Chapter Twenty-Two
When Juliette came to, she was back on the ocean.
It lulled her gently to and fro, but instead of inducing nausea, there was an overwhelming sense of warmth and security.
As if the ocean had sprouted two deliciously strong arms and cradled her in their muscley embrace.
But as the pain came rolling in, she realized it was far too warm and not nearly salty-smelling enough to be the ocean.
No, what she was smelling was … cedar? Sandalwood?
Something warm and delightful and soothing.
She shifted closer toward it, finding her nose tucked into some kind of rough fabric.
“Juliette?” came a beautifully melodic voice, rumbling through her whole body. Did the ocean talk? And did it have an Australian accent?
Juliette cracked one eye, looking up at the admittedly fine jawline of Charlie Hawkins. “Are you An Officer and a Gentleman– ing me?”
“Is that an American reference I’m unaware of, or should I be worried about a concussion?” Charlie asked. His rumbling voice was doing very nice things to Juliette’s skin, even though her face felt like it had been split open.
“Tell me the truth. Did he break my nose? Will I need reconstructive surgery? It’s my third best feature, after my legs and my butt. Fourth best if you count my sparkling personality.”
A laugh rumbled through Charlie. She didn’t know he was capable of such sounds, or how incredible they would feel at close range.
“You managed to turn your head at the last second, so he only grazed your temple. You knocked the back of your head when you fell, which is why you passed out. June Piedmont wanted to kick you out, but I convinced her that leaving an unconscious woman outside the gates probably wasn’t the best look for new members.
The club has a medical center, we can get you an ice pack and I can check you over. ”
Juliette would love for him to check her over, especially if they got to play dirty doctor and promiscuous patient.
The blow must have knocked something loose in her brain if all she could think about was doing naughty things to Charlie because he was carrying her.
Although to be fair, there weren’t many men tall enough or strong enough to pull it off.
The fact that Charlie was not only both—but was doing it without getting winded—was very appealing.
Juliette groaned. “Tell me the Floyd Flock didn’t get video of that chef knocking me out.”
“You’re in a delicate state right now, it’s best that we not upset you.” The temperature dropped a good ten degrees as he stepped into the shaded interior of the club.
“They can’t have that much of a following, right?” Juliette reasoned. “I mean, the internet loves tiny young girls cooking giant pans of food and acting like they’ll eat any of it.”
“One of them referred to herself as a ‘grandfluencer,’ but I’m not sure if that’s a real thing or not.”
Juliette cracked an eye open, peering up at Charlie suspiciously. “Turquoise jewelry?”
Charlie nodded. “That’s the one.”
Juliette let her head drop dramatically before remembering she’d recently suffered a blow there. Pain sparked out through her eyeballs, but that hardly mattered. “Coastal grandma vibes! I should have known that was too much white linen for one person. If she tags me, it’s over.”
“You just got knocked out and you’re worried about social media?” Charlie said wryly.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Juliette muttered.
Although if anybody would understand, she figured it would be Charlie.
She was supposed to be posting updates about how successfully her life was going so she could rub it in Juniper’s smug, Instagram-filtered face.
Now if Coastal Grandma had anything to say about it, she’d be the meme of the reunion.
They’d probably print pictures of her mid-fall and put them on koozies and T-shirts. This was an unmitigated disaster.
While Juliette contemplated the imminent demise of her online social standing, Charlie had a tense conversation with one of the security guards standing watch in the club.
He was trying to deny them entry to the roped-off portions of the club where the medical center was, and Charlie was just as firm in insisting that Juliette needed medical attention right away, and did this man want to be personally responsible if she had a seizure and collapsed on Pacific Pines property?
They went back and forth until finally the man surrendered.
Charlie shouldered past, murmuring a quiet thanks as they went.
“You should talk to people like that more often,” Juliette said. “You get this tone, very authoritative. Very sexy.”
“I take my patient care very seriously,” Charlie said, sounding flustered.
“Ah, so I’m your patient now?” Juliette said, wiggling a bit in his arms as the dirty doctor fantasy came surging back.
“Only until I can confirm you won’t actually drop into a seizure,” Charlie said, clearing his throat. “Strictly medical, obviously.”
But his arms involuntarily flexed beneath her knees, hugging her closer into his chest, and Juliette found that she quite liked making Charlie Hawkins flustered.
It wasn’t the awkward, stilted exchanges she’d had with him before, but a genuine, adorable befuddlement.
She’d actually been enjoying sleuthing around with him, playing nice cop/sexy mean cop.
And best of all, they’d been getting somewhere.
At least until Troy clocked her. Was he far too rule-abiding and thoughtful to be her usual type of hookup?
Definitely. But maybe that was what she needed right now, a change of pace.
It obviously didn’t mean anything. Just physical.
She squirmed in his embrace to get a better look at him, her vision bursting with light as she moved her head. “Charlie, I think we should have sex.”
Charlie tripped over some invisible impediment, the skin of his neck flushing deep red. He glanced down at her, his eyes quickly darting back up.
