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Cassandra and Nikki exchanged glances, just as the door leading to the pool opened. Of course it could only be one man who was letting himself into her kitchen.
“I heard that,” Noah said. “We had a fight, that’s all. And now there’s ‘nothing’ between us?”
She couldn’t meet his eyes. She didn’t want to have to tell him about the dirty gossip soon to be hung on the public clothesline.
He came farther into the room and looked at her sisters and Jay. “She threw things at me.”
Juliet had to defend herself now. “I didn’t throw things at you. I just…threw things.”
Her sisters were staring at her as if she’d gone mad. Then Nikki laughed. “Imagine that. The lady in beige is getting her bitch on. Awesome.”
“Hey,” Juliet defended herself. “I happen to be dressed in blue at the moment.”
Cassandra nodded. “It’s true, Nikki.”
“Well, she’s going to need her inner bitch in any case,” the younger woman insisted. “Read that, Noah, and tell me I’m not right.” Her hand indicated the open laptop.
Rubbing the pain in her chest, Juliet moved back so he could have a clear view of the screen while Jay filled him in on the how and the why of his sneak peek at the upcoming scandal sheets. Instead of watching him read it, she moved toward the windows and stared out at the pool.
Santa Fe? Seattle? Though she loved this house, she’d have to leave it, because there was at least one photographer who knew her address. Noah could stay if he wanted, though she supposed he’d distance himself from anything having to do with her ASAP.
God, why was he dragged into this ugliness? Cassandra and Nikki, too. She’d once called it infuriating, and it was, but now she felt an icier kind of anger building in her chest. Wrapping her arms around herself, she shivered.
Then heat enveloped her from behind. She was turned into Noah’s familiar, broad chest. He pulled her tight, ignoring her protests, and held her to him, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other circling her waist. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, tucking his cheek against hers. “I wish I could take it all away for you.”
“I’m going to do that myself,” she said, and when she stepped back, he let her go. “I figure if I leave town all this destructive gossip will leave with me.”
Nikki was shaking her head. “I already told you, running doesn’t do any good.”
“And, um, as your boss, I think I should point out that you have a job.” Cassandra passed her a cup of tea. “I’m expecting you at work tomorrow, and the day after that, and for every other shift that you’ve agreed to take.”
“There’s Thanksgiving, too,” Nikki added. She slid her arm around her fiancé’s waist. “Without you, we make Jay host and we’ll be forced to feast on beer and blackened steak.”
The man nodded. “It’s the only two things I do well.”
Noah stepped closer to brush Juliet’s hair from her face. “Don’t go.”
She whirled to him. “Of course I have to go! Don’t you see? I want this all to die down.”
“But you have commitments now,” he said. “Job, family, friends who are counting on you.”
Juliet huffed out a sigh. “None of you understand. I made a promise to myself about the book. I vowed I’d do what it takes to make it a success. The world doesn’t need to remember me right now, but the hero that Wayne was.”
“The kind of hero who wouldn’t flee from a fight,” Noah pointed out.
“I don’t see how to fight this.” She squeezed shut her eyes, trying to calm herself and think. Was there a way? An idea flickered. “Unless…”
“Unless?” Noah prompted.
She opened her eyes to look at him. “What was the date of Helen’s event?”
“The third week in November. That Saturday night.”
“Okay, then, what if I use my newly kindled notoriety to bring attention to General Matters?” Juliet mused. “Am I crazy to think I could throw my own book launch, the week before hers?”
“Helen won’t like it,” Noah warned, a grin ghosting his mouth.
“I know Helen Novack,” Jay put in. “She’s a snobby pain in the ass.”
“The man knows everybody,” Nikki said. “I told you that.”
Noah was nodding. “You put on your own party and tell the world about the general through your eyes, with your voice.”
“I’m certainly sick and tired of the press telling my side of things for me,” Juliet agreed. And a woman who didn’t flinch at breaking a few things in anger wouldn’t balk at facing down the media—and whoever else got in her way. “But would anyone come? And where would I have it? There’s not enough room or parking here, and—”
