Chapter 13 #2
“My roommate.” Reaching for the phone book, he smelled something mouthwatering coming from the oven, and his stomach let out a hungry growl. In the yellow pages, he found what he was looking for and picked up the phone. “Yes, I need a taxi at 8 South Chester Street. Thirty minutes? Okay. Thanks.”
“Michael, what are you doing? We need to talk.”
“We’re not going to talk, but you are going to listen.
” He took a deep breath to summon the calm he needed to get through this.
“I’m starting what’ll probably be the biggest trial of my career on Monday.
Today’s Thursday. That means the trial starts in three days.
I do not need this right now! So you’re leaving in…
” He checked his watch. “Twenty-eight minutes. Go home and leave me alone. Am I clear? Is there any part of that you didn’t understand? ”
“Where am I supposed to go at nine o’clock at night?”
Michael shrugged. “Not my problem.”
“I’m not leaving. The least you can do is let me spend the night here.”
“You’re not spending the night. Check into a hotel. I don’t care what you do, but you are leaving.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh my God! You’ve got someone else! All this time I’ve been in Florida, you’ve been seeing someone else. She’s living here!”
Michael forced himself to remain calm. “I have not been seeing someone else.”
She ignored him and stormed into the living room. “Get her down here! I want a better look at the woman who’s been fucking my fiancé!”
“That’s enough!” Michael’s control finally snapped. “This is my home, and I don’t want you here!” He opened the front door and tossed her bag onto the sidewalk. “I want you out. Right now!”
“Why? So you can fuck your whore?”
This time Michael saw it coming and grabbed her arm in midair before her hand could make contact with his face.
“I don’t think so, Paige. I let you get away with that once but not twice.
” While he had her hand he slid the engagement ring off her finger and put it in his pocket.
“I’ll take that back, just so you’re absolutely clear on where we stand. Now get out.” He released her arm.
She snatched her coat off the sofa. “You’ll be sorry, Michael! You’re going to regret this!”
“No, I won’t.”
“Everything all right, Mr. Maguire?” Officer Tanner asked from the sidewalk.
“It is now. Ms. Simpson was just leaving. A taxi will be coming to get her in a few minutes.”
Paige brushed by him.
The moment she was outside Michael slammed the door closed and leaned his head against it for a minute. He turned around to find Juliana coming down the stairs.
She held out her arms to him.
Like a man who had found water after forty days in the desert, he went to her.
Standing on the second stair from the bottom, she held him close to her.
When he pulled back after several minutes, he was able to look directly into her eyes.
His hand curled around the back of her neck, and this time when he kissed her he held nothing back.
If kissing Paige had been about fire and heat, kissing Juliana felt like coming home.
The heat was there, too, but it was almost secondary to everything else he felt when she responded with equal ardor.
Coaxing her mouth open, his heart almost burst as her tongue tangled with his.
He only ended the kiss when he remembered what she had said about him looking for a rebound.
That was the last thing he wanted her to think.
“I’m sorry.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
She caressed his face. “She was so horrible to you.”
“To both of us.”
“I know. I heard.”
He winced. “I’m sorry you had to hear that. I never saw how truly awful she can be until this last week.”
“She hid it from you.” Juliana kept her arms around him.
“Either that or maybe I just chose not to see it.”
“She’ll get the message after tonight. Are you all right?”
“I was all right the moment I turned around and saw you coming down to me.” He tightened his hold on her and buried his face in her hair.
“Michael,” Juliana said breathlessly. “I made you some dinner.”
“I know. It smells good.” But he didn’t release her. Five minutes passed or maybe ten before he was ready to let go. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being here, for offering comfort.” He kept an arm around her as they walked into the kitchen.
She retrieved his dinner and shut off the oven.
“What’s this?” He picked up Jeremy’s letter from the counter.
“Oh. A letter. From Jeremy.”
Michael handed it to her without looking at it and sat down to eat. “He’s not giving up either, huh?”
Juliana shook her head. “He feels really bad about what happened last weekend.”
“It’ll seem self-serving for me to say he should feel bad about it. This is fabulous, by the way. Thanks.”
“I’m glad you like it.” She brought two glasses of wine to the table and sat with him. “He went out with someone else.”
Michael’s fork froze in midair. “He told you that?”
“I figured out from when the letter was written that he went on a date the same day he sent me the roses. He said the date was awful because it wasn’t with me.”
Michael took a long sip of his wine. “I can’t be a good friend to you in this situation. I can’t say what I really want to.”
“It’s all right. There’s nothing you could say that I’m not already telling myself.”
He took her hand. “I’m sorry.”
“Are you?” she asked as she laced her fingers through his and flipped her soft brown eyes up to meet his.
Michael tugged on her hand and brought her to sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her. “Not really. He’s a fool. I already told you that.”
Juliana rested her head on his shoulder. “He said he wants to fix this before I meet someone else.”
Michael kissed the top of her head. “Too late.”