Irresistible You

by Celeste O. Norfleet

  Juliet looked around nodding, “Not bad, what’s he do?”

  “He owns a few antique shops.”

  “This is gorgeous,” she picked up a beautiful gold inlaid vase, “business must be good.”

  “It’s very good.”

  “So, you don’t live in New York, you don’t live here, where do you live?”

  “Actually I did live in New York for about six years. I had an apartment on the Upper East Side. I just sold it.”

  “If you had an apartment why’d you go to the hotel that night?”

  “I got stuck in traffic. There was an accident and my car was jammed in without any expectation of being freed any time soon. Traffic wasn’t moving and I wasn’t walking forty blocks to my apartment, so a hotel room seemed like a good idea at the time.”

  She nodded. “So where exactly is home for you?”

  “I have a place in Virginia Beach.”

  “On the beach?” she asked, he nodded yes. “You’re beach bum, I love it?” She laughed. “I knew it, I knew there had to be someplace in your life where you were totally free to be yourself.”

  “Is that Old Town for you?”

  “Yeah, that’s home for me, it’s where I grew up.”

  “Come on, I’ll give you an abbreviated tour.” The first stop was the lower level. A two-stall garage, mini gym, laundry and game rooms were loaded with every imaginable activity.

  The next level up was the main entrance with a large foyer, glamorously adorned living room and eat-in kitchen. Rich dark mahogany and deep green and blue hues extended from the vestibule through to the formal dining room and full kitchen which were all professionally decorated and accented with the finest antiques.

  Above that floor were two spacious bedrooms complete with Jacuzzi bathrooms attached to each and a small library and home office. And the top floor was an elegant master bedroom with attached balcony, and alcove seating area.

  The home was beautiful. They went back to the second floor. J.T. checked diner in the kitchen and Juliet stood and marveled at the scenic view from the living room balcony. To the left was King Street and its festive atmosphere, to the right was serene majesty of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and straight ahead the Potomac River lay before her. She could have stood at the spot the rest of her life. It was perfect. Her with J.T., she was in her own personal heaven, she was in love.

  Her heart slammed against her chest as the realization continued to dawn on her. She was in love. For the first time in her life this was the real thing and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it. So what, she was in love, she’d get over it eventually.

  J.T. came out and stood behind her slowly running his hands up and down her arms then he encircled her nuzzling her neck. They stood in silence looking out at the dark star studded sky. “Did you ever wonder how we ended up like we did?” he asked.

  “In a hotel room together?”

  “No.”

  “A dancer?” she asked.

  “No,” J.T. paused. “Alone, looking for someone special to share our lives with, someone to love,” he looked down at her tenderly.

  She turned to him. “What makes you think that’s what I’m looking for?”

  “Aren’t you? Aren’t we all?”

  “My mother was in love until the day she died, still heartbroken over my father.”

  “But you see yourself differently, don’t you?”

  “Yes. I’m nothing like my mother I don’t mind being alone. It’s what I’m good at.

  “How can you not mind being alone, not having someone to wake up to every morning, someone to share your joys and troubles, someone to have children with and grow old with?”

  Juliet looked away. “You mean someone to cook and clean and take care of the babies while he’s out in the world on the career track. If that’s what you’re looking for, why didn’t you just let Mamma Lou do her matchmaking thing?”

  “I don’t need Mamma Lou to match me up with someone.”

  “Why not, you seem to want all that domestic stuff. I’m sure she can find you someone suitable if you ask her.”

  J.T. smirked at her insinuation. “First of all, I’m a very good cook, I have a cleaning service, raising my children is a we thing done together, and as for being out in the world on the career track, the world of computers is a remarkable one. You can be in Asia, in London, in San Francisco or at home in bed with your wife and still be completely connected to the office.”

  “You make it sound so simple.”

  “It is if you want it to be, do you?” A sudden chill shot through Juliet. She shivered. “Are you chilly?” J.T. asked.

  “No,” she choked out then cleared her throat. “I’m fine,” she looked away quickly. “It’s so beautiful here.”

  They stood in silence and looked out on the blackness of the night sky each pondering their conversation. “Come on let’s eat, dinner’s ready,” J.T. said as he took her hand.

  He led her to the formal dining room where the table was set for a romantic dinner for two. Scented candles, soft music and fresh flowers added to the romantic ambiance.

  “It’s lovely,” she said as she casually fingered one of the two gold rimed plates. “I presume that by the two place settings, I’m the only guest for this evening’s celebratory festivities?”

  “I assumed you figured that one out.”

  “It wasn’t exactly hard to do. So what is all this?”

  “It’s my way of saying thank you, for your help and also, I wanted to talk to you about our arrangement.”

  “An amendment to the deal?”

  “Yeah, something like that.” He poured champagne into her crystal flute then into his own. He sat down at the head of the table and looked across to her.

  Backlit by the glow of candles she was an angel. He reached over and stroked the side of her face. “You are so beautiful.” His voice was tender, loving and filled with raw emotion.

  Juliet looked away. The intensity of his gaze caused a chill to flutter through her again. Her heart opened up completely and for the first time in her life, she realized that there was no escaping it, and no doubt about it, she had fallen in love.

