by Brooks, Abby
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.
Keeping a smile on her face, she crossed the room to lean on the counter next to him, fully aware of the millimeter of space between their shoulders. “Tell me what we have here.”
Ian straightened and Julz immediately missed having him in her personal space. “What we have here, Ms. Lane, is a not so standard rental agreement.”
He walked her through the thick packet, highlighting the fact that Lulu was allowed, but would henceforth be called Chopper. Juliet held up a hand. “Hold on Lt. Moore, I absolutely will not agree to call Lulu Chopper.” The little dog perked up and ran over to Julz, her nails clicking across the wood floors.
“I’m not sure how you came to the conclusion that this contract was negotiable, Ms. Lane.”
“Every contract is negotiable.”
“Fine. How about you can continue to call her Lulu, but I get permission to call her whatever the hell I feel like?” He paused, pen poised over the paper, a charming smile warming up the whole empty house. Juliet couldn’t help but compare this experience with signing a contract with Ian to her Dominant/submissive contract with Michael. It was night and day. Cold and hot. She couldn’t imagine Michael having the confidence to joke around like this.
“Fine, I’ll agree to that,” said Juliet and Ian dropped his pen to the paper, scribbling an addendum into the margin.
“Initial here,” he said, all business. “And here,” he said, pointing to a different box after she scrawled her JL underneath his tight handwritten note.
“Not so fast, my friend. I never sign something without knowing what I’m agreeing to.”
“Savvy business practice, Ms. Lane.” Ian lifted the paper from the counter and cleared his throat, and intoned in a deep, overly professional voice. “The tenant,” he paused and looked up from the paper. “That’s you.”
“Thank you for clarifying.”
“Of course. That’s what I’m here for.” He cleared his throat again and continued reading in his silly deep voice. “The tenant agrees that the owner…” He paused again. “That’s me.”
“I’ve signed a lease before, you know.”
“Just don’t want you to get into anything you’re not prepared to handle.”
“I think I’ve got this. Please continue.”
“Alright. Just trying to be helpful.”
Juliet made a face and slapped Ian on the arm. “You’ve been very helpful. Now, would you please just read the item?”
“As you wish. It says here that the tenant agrees that the owner has the right to furnish the space as he sees fit at any time during the term of this rental agreement. If the owner doesn’t believe that the resident’s furnishings are fit for the space, he has the right to replace them.”
Juliet worked hard to keep her face from showing the great big go to hell that came roaring up from somewhere deep in her belly. How dare he assume that she wasn’t going to be able to furnish the place properly? He sounded like Michael now, assuming that he knew what was best and her stuff most definitely wasn’t. Although, he was going to want to rent this place out eventually. It did make some kind of sense that he’d want to make sure the interior was ready to wow the clients who walked through the place. It wasn’t fair to take her issues with Michael out on Ian.
That didn’t mean she had to like it. With a curt nod, she initialed the stupid box.
“Excellent, Ms. Lane,” he said, drawing out the first syllable of the sentence and rubbing his hands together, looking perfectly diabolical.
“Something tells me I’ve just walked right into a trap.”
“Whatever would make you believe such a thing?” he asked, putting on a wounded face. He walked her through the rest of the agreement, which was pretty standard except for the parts that outlined that she was to keep any receipts for items purchased for the renovations and that the utilities would stay in his name and she was to pay him.
It all looked on the up and up and she signed without hesitating, thinking again of the last agreement she’d signed. There’d been butterflies in her belly back then, too. A sense of starting out on a grand adventure. Hopefully, this agreement really was the beginning of something wonderful.
Ian gathered the papers in his hand and then took his time surveying the empty living room and adjoining dining room. “You know what? I officially deem your furnishings unfit for this space.” He looked towards the still open front door. “James!” he called. “It’s safe. You can come in now!”
Juliet blinked as a slightly smaller version of Ian bounded through the front door. “Hey there,” he said, extending a hand and exposing a tattoo that worked its way from his wrist up into the sleeve of his t-shirt. “I’m James, Ian’s younger, and totally better than him at everything, brother.”
She shook his hand, her mouth still hanging open, looking from James to Ian. “Pleased to mee
t you,” she muttered, her manners on auto-pilot.
“Back atcha,” he said and winked before turning to Ian. “Does she know? Where do we start?”
“Does she know what?” asked Juliet, totally confused.
