Page 3 of His Juliet

“Eat your pizza first.”

She looked down at the slice clutched in her hand and took a bite. I grabbed myself another. I recognized the restaurant name—it was Family-owned, but I’d never been. It was damn good pizza.

“Since we’re going to be here for a while, we should play a drinking game,” I said.

“Assuming you’re not a hallucination, who are you? Who was trying to get in?”

My phone buzzed, and I realized it was sitting on the woman’s lap. “May I?”

She picked it up and hesitated for a moment, maybe considering if she could call for help, before handing it to me.

Matteo’s text flashed on the screen, letting me know they still didn’t have eyes on the area and for me to stay where I was. Fine by me. My eyes trailed up the woman’s body. She looked young—maybe in her early to mid-twenties, in contrast to my thirty-eight—and she was all thick curves, lush lips, and gorgeous hair.

I stretched my arms above my head before grabbing yet another slice. “Eat,” I said sternly. Once she took another bite, I continued. “I’ve caught the attention of the wrong person and need to wait things out until it’s safe.”

“You want to stay here? For how long?”

I shrugged. “You in a rush to get rid of me?”

“I need to go home.”

“Can’t let you do that. You’re stuck with me for a little bit. So, drinking game?”

She took another bite of pizza. “I’m definitely hallucinating. I’m going to close my eyes and when I open them, you’ll be gone.”

She scrunched her eyes shut, looking fucking adorable. I silently rolled to the side, so when she opened them, her jaw dropped in momentary confusion. Then she saw me and gave an exaggerated huff.

“Good news!” I said. “You’re not hallucinating. Now, before we play, we should probably introduce ourselves. What’s your name, gorgeous?”

Her cheeks flushed pink. “Juliet.”

I couldn’t stop my wide smile.No fucking way. “Juliet, I believe this night was written in the stars. I’m Romeo.”

She blinked and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m definitely losing it.”

“No, really, that’s my name.”

“Uh huh.” She shifted so her back was against a wall of books, her legs stretched out in front of her. They were just inches away from mine, and I had to hold myself back from brushing against them. “So tell me,Romeo, who did you get in trouble with?”

She said my name like she thought it was fake, but I still loved the sounds of it on her lips.

“Well,stellina, not everyone appreciates how funny and handsome I am.”

Her nose scrunched. “Someone is after you, potentially wanting to kill you judging by the gun you’re carrying, because you’re too funny and handsome? That’s the story you’re going with?”

“Your lack of faith in me is astounding.”

“Also,stellina?”

“Little star. Because we’re star-crossed lovers. That’s Romeo and Juliet, right?”

She rolled her eyes again and I loved it. There was something about her that felt fragile, like she could break at any moment, but these glimpses of her sass eased something in my chest.

“You’re a great lover of Shakespeare, then?” she asked.

“Nah. Too depressing for my taste. Now, what drinking game should we play, Juliet? Unless you’ve got beer pong set up in the back, we might need to stick with a classic like Truth or Dare. Or we could do strip poker.”

Her cheeks flushed, but the look she gave me was scathing.

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