Page 26 of Sweet Somethings

"It's nice to see you again," Juliette said.

"Your bakery is filled with so much sweetness and delight; you're very talented," Georgia added.

"Thanks," Juliette replied.

"Are you enjoying the movies?" Donna asked.

"I haven't had a chance to watch yet," Juliette said. "But I hope to catch some of the films."

"She doesn't need a romantic movie," Georgia told Donna. "She's young enough to have her own romance going on." Georgia's gaze encompassed them both. "The two of you are such an attractive couple."

"Oh, we're not a couple," Juliette said hastily. "We're not together."

"You look together now," Donna said, with a pointed smile.

"Just friends," Juliette said, giving him a look suggesting that he join in, but he didn't feel like saying anything.

No one had asked him who he was, and he was fine with that. Donna looked vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place her. Maybe she was one of his grandfather's friends.

"I should get back to my table," Juliette added. "Have fun."

"Oh, we will," Donna said. "We just love romantic movies, especially tragic love stories. Those are the best. So much drama."

"You and your drama," Georgia said with a laugh.

As the ladies teased each other, Roman and Juliette walked back to her dessert table. "What do you think?" she asked.

"Cameron has a grandmother."

"Who wasn't paying very close attention to him."

"He wasn't that far away."

"Yes, he was," she argued. "And he was alone when he took the cookies from my bakery. I should have asked her about Cameron's parents." She paused. "Maybe I should go back and tell her what happened this morning."

"You can if you want, but he's with a responsible adult, Juliette. She might not be watching him the way you would, but she seems nice."

She glanced back at Cameron, who was sitting on the ground next to his grandmother's chair. "She does seem nice. I just have an uneasy feeling. There's something we don't know."

"I'm sure there's a lot we don't know, but we can't butt into their lives. It's their family business. And the fact that she told him to stay in the playground and he didn't isn't a crime."

"But you think there's something off, don't you?"

He took another look at Cameron, who was now flat on his back, gazing up at the stars. He remembered doing that, too, hoping to find some sort of divine intervention. "I think the kid has some problems, but I obviously don't know what they are."

She looked at him in surprise. "Really? I thought you were going to disagree with me."

"Cameron seems sad, but that could be due to anything. And I don't think he's in any immediate danger."

"No, not tonight anyway. I'm going to find out more about him, though."

He was amazed by her persistent bullheadedness. "Don't you have enough to worry about? You're building a business. You're trying to buy a house you can't afford. Now you want to figure out why one little boy is sad?"

"I can find time to do everything I need to do." She paused. "I know what it feels like to be sad, Roman. I guess there's something about that child that resonates with me. You wouldn't understand."

"Actually, I would," he said quietly. "I know what being sad as a kid feels like, too."

She stared back at him and as their gazes clung together, he felt a strong and intense pull of attraction, not just physical, but emotional. He didn't know why he'd just told her something so personal. He barely knew her, and he never spilled his guts—not to anyone. There was only one person who knew even a few things about his childhood, and that person was his grandfather. He'd never talked about his past with anyone else. He didn't know why he'd come so close to the subject now, and judging by the gleam in Juliette's eyes, he was going to regret his brief lapse in judgment.

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