Page 40 of Star Crossed
“I sort of got a fella I’m interested in,” Jules said because she needed to tell someone, and Terry was as good a person as any. She smiled against the rim of her coffee cup as she brought her legs up and rested her knees against the dispatch board. “But he’s the wrong kinda fella.”
Terry turned and looked at her curiously. “How so?”
“He’s a real bad boy.” Jules felt her cheeks heat, thinking of just how bad Romeo could be. “Not someone you’d wanna bring to your mama on Wednesdays or church on Sundays.”
“Well, seeing as you don’t have a mama,” Terry started, giving her a sly smile, “and I’ve never seen your car in the church parking lot on Sunday, that doesn’t sound like too much of a problem. Good-looking?”
“God.” Jules sighed longingly. “You don’t even know. That man’s hotter than Georgia asphalt in July.”
“Sounds like the right kinda fella to me.”
Jules laughed, shaking her head. “I am in trouble, Terry. You shouldn’t even be encouraging me. This whole thing is a drama waiting to happen.”
“You only got one life to live. Might as well live it,” Terry said as the front door opened, letting in a blast of cold air. He looked up at the big hulk of a man who walked in and then lowered his voice, whispering to Jules, “But who the hell am I to talk.”
“Hey, Jules,” Hal said, his gaze on Terry despite the fact that he was talking to Jules. “I, um, only saw your car in the parking lot.”
“That’s ’cause I’m the only one here.” Jules took another sip of her coffee. “It’s been a wild night.”
Hal walked around the counter and reached down, grabbing Terry’s arm and forcing him to stand. Terry stood, but his head was still tilted away, making it obvious he was pissed off. Hal obviously didn’t care, because he hugged Terry, wrapping his big, thick arms around the smaller man until he grunted in complaint.
“I thought you were dead somewhere,” Hal whispered, his voice anguished enough that Jules suspected he might be crying.
“Yeah, well, you’re not that lucky,” Terry said bitterly, though he didn’t fight Hal’s hold on him.
“Don’t scare me like that again.” Hal rested his cheek against the top of Terry’s head and took a shuddering breath. “My heart can’t take it.”
“I’m fine.” Terry finally returned the hug, wrapping his arms around Hal and patting his back. “But you got to ease up a bit.”
“Are you hurting?” Hal pulled back in concern and looked at Terry. He touched a small nick above Terry’s left eyebrow and then frowned. “You need to go see the doc first thing in the morning. We’ll call him at home if he’s off for the holiday.”
“We’re not calling him at home,” Terry said dismissively. “I just need a few headache pills and twelve hours to sleep off my troubles.”
“Boy, you are lucky you didn’t get arrested,” Hal said in a hushed whisper Jules could barely hear. “Sheriff’s been trigger-happy with that Breathalyzer since that Johnson kid got himself killed, and you certainly had one too many if your steering led you into that oak.”
“You’re not kidding,” Terry agreed with a bitter laugh. “But it was a possum, not my steering that led me into that tree. I swerved to miss it and skidded on the ice.”
“What the hell kinda sense have you got?” Hal gave Terry a look of horrified disbelief. “When it comes down to a choice between you and a possum…that possum better die next time.”
The dispatch rang, and Terry said, “Come on, let’s get out of Jules’s hair.”
“Thanks again, Jules,” Hal said, draping an arm over Terry’s shoulders.
Jules reached over and answered the dispatch when they turned to walk out of the door, and she kept answering it for the next hour because the damn thing didn’t want to stop ringing. The night didn’t settle down until the clock ticked close to midnight. Then everything fell silent as if all of Garnet had stopped causing trouble long enough to watch the countdown to the New Year. With the eye of the storm over them, she finally picked up her cell phone and responded to Romeo’s earlier text.
Wish I was with you too. Feels like bad luck not having someone to kiss.
Jules turned to watch the clock hanging on the wall above Wyatt’s office door, waiting for the New Year along with everyone else. The second hand rolled past midnight, and her cell phone buzzed in her hand. Jules nearly answered it asking what the emergency was, but stopped short and simply said, “Hello?”
“Happy New Year, Juliet.”
Jules smiled and closed her eyes, savoring Romeo’s voice on the other end. “Happy New Year.”
“What if I promise to make up for lost time once I get there?” Romeo spoke loudly over the buzz of excitement in the background. “Will that cancel out the bad luck?”
“I dunno.” Jules put her feet up on the desk and leaned back in her chair. “I don’t think rain checks count.”
“Then how ’bout you call me when you get done doing what you’re doing,” Romeo suggested, his voice muffled by the partying around him. “And we’ll think of something wet and intimate to do that’ll let you start the New Year off on the right foot.”
Romeo probablywasbad luck, but Jules couldn’t stop herself from agreeing. “Sounds good to me, but I don’t get off until three.”
“I’ll be waiting,” Romeo assured her. “I didn’t kiss anyone either, and I got my own bad luck to do away with.”
The noise behind Romeo was deafening. She was sure there were plenty of women Romeo could find to kiss at that party he was at, but he’d called her instead and it pleased Jules far more than it should.
Bad boy or not, she was falling for Romeo Wellings—hard.