Ian took both her shoulders in her hands and smiled. “Like I said, I’ve deemed your lack of furnishings unfit and have brought you some replacements.”
Shock dropped her jaw again. “I can’t … I mean, I don’t need …” She was at a loss. She totally needed furniture, but she really didn’t want to take more from this guy than she already had. No more handouts, remember?
“Really?” Ian looked around the empty space. “Because it looks like you need a whole hell of a lot to me.” She started to stammer out a protest again and Ian held up his hands. “It’s not that big of a deal. I pulled some stuff out of my other properties. And as you can afford to get your own stuff, we’ll put it right back.”
“She’ll be able to help next time, right?” asked James, rubbing his shoulders. “Because I already hate you a little for the size of that couch.”
“How can you even start to call yourself better than me at anything when you’re already complaining?”
The men moved out of the house in a flurry of insults and banter and Lulu bounded out after them in a flurry of yaps and excitement.
“What the hell is that?” Juliet heard James.
“Oh that?” Ian replied. “That’s Chopper.”
Chapter Eight
Ian
“You sure about this?” James asked Ian as soon as they were out of earshot. Juliet had called Chopper—Ian had been totally serious about not calling the dog Lulu—back in the house and he’d heard her go upstairs to the bathroom. He’d seen the tears in her eyes she’d thought she’d hidden so well and knew she was going up to the mirror to eradicate any trace of them.
Ian shrugged. “Not one bit.”
James dropped the tailgate on the back of the Tundra and hopped in, starting to slide the mattresses closer to the edge. “What do you know about her?”
“I know she’s from New York. I know she’s running from an asshole boyfriend. I know she’s kind.” And pretty. And smart. And funny.
James looked surprised. “She tell you all that? Because anyone who has to tell you she’s kind, probably isn’t.”
“No, you ass. She told me about the running away thing. I figured out she was from New York by reading her damn license plates, and I watched her help an old woman off the ground rather than chase that silly yapper as it ran away from her.”
“Lemme guess. You chased the dog for her, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did.” Ian shrugged.
Juliet bounced down the steps, now wearing a pair of running shorts and a tight little tank top. “What can I do?” she asked and Ian yanked his eyes off her perky little tits.
“You can get out of the way and let the men do the men stuff,” he said with a smile.
She put a hand to her hip and pursed her lips. “Unacceptable.”
“Figured you’d say as much. There are some boxes of random stuff in James’s truck,” he nodded towards a black pickup on the other side of the Tundra. “Carry that stuff in and start sorting through it.”
She shook her head, trying to look disapproving of being ordered around, but there was a little sparkle in her eyes that made him think she was having just as much fun as he was.
“Alright man,” said James, “you’ve got me here, let’s get this shit done before I get bored and leave.”
“Again, with that work ethic, I have no idea how you think you’re better than me.”
As Ian and James carried the heavy pieces of furniture into the appropriate rooms, Juliet bounded back and forth between the house and the trucks, carrying boxes and humming to herself. And when she’d gathered up all the boxes, she went right to work finding homes for what he brought. It wasn’t much. A coffee pot. Some strange little glass knick-knacky things Lilah had bought him to help the rental properties feel more like home. A shower curtain and bath mat. That kind of stuff.
As far as furniture went, again, it wasn’t much. A queen sized bed, a dining table and chairs. A couch and loveseat and a coffee table. The house still looked disgustingly empty, but at least the poor girl would have somewhere to sit. And eat. And sleep. It would have been much easier to bring a twin bed for her, but, he couldn’t quite talk himself into it. The larger bed was just way more appealing for a number of reasons. Most importantly was the fact that he eventually wanted to fit in that bed with her.
Juliet poked her head out of the kitchen. “Can I bring you guys anything? I’ve got water and as of just now, enough glasses for all of us to have our own.”
James shook his head. “As fond as I am of having my own glass of water, I gotta go. Erin’s expecting me to go over some of the wedding stuff. It was nice meeting you, though.” And with that, James was out the door, leaving Ian and Juliet alone in the house.
She disappeared back into the kitchen and came out bearing a glass of water for him even though he hadn’t asked. He accepted it with a smile and took a long drink.
“This looks amazing,” she said, running a finger down the soft leather of the couch before turning to face him. “Thank you.”
