by Abby Brooks
“You kind of are. You take a lick and keep on tickin’, my friend. Always have, always will.”
Juliet laughed, glad she’d thought to call her friend. “So, I need your advice.”
“You’re looking for my advice? This is new. Fire away.”
“I met a guy.” Juliet dragged the nail polish brush across her nail and paused, waiting for Willow’s response. “WIll?” she asked after what felt like too long
“Julz…” Willow had her disapproving voice on. “It’s too soon.”
“I know, right? That’s my problem. But, when I’m with him, it’s like … like … time stops. And my smile is real. And all that stupid sadness is gone and I just want to breathe him in.”
“You’ve only been gone for three days.”
“I know, but, I met him two nights ago and have spent hours with him each day since.” Juliet filled Willow in on everything, careful never to say where she was or use Ian’s full name. She felt like a creep for keeping stuff from her friend, but Michael Phillips was the self-proclaimed Tech Lord, after all.
“He gave you a house?” Willow sounded incredulous.
“Well, he didn’t give it to me. He’s just letting me stay here while he gets it ready for renters and I get on my feet.”
“I see. But what about you? Isn’t it too soon after Michael to be getting involved with someone?”
“I asked myself the same thing, and honestly, that’s why I called you. The whole time I was making plans to leave him, the whole time I was driving, I was determined that I didn’t want to get involved with anyone else. I wanted to be me, on my own two feet. No relationships of any kind. But Willow, I never loved Michael. And he never loved me. Our relationship was sexual, more business merger than anything. And now that I’ve met Ian, it’s like, I don’t know, melting. Blossoming. It all sounds so dumb.”
“Juliet Lane, what’s gotten into you?”
“Right? Now you see why I called! It’s only been a few days and I don’t know anything about him except how I feel around him.”
“And how do you feel around him?”
“Alive. Like the best version of myself. Happy.” Juliet stopped painting her nails and looked up. “Willie, he makes me happy. Like for really real happy.”
“You know what? Fuck it. You deserve to be happy, Juliet. Have a blast. Be free. Swoop this Ian up and have some fun. I say sleep with him.”
“Willow!”
“I mean it. How many times have you really let yourself go? Took a risk?”
“Um, well, I’d say signing that contract with Michael was pretty risky.”
“Hell yeah it was, but I guess what I’m saying is, how long since you took a risk on happiness? That whole deal with Michael was just another way for you to keep yourself separate and safe. You know it and I know it.”
“I know no such thing!”
“Yeah? Well, then what was it?”
Juliet didn’t have an answer for her. She stayed silent, trying to come up with a decent response.
“Maybe you need this. Maybe you need this guy to come in and sweep you off your feet so you can finally realize that you’re not unlovable.”
“I never said I thought I was unlovable.”
“You never had to. I know you well enough to figure that out. So your dad spent his time and attention on your step-mom and step-brother. So your mom was busy being happy with her husband. So what? That doesn’t mean anything about what kind of person you are.”
Tears pricked Juliet’s eyes and she absolutely refused to cry. She’d taken too much time with her makeup. “I know none of that matters,” she said around the lump in her throat.
“Your head knows it, Julz, but your heart never has. You’re the sweetest, hardest working, most caring, special-est girl I know. Now, you go out there and let that Ian sweep you off your feet. Let him make you feel special. Let him take care of you. Let yourself love him, if it comes to that. But most importantly, have fun!”
Juliet thanked her friend and said her goodbyes before dabbing at the corners of her eyes with a tissue. She’d never told anyone how alone she’d felt, that she’d deemed herself unlovable. For Willow to have known, for it to have been so clear, it cut her to the quick.
What was it Ian had said this morning? New town, new home, new guy, new rules? Juliet decided to take that to heart and make it her Bliss motto. Enough sadness. Enough control. Enough self-doubt. It was time to really and truly take charge of her life and find happiness. Throw caution to the wind. Follow her heart. And if her heart led her straight into Ian Moore’s bed, then so be it.
Chapter Fourteen
Tires crunched into her driveway at precisely seven thirty. Julz hopped up from where she’d perched on the edge of the couch and started towards the door. How about you wait for him to actually knock? You know, maybe try to play it cool? She blew a long breath out through her mouth and wiped her hands on her thighs. It took concentrated effort, but when Ian finally knocked on the door, she walked like a grown woman rather than skipping and running over there like an excited child.
Julz threw open the door and her heart stuttered and stammered to see him, the memory of that kiss still lingering heavily on her mind. “Hey,” she said, smiling and biting her lip. He looked absolutely delicious all clean shaven and dressed in a dark gray button up and slacks.
Ian took a step back. “Wow.”
“You like it?” She spun in a slow circle, knowing his eyes would travel all over her body and liking the way that felt.
“Very much. You look spectacular.”
Juliet beamed. Ian offered her his hand and he led her down to the M4 and opened the passenger door for her.
“Thank you,” she said, sliding into the leather seat and looking up at him.
