Blown Away: A Small Town Military Romance (The Moore Brothers Book 1) (8 page)

Julz parked and headed back into the cafe, hoping for a chance to sit and study her map, maybe grab a bag of coffee if Ellie sold it by the pound. Plus, since Ellie was the only other person Juliet knew in Bliss, maybe she could point Juliet in the right direction as far as groceries were concerned.

“Back already?” Ellie asked from her place behind the counter. “I know this place is good, my friend, but is it really that good?”

Juliet laughed and made her way to the counter. “You better believe it’s that good. It's also the only place I know how to get to in Bliss. I'm spending the day mapping this place out, figuring out where all my new favorite places are going to be. Figured this was the best place to start. Plus, I could use another cup of coffee.”

“One large coffee, two creams, two sugars, right?”

“Wow,” Juliet said. “That's impressive.”

“It’s not every day we get someone new in this town.” Ellie busied herself behind the counter. “I make it my business to remember every customer's favorite order. It’s not always easy. But, when there's a new face in town, it really helps. You’re distinctive, you know?”

Juliet nodded. “Makes sense,” she said, looking around the empty cafe. “So, is that really a thing?”

“Is what really a thing?” Ellie put a lid on Juliet's coffee and handed it over.

“The whole ‘everyone in town knowing everything about everyone else in town’ thing,” Juliet said and took a sip before leaning on the counter. “I mean, it seems like a pretty big deal in all of the shows about smaller towns, but I always assumed it was more of an exaggeration.”

“Well, Bliss is too big for me to know everyone, that’s for sure, but I know my fair share of stuff about a lot of the people who live here,” Ellie said and leaned on the counter herself, resting her elbows on the hard surface and placing her chin in her hands. “So, speaking of knowing everything about everyone's business, how do you know Ian Moore?”

“We ran into each other at a rest stop last night while I was on my way into town. My dog escaped and Ian saved her. Then gave me directions and suggested a hotel.”

“Sounds like Ian,” Ellie said, straightening and running her hands over her curvy hips, tugging on the apron she had tied around her waist.

“He make a habit of rescuing strange dogs as they take off running towards the beach?”

“He makes it a habit to rescue people in general. Even made a living by being a hero for a while.”

“Oh yeah?” Juliet knew it was tacky to gossip with a stranger about the man who had been nothing but generous to her since she met him, but he was kind of her favorite topic right now and she couldn't bring herself to pass up this chance to learn more about him.

“Oh sure,” said Ellie. “The Moores are the wealthiest family in Bliss, like old money kind of wealthy. Ian could have been anything he wanted. Could have done anything he wanted. I mean, he's got the brains for it. He's got the body for it. And he's got the money for it. His parents just about lost it when Ian decided to join the Navy.”

Juliet didn’t like the sound of that at all. Old money. Did that mean Ian was spoiled? He joined the Navy despite his parents disapproving. Does that mean he had a big rebellious streak? Juliet wasn't interested in rich and rebellious. She’d just gotten rid of rich and rebellious. What she
was
interested in was the kind of guy Ian seemed to be. Nice. Helpful. Funny as hell. And hotter than a summer day in South Carolina, apparently.

“Anyway,” Ellie said. “I'm sure you're not here to gossip about Ian Moore all day. What is it you’re looking for? As you can see,” she said, gesturing around the empty cafe, “I've got a little time on my hands right now. Maybe I can help you find what you need?”

“That sounds perfect,” said Juliet, eager to change the subject from the tantalizing Ian Moore. “I basically need a little of everything.”

“Everything?”

“Yep. Everything. I need a job. I need groceries. I need a cheap place to get some kitchen stuff.”

“Well, I can’t help you with the job, and the way things are going, I’m not so sure there will be many people who can help with that. Times are tight.”

Juliet’s stomach twisted at the thought of not being able to get a job. She did have that envelope full of money, and as long as she didn’t go too crazy buying new things, it’d support her for a couple months. But a job was going to be a necessity. Ellie was already telling her about the best places to get groceries and fresh produce. Julz put worries about finding a job aside and started jotting down names of the stores Ellie was mentioning on her map.

