Star-Crossed (11 page)

Hey, sexy.

Jules glanced up to the other team still unloading and found Romeo next to the skycap station looking in her direction. For one brief moment time seemed to stand still as she admired him wearing designer jeans that had been professionally faded and a tight black T-shirt with a Chinese dragon on the front. It showed off his powerful chest and massive biceps that were impossible not to appreciate. He was completely New York, trendy and hip in a way Jules found herself drawn to. Romeo was so different from the men she knew, and she liked that about him.

She smiled because she couldn’t help it. Romeo tilted his head and smiled back.

Despite his dark sunglasses, Jules got the distinct impression he was studying her too, and the thought affected her. A white-hot rush of desire swept through her as she remembered what it felt like to be skin to skin with Romeo, his big body crushing her into the mattress as they moved together. The soreness between her legs became more pronounced at the memory, and she shifted uncomfortably.

“You gonna let this driver earn a living, or you gonna stand there all day?” Jules blinked, realizing she was still on the street behind the car and the driver couldn’t leave until she stepped away.

“Oh hell.” She jumped onto the curb next to Wyatt and asked, “Didja tip the skycap?”

Wyatt shook his head. “I thought you did.”

“Shit.” Jules forgot about Romeo and ran up to the skycap already processing their luggage. She shoved the bags on her shoulder out of the way and pulled her wallet out of her purse. She grabbed the first large bill she could find, tipping him a hundred dollars. “Here you go.”

“Wow, thanks!” the young skycap said, giving her a beaming smile. “I’ll take good care of your stuff.”

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“It’s for both cars.” Jules grinned. “We appreciate y’all handling it.” Then she tried very hard not to turn around and look for Romeo once more. She’d been obvious enough the first time. Wyatt walked up next to her to get his ticket processed, and she automatically grabbed Clay’s bags off his right shoulder to give him better freedom to dig out his wallet from his pocket.

Wyatt turned to her as they worked on processing his ticket. “Are the seats in the bulkhead?”

“I dunno. We lost our original flight. I took whatever they had. It’s first-class.

You’ll have enough leg room to survive.”

“Didja at least put Clay in the bulkhead?” Wyatt asked, giving her an incredulous look. “If he has to squish up in one of those tiny seats, he’s gonna be an asshole the entire flight home.”

“I don’t know,” Jules repeated slower. “I had them put Clay and Melody together, but that’s all I got. I was doing fourteen things at once while I was changing the flights.”

“Put me in the bulkhead,” Wyatt told the skycap, using his sheriff’s voice that brooked no argument. “Gimme your ticket, Jules. We’ll have him put our seats together and then just trade with Clay and Melody when we get on the plane.”

“Oh my God.” Jules fought once more to open her purse. She pulled out the ticket and handed it to the skycap. “I’m sorry.”

“No problem, ma’am.” The guy gave her another beaming smile. “Make me earn that hundred-dollar tip.”

Wyatt turned and gave her a wide-eyed look as he whispered under his breath,

“You gave this boy a hundred bucks?”

“It’s my money; why’d you give a shit?”

Jules knew she was probably embarrassing the skycap but felt too irritated to keep her voice low. Neither she nor Wyatt was soft-spoken. She stepped away from her brother and folded her arms despite three carry-ons and one purse weighing her down.

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“Got enough bags?” asked a warm, sexy voice behind her, amusement laced thickly in his New York accent. “Don’t they teach those country boys manners? They got you carrying everything. I guess chivalry’s officially dead.” Jules turned around, giving Romeo a look of horror. He just smiled in response, bold and cocky as ever. She wasn’t sure why she was surprised. She glanced back to Wyatt, seeing that he had indeed heard Romeo and was now glaring in their direction as he waited for their tickets.

“Wellings,” she said coolly, despite her pulse picking up and her body responding to him being so near. “Strange coincidence running into you.”

“Not that strange. We all got places to be.” He stepped closer, invading her personal space. Jules jumped when Romeo reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it in his larger one. His thumb swept over the top of it as he leaned in and whispered, “If you were on my team, I’d carry all those bags for you.” Jules jerked her hand out of Romeo’s embrace, turning around to make sure Wyatt hadn’t seen. Feeling very self-conscious, she snapped, “I’m a capable woman. I don’t need anyone to carry my bags for me.”

