Setting down her drink, she climbed up onto the counter. Then she reached for the top cupboard. The one Reuben would never guess she’d use, and opened it.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Turning, she saw Brick striding into the room, a scowl set on his face. But then again, when didn’t the man scowl?
“Get down.”
She shook her head. She didn’t have her chocolate yet. She reached back into the cupboard, searching around with her hand. Where was it?
Two big hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her down to the floor. Juliet glared up at him, hands on her hips.
Brick glared back. “Were you trying to break your neck?”
Yes. Yes, of course, that had been what she’d been doing.
He must have seen some of her sarcasm in her face because his eyes narrowed and he pointed at the counter. “No climbing onto things.”
She grabbed her whiteboard.
How else can I reach up there?
“How about you ask me to get it?”
And what about when he wasn’t here? Well, she guessed once he left, then his rules were no longer in effect.
There’s a bag of chocolate up there. Can you please get it?
She added a sugary sweet smile to her request.
“Why is there chocolate up there?”
She just stared at him. Was he getting it or not? She wasn’t in the mood for twenty questions.
Even he had to go onto tiptoes, but he grabbed the bag and she nearly clapped her hands in delight.
He read the front of the bag. “Two pieces of chocolate have the same amount of caffeine as one cup of coffee.”
She attempted to snatch the bag from his hand, but he held it above her head.
Oh, he didn’t just do that. The jerk.
He pointed at her iced mocha. “You can’t have that drink and this chocolate.”
Why not?
She held out her hand and tapped her foot.
You’re not my doctor.
He scowled then handed over the bag. She grabbed a piece of chocolate and then offered him some.
He shook his head. His loss. This stuff was gold. She ate a piece then washed it down with her mocha.
“That’s not your breakfast.”
Was that a question or a statement?
He moved over to the fridge and drew out some eggs. “Sit. I’ll make you an omelet.”
She sighed. No, thank you.
He glanced at the whiteboard. “Wasn’t a question.”
She refrained from stomping her foot. It was hard. She never stomped her foot. She never lost her temper. She always did what others wanted.
Well, mostly.
She wasn’t sure how often the sheriff had lectured her on riding her bike in winter. And Noah was always telling her off for coming to the bar in the dark on her own for quiz nights.
She watched him cracking eggs expertly. He could cook?
Somehow, he must have sensed the question. Or maybe he just wanted to fill the silence. That’s why she and Kiesha worked well together. Kiesha never shut up, and Juliet barely spoke.
“Sterling is the best cook. I can make breakfast and that’s about it.” He opened the fridge again, frowning. “Sterling grabbed some groceries for us. Looks like he needs to get you some. There’s nothing in here. Guess it’s just a cheese omelet.”
I don’t want the omelet.
“You need something in your stomach other than that.” He gave the coffee drink a disparaging stare.
Why?
“Because you’re so tiny, a stiff wind would knock you over.”
She couldn’t actually argue with him since that had happened once. She’d flown into a building and got bruises all up her side. Reuben had nearly had a cow. He’d bugged Xavier into checking on her every day for two weeks.
But she wasn’t going to tell Brick any of that.
Would not.
Yes, she was completely aware her reply was childish. However, she didn’t have a clever comeback. She might be smart, but communication obviously wasn’t her forte.
He plated up the omelet and took it to the island. He stood there, arms crossed. She stared back then with a sigh, gave in, and climbed onto the stool.
“Eat,” he said gruffly.
Knowing she’d feel rude if she didn’t try it, she cut off a piece and slid it into her mouth. Then she washed it down with a mouthful of cold, sweet coffee. It wasn’t that it tasted bad, Juliet just had a tough time eating in the mornings.
Well, a lot of the time.
He shifted around on his feet, clearing his throat a few times. He seemed nervous, but that couldn’t be right.
“Look, I know this is hard,” he said, surprising her. “Us invading your space. We’ll try to keep out of the way as much as possible.”
Shit. Why did that make her feel bad? She bit her lower lip. They seemed like nice enough guys.
It’s okay. I know you just have a job to do.
Which was the only reason he was here.
“Your brother wanted one of us in the house, so Elias has moved into the second floor. But you don’t need to hide in your room, he’ll give you space.”
She didn’t want him to think she’d been hiding.
I wasn’t hiding. I like spending time in my room.
He frowned. “Do you have another kitchen up there? What about getting fresh air? Vitamin D?”
I cracked a window and took a vitamin.
He gave her a skeptical look. She just stared back innocently.
“Eat.” He pointed at the omelet. Drat, she thought she’d pulled his attention away from the fact that she wasn’t actually eating. With a sigh, she took another small bite.
“Did you read all the instructions and rules I sent back to you? Any questions?”
No.
She had no questions because she hadn’t read the rules. Angelique and Missy had been playing up, and she hadn’t been in the mood for rules.
“How is your foot? Are you up to work today? Did you rebandage it? What about your hand?”
She gave him a frustrated look. Which question did he want her to answer first? With a huge sigh, she wrote on the whiteboard.