“Of course.” He shut the door and Juliet tracked his progress as he walked around the front of the car. He looked absolutely sexy as all hell. The perfect combination of everything. His dark features giving him that edge of mystery. The nice clothes giving him an aura of luxury. And that little swagger in his step? That swagger that looked damn good in his cowboy boots and jeans? That gave him all the dominant man edge that Juliet found so attractive. In theory, she reminded herself. Dominant men are only attractive in theory.
Ian hopped into the driver’s seat, threw the car in gear and backed out of the driveway. They chatted amicably as he wound his way through the streets of Bliss, pointing out landmarks along the way. It wasn’t long—or at least it didn’t feel too long—before he pulled into the parking lot of a little seaside restaurant, very unassuming in its exterior.
“Welcome to Moore Good Eats,” Ian said as she got out of the car, and he offered her his elbow before leading her towards the entrance. “I promise you’ll love everything you order or I’ll personally drag the owner out of the kitchen and give him a noogie.”
“That sounds a little extreme.” She made a face. “Extreme and strange.”
“I promise you, the owner has earned his fair share of noogies in his lifetime.”
“I take it this is a friend of yours?”
“Friend, brother. Potato, po-tah-toe.”
Juliet paused just inside the door, took in the simple yet elegant decor, unassuming and gorgeous. “This is James’s place?” Somehow, she couldn’t see the gregarious and tattooed James pulling off this level of understated sophistication.
“Nope. Harry’s.” Ian nodded at the hostess who greeted him warmly and led them to a table with a view of the ocean.
“Just how many brothers do you have?” she asked as Ian slid out her chair for her.
“That’s it. James, Harrison, and me. That’s all the Moore men Bliss could handle. Of course, our sister has had the worst time finding a guy at least one of us didn’t want to pummel for some reason or another.” Ian took a seat.
“Can I bring you something to drink?” asked the hostess, mostly addressing Ian.
“What do you think about red wine, Juliet?”
“Have
n’t met one I didn’t like.”
“Perfect,” replied Ian before turning to the hostess and ordering a bottle of something that sounded trendy and expensive.
“You sure know how to spoil a girl,” she said as the hostess disappeared in the maze of candlelit tables.
“Or maybe you’re just the kind of girl who deserves spoiling.”
Juliet blushed and opened her menu, desperate to hide the goofy grin that slid across her face. “What’s good here?”
“It’s run by a Moore. Everything’s good here.”
Julz couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, what’s better than good here?”
“Do you trust me?”
Juliet eyed him. The honest answer was yes, she trusted him. For whatever reason, she felt completely at ease with Ian and she wasn’t even sure what it was about him that made her feel that way. Trust wasn’t something she handed out easily, certainly not to men she’d only known a handful of days. But, she nodded despite herself, going for the truth rather than what she thought the truth should be.
“Good,” he said, taking the menu out of her hands. “Then I’ll order for you.” Juliet’s heart went to war with her head. There was something so appealing about letting Ian order for her, about placing herself in his hands. Yet, she was a strong woman, a capable woman, a woman who shouldn’t let men lead her through life. Just look what happened the last time she signed her decision making rights away to someone else.
“You think you know me well enough to order for me?” she asked, keeping her tone light, hoping it hid the battle of intellect and emotion raging inside her.
“You think you’re such a closed book that I can’t make a decent stab at it?”
“Okay, Mr. Confident,” she said, closing her menu and placing it on the table. “Show me what an open book I am.”
Ian pursed his lips and pretended to study her, slitting his eyes as if he intended to see through her into her soul, to discover her deepest secrets and truest truths. When the waitress came back with the wine, Ian ordered them both the same thing.
Juliet took a sip of wine and raised her eyebrows. “Wow,” she said, nodding. “That actually sounds delicious.”
“Of course it does.”
“But you didn’t really take a chance and order what you thought I’d like. You just ordered me what you like.”
“And who’s to say I don’t think you’d like the same things I’d like?”
There it was again, that crazy happiness that just bloomed out of nowhere and made every single moment seem important and precious. She looked through the window at the ocean, the lights and the patrons of the restaurant reflected in the glass, superimposed on the water. Here she was, surrounded by the sounds of many people gathered in one spot, being made to feel beautiful and special by this handsome man. This handsome man whose kiss had been so deliciously rough and commanding this afternoon. She just wanted more.
More kissing.
More contact.
More Ian Moore.
Julz took another drink of her wine. “Wow, this is wonderful!”
“It’s my favorite.”
“I can see why.”
Ian tilted his glass her way before taking a drink of his own. “Okay,” he said, putting his glass down and folding his arms on the table. “Let’s play a game.”
“What kind of game?”
“The Get to Know You game.”
“And just how do you play the Get to Know You game?”
“It’s pretty simple. I ask you a question, you answer it truthfully.” Ian held eye contact with her, his face light and open.
“And what if I don’t like the question?”
“Why wouldn’t you like my question? Do you have a deep, dark secret you don’t want me knowing about?”
You mean like I was a subservient sex slave to the CEO of Tech Lord? Yeah, I don’t want you to know that. “We all have things we want to hide, don’t we?”
“I suppose,” said Ian as if he were taking her words into deep consideration. “You can have one pass. But,” Ian held up a finger, “you have to realize that a pass will only make me more curious about the question.”