“Maybe you do, and you just don’t know it yet.” Romeo’s smile grew broader.

“You ever think of visiting New York?”

“I’ve been to New York,” Jules said, unable to resist a teasing smirk. “I ain’t all that impressed with it.”

Romeo laughed. “That’s ’cause you haven’t seen my New York.” Wyatt came up before Jules could respond. He handed her the new ticket, saying,

“They fixed ’em.” He grabbed Clay’s carry-on off Jules’s left shoulder, all the while glaring at Romeo before he managed a tense greeting. “Wellings.”

“Conner,” Romeo responded, all good humor gone from his voice.

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It was an awkward moment. Jules was just pondering how to break away without being too rude to Romeo or too obvious to Wyatt when one of Romeo’s brothers, who lingered near the sliding glass doors, waved him down.

“You coming or what?”

Romeo waved back, looking irritated at his brother before he gave Jules a look: longing, regret, sadness. She wasn’t real sure what it meant, and she didn’t have time to analyze it.

He turned to leave with a clipped, “Later.”

“Okay,” Jules said softly, trying to sort out her own feelings. That seemed like too humble a good-bye for what they’d shared, but she found herself echoing his words.

“Later.”

“Gimme Melody’s bag,” Wyatt said after only a few seconds, not bothering to keep his voice down. “Anyone with eyes can see you spend half your life working out.

You could walk back on to the Olympic team anytime you wanted to. If he saw you on the mat, he wouldn’t be treating me like a pig for not pampering you.”

“You are a pig,” she said out of habit, the jab lacking any real malice. She stood there feeling sad and lonely while Wyatt pulled Melody’s bag off her arm. More to remind herself than him, she added, “All men are pigs.”

“That ain’t a lie,” Wyatt agreed as he started walking toward the airport entrance.

“It kinda looked like Wellings was flirting with ya.”

“It kinda sounded like it too,” Jules admitted as she came up to Wyatt and fell into step next to him. There really was no point in denying what was blatantly obvious. “But he can’t really be held responsible—I’m irresistible to men.” Wyatt laughed. “I guess that business meeting did work. You certainly got some spunk to your step today.”

“Yeah,” Jules agreed, unable to help smiling. “If I could arrange a business meeting like that on a regular basis, I’d probably be a lot more agreeable.” 84

“Well, shit, gimme that boy’s number.”

Jules giggled and then bumped into Wyatt on purpose, making him trip. He righted himself effortlessly and then kicked at the back of Jules’s shin, making her stumble.

Jules poked him good-naturedly in the ribs, and Wyatt laughed again. “Hell, I’d pay him to make ya more agreeable. Too bad he lives so far away.”

“You ain’t kidding.” Jules sighed, the sadness welling up again despite her playful bout with Wyatt.

He obviously sensed her sudden change of mood in a way only a twin could, and leaned in when they walked past the sliding glass door, saying, “You got to admit, it’s like the Jersey Shore just landed in Las Vegas.”

Jules turned around, seeing Romeo and part of his team. Their shoulders were stiff in defensiveness. Romeo’s brow was furrowed above his sunglasses, and he gave a slight shake of his head as if silently trying to convey something to Jules. One of the guys flanking his brother stepped forward before Jules could fully comprehend they’d heard Wyatt’s comment.

Sheer malice shone in the short, stocky Italian’s dark eyes as he glared in their direction. “What’d you just say?”

Wyatt frowned. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah, you, Forrest Gump.” He tilted his head in their direction expectantly. “I asked you what the fuck you just said.”

Wyatt’s eyes widened and turned to Jules to give her a look of incredulousness.

“What the hell did he just call me?”

“Just ignore him,” Jules said passively. “You shouldn’t have opened your darn mouth to begin with.”

She looked to Romeo in panic just as he reached out and swatted the back of his brother’s head. “Nova, turn Gino off!”

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Wyatt stepped forward menacingly before Nova or anyone else had a chance to intervene. Using his size to his advantage, Wyatt looked down at Gino. “You better check your attitude.”

“No, I don’t think I will,” Gino said, confrontational and crass despite Wyatt having at least seven inches and fifty pounds on him. He threw out his chest, making it obvious he was looking for a fight. “What’re you gonna do about it?”