  Juliet purposely swayed their dinner conversation to center on him, his youth, his career, and his dreams. When it shifted to her, she evaded all of his questions and directed them back to him. She didn’t want tonight to be about her. She wanted to know everything there was to know about him, his likes, his dislikes, his desires and his fantasies.

  She decided that if tonight would be their last night together then she as going to make it one for the memory books. “Tell me about your fantasies.”

  He nearly choked on his champagne. “What?”

  “Your fantasies, you must have them.”

  “You never cease to amaze me,” he said as he placed his flute down. He tossed his napkin on the table and stood up.

  “You’re stalling.”

  “I have a better idea,” he said as he pulled her to face him flush against his body. “Tell me about yours.”

  He dipped his mouth to hers but the emotions welled deep inside of him gave him pause. He pulled back, reached up and stroked her face gently. “I need to kiss you.”

  “Need, or want?” she asked.

  “Need as in I have no choice, need as in the air I breathe. I need to breathe, I need to kiss you.”

  Juliet opened her mouth to speak but the kiss came.

  Long and soft, sweet and moving, with all the tenderness he felt, he kissed her. With gentle strokes and tiny loving caresses he held her close. In still repose they melted into each other’s arms. In sweet submission she gave what he beseeched and he surrendered what she implored, in a perfect union of one, they stood swimming in the feel of each other.

  “Are you trying to seduce me?” she asked as his lips traced tender kisses on her neck and shoulders.

  “Um-hum,” he hummed as he closed his eyes feeling the pleasures of her body.

  “Then I need
to warn you, this might be dangerous.”

  “Um-hum,” he hummed.

  “Once we go down this road there may not be any turning back.”

  “Um-hum,” he hummed.

  “Are you getting serious?”

  “Um-hum,” he hummed as he opened his eyes and looked up to see her reaction. In truth, he was well past serious.

  Juliet backed up seeing the emotion in his eyes reflecting what she felt inside. She stepped away from his embrace. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I’d better go.”

  “Don’t go, stay with me. I told you that I wanted to talk about our deal. You did your part,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a check and handed it to her. “Here, our deal is complete.”

  She took the check. Looked at it then and placed it on the table. “You broke the deal, all bets are off.”

  “Yes, I did,” he said knowing exactly what she meant. “But so did you.”

  “I told you I don’t do the love thing,” she told him.

  “Love wasn’t supposed to be part of the deal. It just happened.”

  She shook her head no. “I gotta get out of here.”

  “Juliet!”

  She stopped.

  “I don’t know what love is. I’ve never felt it for anyone other than my family. But if what I feel for you is love and what I see reflected in your eyes is love, then we owe it to ourselves to see this through.”

  “Regardless of how I feel about you J.T., this has to be over. I’m not the ‘til death do us part kind. You’ll only wind up hurt.”

  “Let me worry about that.”

  “No, not this time,” she reached up and stroked his face tenderly, “I love you too much to hurt you.” There, she said it.

  “Juliet.”

  “No J.T.,” she said, “not even if you offered me the world. Goodbye.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  It wasn’t like he didn’t know it or see it coming. Eventually it would end. That was how he’d always set it up. That was the deal. Unfortunately, for the first time he’d gotten emotionally involved. J.T. tossed his pen on the desk and walked away. Who was he kidding he’d been emotional about Juliet since the first moment he saw her enter the lobby of the hotel ten months ago.

  It was pure luck that they were all out of rooms and that they shared the last one. He remembered as they walked up to the hotel. They reached for the door at the same time. He held it for her. She nodded politely, walked in and went straight to the line at the front desk.

  He waited in line behind her, on the phone yet watching every move she made. The curve of her suit and the sway of her hips held his attention longer than he expected. He definitely liked what he saw.

  J.T. reached over and pressed a button on the keyboard. If she wanted the world he’d give it to her. A few keystrokes later he looked at the Tiffany screen and chose the perfect gift. Several key strokes after that he cleared the screen then sat back in his chair satisfied with his accomplishment as he picked up the phone on the second ring.

  “I think it worked,” Trey began finally back from his business trip. “I think your preemptive strike did it. Mamma Lou was so stunned when she saw Juliet the other night I thought she was going to pass out. You my man are my hero. And that stunt you pulled by not arriving to the house until late was a stroke of pure brilliance.” J.T. nodded mutely as his cousin continued. “How on earth did you come up with that? You strung them along waiting for you and your guest all night. It was absolutely brilliant.”

  “Thanks,” J.T. said as he repeatedly clicked his pen on the desk. The success of his plan was inevitable. Juliet was going to be out of his life again, this time of his own doing.

  “You are genius. You actually stopped Mamma Lou before she even got started. That has to be some kind of record.”

  “You’re giving me too much credit Trey,” J.T. noted.

  “Now you’re being modest.” A silence drifted in through the connection. “Are you okay man, you sound different?”

  J.T. took a deep breath. “No, yeah, I’m fine, just distracted by a program code,” he lied while looking at four blank screens on his desk that had gone into sleep mode. “I’ve been so busy with Juliet that I’ve let a few things slip.”

  “So is it over?”

