Love at First Flight (14 page)

Juliana smiled at Michael's furious
scowl.

The police officer's laughter followed
them to the elevator.

“I said a
trim
, Juliana.” Michael punched the down arrow. “What does that
word mean to you?” Her smile faded. “Oh. You really don't like it.”

“Did I say that?”

“You don't seem too happy with it.”

“Will you or will you not admit that
what we have here is more than a trim?”

“Jeez, I feel like I'm on the witness
stand or some-thing. I'm sorry. I just got into my zone.”

He smiled. “I know. I was watching.”

Her face heated with embarrassment. “You
were?”

“Uh huh. I could've stopped you.”

Again that flash of awareness mixed with
a hint of what was definitely desire.

Since she was unable to process all that
she saw, she looked away from him. “So why didn't you?” she asked when they
were in the elevator.

“Because you were in your zone, and I
enjoyed watching you.”

She almost gasped when he reached out to
touch her hair.

“Seems only fair.”

“What does?” She reminded herself to
breathe.

“You got to run your fingers through
mine. I've wondered if yours is as soft as it looks.” When he twisted a lock of
long hair around his finger and brought it close enough to smell, she did gasp.
“It's even softer than it looks. You always smell so good.”

She moved away from him just before the
elevator doors opened to the lobby. “What are you doing?” she whispered. “Why
are you doing this?”

“What am I doing?”

“If you're looking for a rebound, you've
got the wrong girl.”

He stopped walking. “Is
that
what you think?”

“I don't know what to think. I thought
we were friends,” Juliana said, mortified when her eyes flooded with tears. She
was like a faucet lately.

He put his arms around her and pulled
her tight against him.

Suddenly, the strain, the uncertainty,
and the agony of the last few days caught up to her, and before she knew it she
was sobbing in Michael's arms right in the middle of the busy hotel lobby.

“I'm sorry,” she whispered after several
minutes passed. She tried not to notice how safe and comfortable she felt in
the sanctuary of his embrace or that her arms were wrapped around him, too.

He didn't say anything, but he didn't
let her go, either.

“I'm okay,” she said when she finally
pulled back from him.

He kept an arm around her as they went
outside. Once they were in the car, he turned to her. “I'm not looking for a
rebound, Juliana. That's not what this is.”

“Then what is it?” she asked softly.

He ran a finger over her cheek to brush
away a lone tear. “It's
not
a
rebound.”

“I don't want it, Michael. Whatever it
is. I love Jeremy.”

“I know you do, but you see, the thing
is, I'm falling for you, Juliana.”

“
What?
”
she asked, flabbergasted. She pushed his hand away from her face. “You can't
mean that!”

He kept his eyes locked on hers. “In the
five days I've known you, you've given me more, been there for me more, done more
for me than Paige did in four years. I knew I would care for you from almost
the first moment I saw you. When I found you crying in the airport on Sunday,
all I wanted to do was scoop you up and take you home with me.”

New tears wet Juliana's cheeks. “You
don't know what you're saying.”

He took her hand. “On Friday night I
tried to get Paige to marry me right away. Do you know why?”

Juliana shook her head.

“Because I was terrified after I met
you. I already knew everything was about to change, and I guess a part of me
thought I should try to stop it. But I was powerless to stop it. In those first
moments with you, I knew I wouldn't marry her.”

“Michael,” she sobbed. “Stop. Stop
saying these things.”

“Juliana, any man who would let you
think, for even
one minute
, that you
aren't enough for him doesn't deserve you.”

“Please,” she whimpered. “Please stop.”

With a hand to her chin, he turned her
to him. “I knew I was falling for you when you jumped right in with Rachelle on
Sunday night and did her hair. I knew it when I found you dancing in the
kitchen when you were making me dinner. I knew it because my heart almost
stopped when you told me someone hassled you on the street. I knew it when I
heard you talking to Rachelle about what she saw, and you said all the right
things—all the things she needed to hear.” He ran his thumb along her jaw. “And
when I felt your fingers in my hair I knew I wanted them there always. Don't
tell me I don't know what I'm saying.”

He leaned over to kiss her gently,
without demand, and for one breathless moment, she let him. Then she pulled
away. “Michael. My head is spinning. Please don't.”

“I'm sorry. I know this isn't a good
time for you to be hearing this, but I couldn't let you think this was about
rebounds. I'm not going to pressure you or push you, so you don't have to worry
about that. I'm going to be so wrapped up in this trial for the next month or
two I won't have time for anything else. I just wanted you to know.”

“I can't stay with you anymore. Not now.”

“Why? I just said I'm not going to do
anything about it.”

“Because everything's going to be weird
between us.” He took her hand again. “It won't be weird because you'll hardly
see me. I don't want you to go.”

“I don't know... I'll only stay if you
promise not to mention any of this again. I can't deal with it on top of
everything else.”

“I promise I won't say another word
about it until you do.”

She pulled her hand out of his grasp. “That's
not going to happen.”

“We'll see,” he said, starting the car
to drive them home. “We'll just see about that.”

CHAPTER 13

THE NEXT MORNING MICHAEL SAT AT HIS DESK
LOST IN thought. He couldn't believe the way he had bared his soul to Juliana
the night before. He didn't regret anything, though. Everything he told her was
true.

She hadn't said a word to him on the way
home. Once they arrived she went straight up to her room and closed the door.
Despite her silence, Michael knew she had feelings for him, too. He could see
it in the way she looked at him when she thought he wasn't paying attention.

