Page 60 of Once Smitten, Twice Shy

Bea stands, too. “Right behind you.”

I start to get up, but Bea gently presses me down at my shoulder.

“Just relax,” she says. “You prepped all the food for brunch. Let us do this little bit and set it out at least.”

I peer up at her. “You sure?”

“I’m sure.” She lifts her carrier for Cornelius off her shoulders and gently slides it over mine. “Sorry for grilling you about Will, JuJu. I just…want you to be happy. If he doesn’t interest you beyond friendship, if you’re happy as is, I respect that.”

I peer down at tiny Cornelius, who yawns adorably, guilt twinging inside me. I don’t tell her she’s wrong, and I don’t confess that she’s right, either. “Thanks, BeeBee.”

She sets the thermos in my hand and smiles. “You and Cornelius enjoy some R and R. I’ll let you know when brunch is up.”

Men’s voices echo down the hall. I glance over my shoulder and see Christopher walk in, then Jamie, followed by Will. I snap my head back, staring out at the court. My heart’s flying.

I hear Kate squawk, imagining that Christopher’s pulled her in for a sweaty hug, then Bea’s laughter. Jamie’s deep voice, his wordstoo hard to parse, then Will’s just a little deeper, his crystal clear. “You sure?” he asks, then after a beat says, “Thanks, man.”

I swallow, nervous. Should I get up and say hello? Am I being weird or rude, staying put? I’m still debating what to do when I hear a soft knock on the doorframe of the studio. I glance over my shoulder, and my stomach flips.

Will’s red-faced and sweaty, smiling ear to ear. “Hey.”

“Hey, you.” I smile at him, because I can’t help it. Because when I see Will, that’s all I want to do—smile at his damn cute face and his kind eyes and his sweet gentle giant presence.

He nods out toward the court. “Enjoy the game?”

“Thoroughly. You?”

He nods again, still smiling wide.

My smile grows as wide as his. “You’re high as kite on adrenaline, aren’t you?”

“Nature’s best drug,” he says, double tapping the threshold. “I’m gonna grab a shower now, but I’ll be quick. That egg casserole you made smells incredible, and I’m starving.”

Then he turns and strolls back down the hallway, probably clueless that he’s just wrecked me by planting in my mind’s eye the image of him showering, lathering my body wash across his skin, that soap drifting down those big, hard pecs I saw his shirt plastered to, those thick arms I’ve curled my hand around, between his thighs, stroking down—

“Gahh!” I shake my head. “Stop it, Juliet!”

Cornelius pops his head up from his carrier, his dark, curious eyes glancing around, probably wondering what all that noise was.

“Sorry if I scared you, bud.” I reach for the tiny hedgie inside his carrier and carefully draw him out. His tiny feet tickle my palm as he settles inside my cupped hands. “Cornelius, I can do this, right?”

He lifts his head up and down. I’m pretty sure he’s just sniffing the air, having gotten a whiff of the egg casserole that’s come out of the oven, but I’ll take his little nod as the reassurance I need.

“Yeah,” I tell him, stroking softly down his quills. “I hope so, too.”

•Eighteen•

Will

Juliet called it: I was high on adrenaline earlier. But now, hours later, after a damn good brunch and visit with Jules, her sisters, Petruchio, Jamie, and Hamza, then Toni, who came in toward the end, dejected that he’d had to miss the game (“especially the shirtless part!”), I can’t give the adrenaline credit anymore for how good I feel.

In my gut I know what’s responsible—who’sresponsible: the woman smiling up at me.

Juliet lifts her eyebrows as I hold open the door to the conservatory, the spot I picked for our next practice date.

“Thank you,” she says, stepping past me.

I let the door drift shut behind me, then fall into step beside her, setting my hand on her back. She nearly jumps out of her skin.

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