“She’s going to come over for dinner on Tuesday night.”
He didn’t mind visitors, and he’d told Candace to treat this as her own house when she moved in. Still, the individual in cottage number ten was one dinner guest he’d rather not have.
“You don’t mind, do you?” his sister asked, as if picking up on his thoughts.
Aaron shook his head. “You’re free to invite anyone you want over, Candace. I told you that before.”
Juliette pulled up the weather app on her phone while she finished her hot tea, even though she doubted it would change her mind. Except for Wednesday, she’d gone for a walk every day since she’d arrived. And rain, not the temperature, was the only reason she’d skipped it then. While she didn’t mind the rain on a hot summer afternoon, the temperature on Wednesday had been hovering around forty degrees—a tad too chilly to get soaked while taking an afternoon stroll.
Since the Wrights owned a significant chunk of land and much of it remained untouched, she’d explored a different area each day. Sometimes her walks brought her past the other cottages. Other times her walks brought her through the woods. She’d never done any hiking, and she’d always considered herself a city lover. Yet she thoroughly enjoyed her solitary outings where, except for her brief meetings with Candace and her daughter, the only other life she saw was the occasional chipmunk or squirrel. In fact, with each passing day, she wondered if perhaps she should purchase a vacation home in a place like Avon for those times in the future when she wanted a break from the city.
“Forty-three degrees.” While three degrees warmer than yesterday, she wouldn’t be breaking out her shorts anytime soon. However, she would be making use of her new gloves and hat. And when she got back home, she’d probably once again indulge in a large mug of hot chocolate. She hadn’t added cocoa mix to the list of items she gave Mrs. Lambert, but she was glad the woman had thought to buy some for her. It wasn’t the only extra item she’d come across when she put away the food Holly’s mom picked up last weekend. There’d also been a package of chocolate chip cookies, a jar of peanut butter, and one of marshmallow fluff. So far, the cocoa powder was the only thing she’d indulged in. But every time she opened the cabinet and spotted the two jars, her craving for a peanut butter and fluff sandwich—or a fluffernutter, as they called it in New England—grew.
She managed to get her boots and jacket on before the ringing cell phone in her pocket forced her to put her walk on hold. While she’d received countless calls since she arrived, she’d only answered a handful of them. The last one had been on Thursday when Holly called to let her know she was headed to Maine and to pass along her mom’s message that if Juliette needed anything to just call or text her. Considering the amount of food in her fridge, she shouldn’t need anything for at least another week.
The name Curt appeared on the device now. She hadn’t spoken to her cousin since her sister’s wedding. Actually, he was the only one of her first cousins she hadn’t talked to since the media started running the stories about her and Daniel’s relationship. She’d known it was only a matter of time before he reached out as well.
Dropping her gloves on the table, she answered the phone.
“Sorry I didn’t call sooner. We just got home yesterday,” Curt said after greeting her.
That explained why she hadn’t heard from Curt until now. With everything else, she’d forgotten Curt, Taylor, his fiancée, and Taylor’s niece had flown down to Florida the day after Courtney’s wedding.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
Annoyed. Angry. “Okay.” She kept the other adjectives to herself because complaining didn’t change anything.
“Leah told me you’re hanging out in my neck of the woods.”
She considered her cousin Leah one of her closest friends. When she’d decided to retreat up here for an extended vacation, she’d been one of the first people Juliette let know. She wasn’t surprised Leah had passed the information on to her older brother.
If she had to guess, she’d say Pelham was about two hours away from Avon. In her opinion, that wasn’t precisely Curt’s neck of the woods, but she wasn’t going to correct him. “I got here last weekend.”
“Leah said you’re staying in Avon. I was up that way in October. How do you like it?”
“A bit more rural than I expected, but I like it. It’s quiet.”
Before Curt left Nichols Investment and moved to New Hampshire to focus on his writing career, he’d lived in Boston, so he knew well how much life in a small town differed from living in the city.
“The media doesn’t know you’re there?”
“I don’t think so. And if it does, no one has bothered me.”
“Glad to hear it. If you want some company, I can drive up either this week or next.”
As much as she loved the solitude, she wouldn’t mind a short visit from Curt or any of her cousins, assuming they didn’t spend the night. Her parents were a different matter. “Sounds good. Whenever you have the time. I’ll text you the address of where I’m staying. I’m warning you, though, the town isn’t big on street signs.” If and when she ventured out, she’d probably need her GPS to find her way back to the cottage. “So, how was your trip?”
By the time Curt finished telling her about his vacation and all the fun the three of them had at the theme parks in Florida, she wanted to go herself. The enormous crowds she’d encounter kept her from making any plans to visit in the near future.
“Taylor and Reese are expecting me, so I need to go, but I’ll see you later in the week. If you need me to bring you anything, let me know.”
“Will do. And say hi to Taylor and Reese for me.” Ending the call, Juliette stuck the cell phone back in her jacket pocket and pulled on her gloves.