“Listen, boy, I could kick your ass blindfolded with one arm tied behind my back.

That ain’t a threat, that’s the God’s honest truth,” Wyatt said, his voice low in warning.

“So I suggest—”

“Romeo!”

The female squeal of excitement cut through the air and cracked the confrontation.

Jules turned, expecting a pack of UFC fangirls; instead she found Melody and Clay making their way over to them, followed closely by Jasper and Tony. They’d all obviously been lying low, waiting for Wyatt and Jules to finish with their ticketing issues.

When she reached him, Melody actually jumped up and gave Romeo an enthusiastic one-armed hug despite the sling on her arm.

“I’m so glad we ran into y’all,” Melody said quickly, turning to Nova next to him and their other brother, who’d come up when the commotion started. “Are these your brothers? They have to be. They look just like you.”

“This is Nova, and this is Tino.” Romeo gestured to both his brothers before he turned to Melody. “This is, um—Melody.”

“Oh, I definitely get it now,” Tino said quickly. Romeo hit the back of his head, but that didn’t stop Tino from holding out his hand to Melody. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“We never got a chance to say thank you,” Clay said as he came up behind Melody. “I was gonna get your number and call once I got back home. I really owe you for what you did and—”

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“Don’t worry about it,” Romeo said dismissively, looking uncomfortable. “It’s nothing. You would have done the same. I know you would’ve.” Clay reached out and grasped Romeo’s arm in a show of companionship. “You ever need a training partner, you lemme know. I’ll help ya get your ground game on.” Romeo pulled back, looking shocked. “Really?”

“Hell yes,” Clay said quickly. “You ever want a few months away from the city, come to Garnet and train with me. I’m retiring, and I need something to do with all that free time. I’ll go crazy just sitting still.”

“You’re retiring?” Romeo gaped. “No shit?”

“No shit. I’m done with the circus.”

“I fucking love the circus,” Romeo said with a bemused laugh. “Retiring at the top of your game, that’s crazy, man. This has gotta be a joke.”

“I agree.” Wyatt leaned into Jules and whispered in her ear, “Didja slip him one of those pain pills on the sly?”

She kicked Wyatt in response. She was trying to pay attention to the conversation without seeming too obvious, which was probably a joke. Jules, like everyone around them, was leaning in, listening to every word.

“We’re hiring you a full-time jujitsu coach,” Nova was saying, giving Clay an apologetic smile. “But we appreciate the offer.”

“You ain’t gonna find a better jujitsu coach than me,” Clay assured Romeo with well-deserved confidence. “With the skill sets you already got, I could make you fucking invincible.”

Romeo rubbed a hand over his mouth, obviously considering it. Jules knew that offer was a little too sweet to pass up. Romeo was one of the fiercest fighters she’d ever seen. His boxing skills were unmatched and his karate was beautifully perfect, but he was an average wrestler at best and in the world of MMA that was a weakness. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, Romeo could win without intense grappling coming into

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play, but there was always going to be that one fighter like Clay who could get him to the ground and would beat him once he did.

“No.” Nova shook his head as he looked at Romeo with wide eyes. “You can’t do it. Not right now.”

“I’m
really
gonna consider it,” Romeo said, completely ignoring his brother’s protest. His gaze darted to Jules for one hot moment before he turned back to Clay. “I’ll probably say yes.”

Clay smiled as he reached out and wrapped his left arm around Melody, pulling her to him. “I hope ya do.”

“This whole thing just keeps getting better and better,” Wyatt groaned under his breath to Jules. “What a nightmare.”

Wyatt voiced Jules’s thoughts out loud. Romeo underfoot in Garnet was just asking for trouble. A constant temptation. Always available. She knew it was drama waiting to happen, but there was still that tiny part inside of her that secretly hoped he’d end up saying yes.

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Chapter Six

New Year’s Eve

“Are you coming with us to Times Square tonight or not?”

“Been there, done that,” Romeo said dismissively. Dripping in sweat, he was practicing with his nunchakus rather than doing something more worthwhile because they helped him think. “Party without me.”

“Come on, man. How friggin’ lame is that?”

Tino kicked him in retaliation, his foot connecting with Romeo’s midsection just as Romeo had the nunchakus behind his back. Romeo grunted from the impact and brought his nunchakus around to hit Tino’s shin—on purpose.