Juliet remembered the lacy bras and panties that sat on top of the other items that she had purchased. Embarrassed, Juliet grabbed the bag quickly out of P.J.’s hand and offered a quick thanks. Then Juliet peered beyond him towards the window. The wind seemed to have died down considerably, but the rain continued to come down in slow, heavy streams.
P.J. hung his wet jacket up on a hook, then sat down on the bench near the door and began to unlace his wet, muddy boots. “I hope you don’t feel a strong connection to your vehicle, because that mess is totaled.”
“Totaled? I was hoping it was just stuck.” Juliet frowned, her thoughts racing about what a totaled car would mean.
“Oh, it’s stuck alright, babe. Up to its damn hybrid neck. I had to remove a tree from the hood before I could even try to move it. The frame is bent to shit. I think I’m gonna have to have someone tow it out.” At Juliet’s woebegone expression, P.J. approached her. When she didn’t inch away, he wrapped his arms around her and put his chin on top of her head. “It’ll be okay, Juliet. It’s just that the whole insurance thing is a pain in the ass. But this storm left everyone in a mess, so we’ll have to deal with that later.” Then with regret, he pulled away from her. “You want some breakfast?”
“Thanks P.J. for everything.” Juliet said sincerely. “I keep going over and over in my mind how I ended up in such a bad fix.”
“Wondering that myself. How’d you find yourself on the road to my house in the middle of the storm?”
“Layla and I were out doing a girls’ thing. You know, shopping, dinner and then a movie. The storm had picked up when we were in the theater, and stupidly we thought that we could outrun it. I was on my way home and mistook your road for mine.”
“And when you realized you tried to turn around.” P.J. felt a stab of disappointment. Then he gave her a teasing grin. “I was kinda hoping that you were coming to see me.”
Juliet grinned back sheepishly. “Well, if it helps, when I knew I was in trouble, I did try to come to you for help, but that’s when the trouble really started!” Then Juliet looked at P.J. straight in the eye with heartfelt gratitude. “At the risk of sounding dramatic, you saved my life last night, P.J. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Thank me? Well, you in my bed was a good start.” P.J. held Juliet’s gaze for a moment until he saw the blush begin to color her face. Then he casually moved towards the hearth and tossed another log on the fire. P.J. sat on his haunches and poked at the embers with the iron stick. With his back to Juliet, he waited.
“I guess that we should probably talk about last night,” Juliet sighed softly, then she paused as if searching her troubled mind for the right words. “It was incredible. You were incredible.” Juliet smiled a sad apology. “It’s just that…”
A knot of vulnerability made itself known and tied itself tight and deep inside P.J.’s belly. He rose to his full height. P.J. turned to Juliet and asked in a low growl, “It’s just that what? It’s just that it was wrong? Is that the bullshit you’re gonna serve me this morning, Juliet? You gonna tell me that you and me…? You gonna try to convince yourself that sharing my bed was a mistake?”
Juliet’s lips formed a soft O and she looked at P.J. with honest surprise. “A mistake? If I live to be a hundred years old, P.J. McCabe, I will never look back on last night as anything less than perfect. Being with you felt…right. As a matter of fact, it was the rightest thing I think I have ever felt in my whole damn life. So, no…I would not call last night a mistake.” Then, her eyes went wide as if in sudden epiphany. “Unless…you… is that it? P.J. do you think last night was a mis…”
“No! Jesus, Juliet. God, I’m fucking this all up…yeah?” He scrubbed a hard hand through his hair.
“I think that maybe we both are.” Juliet raised her hand and gave a strand of her hair a slight tug. “Maybe…uh…maybe we should just relax and have a cup of coffee?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.” P.J. stoked up the fire again to blazing, then he brought the pot to the coffee table. He poured them each a steaming mug and sat down on the couch next to her. Then he said to Juliet “I should have told you when you walked out of the bedroom, you look beautiful.”
“You do too, P.J.,” Juliet’s eyes softened when she looked at him. In that instant, she felt all those feels… nervous, self-conscious, awed, and finally contented. And because she had been through so much, had fought so many fights, Juliet let herself have this. She allowed this perfect moment of the kind of fleeting happiness that would wrap its arms around a woman and etch the memory into her heart. She stared into the fire wanting to stop time, to hold on to this moment forever.
Then… “You don’t know me, P.J. You might think you know me, but you don’t.”
“And I’m guessing that’s a problem for you, Juliet? Me getting to know you? Us getting to know each other?”
When Juliet didn’t reply, P.J. knew that she was afraid to say more, afraid to open up. Having a conversation with Juliet was like being stuck in a dark and shadowed room, you knew there was a door somewhere, you just couldn’t find it.
“How about I tell you what I think I know about you, and you tell me if