Cold air and silence greeted her when she stepped outside. For a moment, she stood on the little front porch and let both wash over her while enjoying the lake view. While it hadn’t been his intention, her conversation with Curt had conjured up thoughts of the stories circulating about her and the fact she’d dated a married man. And yes, they were still going around. She’d made the mistake of checking the Star Insider’s website last night. Some of the pictures posted were ones she’d never seen. But one stood out from the rest. It’d been of a man and a woman in bed. Since some of the pictures of her and Daniel had been taken together inside his home, she assumed the couple was in his bedroom, but because she’d never stepped foot in his room, she wasn’t positive. While all you could see was the woman’s naked back, she had blonde hair about the same length as Juliette’s, so the site was claiming she was the woman in the photo. However, it wasn’t possible, because they'd been at her place the one time they’d been intimate.
As she stood outside, though, thoughts of the media and the photo disappeared. It wasn’t the first time since she’d been at the cottage that she’d stood in the same spot and whatever concerns she had drifted away, proving she’d made the right decision in coming here.
Her first instinct was to walk along the perimeter of the lake, but at the last minute, she pulled out the map of the campground Mrs. Wright left her when she checked in. She’d already put a little checkmark next to the various paths she’d explored, but there were several left. One in particular caught her eye now. To reach it, she needed to follow the edge of the lake until she reached the area near cottage number twenty. At least by the looks of it, the path into the woods started somewhere behind the building and ended closer to the campground’s office. And unlike the streets in town, all the trails she’d followed so far had been well marked, suggesting the Wrights didn’t want guests getting lost on their property.
With a route decided upon, Juliette returned the map to the safety of her pocket and set off. A slight breeze blew the few pieces of hair not under her hat in her eyes, and she brushed them aside. Today, like every day this week, the lake remained empty, a large portion of it still covered by ice. Exactly how thick the ice was, she didn’t know, an
d she didn’t care to determine by stepping on it and finding herself submerged in icy water. Despite the lack of activity now, Holly assured her Avon Lake was a favorite of ice fishermen and skaters in January and February, and a hub of boating activity started around Memorial Day weekend, more or less around the time she’d be getting ready to leave. However, Juliette didn’t know where she’d go. She always had her place in Manhattan, but depending on what other changes she decided to make, it might not be the most optimal location. And if she chose to accept her mom’s offer to work at the Helping Hands Foundation, she’d have to move closer to Rhode Island. A relocation to Providence or Newport would allow her to be closer to much of her family, especially her sister, who she’d learned this week was pregnant. At the same time, though, if she returned to New York, she’d be closer to her brother and his family.
“First you need to figure out what you want to do.”
Wednesday afternoon, Pierre, her agent, had called wanting to know when she’d be back in the city and whether or not she wanted to be part of the Jolie fall fashion show again. She’d been part of every one of its shows since the former pop singer turned designer launched her label. Unlike some of the bigger ones in New York and Paris, the label’s shows had a whole different kind of energy while at the same time being far less stressful. Regardless, she wasn’t sure she wanted to participate in this new fall launch, especially considering she didn’t care for the latest style Jolie had adopted. Needless to say, when she told Pierre she’d get back to him, he hadn’t been happy.
Honestly, she didn’t care if he was happy or not.
Spotting cottage number twenty up ahead, she headed for the large gap separating the building from its neighbor. Just as the map indicated, the entrance to the path was a short distance from the house. Unlike while walking along the lake, here trees closed in around her. At the moment, their limbs remained bare, but leaves would create a canopy of shade in another two months or so. She looked forward to seeing it.
The phone in her pocket rang, the sound unusually loud in the silence. Pulling it out, she checked the caller ID. Rather than the name of a family member or friend, there was only a phone number—one she didn’t know, although she recognized the 212 area code. The only people in New York she’d take a call from were in her contact list. Whoever was calling now could leave her a message, and depending on who it was, she’d call them back later.
One minute she was walking with her finger about to press the decline icon, and the next she was flailing her arms like a bird trying to take off. Pain shot through her knee when it made contact with a rock. Instinctively, she put her hands out to help break her fall, dropping her phone and the glove she’d removed in the process.
“Ugh.” Slowly, she moved into a sitting position as she waited for the pain in her knee and the stinging in her palm to subside. No doubt, when she looked later, she’d find a nice bruise on her knee. “That’s what I get for not paying attention.”
She’d been talking to herself an awful lot the past day or two. She guessed it was a side effect of spending so much time alone, something she wasn’t at all used to.
Snap. A jingling sound followed the first noise. Until now, the only sounds around her other than her ringing cell phone had been the occasional rustle of dead leaves caused by a chipmunk or a squirrel scurrying across the ground. Neither animal was heavy enough to snap twigs, and unless they’d started wearing jewelry, they couldn’t be the cause of the jingling either.
