Page 19 of Unpredictable
“We’ve been together for almost a year. When you know, you know. Right?” Olivia laughed, but Juliana didn’t.
“A—” She swallowed. “Year.” Her face blanched.
I frowned, the tension in the room rising. “I’m sorry, but why is this information necessary?”
“I, um…” She stared at her tablet. “I like to know the backstory of a couple. It helps me get a better picture of their personalities and style.” When she met my eyes again, hers blazed with anger. A challenge. “Though, really, how well can you ever know someone?”
I crossed my arms over my chest, enjoying the way her eyes darted to my biceps. “I don’t know. I think you can know someone pretty well, even after just one night.”
Juliana’s breath caught, but Olivia was so busy looking through the notes on her phone, she missed it. Juliana’s skin flushed with color, creeping up her neck and staining her cheeks. I smirked.
“One night can makeor breaka relationship,” she ground out, and I wondered if she was referring to an ex. Clearly, he’d done a number on her.
Olivia’s phone buzzed, and she glanced at the screen. “I’m sorry. I have to take this.”
She held the phone to her ear, talking in a hushed voice as she darted toward the door. Juliana stood and tried to escape, but I was faster. I placed my hand on the door, stopping her.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, skin flushed. Her chest rose and fell, her breasts nearly brushing against me.
“Stopping you from running away.” I was so tempted to reach out and touch her, to place my hands on her hips. To physically restrain her from running away from me, even though she was completely and emotionally unavailable.
She swallowed, her eyes darting everywhere but at me. “I-I—” she stammered. “You shouldn’t be here.”
I furrowed my brow. This woman perplexed me. “Why? Because we slept together?”
“Yes,” she hissed, her eyes darting toward the door, toward Olivia.
I leaned in, getting a whiff of her floral scent. She looked polished, just as she had that night in the bar. And just like that night, I wanted to muss her up. I wanted to get her to let her hair down, live a little.
“Last time I checked, picking up a stranger in a bar isn’t a crime.”
“It is if one of the parties is engaged,” she shot back.
I frowned. “Engaged?”
So that’s who Ryan was—her fiancé? Fuck. I never would’ve slept with her if I’d known they were still together. I thought he was the bastard who’d broken her heart. I figured her night with me was a rebound or revenge. She hadn’t been wearing a ring then, and I glanced down to confirm she wasn’t wearing one now.
She moved past me and started pacing. “You shouldn’t be here. And there’s no way I can plan this wedding. I just—” She stopped, looked at me, then started again. “I can’t. You need to tell Olivia.”
“What?” I jerked my head back. “I’m not telling Olivia we slept together. That’s none of her business.”
Her mouth fell open. “She’s the bride. Of course it’s her business.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I slept with such a…such a—”
I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to understand her reaction. “Such a what?”
“Such a—”
The door swung open, and Olivia breezed in. “Sorry about that.”
Juliana swallowed back her words and glared at me. What the hell was her problem? If she’d cheated on her fiancé, that was her decision, not mine. I wasn’t happy about it, but I didn’t see why we needed to involve my daughter.
“Where were we?” Olivia asked, completely oblivious to the tension that had settled like a thick fog over the room. “Right. Guest list.” She took a seat.
Juliana and I continued our stare off a moment longer before she took a seat. She tapped aggressively at the screen of her tablet, and I wondered if she was angrier with herself or me.
“We’re thinking around two hundred guests,” Olivia said.
My attention snapped to her. “Does that include all your coworkers and their spouses? And what about my former teammates?”