  “Not quite, to tell you the truth I’m not completely convinced that Mamma Lou’s matchmaking plans are officially over. But it seems that for the time being, she’s turned her attention in another direction.”

  “Speaking of which, have you given her the line yet?”

  J.T., still absently focused on Juliet resigned himself that what he was about to do was for the best. “Who, what line?”

  “Juliet, the, my work comes first, line.”

  “No, not yet, I’m stopping by her place later. I’ll tell her then.”

  “Well my brother, welcome back to the bachelor life.”

  “I’m back, count on it,” he said hopefully, to assure himself of his resolve. But his assertion left an empty feeling nonetheless.

  “Great, let’s celebrate. I just got an invitation to a fundraiser on Capitol Hill tomorrow night. I understand that there’ll be dozens of single women in attendance.”

  J.T. moaned inwardly. The last thing he wanted right now was to be in a room filled with marriage-minded women. Not when all he could think about was Juliet.

  “Sounds great,” he finally commented.

  Juliet put on her dark sunglasses, slung her bag over her shoulder and walked to the front entrance. She was exhausted, but a strenuous rehearsal was exactly what she needed to get back on course. Thankfully she didn’t have another performance for a few days.

  Just as she waved goodbye to the receptionist she was called back to the desk. She walked over questioning. “You have a package,” the receptionist said, as she handed the clipboard to her. “Perfect timing, it needs your signature.”

  Juliet took the clipboard and signed her name. As she handed it to the express deliveryman he handed her a small taped box. Looking at it oddly, Juliet took the box and read the return name on the top. She hadn’t ordered anything in months.

  “Aren’t you gonna open it?” the receptionist asked.

  “Later,” she dropped the small box in her bag, placed it back on her shoulder and continued on her way.

  Her first stop was to the children’s dance workshop she sponsored and taught at the local recreation center. It had been a while since she was here and as soon as she stepped through the doors she felt the warmth and comfort of home surrounding her. She climbed the steps to the main level as a buzz of excitement grew.

  “Juliet is here, Juliet’s back, Juliet’s here,” the young girls excitedly whispered then called out louder as the wave of enthusiasm continued. Juliet smiled and joked fondly with them. Like a celebrity coming home, she was welcomed with open arms.

  Some of the younger girls ran up to her and grabbed her around the waist hugging tenderly. The excitedly all talked at the same time telling her of their latest success on point or at the barre. Soon the mob of excited little faces energized her. It felt good to be back.

  “Ladies, Ladies,” Juliet began, “you’re going to be late for your classes and remember a ballerina is never late.”

  As the young ones obediently hurried off the older teens, most who had been the program years and were like younger sisters to her, hurried over. They’d been to her house and watched her perform on stage as well as toured the backstage areas of the Cultural Center.

  With a collective awe, the girls hurried off to their classes as Juliet changed into her workout gear in preparation to teach her next class.

  Afterwards, she picked up her dry cleaning, stopped at the grocery store, then to the post office to get her mail. It wasn’t until she was at home and tossed her bag on the bed and the package tumbled out did she even remember she had it.

  She dropped across the bed, grabbed the box and began peeling the mailing tape away. She opened the box, removed the pa
cking tissue and reached inside and pulled out a ball.

  Her mouth dropped open. It was stunning. She held it in her hand and slowly turned the heavy sphere over and around. It was a jeweled incrusted lapis replica of the world; every country, every ocean, perfectly represented in mother of pearl, ruby, sapphire and emerald shavings. Juliet smiled then laughed aloud at the odd gift. She literally held the world in her hand.

  She rolled it around seeing a small golden clasp in the center just above the equator. She unfastened the lock and opened the sphere. Resting on a soft satiny cushion was a note. I’ll give you the world, J.T. She had no idea what to make of it until she remembered her last words to him.

  Juliet dialed the number. It rang once. No. She disconnected before he could answer. She was losing control. She quickly placed the note back in the orb, placed the orb in the box then put the box in the nightstand drawer beside her bed. She needed air. The suffocating feeling of love surrounded her. She needed to walk.

  A rush of warm air hit her as soon as she opened the front door. She inhaled deeply letting the fresh air fill her lungs. She walked to the end of her brick path. The streets were empty. She looked up at the threatening sky. A light drizzle of rain. Perfect, she needed the rain to wash away the feelings she had. She headed toward the waterfront.

  This was getting too personal and she was losing herself to an emotion she couldn’t afford and couldn’t control. J.T. had stirred something inside of her that was taking over of her and weakening her concentration.

  Her last performance, she had danced the best she had danced in months. The freedom she felt on stage was like nothing she’d ever experience. After hearing his voice she stepped out on stage and became one with the music. Her body flowed and moved in a fluid perfection. She was flawless, energized, composed and in complete control of the audience. She had rarely felt anything as perfect.

  Juliet stood at the dock and watched the night sky. Gray clouds thickened and the rumble of thunder hummed in the distance. It was late, too late to be out. But she needed to walk. The crowds were gone and a heavy drizzle began to fall. Leaning over the wooden rail, she looked into the blackness of the Potomac River as raindrops caused tiny drops to grow into giant ripples.