Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102361 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102361 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
There’s a note taped to the door.
Dear Customers,
We are closed due to plumbing issues. We are working on this matter and will reopen ASAP. Don’t worry, this is temporary!
Thank you for your patience,
Juliet
I don’t see anyone inside. Big fans are blowing, and the chairs are on top of the tables.
I can see from here that the floor is ruined. All that original hardwood bubbled up and will need to be ripped out and replaced.
Fuck, baby. I’m so sorry.
Circling to the alley, I climb her stairs and knock on the door of her apartment. I’m impatient to get to her.
I need to see her and make sure she’s okay.
When she opens the door, humid air hits me, and I’m so damn … pissed.
“Are you staying up here?” I ask as I muscle my way inside. The floor is still squishy under my feet. My eyes scan the area, and I see the water line on the walls, as well as the clothes she has hanging from the wire she strung to dry them out.
“Of course I am,” she says. “I live here.”
“No, Wildfire.” I turn to her and can’t keep my hands to myself. I frame her face, and she doesn’t pull away. Christ, she looks exhausted. She has bruises under her eyes from the lack of sleep, her hair is a mess, and I’d swear that she’s lost weight in the few days since I last saw her. “I’m taking you home with me.”
“Brooks—”
I lean into her and almost rest my forehead against hers.
“Let me help you. You shouldn’t be staying up here, Juliet. It’s too wet, and you could get mold. It’s not safe. It’s definitely not comfortable. Come home with me.”
She bites her lower lip, and I can see that she wants to cry, but she swallows the tears down.
She’s going to refuse me.
“Please, baby.” I tug her into me, wrap my arms around her, and hug her close. “I can’t stand the thought of you here.”
She takes a deep, ragged breath, and her arms circle around me, and I feel like I can breathe.
“I would love to get out of here for the night.” Her voice is small, and I don’t have to be told twice.
“Grab what you need.”
She hurries to retrieve her handbag and phone, then opens a drawer to pull out some clothes that look as if they have escaped the water, and tosses them into a grocery bag.
A fucking grocery bag.
I take the bag from her, and we leave the apartment. She locks the door, but then I notice that she moves back to the door three times to check the locks.
That’s different.
I lead her down the stairs and around to the front of the building where I’m parked.
“Do you want to turn off the lights in there?” I ask her.
“No, it’s okay. I’m too tired, Brooks.”
I’m going to punch everyone who knew about this but didn’t tell me. Even my brother.
“Come on then.” I open the door of the truck, and she climbs in. When she’s settled in the seat, I put the seat belt on her, then kiss her smooth cheek.
She stiffens but doesn’t pull away.
I’ve been such a dick to her that she can’t stand me touching her.
I should punch myself.
As I drive through town, I glance over and see that she’s resting her head on the window. Her eyes are closed, and her hands are in fists in her lap. As I get closer to the house, her hands soften, and she relaxes.
She’s fallen asleep on the two-minute drive from her place to mine.
My girl is wrecked. And I haven’t been there to help her.
And goddammit, that stops now because no matter what happened between us in the past, she’s here now, and I can’t stay away.
I can’t continue to live without her.
I pull into my driveway and cut the engine by the back door, in front of the garage. She doesn’t stir.
“Hey, Jules, we’re here. Baby, I’m going to come around and get you, okay?”
She wrinkles her brow but doesn’t fully wake up, and it breaks my heart.
Christ, she’s destroying me here.
Pushing out of the truck, I circle the hood and gently open her door, catching her when she would lean out. I unfasten her seat belt, then lift her into my arms and kiss the top of her head as I close the truck door with my foot and carry her to the back door, which I never lock.
I get her inside and decide that putting her in my bed, where I want her, would only piss her off when she wakes up, so I take her to the only guest room I have. Birdie has stayed in here a few times, but otherwise, this room is mostly unused.
Thankfully, the bedding is clean, so I lay her on top of the blankets. Jules snuggles right down into the pillow, hugging it to her. I’ve never wanted to be a pillow so bad in my life.