One bully had been a boy, the other a girl.
Neither had come out on top of Juliet. The woman was a ferocious warrior in defense of those she considered weaker and more vulnerable. Jake had been away on a rugby trip during the first fight, had found out what was going on after the second fight was nearly over.
It was a desperate text from Calypso that had sent him racing to the school’s back playing field. He’d had to drag an enraged Juliet off her male opponent—a boy twice her size. She’d tried to kick the guy even as Jake literally lifted her away, knowing she’d be in even worse trouble if she landed a punch or kick that did more than bruise. As it was, she’d ended up in detention for a month.
Meanwhile, though the bully might’ve escaped adult punishment, he’d never lived down the fact he’d been beaten by a skinny girl half his size. And Jake had learned something—to keep his eyes open in a way he never before had. Busy with his love of cars and with rugby and with Calypso, he hadn’t spotted the bullying.
“Did I ever tell you I had a talk with Paul Sweeney?” he found himself saying.
“Paul— You mean that preppy A-student bastard who lived to make weaker kids’ lives hell?” A pause. “Though he did have a sudden change of heart partway through the year. Must’ve been some talk.”
“No one wanted to mess with me or Danny. Not when we had the Bishop and Sailor for backup.” Four brothers who stood as a single unit, one of them a rugby legend, another heavily muscled from his physical work, were enough to scare any bully.
“I was planning to kick him in the nuts before he had his awakening,” Juliet muttered. “Then it was like he began to avoid me— Wait a minute. Jacob Esera, did you warn Paul against coming near me?” A deadly tone to her voice.
“I warned him it’d probably be better for his health and macho reputation. I mean, everyone knew what you did to Jiro.”
Something that sounded like a snorted laugh. “Yeah, he wasn’t such a big man then, was he?” She still sounded exactly as satisfied as she had a month after the altercation, when she finally got out of detention.
She hadn’t been sorry for an instant.
Smile curving his lips, he said, “How’s the whole Reid situation going? I’ve been in the gym for a couple of hours.” A good, hard workout that had given him an outlet for his anger at what that ass was trying to do to her.
“I have crushed that worm under my stiletto,” Juliet said, her tone razor sharp. “Unfortunately, the media is now in love with me. Idiots won’t stop calling with offers to do a lifestyle piece on my ‘rise from a woman scorned to a powerful player in the business world.’” Gagging sounds.
But Jake didn’t laugh. “Were you?”
“What?”
“The woman scorned?” He’d just assumed she’d done the walking away, but if it had been Reid…
“I’d kick you in the nuts if you were standing in front of me right now.” He could hear her glare. “No, I’m not pining for Reid the Pinhead. For your information, I was the one who kicked him to the curb.” A hesitation in those words. “Actually, I’m not proud of it. I didn’t do any kicking. I just packed my stuff and walked.”
Jake’s hand clenched on his phone. “Were you afraid of him?”
“No, nothing like that.” Another hesitation. “Shit. I found him in our bed with Lisa.”
Jake wasn’t a violent man, but Jesus fuck, Reid deserved a punch in the face. He said as much to Juliet.
“No, he deserves obscurity. Don’t do anything that’ll give him a chance at fame.” An exhale. “Honestly? I was relieved to have such an open-and-shut reason to walk. I wanted to get out but kept hesitating. I don’t know why.”
“Because you’re loyal.” Once Juliet picked a person as hers, she stuck. “Reid’s a fool to have given that up.”
The pause that fell between them was taut with things unspoken.
Noises in the background from Juliet’s end. “I have to go. Meeting.”
After they’d hung up, Jake stared out his windscreen at nothing in particular, his mind on a tough girl who’d grown into a strong, intelligent woman. A woman who was about to go to New York with him. Americans didn’t follow rugby much—which was why the whole Times Square underwear thing had knocked him for six. Maybe the US company had some secret marketing plan.
He didn’t honestly care.
What he was interested in was that, until those billboards went up, no one in the vicinity was likely to recognize his face or care that he was part of the best rugby team in the world. He didn’t have to worry about Reid using Jake’s connection with Juliet to further drag her into the media.
Jake smiled… then called up the florist website to order another bunch of dark red roses. These he sent with the message: Roses are red. Violets are blue. Stilettos crush worms. And so do you. ~ From the G to the VP.
He wondered if she’d get it.
Four hours later he received a message that said, Gearhead, you have too much time on your hands. ~ That’s Ms. Vice President to you.
The tightness in his chest that he hadn’t been aware of carrying around eased in a rush of endorphins. Yeah, he had it bad for Juliet. And it still terrified him.
Leaning back in his office chair where he’d been paying the invoice for Esme’s dance lessons, he turned to look at the photo of Calypso with Esme in her arms that he’d put on the shelf above the desk a while back.
“Hey, Calypso,” he said, talking to a girl he’d once loved with all his teenage soul. “What if I get this wrong? What if I screw everything up?” His life. Esme’s. Juliet’s.
Calypso smiled back at him, sweet and content and forever a teenage girl.
Giving up on the admin for today, he pushed back his chair and glanced at his watch. It was almost time to pick up Esme. Deciding to start out early, he was halfway along the walk when his phone buzzed.
“Sailor,” he said after glancing at the caller ID. “What’s up?”
“Can you pick up Emmaline too? Small emergency at one of the nurseries. I’m hoping to beat the school traffic and head out.”
“No worries. Want me to keep her overnight?” Emmaline had stuff at his place, as Esme did at Sailor and Ísa’s.
“No. Ísa’s teaching an evening class today, but it finishes at seven thirty—she should be able to pick Em up around eight. Thanks, bro.”
After hanging up, Jake took deep breaths of the crisp air and tried to figure out what the hell was going on inside him. He was deeply, passionately attracted to Juliet. He wanted to play with her. Fight with her. So why all the knots in his gut? It wasn’t as if she didn’t reciprocate—at least on the physical front. He could work with that.
Yet the fear continued to gnaw at him.
22
Danny Becomes a Man of the Cloth
A familiar figure up ahead by the school gate caught Jake’s attention. “Danny? What’re you doing here?”
“Inviting myself to your place for dinner,” his younger brother said with a grin. “Dad’s taking Mum to a fancy restaurant, and I didn’t want to eat alone.” He held out a fist for Jake to bump.