Chapter 23 Juliette
JULIETTE
He walks right up to the bar, sleeves rolled up, jacket thrown over one shoulder, the bruise on his jaw darker now.
“Hey man,” Rodriguez says to the bartender. “Can I grab a bottle of champagne? For the road?”
“You want to buy a bottle?”
“I want to acquire a bottle. Through whatever means necessary.”
The bartender looks at him, at his face, then at me standing there in my bridesmaid dress.
“You’re the guy who got in a fight earlier, aren’t you?”
“That’s me.”
“With the best man?”
“Also me.”
The bartender grins. “He had it coming. I heard what he said.” He pulls out a bottle from under the bar. “Here. On the house.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. Get out of here before my manager sees.”
Rodriguez takes the bottle. “You’re a legend.”
We leave before anyone can stop us. Rodriguez is holding the champagne like a trophy. I’m trying not to laugh.
“I can’t believe you just did that,” I say in the elevator.
“I promised you stolen champagne. I’m a man of my word.”
“That was given champagne, not stolen.”
“Same difference.”
The elevator ride feels endless, Romeo’s thumb tracing circles on my hand the entire time. When we finally reach our floor, the hallway stretches out with that particular hotel silence—muffled TVs behind doors, the distant hum of heaters, someone’s room service tray abandoned by their door.
“Having second thoughts?” Romeo asks, misreading my hesitation.
“No. Just—” I watch him juggle the champagne bottle while fishing for the key card. “This morning feels like a week ago.”
“This morning I didn’t have a police record.” The lock clicks green and he pushes the door open, setting the champagne on the entry table with a flourish. “Now I’m a dangerous criminal.”
“‘Criminal’ is a gross exaggeration of what actually happened.”
“Let me have my bad boy moment.” He turns to face me. “Hi, JuJu.”
“Hi.”
“You’re nervous.”
“I’m not nervous.”
“You’re definitely nervous.” He moves closer. “We don’t have to—”
“I want to.” The words come out fast. “I’m not nervous about that. I’m nervous about—” I stop. “Everything else.”
“What everything else?”
“The fact that I can’t stop thinking about you.
The fact that you got in a fight for me.
The fact that your name is Romeo and mine is Juliette and we’re literally a walking cliché.
” I’m rambling now but I can’t stop. “The fact that you see me. And that terrifies me because what if I’m not actually worth seeing? What if—”
He kisses me.
Soft and slow and sure.
When he pulls back, I’m breathless.
“You’re worth seeing,” he says quietly. “You’re worth everything, JuJu. And I’m going to spend however long it takes convincing you of that.”
“Romeo—”
“Yeah?”
“I—” The words are right there. So close. “I’m going to go turn on the tub.”
I escape to the bathroom. The jetted tub is enormous, taking up almost half the space. I turn on the taps and adjust the temperature. Steam starts rising immediately.
There’s hotel bubble bath on the counter. I pour in probably too much and bubbles form instantly, multiplying, threatening to overflow.
“Oh god, that’s way too many bubbles,” I say, watching them rise. “I think I broke the tub. Can you break a tub with bubbles?”
“JuJu.” His voice comes from right behind me.
I didn’t hear him come in but he’s close enough that I can feel the heat of him against my back.
“You’re rambling,” he says softly.
“I’m not rambling. I’m just concerned about the—”
His fingers find the zipper at the back of my dress. The sound of it lowering is loud in the small space.
“Is this okay?” he asks quietly.
“Is this okay?” I sound almost hysterical. “Romeo, I’ve been thinking about this for days.”
The zipper reaches the bottom and the dress loosens. He brushes it forward off my shoulders and it pools around my feet.
I’m standing there almost naked and I can feel his eyes on me.
“You’re so—” His hands skim down my arms then land on my thighs and slide up over my hips before he finally rests them on my waist. “You have no idea, do you?”
“Idea about what?”
“How much I’ve wanted this. How much I’ve wanted you.” His mouth is at my neck now. “How many times I thought about what you’d look like.”
“And?”
“Better. So much better than I imagined.”
I turn in his arms to face him. His eyes are dark and there’s color high on his cheekbones.
“I need you to know something,” I say, and my voice comes out shakier than I meant. “I’m not—I haven’t done this a lot. Like, barely at all. I don’t really know what I’m doing here.”
Rodriguez cups my face. “Can I tell you something?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s the hottest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
I blink. “What?”
“You. Being you. Being honest.” He kisses me softly. “And for the record? There’s literally nothing you can do wrong here.”