“Now I really am worried about a concussion,” he said, the color reaching his ears.
“No, come on, I’m serious,” Juliette said, realizing as she said it that she was. “Look, I’m hot, you’re hot, let’s be hot together. A casual thing, no strings attached. It’ll be fun.”
“I don’t have sex for fun,” Charlie said with a frown.
Juliette snorted. “Then you’re doing it wrong.”
“No, I mean, I don’t do casual things. That’s not … I don’t … that’s not how I work.”
Juliette figured as much, considering how often he’d insisted on ignoring her obvious hotness by holding up his super-committed-girlfriend routine like a talisman.
But after meeting Sporty Ex, and seeing how much she still affected Charlie, Juliette figured he could use a casual fling in his life.
Their relationship must have been intense, and she was beginning to see why Charlie had been so closed off before.
His ex was obviously domineering. Maybe Juliette could help him discover that authoritative guy who talked his way past the security guard.
“How about this,” Juliette said, enjoying the view as she gazed up at Charlie.
He really was a good-looking guy, even if he had awful taste in sport coats.
“We solve this whole murder business today, you come over to my place tonight, let’s say around nine.
You burn that sports coat, I’ll put on something tear-away, and we’ll just see how the night goes. ”
“Ah, here we are, the med center,” Charlie said, his voice pinched. “You can walk, right?”
He didn’t wait for her answer, setting her down swiftly enough that her vision briefly went celestial as the blood reoriented itself throughout her body. She swooned into him and he caught her on instinct, bringing their mouths within inches of each other.
“Are you all right?” Charlie asked, all awkwardness gone.
His hands slid up her back, hugging her in close for support, the long lines and angles of his body fitting hers all the way up.
All either one of them had to do in that moment was lean forward another six inches.
Her heart thrummed in anticipation; his gaze flicked down to her mouth as her teeth bit into the soft flesh of her lower lip.
He wanted to kiss her, she knew it. His hands flexed against her back, no longer there for support, tugging her closer.
“Juliette,” he said, and there it was, that authoritative tone.
Rough and gravelly, bringing every nerve ending in her body to attention.
She pressed closer, tilting her head up, parting her lips on a sigh.
This was what she had been missing all those interminable late nights at the office trying to make that season’s marketing budget work.
All those lunches and phone calls and emails with Warren, spitballing book titles and thematic structure.
What she needed right then was Charlie’s mouth on hers, his fingers digging in deeper, finding all her soft spots. This needed to happen.
“Charlie, there you are,” came a bright feminine voice, cracking the spell in two.
“Katarina?” Charlie said, nearly shoving Juliette as he stepped back, flushing once again. “What are you doing here?”
Sporty Ex looked Juliette up and down, her gaze lingering on the spot where Troy had clocked her.
Great, she probably had a goose egg the size of a golf ball.
And on her good side, too. “Mrs. Piedmont sent me, said one of the guests fainted or hit their head or something. I was supposed to bring ice?”
“We’re good, thanks,” Juliette said. “We were just going in the med center, I’m sure they have plenty of ice in there.”
“Actually, they had to disconnect the refrigerators for the renovations,” said Sporty Ex, tilting her head to the side and making a face of mock concern. “A lot of the supplies were moved to the kitchens. Charlie, come with me, I’ll show you where they are.”
“Charlie and I can both go,” Juliette said, linking her arm through Charlie’s like they were forming a Greenpeace chain in front of a bulldozer.
“Oh, but you’re hurt, we wouldn’t want you accidentally falling and getting injured again,” said Sporty Ex, still making the concerned face.
But Juliette was clearly receiving the sense of triumph layered underneath.
“Guess we won’t be having that doubles match after all.
You lie down, Charlie will be back as soon as he can. ”
“We really should get ice on that,” Charlie said, gently tapping her temple where Troy had hit her. She sucked in a breath through her teeth, the light contact making the spot throb. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise.”
“Really, I’ll be fine,” Juliette said, gritting her teeth. But the world was looking awfully dim, and not just because they had all the lights off back here.
“I’ll be back soon,” Charlie said, giving her a friendly pat as he moved off with Sporty Ex.
“You’re looking fit,” Sporty Ex said as they retreated down the hall, running a hand down the sleeve of his jacket. “Did you join a new gym?”
Dammit. She’d been so close to something there with Charlie; her body was still vibrating from the energy that had built up between them before Katarina so rudely interrupted.
Her head buzzed, eyes pulsing in time with the faint light in the hall.
She leaned against the wall to maintain a sense of equilibrium, wrestling with the straps on her espadrilles and kicking them off.
She sighed as her bare feet touched the cool tile floors, reorienting her to the earth.
She had half a mind to charge after the two of them and give Sporty Ex a dressing-down for cockblocking her—until she realized exactly where she was.
Charlie had inadvertently gotten her past security, into the closed-off section of the club. Which meant she could finally access the locker room where Duffel Bag had stashed his contraband and retrieve her first piece of hard evidence that someone really did kill Warren Ellingham.