Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 102394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
We were in the middle of our meal when I spotted what looked like a man holding a camera in the nearby bushes. The lens seemed to be aimed straight at us.
Adrenaline raced through me. “Stay right here,” I told Juliette as I got up. My eardrums throbbed as I stalked toward the bushes. “What the fuck are you doing?” I yelled as I jumped him, ripping the camera out of his hands and placing him in a chokehold.
“Get off me!” He coughed.
He couldn’t have been more than twenty-two and looked like he was about to shit his pants.
“Not until you tell me what you were doing taking photos of us,” I seethed. “Did Vince hire you?” I let him go long enough to speak.
“Who the fuck is Vince?” He panted. “And I wasn’t taking photos of you! See for yourself.”
I scrolled through his camera, and sure enough, all the photos were of the couple seated behind us. My breathing calmed, and I felt a bit stupid, to be honest.
“I was hired to take photos of Lindsay Appleton,” he said. “You know…the actress.”
I vaguely recalled her as an up-and-coming star.
My shoulders slumped. “Man, I’m sorry.”
“Who the hell are you? And why should I be taking photos of you anyway?”
I shook my head. “You don’t want to know.” I handed him back the camera, then reached into my wallet and took out a hundred-dollar bill. I offered it to him. “We good?”
He took it and ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, man.”
Hanging my head in shame, I returned to the table where Juliette waited with fear in her eyes.
“What the hell just happened, Wes?”
“It’s all good. It was a false alarm,” I muttered, shoveling some eggs into my mouth.
“Explain,” she demanded.
I put my fork down and sighed. “I thought someone was taking photos of you and me. I assumed your father had hired someone.” I lowered my voice. “But Lindsay Appleton is at the table behind us. That’s who the guy was snapping.”
Juliette turned around. “Oh my God. I had no idea.” She chuckled. “I guess we’re not that important.”
I shook my head. “I was sure Vince had us followed.”
“Well, better a camera than a gun?” She arched her brow.
I glared at her.
“Too soon?” She reached out her hand. “I’m sorry that happened. We’d been having such a peaceful morning.”
As long as Juliette’s life was in my hands, I could never let my guard down. I needed to remember that. One slip, and we could both end up dead.
CHAPTER 18
* * *
Wes
“I really like when you cook at the stove wearing a robe with nothing underneath.” I came up behind Juliette, tugged the tie on her robe so it came loose, and cupped both her breasts.
She laughed and pushed her ass out to force me to take a few steps back, but that only turned me on more.
“This is even better.” I groaned and slid my hands around to her ass. “Bend a little more. Grab on to the stove.”
“You’re a fiend.” She giggled and turned around, holding the spatula up. “I’m frying bacon, so my robe needs to be closed and my face far away from the sizzle. Now go sit. We’re going to eat in a few minutes.”
I pouted but sat my ass in a chair at the table. My spot had the newspaper folded and a vitamin waiting for me on the napkin. Juliette had teased me last week when I’d mentioned that I missed reading a physical newspaper, yet a few days later, when I sat down to breakfast, there was a copy of the New York Post waiting for me. Apparently, you can get it delivered out here in California. I opened the paper from the back, last page forward, to get to the sports section and started reading. But not even halfway through an article about the Mets’ rookie pitcher, my eyes found their way back to the lady standing at the stove. Juliette and I had settled into what felt a hell of a lot like domestic bliss lately. She made me breakfast and did my laundry. I fixed the dishwasher and took out the garbage, and we went food shopping together. We were practically an old married couple, and I hated to admit it, but I loved every mundane task when I was with her.
But for every minute I let myself enjoy playing house, there were twice as many sleepless ones spent staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out how the hell to get out of the mess I was in. Leave the country with her and never come back? That idea was starting to seem less ridiculous by the day. Though I had no doubt that Vince Ginocassi would scour the Earth to find his only daughter.
Even in moments like this—when I felt content and my heart was full, I couldn’t shake the shadow of a bad feeling, like something was bound to go wrong. Some days, it took everything I had just to let myself live in the moment here and there.