“But what if I—”
“Nothing. You. Can. Do. Wrong.” He punctuates each word with a kiss. “You could just stand there and breathe and you’d be doing it right.”
I step out of the dress carefully. His hands are still on my waist, fingertips barely grazing my skin like he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he holds on too tight.
The calluses catch slightly as his thumbs trace the curve of my ribs, and I can feel the tremor in his hands—this man who got in a bar fight three hours ago is shaking just from touching me
“The tub’s going to overflow,” I whisper.
“I don’t care.”
“Romeo—”
“Right. Yeah.” He blinks. “Champagne. I forgot the champagne.”
“We don’t need—”
“I promised you champagne. I’m getting the champagne.” He’s already backing toward the door, eyes still on me as he nearly collides with the doorframe. “Don’t move. Stay exactly like that.”
The second he’s gone, I’m taking off my bra and underwear. The water is so high now, bubbles threatening to spill over. I grab a hair tie and sweep my hair up into a messy bun then turn off the taps and get in quickly, sinking down until the bubbles come up to my chin.
Rodriguez comes back carrying the bottle and two water glasses. He stops in the doorway.
His eyes sweep over the tub. The bubbles completely covering me. The pile of lace on the floor.
“JuJu...”
“Sorry!” The word comes out too loud. “I’m nervous!”
He’s quiet for a moment then sticks his bottom lip out in a small pout. “I wanted to unwrap you like a present.”
But he’s already moving. He sets the glasses and champagne on the edge of the tub, then starts unbuttoning his shirt, whips off his belt and everything else follows.
He’s completely unselfconscious about stripping in front of me while I’m trying to remember how to breathe.
“JuJu, is the water super hot?” He’s stepping into the tub with his cocky little half smile. “Because your face is bright red.”
I mumble something incoherent and look away. Or try to.
“Hey, no, I’m not complaining.” He settles into the water across from me, grinning. “Stare all you want.”
“I’m not trying to stare, it’s just—” I gesture vaguely at him. “It’s kind of right at eye level.”
His grin gets impossibly wider. “Yeah? And what do you think?”
“I think you know exactly how you look.”
“Yeah, but I wouldn’t mind you stroking my ego.”
“That’s obviously not the only thing you want me to stroke.”
He throws his head back and laughs.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe I said that out loud.” If I could sink under the bubbles I absolutely would.
“Please say more things like that. Immediately.” He’s reaching for the champagne, still grinning. “For what it’s worth, you’re handling this way better than I am.”
“You seem pretty handled to me.”
“JuJu, I’m sitting here naked in a bathtub with you and trying really hard not to pull you over here immediately.”
Oh.
The champagne pops and fizzes over his hands, and he laughs, trying to pour into the glasses without spilling everywhere.
“Very suave,” I tease.
“I’m in a bathtub with you. I’ve already won.” He pours two glasses, champagne mixing with the bubble bath, and raises his. “To your sister for having perfect timing with that wedding lineup change.”
“That’s what we’re toasting?”
“Would you prefer ‘to getting detained by Canadian police?’”
The champagne is crisp and perfect, and I watch him over the rim of my glass as he takes a drink. Then he sets his glass aside and sinks lower in the water, his hand finding my ankle beneath the bubbles. Just that simple touch, his thumb against my ankle bone, makes my pulse spike.
“You okay?” he asks quietly.
“Yeah. Just processing.”
“Processing what?”
“That you’re here. That we’re here. That this is actually happening.”
His thumb traces slow circles on my ankle. “Having second thoughts?”
“No. Just—” I take another sip. “I’ve wanted this for a while now. But wanting it and actually doing it are different things.”
“We can slow down. We don’t have to—”
“I want to. I want this. You, specifically. I’m just nervous.”
“Nervous is okay.” His hand slides up slightly to my calf. Still gentle. “We’ve got all night, JuJu. No rush.”
I set my glass down and take a breath.
His other hand comes up out of the water and he reaches toward me. “I can’t kiss you when you’re all the way over there.”
“I’m like two feet away.”
“Too far.” He tugs gently in a slight invitation for me to move into his space. The water shifts and bubbles part around us. And then I’m there, straddling his lap, and suddenly there’s nothing between us except water and heat.
His hands settle on my waist immediately.
“There we go,” he murmurs. “Much better.”
I can feel everything now. Every inch of him. And between us—
“Are you blushing, JuJu?”
“No.” The lie is immediate.
