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Mac
If you don’t want me to come along, you can just say that.
There was a part of me that didn’t want him to. The cautious part of my brain told me I needed to stay away. I needed to burn the book he wrote little notes for me in and forget he even existed. He could be my neighbor who played for the team my father coached and that would be it. We didn’t have to be friends. We didn’t have to do things together.
The impulsive part of my brain won the battle tonight.
Juliette
Don’t bother me when we’re on the ice.
Mac
Deal.
CHAPTER NINE
MAC
Juliette sat quietly in the passenger seat as she stared out the window. I was surprised when she agreed to let me come with her. When I asked her where she was planning on eating, she proved that she wasn’t as planned and calculated as she appeared. Her response was that she was going to go downtown and walk down the street until she found the place that seemed most appealing.
It wasn’t something I would normally do, but I was along for the ride and just following Juliette’s lead.
Cars lined the street as we pulled into the main downtown area. It was a little shopping district that was lined with stores and restaurants. It was almost always busy, especially this time of year when there were a lot of tourists that came down south for the warmer weather. I was able to find an empty parking spot and pulled my car into it before putting it in park and killing the engine.
Juliette was already climbing out before I had the chance to open the door for her. I didn’t want to scare her off by making it seem like a date, so I ignored the nagging inside me that said I needed to treat her that way.
“Where to?” I asked her as we stood side by side on the bustling sidewalk.
Juliette looked up and down the street, her eyes narrowing as she scanned all the various signs. She turned her head to the left and stared for a moment before nodding in that direction. “Let’s go this way.”
I fell into step beside her as we walked past a few groups of people waiting outside of some of the restaurants. It was a busy night, so we would most likely have a wait anywhere we went.
“Is this what you usually do? You just roll the dice and end up wherever it may be?”
Juliette glanced at me, her charcoal eyes meeting mine. From the corner of my eye, I saw someone heading in her direction, not paying attention to where they were going. Grabbing for her, I pulled Juliette from their path. She gasped and stumbled into me. The floral scent of her perfume infiltrated my nose and I couldn’t help myself as my grip tightened on her arms.
She stared up at me, her lips parting slightly as if we were frozen in time. I couldn’t help myself as my gaze traveled down to her mouth. She was standing so close, her chest nearly brushing against me. My heart pounded inside my chest, my fingers on the soft skin of her arms. My eyes drifted back to hers.
Snapping out of my stupor, I released her, taking a step back as I cleared my throat. “Sorry. That guy wasn’t paying attention and he was about to run into you.”
Her eyes bounced back and forth between mine before she straightened her spine and squared her jaw. “Thanks.”
I nodded awkwardly and Juliette turned away from me, leading the way again. I followed along with her, our arms brushing against one another’s as we walked. It was hard to ignore the electricity that sizzled along my nerve endings every time she touched me, but I did. I didn’t move away, though. I craved the way she felt, the way she smelled.
“To answer your question, yes. I don’t do this with most aspects of my life, but I’m not good at deciding where to eat.” She paused and glanced at me from the corner of her eye with a ghost of a smile. “It’s easier if I just let my stomach lead the way.”
“I like that,” I agreed, smiling back at her.
I like you.
Juliette abruptly stopped in front of a small cafe. Ain’t That a Bisque. She turned to look at me. “Let’s eat here.”
I looked at the cafe, noticing there was one empty table and not a line. There wouldn’t be an issue with us eating here and we wouldn’t have to wait an obscene amount of time just to get seated. My eyes met hers. “Perfect.”
We ordered our food at the counter and found the empty table while we waited. The menu mainly consisted of soups, salads, and sandwiches. I wasn’t going to complain because everything looked and smelled delicious.
Juliette took the seat across from me and folded her arms on the table. “I’m still mad at you for what you did to my book.”
