It was good. I finally finished unpacking, and I can now settle in for the next eleven weeks. The coffee is freshly perked. I figured you wouldn’t be able to stop this morning, so I made enough for two.”
Her smile grew even brighter, and I felt the insane desire to step closer. I stayed where I was, knowing that the closer I got physically, the closer I would want to get physically.
“I’ll take it black, please.”
I poured two mugs as she sat at her desk. I walked over and handed one to her before taking my usual spot against my desk with my feet stretched out to hers. I watched as she took a sip and closed her eyes. I smile at the pleasure that was evident on her face. She opened her eyes and peered into the mug before taking another sip. She gave a soft moan, which caught me off guard as I felt a rush in my loins at the look on her face, which accompanied the moan. It sent my thoughts to places they had no business being.
“What is this? I’ve never tasted coffee like this before.”
“I get my beans from the Caribbean. I roast and grind them myself. This blend is from a pea-berry batch.”
“Pea-berry? What’s that? I thought coffee was just coffee.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Do you mean there is something I can teach the genius, also known as Juliet Hudson? Wow! Who would have thought there was something you don’t know? I look forward to being your instructor in the was of coffee. But another time. We have just a few minutes before class.”
We finished our coffee in silence. I took her mug, and our fingers brushed slightly. It reminded me of when I had gripped her elbow as well as held her hand Friday night. I did not want the contact to end. I leaned over and placed the mugs on my desk then reached for the envelope. I took out her car key and reached across to her.
“The car is in your usual parking spot, good as new.”
Her eyes lit up when she saw her keys. Then she did something completely unexpected. I was caught off-guard as she leaped out of her seat in the space of a few seconds and launched herself at me. I felt her arms go around me, and I went still. For the few seconds that it lasted, I felt the press of her body against mine and was hard-pressed not to squeeze her body against mine and crush my lips against hers.
“Thank you so much. What’s my bill?” She pulled back and went back to her desk, picking up her bag.
“No charge. Call it payment for the horrible things I did to you last week.”
“So, you do admit that you were a tyrant.”
“Tyrant is such a strong word.” I chuckled as I walked to my desk and slipped on my jacket.
We picked up our respective belongings and headed to class. As I walked behind her, I reflected on how different it had been last week Monday when I had been determined to catch her in the slightest fault. Now, it felt as if we were friends.
We fell into a comfortable pattern after that. As promised, but with much reluctance on my part, by the third week, she was going to classes independently. In one of our deliberations, I proposed that she try her hand at one of my tutorial sessions as well. I made the point that if she wanted to be a rounded lecturer, she had to be able to handle tutorials as well. She agreed, and I added one freshman tutorial group to her schedule. I could hardly wait to get back to the office to give her my evaluation.
“That was an excellent session, Juliet. Are you sure you haven’t done this before? This is your first time being TA?”
“This is my first time being a TA.”
“Well, I guess you earned those straight A’s you’ve had all your life fair and square.”
She tilted her head to the side as she looked at me. “How do you know I’ve had straight A’s all my life? Has someone been snooping, Henry?”
I had the grace to look ashamed. “Snooping is such a strong word. I prefer the term ‘research’. I wanted to know the mettle of the person under my supervision.”
“And what did you discover of my mettle?”
“That you can handle anything that I may throw at you. Like you handled that tutorial session just now.”
She smiled, and I was treated to her dimples, which I had seen quite often.
“Well, since we’re being honest about our ‘research’, I looked you up as well. You are quite an achiever yourself, Professor Henry Arleigh.”
I arched an eyebrow. “And what did you find that brought you to that conclusion?” I took a seat on the edge of her desk, and before we knew it, an hour had slipped by in a jiffy. We found that we had several things in common as it related to our academic history. We also had similar goals for our future. As I went to my next tutorial and she went to hers, I thought to myself that this assignment was quite possibly one of the best things that had ever happened to me.
The whole issue of working with the ‘Hudson girl’ came up once or twice at dinner. Each time I brushed it aside and made allusions to the fact that the job was getting done, and that was what was necessary. I kept my revised opinion about Juliet to myself.
One day as we passed the one-month mark, I realized that we were almost at the halfway point. Juliet and I had been getting along fine in every possible way, and we had fallen into a natural rapport. But I was starting to realize that I wanted more. I wanted to see her outside of our job. Apart from the first evening after her car trouble, we had never been together outside the office or classes. As always, I had to think about the implications. She had taken to eating her lunch in the office with me, but still, I wanted to be outside the space with her. And so, I took the bull by the horns.
I waited until we were both back in the office, and it drew close to lunchtime. It was Thursday, and we usually went light. When she took up her purse to go, I shrugged into my jacket and stood. She turned and looked at me, her eyes questioning.
“It’s a beautiful day. I think we should eat lunch outside today.”
I saw the play of emotions from uncertainty to excitement. We exited the office, and, as I held the door open for her, I got a sense of Deja Vu. This was, after all, where we had first met. At that moment, she turned and smiled up at me. There was no need for her to say anything. She remembered that day as well. We stepped out, and the warmth of the Spring day greeted us. We walked to one of our favorite campus delis and placed our orders. We picked up and quickly found a spot on one of the many benches around the campus. We laughed and joked as w
e ate, picking at each other’s plates as we had become accustomed to doing. All too soon, the hour ended, and we headed back inside. Eating outside became something we now did twice a week.
All too soon, the mid-term was upon us. A status report on the project was due. Juliet and I had anticipated it and had been working on it assiduously for at least two weeks. But perfectionists that we were found us still at the office on Tuesday evening at the start of the mid-term break. The report was due the following Monday. We both had plans for the break and had opted to put in late hours rather than work during the break.
It was nearly eight when Juliet went in search of a vending machine. I had emptied the mini-fridge the day before, as I did not want to leave anything in it for close to a week. I had been working around the clock even after she left most evenings, and it was beginning to show on me. Still, I had soldiered on with the report. My sleeves had been rolled up all evening, and I had long disposed of my tie.
My head was bent and so engrossed was I in the task that I almost jumped when I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder. I looked up to find Juliet standing over me. She held out a pack of chips and a can of soda.
“This was the best I could find, but I think the sugar rush will help.”
Silently we ate the chips and drank the soda. I got back to work while she finished her snack. When she got up to take my garbage, I looked up.
“You can go home. I can finish up from here.”
She reached out and gently squeezed my shoulder. “We will finish it together. Many hands make the work light.” Reflexively, her hand went to my forehead to brush aside a lock of hair that had fallen there.
It could have been the gentle touch of her hand or the attraction that had been simmering beneath the surface for weeks now, but one minute I was seated with her hand at my brow, and the next I was on my feet.
Gently I pulled her to me, giving her the chance to resist. I felt no hesitation as I drew her into my embrace. The first touch of my lips on hers was slow and timid. If, at that moment, I had sensed any resistance, I would have released her. Instead, I felt her lips move beneath mine, and it was a lost cause. My arms circled her slender waist as I lost no time in leaning against my desk, pulling her to stand between my legs. I felt her arms go around my neck, and her mouth opened beneath mine. Our groans mingled as our lips met. I explored the warm cavern of her mouth with my tongue, drinking in her taste. I nibbled at her lips and felt her tremble. My hands skimmed her back and came up to tangle in her bun. I dug my fingers in, and it soon came loose. My mouth devoured hers once more. Suddenly, the squeaking of a cart caught our ears. The janitor! By the time the janitor entered, we were at our desks, hard at work.
