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"Maryland," she said. "South of the Mason-Dixon line, but not exactly the deep south."
"Y'all were on the wrong side in the war, weren't you?"
She laughed at my twang, something easy for me to pull back on when I wanted to. "I think you're right. I'm not exactly a history buff. You'd have to talk to my sister Tessy for that."
"I'd rather talk to you." It slipped out before I could help it. I forgot my place, crossed a line. Something my family history should have made easy enough to remember. "I'm sorry, Juliet. That was inappropriate."
"Was it?" She leaned slightly toward me, finishing another guess at my code. "Or maybe you're just being honest."
I lifted the shield over my code to show her that she'd gotten it.
"Yes!" She did a little fist pump and there was something so charming and real in the motion. If we'd been other people, in another situation, I'd have leaned across the board and kissed her right then. Maybe she felt it too, because there was a lingering moment when her gaze tangled with mine and something shuddered and shivered around us.
I dropped her eyes, took a big swallow of wine. "Again?"
"Yes." She busied herself setting up the board, and I sensed that she was relieved, that we’d dodged a bullet.
As the night stilled outside and the level in the wine bottle decreased, we laughed and played childish games, and it felt more and more like we were two friends. Or something more.
"Juliet?" I asked as we packed up the games. I felt like we’d built a bridge of sorts, like maybe now it was okay to pry a little bit. And I found that I cared about Juliet. More than I should. And I understood she was lonely, but I thought there might be something else going on. She’d looked upset when she’d come to my door.
"Yeah?"
"Was there something going on tonight? Earlier, when you came to my door. Is everything okay?"
She squeezed her eyes shut a long second, her hands stilling over the game box. Then she blew out a controlled breath. "Zac is making some accusations."
Indignation swept through me. That asshole. I'd watched him treat her like shit for a full year before she'd walked in on him. I hated the guy and had been glad to see him go, though I knew it had hurt Juliet. "Against you?" The words came out like a honed steel blade.
"He says I cheated on him. He's suing me for a huge amount of my estate." She paused, cringed. "And there's a tape."
I felt my eyebrows shoot up. It was hard to imagine Juliet in the kind of tape I figured she meant. "A tape?"
"You understand," she said, blushing and dropping her eyes. "When we were first together. We made a tape."
"Shit." I forced myself not to think about how much I might like to see such a tape. Even if it meant seeing her with Zac. I swallowed hard.
"Yeah. Pretty much."
"So he's blackmailing you," I said, anger sending every cell in my body into violent overdrive. I shot to my feet, unable to help it.
"There's nothing you can do. My lawyers and manager are handling it. They'll give him a settlement to make him stop."
"You sure?" I thought about how I’d like to settle things with Zac Stephens.
"I hope so."
Hope was rarely an effective offense. I knew that from my time in the Corps, but I wasn't going to overstep the bounds of my engagement here by inserting myself. She was handling it. I took a few steadying breaths in an effort to calm down.
"Thanks for hanging out with me," she said, switching off the gas fire and picking up the bottle. She turned to head to the dark kitchen, but I stepped close, taking the empty bottle from her hand.
"I'll take care of this. You go on up. I'm just going to do a quick perimeter check. Make sure everything's secure before I turn in."
She sighed and the little line of worry on her forehead eased. "Thanks, Jace." She took a couple steps toward the stairs and turned back. "If I haven't said it, it's really nice having you here. Thank you."
I watched her slim form head up the stairs, and forced my mind to shift back to where it had lived before we'd sat on the rug drinking wine and laughing together. No matter how much I liked her, Juliet Manchester was not my friend. And I was absolutely the boy from the wrong side of the tracks where she was concerned.
Besides, it didn’t matter how I might feel. Even if I wasn't her employee, she'd never consider dating a guy like me.
