Page 95 of Star Crossed
Damned hormones.
What if he was in trouble? What if he needed help? Had she mentioned to Romeo that one of her greatest strengths in life was her ability to stay collected in a crisis? If he needed someone who thought fast on their feet, Jules was his girl, but maybe he didn’t know that. Maybe he didn’t care.
Jules thought back on all the terrible things she’d said to him and bit her lip to fight a fresh surge of tears. All he’d wanted was to marry her, and what had she done to repay something that was actually very sweet and romantic if not rash to the point of insanity? She’d called him a criminal.
It was possible Jules overestimated her ability to keep cool in the face of adversity—she was coming apart at the seams.
Refusing to cry one more time today, Jules decided to use all her nervous energy for good. After doing the dishes and cleaning her own room, she ended up in her father’s old room. Most of the room was exactly as it’d been the day he’d died, all the way down to the sheets on the bed and the glass on the nightstand.
She dusted and kept it clean, but she knew after so many years it was something that needed to be changed. Out with the old; her daddy wouldn’t have wanted this. He wouldn’t have wanted Jules and Wyatt to grow old with only each other for company either.
She picked up the picture of her mother on his nightstand, studying the young, beautiful blonde in her prime. This woman was a stranger, but seeing her never failed to make Jules hurt. Not for herself—she’d done just fine—but for her father who had never stopped loving and missing her.
Like Wyatt, who’d never faltered in his loyalty to Tabitha, her father had lived most of his life devoid of a partner because she’d been snatched from him too early. How unfair was that?
Jules looked up at the sound of wheels against the gravel in the driveway and placed the picture back on the nightstand, being careful to face it toward the bed the way she’d found it. She went to the curtains covering the sliding glass door to the balcony. The headlights helped to illuminate Romeo’s black Ferrari, and she opened the door and rushed out.
Jules leaned against the edge of the railing just as Romeo got out. He wore a simple T-shirt and jeans, but to Jules he looked amazing, especially considering the heart-stopping worry she’d been battling all day.
“Romeo!” she called out to him.
He paused and looked up, seeming stunned to see her there. He walked around the car, coming to stand under the balcony. It was a full moon, and the light of it illuminated his bemused smile as he said, “Hey, Juliet.”
“I’m coming down.”
Jules rushed back into her father’s room, leaving the glass door wide open, the curtains blowing in the breeze as she brushed past them. She sprinted down the long hallway and rushed down the stairs before she unlocked the front door.
Romeo was standing on the other side, and Jules leaped at him. He gasped but caught her. She tangled her fingers in his hair and wrapped her legs around his waist. She kissed him before they could discuss all the hurt, drowning out two horrible days of worry and heartache. It was the best way she knew how to soothe the painful wounds and remind herself why she’d fallen so hard for him to begin with.
He kissed her back, pushing his tongue past her parted lips as his big arms tightened around her. Then he gave a grunt of pain and pulled away. A deep crease of discomfort was etched into his forehead, but still he smiled. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” Jules stroked his hair and studied the bruising from Wyatt. She ran her fingers over the white tape used to close a cut over his eye, and then moved up to the pain lines still making his handsome face seem tense. “I’m sorry…for everything.”
“I’m sorry too.” Romeo brushed strands of long, wet hair off Jules’s neck as he gave another pained wince. “You’re worth suffering through a concussion and two bruised ribs for. I’d do it all over again.”
“Bruised ribs?”
Jules gaped before she untangled herself from him and jumped down, realizing that was Romeo’s not so subtle hint to get off him. Jules couldn’t stop looking at him. She was desperate to ensure he was okay. His left eye was swollen; his jaw was badly bruised. She’d seen worse, but there was a deeper hurt shining in his eyes. It pulsed off him so strongly it was tangible.
Rather than press him, she grabbed his hand and pulled him past the front door. “Come in.”
“Where’s your brother?”
“He’ll be off work at two.” Jules looked to the clock on the mantel, seeing it was already past one. She turned back to Romeo with wide eyes when she realized how late it was. “What’s wrong?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You just showed up at my house at one in the morning.” Jules gave him a look of disbelief. “Something’s wrong. You didn’t even know Wyatt was gone. You thought he was here, didn’t you?”
“I was hoping he wasn’t,” Romeo said with a bitter laugh and then gripped his ribs.
“Please don’t play with me, Romeo. Tell me what’s going on. I’m a big girl; I can handle just ’bout anything.”
He tilted his head, his emerald gaze running over Jules for several heart-stopping seconds before he sighed. “I came to say good-bye.”
“You can’t leave,” Jules said frantically, realizing she could handle anything but that. “Wyatt was just having a moment. I’ll personally make sure he apologizes and—”
“It’s not about Wyatt.” Romeo reached out, brushing at her hair once more before he cupped her chin, his thumb running over her bottom lip, still tingling from his kiss. “I need to go, but I wanted to see you one more time before I did.”