Fine. Yes. Yes. Fine.
He gave her a narrowed look. “Strange world where I’m the verbose one.”
She flinched. She didn’t think he meant it as a criticism. But it still hurt.
“Why don’t you speak? Is it a medical condition?” he asked.
She thought about that then nodded. She guessed it was. Of a sort. Slipping off the stool at the island, she scraped the omelet off into the garbage disposal.
“Juliet, I didn’t mean—”
“Right, are we ready to go,” Elias’ cheerful voice filled the room.
Thank the Lord. Grabbing another coffee, she turned and headed towards him, not looking at Brick.
And he didn’t say anything.
Which said it all, really.
He was a total creeper.
There was no other way to describe the fact that he was standing to the side of the window, staring out at where Juliet and Elias were headed towards Elias’ truck.
She looked stiff and unsure.
It was a good idea letting Elias take her to work. He just kept putting his foot in his mouth and making things between them worse.
Yes. This was the best idea.
So why was he standing here like a creeper, watching her? Why had he spent most of the weekend worrying about her? Fuck. He had to concentrate on the job. Sterling was sleeping after being up on shift all night. He needed to get some shit done.
Not worry over their client.
Who was currently refusing to get in Elias’ truck. For someone who couldn’t communicate verbally, she sure did make what she wanted known. Even without her whiteboard. Which she hadn’t taken with her. How did she get on in day-to-day life? Did she use sign language? Maybe he should learn some.
Urgh. Creeper.
He watched as she shook her head again and walked around Elias towards the garage. What the hell was she doing?
When she came out pushing a bike, he tensed.
Oh, hell no.
Not happening.
He had clearly stated in the rules he’d sent her that she wasn’t going to be able to use her bike for transportation and would be driven everywhere by them, in one of their vehicles.
Hadn’t she read the rules?
She shook her head while Elias spoke.
God damn it. She hadn’t read the rules. And when he’d asked her just before if she had, she had blatantly lied to him.
Wait . . . she didn’t though, did she? She simply didn’t answer him.
Oh, the sneaky brat.
His temper sparked. If she wasn’t prepared to follow the rules, then she wouldn’t be going anywhere.
He stormed out of the house, heading their way. Elias saw him coming and shook his head. He ignored him, though, glaring down at the bratty girl. Who was again wearing black. Did she wear black all the time? It looked terrible on her.
“You didn’t read the rules.”
She gave him a wary look that he hated. He didn’t want her scared of him. He stopped a few feet away so he wasn’t looming over her. Much as he wanted to. He also wanted to put his foot up on the truck’s tailgate, then draw her over his thigh and spank her ass.
He was damn proud of his self-restraint.
Instead of shaking her or pulling her over his knee, he put on a professional air.
“In the rules, it clearly states that you can no longer ride your bike until the danger has passed. If you need to go somewhere, one of us will drive you in one of our vehicles. Now, go put the bike away and get in the car.”
There. That was said calmly. Behind him, he thought he heard Elias mutter the word idiot, but he had to have misheard that.
If he’d expected her to immediately do what she was told, well, turns out he was mistaken. This girl was full of surprises. She scowled up at him instead.
Then she shook her head.
“Yes.”
Another shake. She pointed at the bike then went to climb onto it. His temper fired.
“No,” he shot out at her, placing his hand on the handlebars.
Elias sighed.
Brick glared at him. What was his problem?
“If you want to leave, you’re going in the truck. I’m sorry, but we can’t keep you safe on your bike.”
He’d thought her brother said she was shy and quiet and would give them no trouble.
Huh, seemed he didn’t know his sister well at all. She was causing him no end of trouble. But instead of giving him attitude, her face grew blank. There was an air of sadness around her that he didn’t understand. Disappointment filled her face, and he suddenly felt like a complete ass. He couldn’t back down, it was safer for her to ride in the truck. But for some reason, he really wanted to.
He opened his mouth to say something else, something that might wipe away that blank look when she tugged the bike from his hold. Surprised, he let go. She wheeled it back into the garage then walked out, her gaze on her feet. Opening the door to the truck, she climbed in.
The urge to apologize, to soothe her, was riding him hard, but he pushed it down. She was the client. This was to keep her safe.
That was what was important. Right?
9
Juliet pushed the cart of books down the aisle, shelving the last few.
She’d been at work for hours and she was still obsessing over what happened earlier. Not being able to ride her bike wherever she needed to go felt like losing a limb. She knew people thought she was crazy for riding everywhere. But she loved riding her bike. It was one of the few times that she felt normal. Carefree.
And that had been taken away from her. As well as her privacy. Her ability to make her own decisions. Everything was getting on top of her, and it had been less than seventy-two hours since they arrived.
Please let Reuben get this sorted quickly.
Because she didn’t know how much she could handle.
“Hey, it’s lunchtime. You usually go out for lunch or something?” Elias asked with a hopeful smile.
She shook her head. Her lunch was the protein bar in her handbag. But she guessed that going halves on a protein bar wasn’t going to fill the big guy up. He looked like he ate a lot of food.