Today was only day one of this grand new adventure and she’d covered more bases today than she’d expected to cover in the first week. Well, Ian had covered those bases for her, but still. She’d find a job. Somehow.

Chapter Ten

Ian

That night, Ian sat down with a glass of wine in hand and typed
Juliet Lane, New York City
into a Google search. He didn't know what he expected to find, maybe a Facebook page, maybe a Twitter feed, maybe a listing in the yellow pages. He definitely didn't expect to find pages and pages of images of her standing with Michael Phillips, CEO of fucking Tech Lord.

Fucking. Tech Lord.

Everyone knew who Michael Phillips was. You couldn't go through one evening of television without seeing him and his narcissistic smile leaning back in his pretentious office, spewing nonsense about the remarkable new product he’d willed (apparently single-handedly, if you listened to him) into existence this week. It blew his mind that Juliet had dated Michael Phillips. Was this the guy she was running from? Holy fuck.

It had to be. There they were, in picture after picture, arm in arm, leaning into one another, smiling for the camera. What did that say about Juliet? Ian considered Michael Phillips to be a type-A douchebag. Always had. There was just something so condescending and uptight about those commercials, his smile so practiced, his hair so perfect it probably took four showers to get all the gel out at the end of the day. Juliet didn't seem like the kind of girl who would be drawn to a guy like that.

So, what was it about the guy that
had
drawn her in? Was it his money? Ian took a long drink of his beer. That idea did not sit well with him at all. Considering his family, Ian had dealt with his fair share of gold-digging bitches and was in no mood to deal with any more. Is that would Juliet was? It sure didn't seem like it. But Ian couldn’t think of another reason for Juliet to be wrapped up with a guy like Michael Phillips. At least not a reason that made a whole lot of sense.

Ian sat back in his chair and stared off into the corners of his home office as if he could find the answer hidden in them somewhere. Night had fallen a long time ago and morning was going to come way earlier than Ian wanted it to. There was just no way he could fall asleep with all these questions going through his mind. He trusted Juliet. It didn't make sense for him to trust her, but he did. Hell, he’d even set her up in one of his rental properties—free of charge—and given her a bunch of furniture to use while she was there. The thought that she was some kind of scam artist churned in his stomach.

He turned his attention back to the computer screen and studied the pictures. At first, the pictures just made him madder. Michael smirking into the camera while Juliet beamed up at him. Michael wrapping his arm around her small shoulders, pulling her close as if she belong to him. But as Ian paid closer and closer attention to the images of Juliet on his screen, he started to see a different story altogether.

The look on Juliet's face wasn't love. In fact, he'd seen that same look on her face yesterday. It was fear. Sure, she beamed up at Michael as if the sun rose and set on his shoulders, but the look in her eyes didn’t match the look she’d painted on her face. She wasn't in love with this guy. The more he looked at the pictures, Ian was more and more sure that Juliet didn’t even like this guy.

In fact, in one particular picture, Michael's fingers were digging cruelly into Juliet’s skin. In another picture, Ian was sure he could see bruises on Juliet's forearm. Bruises that looked almost like fingertips. And in this last picture, there was no mistaking the predatory look on Michael’s face, the feral fear of the hunted etched into the dark circles under Juliet's eyes, in the hollows of her cheeks. This was not the face of a happy woman. Not the face of a woman in love. This was the face of a woman scared out of her mind.

Ian sat back in his chair and ran his fingers through his hair. Morning would be here before he knew it, but there was no way he could fall asleep now. Not after seeing this. What could have happened that sent Juliet running from New York City, running from Michael Phillips, one of the richest men in the world? Was he reading those pictures right? How bad had it been?

One look at the fear on Juliet's face, replicated over and over and over in picture after picture after picture told him it was pretty bad indeed. It didn't take a genius to read between the lines. To understand the fear in Juliet’s eyes. To hear the story the bruises on her arm, her wrists, and possibly her throat were telling. Ian choked on his rage. The thought of any woman being hurt by any man was physically repellent to him, but the thought of any man hurting Juliet Lane was more than he could handle.