“Of course.” Juliet nodded, folding her own arms on the table and leaning forward. “I won’t pass lightly. And what about me? Do I get to ask you questions?”
“Of course. And I’ll bet I can do it without having to pass once.”
“You don’t have anything you want to hide?”
“Nothing I want to hide from you. I fully intend to wow you tonight.”
I fully intend to be wowed by you tonight, she thought to herself.
“Alright. The Get to Know You game. Who starts?”
Ian smiled and sat back, extending his hands in a gesture of concession. “I’ll even let you go first.”
“How very chivalrous of you.” Julz took a moment to consider her question. She didn’t want to get too personal too quickly. That would be better left for when they were deeper into the bottle of wine. “What’s your family like?”
“Hmmm. Interesting choice.” Ian nodded and narrowed his eyes again, before smiling and leaning forward, elbows on the table. “My family is wonderfully boring in that we love each other and our family gatherings are pleasant and easy. On the other hand, my family is extraordinary in that we’re all fast-paced and successful in our own rights.” He flared his hands. “No great secrets there.”
“Sounds wonderful, actually.” Juliet sat back as their salads arrived, folding her hands in her lap while Ian thanked the waitress and watched her leave.
He picked up his fork and stabbed a tomato. “My turn,” he said, popping the bite into his mouth and chewing thoughtfully. “What inspired you to ask about my family?” he asked after he swallowed.
Juliet took a bite to give herself a moment to think. She’d expected to have to give him her favorite color or something simple like that. “It seemed like a good place to start,” she finally said, uncomfortable for some reason.
“No.” Ian lifted his eyebrows and pointed his fork at her before using it to hunt another tomato. “I want the real reason. No cop out answers.”
The real reason? Did he think there was some kind of underlying something or other hiding inside her question? “I just think family is important is all. I was curious about one that managed to raise a man like you.” His question had her feeling flustered and defensive, even though there was no real reason to feel that way.
“Family is important, Juliet. A tree with deep roots laughs at storms.”
She tried not to let him see how his words punched her in the stomach. She had no true roots. Had never felt safe or secure in her family. Never felt cherished or adored. She had always been that obligation in the way of her parents getting what they wanted out of life. Keeping her face light, Juliet chose her next question. “What earned you the title of Lieutenant?”
“I was a naval aviator until an injury earned me an honorable discharge.”
“A naval aviator? Like, you flew planes?”
“I did.”
“So, the Top Gun quote wasn’t just by accident then?”
“Might be one of my favorite movies.” Ian held up his hands. “Might be part of the reason I wanted to fly planes in the first place.”
“What happened?” Juliet picked at her salad. “How did you get hurt?”
Ian tsked and pushed his empty salad bowl away. “By my count, you just asked four, maybe five questions. It’s my turn.”
“But there’s no way I have any answers as interesting as I fly planes.”
“Let me be the judge of that, thank you very much.” Ian paused as the waitress came to clear away their salad plates. “Do you consider yourself a risk taker?”
I signed a contract that gave a man complete and utter power over me. I think that’s a pretty decent sized risk. Juliet took another drink of her wine and Ian reached across the table to top off her glass. “Yes. I’d say I take risks.”
“Name
a few.”
She held up her hand. “Nope. It’s my turn. Besides, that’s not a question.”
“Exactly, so, we won’t be skipping your turn if you tell me. Plus, you already owe me like six questions as it is.”
“I thought you said four or five.”
“Interest rates are a bitch.”
“Fine.” She thought back. “I went bridge jumping with my friends once. That was pretty risky.” She told him all about the time they’d gone out to some old railroad tracks and walked out over a bridge that stood about thirty feet above a river. “It was all I could do to climb over that railing, to feel it against my back and know that there was nothing between me and a free fall into the water. I was the last one to jump. But when I did, all I can say is wow! I had enough time to think about how long I fell before I hit the water. And then, I was supposed to keep my arms wrapped tight around me, but at the last second I flung them out to my side. They slapped the water so hard it broke blood vessels all up my arms. Had some nasty bruises.”
“Ouch.” Ian cringed. “Ever jumped out of a plane?”
“Nope. Have you?”
He widened his eyes and looked at her like she’d missed something big. “Naval aviator...?” he said when she didn’t make the connection herself.
“Oh! Right! Was it amazing?”
“Imagine your experience stretched out over many minutes. Well, minus the bruising, I guess.”
Juliet felt her eyes go wide. “Wow. I’ve always considered it. I used to wish I was a bird. They always looked so peaceful and free, up there in the sky. Looking down on us all.”
“Maybe I’ll take you sometime.”
Juliet’s stomach started flip-flopping and she wasn’t sure if it was because of the thought of actually skydiving, or because of the thought of getting to spend more time with Ian. “I’d like that,” she managed to say, lowering her eyes and looking up at him through her lashes.
Ian continued asking questions and answering hers, and it felt like she’d known this man all her life. Like her heart had known he’d existed this whole time and was just waiting for them to finally meet. Like a missing piece of her soul finally fit itself into place. She’d never felt so at ease, so real, so … happy.