Grabbing her phone from her pocket, she typed a message.
I have lunch with me. There’s a diner down the next block if you want to go get something.
Elias huffed out a breath, grimacing briefly. “Not the way it works, doll. If you’re here, so am I. My fault for not asking you about the food situation before we left.”
No. Her fault for not telling him.
Let me get my bag and go to the bathroom, then we’ll go.
Elias shot her a relieved grin. “If you insist.”
She just shook her head at him and they walked into the break room. She grabbed her bag from her locker.
“Juliet, have you finished shelving those books yet?”
She glanced up with a sigh as Gladys walked in. Gladys was four years older than her and loved to pretend she was in charge. Juliet mostly ignored her. Like right now, when she didn’t bother to look around as she searched through her bag to make sure she’d brought her wallet with her. Now that they were going to the diner, she was in the mood for a chocolate milkshake.
“I know you can hear me, you’re not deaf. Just fucking rude.”
“Hey!” Elias said in a sharp voice she’d never heard from him.
Juliet glanced over at him in surprise.
“Who are you?” Gladys asked. “What are you doing back here? Juliet, you’re not supposed to bring customers back here.”
“I’m not a customer,” Elias said. “I’m Juliet’s bodyguard. And I’m going to have to ask you to step away from Juliet.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll be forced to step in.”
“I’ll be telling Darin about this. You can’t bring a bodyguard to work just because you’re paranoid, Juliet. No one is after you. God, nobody even notices that you’re here most of the time. You just blend into the background.”
Juliet spun and Gladys took a step back with a gasp. She knew it wasn’t nice to smile at the other woman’s fear. But then, she didn’t always claim to be nice. As she stepped forward, Gladys was forced to move back.
Elias moved with her, frowning at Gladys.
To her surprise, as she walked out of the library, she realized she’d worked up an appetite.
Juliet hugged Missy and lay on her bed, sucking her pacifier.
She’d changed into her Halloween onesie, since that was her favorite holiday. It had pictures of pumpkins with carved faces on them. She’d put on her ruffly panties. And she was rubbing her blankie under her nose as she sucked on the pacifier. She’d chosen Missy to cuddle since Angelique was in time-out.
Angelique could be such a bitch.
Sometimes she thought she’d be happier if she could permanently be in Little space. Of course, she’d still have to do things like order her food and clean and other adult stuff. She wasn’t really good at remembering to do things like bathe or eat or drink water when she was in Little headspace either.
Gladys had been a bitch today. After getting back from lunch, Juliet hadn’t been feeling great. She’d ended up giving her burger to Roger, the homeless guy in the park.
Once they’d gotten back to the library, she found that Gladys had left her a list of jobs that she knew Juliet would hate. Once, she’d tried to get close to her, but Elias had stepped between them.
Why had she let Gladys get to her?
She sucked harder on her pacifier.
Her phone buzzed with a text. Reuben checking in on her. Then another came through from Kiesha. Then Isa.
Okay, so she needed to remember that she had friends. She wasn’t on her own anymore. Gladys might be a bitch, but she co
uldn’t truly hurt her.
She replied to everyone then brought up Xavier’s contact. She shouldn’t bother him. He was busy. But, she was upset and she wanted to hear his voice. Besides, if she told Reuben or Brick what a cow Gladys was being, they’d likely go all psycho on her. Xavier was more level-headed.
* * *
Juliet: U have time 2 talk?
Xavier: Let me go somewhere private.
* * *
Her phone soon buzzed with a video call. She hastily tugged out her pacifier, putting it down before answering.
Then he was there, smiling down the phone at her. His eyes narrowed in concern.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said cheerfully. “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”
“You can interrupt me anytime.”
That was so sweet. She smiled at him.
“But you weren’t interrupting anything. Just my mother lecturing me about my job, my life choices. All of that crap.”
“Oh, Xavy, I’m so sorry. How did today go?”
“I took Mother to her appointment today. Now, we just have to wait on the biopsy result.”
The poor guy looked exhausted. And he was asking her if she was okay?
“Is there anything I can do?” she asked.
“Distract me. Tell me about your day.”
Hm. What could she tell him that would cheer him up?
“Roger’s got a new sweatshirt. Kiesha got it for him.”
“Oh Lord, what does it have on it?” he asked.
“Well, it’s black then in neon written along the front it says: Sarcasm and orgasm. Two things most people don’t get.”
Xavier huffed out a laugh. And she grinned, pleased she’d amused him.
“Kiesha is trouble.”
“She’s so much fun, though. I wish I was brave and funny like she is.”
“You’re perfect just the way you are,” Xavier told her firmly.
She didn’t reply. Because that just wasn’t true.
“Juliet,” he said in a low voice. “I want you to repeat this after me. I am perfect the way I am.”
“Xavy,” she sighed.
“Uh-uh. Don’t Xavy me. Repeat it.”
“I am perfect the way I am.”
Her Daddies’ Saving Grace Page 7