The cause of the new sounds came into view as she retrieved her phone and glove. She’d met Clifford yesterday. The dog had been with Candace and her daughter when she saw them while out walking. The man jogging with Clifford, she’d never met, but thanks to Holly’s description and the fact the property belonged to the Wrights, she assumed the guy headed her way was Aaron. And she understood why her friend had had a thing for him while in high school. He looked about the same height as her brother, who was an inch over six feet. A black long-sleeved base layer shirt hugged his broad shoulders and emphasized his flat abdomen. A black beanie covered his head, but his short and sexy beard told her his hair was dark like his sister’s. Even from a distance, his arresting good looks captured her full attention, and with no trouble, she could see him starring alongside Anderson Brady or her sister’s husband in a summer blockbuster.
Slowly, she came to her feet and watched the muscles rippling under his shirt as he approached her. She didn’t know if the man was single or not, but if he was, the women in Avon must be blind.
He could be a total creep. She’d met plenty of gorgeous men who turned out to be the biggest jerks in the world.
Clifford reached her first and stopped, but his owner wasn’t far behind.
Green. The dog’s owner possessed the most beautiful green eyes. She rarely associated the word beautiful with a man, but she didn’t know how else to describe his eyes.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice deep and oh so sensual, sending a ripple of awareness through her, and she forgot about the throbbing in her knee.
Chapter 4
Whenever possible, Aaron preferred to run outside rather than on the treadmill in his basement. While he occasionally ran the streets in town, especially during the peak months when every cottage was rented out, as a former cross-country runner in high school and college, he preferred to use the trails through the woods. When he and Clifford set out this morning, he hadn’t expected them to come across anything but a few squirrels and maybe a bird or two. Never in a million years had he thought he’d find the campground’s only occupant on her knees in the middle of the woods. But when he’d come around the corner, there she’d been, and now she stood a few feet away scratching Clifford behind the ears. Not surprisingly, the dog was basking in the attention. If he loved anything more than food, it was a good scratch behind the ears or a belly rub.
Juliette gave Clifford one final scratch before pulling her glove back on. Why it was off in the first place, he didn’t know. “I’m fine.”
He gave her a quick once-over before settling his eyes on her face. Damn, he’d been wrong. The various magazines hadn't photoshopped her photos before using them on their covers. Her face was simply as perfect as it appeared in those photos. And her eyes, well he’d assumed the color had been digitally enhanced because he’d never met anyone with eyes so blue they bordered on sapphire. Clearly, though, photo manipulation had nothing to do with their color.
“I tripped. It’s what I get for not paying attention. I’m Juliette, by the way. Are you Candace’s brother, Aaron?”
At the sound of his name, his manners returned, and he realized he hadn’t introduced himself. “Sorry. Yes.” He extended his gloved hand, half expecting Juliette not to take it. People with money could be weird. “Are you sure you’re okay?” The last thing his mother needed was Juliette suing her because she injured herself while on the property.
Shaking his hand, she nodded. “I’ll probably have a bruise on my knee, but yeah, I’m fine.”
“Then I’ll let you get back to your walk. Enjoy.”
Regardless of how gorgeous the woman before him was, he didn’t have time to stand around and talk. He needed to finish up his run and shower. His sister had a lot of studying to do, so he’d promised to take Tiegan to the movies and lunch so Candace could have the house to herself. The theater was showing the new superhero movie Tiegan wanted to see at noon but not again until eight. If they missed the afternoon show, they’d have to drive over to the theater in North Conway, which he’d rather not do today. He’d spent enough time traveling yesterday.
Juliette smiled, and a jolt of awareness hit him hard, reminding him just how long it’d been since he’d had sex. Hell, never mind had sex, it’d been longer than he cared to admit since he even went out with a woman. As much as he loved living in Avon, its limited population of single women his age made dating difficult.
“You too. I’ll see you on Tuesday night.”
He’d been
thinking about being conveniently absent for dinner that night. “See you then.”
Aaron watched her walk away. Her oversized ski jacket concealed her figure from the hips up. His eyes dropped lower to her jeans-clad legs. Man, the things went on forever. It shouldn’t surprise him. The woman was a model. As far as he knew, models were never short. Although why, he didn’t know. Women came in all different shapes and sizes, so at least to him, it didn’t make sense that you never saw a five-foot-tall woman showing off clothes for the top designers.
Before he could stop himself, he conjured up an image of Juliette in a far different outfit, and his damn body once again reminded him exactly how long he’d been alone. “I need to get out more, Clifford.” Reaching down, he scratched the dog near his collar, then started running again.
Opening the door to the theater, Aaron waited for his niece to exit. He’d been watching movies at the Palladium Theater on Main Street his entire life. From the outside, it resembled an old-school movie theater. Aaron doubted the building’s exterior appearance had changed since the theater first opened decades ago. However, the same couldn’t be said about the interior. Like its larger counterparts, the theater had the latest audio and visual technology and heated seats. He never used the option, but his mom, who always found the theater too cold, used it whenever she went. The Palladium also had the best popcorn around.
“What did you think of the movie?” Rather than head toward the parking lot and his car, they started down the sidewalk toward George’s Diner. Unlike the movie theater, both the interior and exterior of the establishment appeared part of a different time—not that it seemed to hurt business. The place was rarely empty.
The Billionaire's Kiss (The Sherbrookes of Newport Book 14) Page 4