And that response right there—the visceral need to protect her, to keep her safe, to put her needs above his— what that meant was that he was going to have to be ever vigilant around her until he understood what was going on. While his instincts told him that Michael was a bad man and Juliet was nothing more than a woman on the run, life had taught him that things weren’t always what they seemed and that people could hide a whole lot of ugly truth behind an easy smile.

Chapter Eleven

Juliet

Juliet wasn't sure what Ian had meant when he’d said early. In New York, early meant anything before four in the morning. Who knew what early meant here in Bliss? Last night, Juliet had set her alarm for precisely four o’clock and gotten a pot of coffee all ready and turned on the auto brew so it’d be ready when she rolled out of bed. Now, here she was at 4:15, out on the back porch, wrapped in a blanket while waiting for the sun to rise and Ian to call. She’d never experienced such peace in all of her life. Sitting there, listening to the rush of the waves, their rhythmic whisper lapping against the beach, it felt as if her whole world fit in between each heartbeat. As the sun blazed into existence where the water met the sky, Juliet knew that she belonged here.

She’d chosen a town called Bliss for a reason. Every moment of her life up to this point had been tinged with sadness. And that sadness brought guilt with it because how dare she feel anything but ecstatic? She had more than some people could ever dream of having. She'd grown up with a roof over head, three meals a day, and, while her family had been distant, they weren't cruel. She'd never been hit. Never been degraded or screamed at. She had more than she needed when it came to clothes and toys and friends for her entire childhood.

She had an unparalleled work ethic and because of that, was offered the best job in the biggest tower in the newest company in the most sought after city in the world right out of college. She knew exactly how to dress and exactly what to say to fit in. And still, despite all of this, sadness sung her to sleep at night. She had tried to focus on what she had, had yelled at herself for being greedy, for wanting more when she already had so much. Would nothing ever be good enough for her?

Yet, sitting here wrapped in a blanket, the hard wood of the back porch digging into her tailbone, scanning the horizon while the ocean birthed the sun, Juliet finally felt happy. Like maybe she hadn’t been greedy after all, like maybe she’d just misunderstood what she needed.

After finishing her first cup of coffee, she stopped in the kitchen for a refill before heading upstairs to shower and get ready. When Ian finally drug his lazy butt out of bed and got in touch with her, Julz was going to be completely ready. He'd given her such a hard time yesterday about being sure to be awake early enough, she wanted to be waiting for him on front porch, tapping her foot impatiently when he finally showed up today. She'd show him she wasn’t afraid of a little hard work!

Hot water hissed to life behind the new shower curtain Ian had brought her. She stepped in and smiled, letting the water run down her body while she lost herself to thoughts of him. Soap ran down her torso and she slid her hands over herself, stopping to tweak her erect nipples, imagining Ian’s mouth there, while she slowly circled her clit with a finger on her other hand. When she realized what she was doing, she jerked her hand away and leaned her head against the tile.

Come on, Julz. Stay focused. Ian Moore is a friend. Only a friend. Because you’re not in the market for anything else. Remember?

After her shower, she spent some time drying her hair and applying a quick dash of eyeliner and mascara, a bit of red on her lips, and then found herself in front of her closet wishing she had more choices in front of her. It looked like she was going to have to make do with the same little shorts and tank top she had on yesterday. That wasn't ideal, but given her limited choices, it was just going to have to do.

She finished getting ready and went back outside to sit on the front porch, Lulu trotting out after her. She took a deep breath, enjoying the unusual heaviness in the ocean air. It was already warm, warmer than it would be in New York at this hour, that's for sure, but Juliet wasn’t going to complain. She’d always hated the cold, her fingers aching at the first sign of winter, her feet in constant need of socks or slippers as soon as the sun went down. It’d be nice to deal with a little heat and humidity for a change.