Page 67 of Hunted Hearts
As they wrapped up the meeting, and talk turned to marketing, branding and security, Juliette felt a warm weight on her. Before she turned her head, she knew she would see Theo watching her from the doorway.
Her stare was drawn to him like he was gravity and she was the tide. Impossible to fight.
This time, she didn’t look away.
Because no matter what happened next…she wanted to remember what this moment felt like. Being held in the center of something good, something right.
Something worth fighting for.
Theo.
Chapter Thirteen
The fire in the library had burned low, casting a soft amber glow across the bookshelves and plush chairs. Theo stood by the window, hands in his pockets, watching Juliette.
She’d pulled a thick blanket over her legs and was curled on the couch, lost half in the flames and half in thought.
She looked so small like that. So quiet. But he knew better—knew the storm she was holding back behind those eyes as deep as the sea.
“Tired?” he asked gently.
She looked up, startled for a second, then gave a small shake of her head. “No. Just…trying to slow my brain down.”
He walked over and crouched beside her. “You’ve got a right to be overwhelmed. But you’re not alone in this.”
Her eyes shimmered. “I know. That’s the part that gets me. I have all the support anyone could ask for, from my parents and from my team. But I’m not used to people showing up for me likethis.”
Theo drew his knuckles over her cheek. “Then get used to it. Because I’m…” He broke off, throat working. Could he say what he wanted to say to her?
What did he have to lose when he was already losing his heart to this woman?
He trapped her gaze in his. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Juliette let out a breath, and in that moment, something passed between them—something that didn’t need to be said aloud. He saw it in her soft smile, the way she reached for hishand and held on like he was the only solid thing in her spinning world.
“Come here,” he murmured.
She shifted, and he scooped her up, blanket and all, and carried her to the big chair by the fire. She fit against him like she was made to be there, her knees drawn up, her head resting on his chest. He wrapped the blanket around them both and held her tight, stroking his hand slowly along her spine.
The quiet stretched between them, but it was comforting—like exhaling after holding it too long, an exercise he knew all too well from BUD/S training.
Theo pressed a kiss to her temple. “I don’t know what this is between us, Juliette. But I feel it.”
She looked up at him, plump lips parting. “Me too.”
Something in his chest cracked open. He hadn’t meant to fall for her. Hadn’t expected her music to shake him loose from the walls he’d built around his soul. But it had.
Andshehad.
He tilted her chin up and kissed her, slow and searching. She melted into it, her lips soft against his, her fingers tightening in the fabric of his shirt.
The blanket slid from her shoulders as he deepened the kiss. One hand cradled her jaw, the other curved around her waist, drawing her closer. She sighed into his mouth, and that sound—so sweet, so trusting—lit a fuse in him.
“Tell me if you want to stop.” His voice was low and rough.
“I don’t.”
That was all he needed.