“It’s not much. But anything we put in here, we’re only gonna have to move when we start renovating, you know?”
“You feel free to call it not much. But for some perspective, last night I slept in my car. This morning, I was making peace with the fact that I was gonna have to sleep on the floor. And now? I’ve got options as to where I can sit this evening and will be sleeping in an honest to goodness bed tonight.”
“Well, when you put it that way, I’m pretty fantastic, aren’t I?”
“You sure are.”
Juliet leaned against the couch and looked out the window. “Do you ever get tired of looking at it?”
He studied the soft curve of her cheek, the swoop of her eyelashes, the slope of her breasts as she stood in profile against the glass. Nope, he thought. I don’t think that's possible. “Of looking at what?” he asked out loud.
“The water.” She gestured towards the sea. “I can’t imagine ever getting used to how beautiful it is.”
Ian couldn’t agree with her more, but didn’t think they were talking about the same thing. “So,” he said, changing the subject. “Did you look upstairs? I brought bedding, but you don’t have to use it if you don't like it.”
“If it’s the same quality of the rest of this stuff, I’m sure I’ll love it.”
“Follow me, I’ll show you. If you hate it, we can go ‘shopping’ at some of my other properties and you can pick some you like better.” Ian took Juliet’s hand and pulled her up the stairs, ignoring her protests that whatever he’d picked out would be fine. For some reason, he didn’t want her to have to settle for fine. He wanted her to have everything she ever wanted.
He’d taken a risk with the way he’d placed the bed, putting it against a wall that didn’t really make sense, but would allow her to look out and see the water.
She gasped when she walked in the room and squealed a little, eliciting a sharp yap from Chopper downstairs and Ian cringed at the rattling scrabble of tiny claws trying to get traction on the hardwood floors. “How did you know?” Juliet asked him.
“Because I know everything. But just what are we talking about right now?”
“This is exactly where I wanted to put the bed.”
“So you could see the water.” Ian tapped his head. “Not much gets passed this guy.”
Juliet stared at him and swallowed hard. Took a step towards him and took his hand in hers. “Thank you,” she said and he couldn’t drag his eyes off her mouth. “You’ve been amazing. My knight in shining armor and all that.”
There was a moment of silence where he studied her face and she studied his and all he wanted to do was pull her into him and kiss her. Feel her breasts pressed against his chest, grab a handful o
f that ass and squeeze. His dick twitched to life and he stepped back. “Like I said, we’ll see how you feel after I put you to work in the morning.”
Painting another bright smile across her face, Juliet smoothed her hair. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you, Lt. Moore.”
Ian snapped to attention and saluted her, before softening his posture and winking. “The pleasure is all mine, Ms. Lane.”
Chapter Nine
Juliet
Holy shit, that salute! When Ian snapped to attention—his body rigid and strong, face serious and attentive—it was all she could do to keep herself from falling to pieces in front of him. She followed him downstairs, doing her best not to blush furiously at her own arousal, appreciating the strong v of his back and shoulders, and wishing he didn’t have to leave. It’d been a great morning, having him around, laughing and joking and staring at his muscles as he carried the heavy furniture into the house with his brother. He lingered a moment at her front door, asked for her number and added it to his phone.
“I'll text in the morning, when I'm on my way,” he said. “And when I say morning, I’m talking about as the sun comes up. You gonna be able to handle that?”
“I have had to get up early in the past you know.” Juliet ran a hand through her hair and gathered it over her shoulder. “It’s not like this is going to be a new thing for me.”
“Okay then.” Ian shrugged and gave her an incredulous look. “We’ll see how you feel about that tomorrow.” And with that, Ian gave her one more smile and headed outside. Juliet leaned against the doorframe and watched him take the stairs down off the porch two at a time and hop into his huge white truck. Of course it was a white truck. What knight in shining armor didn’t need a trusty white steed?
Ian backed out of the driveway, gave her a little wave and another tight salute, and honked as he drove away. With a sigh, Juliet straightened and closed the door before turning to take one more look around the house she’d be calling home now. Had all the time she spent with Michael built up a huge blast of Karma or something? What’s with all the good luck? Not that she was complaining. It was just that last night she slept in her car. And this morning, she was making peace with having another couple nights of sleeping in her car ahead of her. And now, just a few hours later, she had a house with furniture and the most amazing view of the ocean. Just like she’d always wanted.