Even after her designs were drawn up and approved, and materials were purchased, she was on-site almost daily, making sure her bull-in-a-china-shop brothers, Ryan and Ethan, didn’t deviate from the plan.
All but two of her younger siblings were part of Stride, having built-in after-school jobs that paid well and taught them the value of hard work. The only two in the family who didn’t have their own hardhats were Sadie, who was too busy with nursing and the kids to help out, and Sky, who was eager to be on-site, but she was only twelve. Juliet’s baby sister was already making furniture and had a gift for detailed work, but their father wasn’t looking forward to his youngest learning colorful expletives from the men on their crew just yet.
Juliet ran her fingers lightly over the new polished concrete bar, loving how it had turned out. It was beautiful, and yet if the bar was ground zero for a freak inland typhoon and the entire building was swept away, the bar would still be standing. The fact that it was so sturdy made her wonder what sort of shenanigans the club members would end up using it for. As the girlfriend of the owner, who had access to the club after hours, she wondered what Will would use it for. Although if she was just the flavor of the month, he’d be torturing someone else on this bar. The idea had jealousy surging through her. If anyone was getting defiled on this bar, it was Juliet.
She felt Will walk into the club before she even saw him. She didn’t even have to turn around. There seemed to be a change in the buzz of electricity in the air, as though he changed the atmosphere wherever he went, supercharging it with energy.
By the time he moved up behind her, her lower belly was already a knot of hot desire. It was hard to believe that he’d already managed to train her body to respond to his without so much as a touch. Then again, maybe her body just knew what side its bread was buttered on. No lover she’d ever had commanded all of her senses and gave her orgasms like William Ellis. The worst part was that the sex wasn’t the only hold he had over her anymore. Now when she bothered going home, she missed him terribly.
If she was being honest with herself, she also missed Beau, even though she’d been warning herself not to get attached. It was hard not to, though, when the baby grinned at her every time she walked into the room. The maternal instinct she’d tried valiantly to force dormant kept rearing its ugly head. Every time it happened, she would force herself to think about changing diapers and cleaning vomit rather than going to Paris. She’d been saving for her trip for the past two years, and really didn’t want to give up on that dream.
Maybe Will was brainwashing her with his body and that silver tongue of his. Some of the things he convinced her to do scared the wits out of her, and yet excited her.
But to give up Paris?
She sighed, waiting for him to say something, but instead he ran his lips gently down the back of her neck, sending delicious shivers through her body and tightening her nipples.
“Juliet.” His voice thrummed in her ear, and goose bumps crawled up her spine and through her hairline. “I saw you fantasizing about what I was going to do to you on this bar. How did such a good girl become so naughty?” Her hair stirred as he inhaled, as though smelling her. “Such a horny little beast. If you want me to tie you to the bar, I’ll have to pay everyone to leave early. Too bad you work with family, or I wouldn’t bother waiting for privacy.”
After what he’d done at the restaurant, she wouldn’t put it past him. Tormenting her and fucking her in front of a room full of people seemed like the logical next step. The possibility of being caught had been a bit exciting, but the idea of him doing that to her in the middle of the club wasn’t on her list of things she wanted to try.
From across the room, she could see her brothers talking to Scotty. Ethan’s gaze had turned their way and he was frowning. She stepped away from Will and smiled a professional smile for her brother’s benefit before whispering back, “How would you know I was fantasizing about anything? Maybe I was thinking about work.”
“If that expression was about work, you must really . . . really enjoy your job.” He smirked down at her, and she barely stopped herself from giving him a swat.
“Mr. Ellis, since my brothers have no idea we’re involved, maybe you shouldn’t stand so close to me.”
The idiot started whistling “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” by The Police as he meandered through the club surveying the work being done. He stopped when he got to her brothers and Scotty, and for a fleeting moment Juliet thought he would announce to the whole room that they were seeing each other. Instead, he seemed to get into a lively discussion about something to do with the reno. He gave the impression he’d forgotten about her entirely, but she could feel his attention following her as she made her way around the club’s main room discussing the various builds taking place at that moment.
When he left the room and went to his office, she knew it without even turning around.
“So when were you going to tell us?” Ryan asked at her elbow not long after she moved into a more private area of the main hall.
For a mome
nt, she thought about playing dumb, but there was no point. Her brothers weren’t the kind of guys to drop something like this.
“Since I’m a grown woman and I don’t answer to you, not to mention the fact that I am the older than you are, I didn’t figure it was any of your business.”
Ryan chewed on his bottom lip. “It just seems unprofessional. We’re already younger and newer than most of the competition. We’ve worked hard to build our reputation to what it is now. You’re more or less the face of Stride, so any scandal that attaches to you affects all of us.”
“It’s not like I’m making a habit of dating everyone we do work for. Yes, Will and I are seeing each other, but it’s not a random hookup. It’s actually quasi-serious at this point.”
He frowned, as though this new information only made things worse.
“Juliet, why would you, of all people, get seriously involved with a guy who has a kid? You’ve sworn up and down for the past ten years you were never going to be a mother.” He ran a hand through his short blond hair. “Plus, if this ends badly, what happens then? We’re in the middle of a project. What if he decides he’s not paying because he’s pissed at you?”
“He isn’t like that.”
“That you know of! People do weird shit after a breakup.” He sighed heavily. “I guess you only have about another week where you absolutely have to keep him happy. After we get our final payment, it’s not as big of a deal. It just looks really unprofessional, and I wish you would have thought that through ahead of time.”
“Can it, Ryan. You and Ethan do stupid shit all the time. At least I’m not getting kicked out of bars and dating girls who are barely legal.”
“How was I supposed to know she wasn’t twenty-one? Every time we hung out, it was at a club.” He flushed. “I trusted the bouncers to spot fake ID. I can’t carbon-date every girl I go out with.”
“I know, I know. All I’m saying is that in this instance there is nothing wrong with what I’m doing. I’m not jeopardizing the job, and I’m not doing anything illegal.” Immoral might be a different subject, but Ryan didn’t need to know that.
“Fine. Just don’t let him turn your head. You’ve worked way too fucking hard for Paris to give it up now.”