That she was still mired in a ten-year
relationship gave him pause. “But hey,” he said out loud, “she's living in
my
house and not even talking to
him
.” The thought made Michael feel
better about his chances with her until he remembered how wrong he'd been about
Paige. But Juliana was different from Paige in every possible way. “That's one
thing I know for sure.”

His assistant, Angela, came to the door.
“Talking to yourself, Michael?”

“Huh?”

“Your mother's on line two.” The demands
from the press had gotten so out of hand in the last few days that Angela was
screening his calls.

“Thanks.”

Angela left him to take the call. “Hi,
Mom.”

“How are you, Michael? They mentioned
your trial on the Today show this morning.”

“We're getting a lot of attention. Too
much.”

“How're you holding up, sweetheart?”

“Good. I'm ready to go.”

“You know we're all pulling for you. So
how was the cotillion in Dixie last weekend?” His mother had long ago stopped
pretending to approve of the Simpsons or their lifestyle.

“It was interesting. I've actually been
meaning to call you since I got home.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Well, I'm sorry to report the
engagement is off.”

“What?
Are you serious?”

“Try to contain your euphoria, Mother,”
Michael said with a dry chuckle. “What happened?”

“It's a long story. Suffice it to say I
finally saw the light.”

“Hallelujah! Your sisters will be
thrilled to hear this.”

“I'm sure.”

“Are you all right, Michael? I know you
loved her. I'll never understand why, but I'm sure you must be upset. I don't
mean to make light of it.”

Michael laughed. “Yes, you do. I'm fine.
Believe me, by the time the whole thing blew up, I could hardly remember what
it was I loved about her.”

“She must've taken it well.” Maureen's
voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Yeah, not so much. In fact, I'm quite
certain I haven't seen the last of her. But right now all I'm thinking about is
the trial.”
Well, not all,
but he
wasn't ready to tell his mother about Juliana. Not yet.

“I know you're busy, so I won't keep
you. I'm sorry if you're hurting, Michael.”

“I'm fine. Really.”

“Keep us posted on the trial. We'll have
our fingers crossed for you.”

“Thanks, Mom. Give my love to everyone.”

“I will. You know you have ours.”

She ended the call promising to check on
him in a week or so. He smiled when he imagined the news of his broken
engagement burning up the phone lines in Newport's Fifth Ward and had no doubt
he would hear from his sisters before the day was out.

***

On her way home from her mother's that
evening, Juliana stopped at Collington Street where she cleaned out the fridge,
took out the trash, and stashed the mail in her purse to deal with later. She
was in and out of there in ten minutes. Even after the emotional exchange with
Michael the night before, she still couldn't bear to be in the house she had
shared with Jeremy.

Michael's words had haunted her all day
as she made polite small talk with her clients.
How could he befalling for me? It's preposterous. We haven't even known
each other a week!

But there was something, Juliana
acknowledged. She had felt it herself. More than once. It wasn't love, though.
No way. Things like that happened in the movies, not to real people.

At times she wondered if her head would
just explode from thinking too much. Ironically, though, she hadn't had the
urge to call Jeremy all day.

Letting herself into Michael's house,
she flipped on the lights. She supposed she should consider it her house, too,
since she had written him a check for two hundred and fifty dollars. It wasn't
much, but it was all she could afford. He took the check only when she
insisted.

In the microwave, she defrosted the pork
chops she brought from the freezer on Collington Street and put two potatoes in
the oven. While the chops defrosted, she went upstairs to gather clothes from
both their bedrooms and threw in a load of darks. All the while she tried not
to think about anything other than what she was doing. Her brain was tired and
overtaxed.

Back downstairs she put the seasoned
pork chops under the broiler, tossed a salad, and went through the mail she had
picked up earlier. Mixed in with the junk mail and bills was a letter from
Jeremy.

She sat on one of the kitchen stools and
opened it with shaking hands. Just the sight of his familiar handwriting made
her heart beat faster as anticipation battled with anxiety and dread.

Dear
Jule,

I
haven't spoken to you in two days—the longest two days of my life. You said we
couldn't talk to each other, but you never mentioned writing. I hope you'll
read this and not just throw it away. I can't believe I agreed to this foolish
plan of yours, but I also can't believe how stupid I was. If I could hit rewind
and undo anything in my life it would be that conversation we had on the beach.

I've
discovered since you left that freedom is a funny thing. Last week I longed for
it. This week I'm terrified of it. I don't want anyone but you. I know you
won't believe me because of what an ass I've been, but it's true. I tried to go
out with someone else. We went to dinner, but everything was wrong because she
wasn't you. I didn't care about what she was saying, I didn't want to kiss her,
and I certainly didn't want to have sex with her. I only want you. I've made a
terrible mistake, Jule, and I know if I lose you I'll be sorry about it for the
rest of my life.

All
I think about is that you're going to meet someone else. I worry about that
constantly. It keeps me awake at night. Please don't meet someone you like
better than me. I think that would kill me. I've let my boss know I'm leaving
here in three months whether the install is done or not. Even if I have to quit
my job, I'm coming home to you.

I've
made mistakes. I know I have. We should've been married years ago. It's my
fault we aren't, but I plan to rectify that as soon as we're together again.
Until then, I want you to know I'm thinking about you all the time.

All
my love,