“Liar.” But he’s smiling as he brushes the hair back from my face. “I love your hair like this. Messy and falling down.” His fingers thread through it. “You look like you’ve been kissing all night.”
“Well, we have.”
“We have not nearly done enough kissing tonight.” His hand cups the back of my neck and pulls me down. “Need to fix that.”
His mouth finds mine and I’m lost. His other hand slides up my side, thumb brushing against me, and I gasp. He swallows the sound and deepens the kiss, his tongue slides across mine and he tastes like champagne.
I shift on his lap and he groans. His grip on my waist tightens, holding me still.
“JuJu—” My name comes out rough. “You can’t move like that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m trying really hard to go slow here and you’re making it impossible.”
I do it again. Rolling my hips deliberately.
His head falls back against the tub. “Fuck.”
“I thought you wanted me close.”
“I do. I—” He pulls me tighter against him. “Christ, Juliette.”
I can feel every inch of him now. The water makes everything slick.
He kisses my neck, teeth scraping against my skin. One hand comes up, thumb circling, and I make a sound I’ve never made before.
“That’s it,” he murmurs. “You’re so beautiful.”
His hips rock up slightly and I gasp at the sensation.
“Romeo—” I rise up slightly but his hands tighten on my hips, stilling me.
“Wait. Wait.”
“What’s wrong?” We’re both breathing hard.
“Do you have a condom?”
I blink down at him. “A condom?”
“Yes, a condom. Do you have one?”
“We came on this trip fake dating. Why would I have a condom?”
“I thought Girl Scouts were always prepared.”
“I think that’s actually Boy Scouts.”
“Well then—” He stands suddenly, lifting me with him. Water streams off both of us and I squeal as he holds me against his chest. “I guess that’s something the Boy Scouts and NHL players have in common then.”
He’s already moving, carrying me like I weigh nothing, and lays me down on the bed. He kneels next to me and starts kissing down my stomach, his hand slides up my inner thigh and I try to pull him up.
He stops and stares at me. “What’s happening right now?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re trying to rush me.”
“I’m not rushing, I just thought we could—”
“Have sex?”
“Yes!”
“We will. I promise we will. But first I want to—” He lowers his head again and I try to lift him back up.
“We don’t have to do all that.” I’m squirming. “We can just—”
He goes very still. Then he sits back, looking at me like he’s solving a puzzle.
Oh no. Please don’t figure it out.
“JuJu. Has anyone ever actually done this for you before?”
I want to die. Actually die.
“Oh my god.” His eyes go wide. “Three years. Three years with that guy and he never—”
“Can we please not dissect my entire sexual history while lying here naked?”
“I’m just— I don’t even understand. How is that even possible?”
“Long distance! We were long distance most of the time and when we weren’t it was always rushed or—can we stop talking about this?”
A slow grin spreads across his face. “So what you’re telling me is—”
“Don’t.”
“—I get to be your first—”
“Do not make that face.”
“What face?” But he’s practically glowing.
“That face. The smug face.”
“JuJu, I’m about to blow your mind. I’m allowed to be pleased.” He pushes my legs back open. “Now are you going to let me do this or are you going to keep talking?”
“I don’t—what if I don’t like it?”
“You’ll like it.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m very good at it.” He kisses my inner thigh. “And because I’ve literally been fantasizing about this since September.”
Oh god.
“Just—be nice about it if I’m weird or—”
“You’re not going to be weird. Now stop overthinking.”
His mouth finds me and every thought instantly evaporates.
His tongue moves and I stop breathing. Stop thinking. Everything narrows down to this.
One hand splays across my stomach when I try to arch up and his fingers slide inside and I make a sound that would mortify me if I actually cared.
“There you go,” he murmurs.
He changes the angle. Does something that makes my vision fade. I’m saying his name, hands fisted in his hair, completely lost.
The pressure builds impossibly high.
“Romeo, I can’t—”
“Yes you can.”
And I do. The orgasm rips through me, making my whole body shake. He doesn’t stop, just works me through it until I’m trembling and barely conscious.
When I can breathe again, he’s kissing his way up my body. Smug doesn’t even begin to cover his expression.
“You good?”
I can’t answer. Can’t form words. I didn’t know it could feel like that.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” He’s so pleased with himself. “Told you you’d like it.”
I take a deep breath. “What the fuck was that?”
“That was just the warm-up.” He reaches for his wallet and pulls out a condom. “Ready for the main event?”
I blink at him, still dazed. “Did you only bring one?”
He tears the packet open with his teeth and grins at me. “Want to find out?”