“I work for Jack Mills.”
“Are you a lawyer too?”
“Not even close.”
“Oh.”
He takes a few steps closer and grabs both of my wrists.
“I’m sorry about how I left things, Juliette.”
“Left things?” I feign ignorance while pulling my arms gently out of his grasp.
He lifts my chin with his hand, so that my eyes meet his.
“I’m usually a man of my word, and I said that I would call, but I didn’t. There were reasons for that, but I was wrong and I’m sorry.”
“Oh, that? Don’t worry about it. It was a lifetime ago, and I wasn’t actually expecting you to call.”
I’m pretending right now. I actually waited months (until the day I left for Villanova) for Joseph to call.
I even got desperate enough to ask a few kids like study hall guy what they knew about him, but my research was for naught. A lot of people heard of him but didn’t know anything concrete about him. No phone number. No address. Nothing.
“Liar.”
“What?”
“It’s obvious when you’re lying. You have atell. You bite the inside corner of your lip.”
“I do not,” I protest.
“Most people have a tell. That’s kind of my forte. Reading people’s energy.”
“Well, you’re not that good at it.”
He snickers.
“If you’re angry with me, Juliette, just tell me. I’m a big boy. I can take it.”
“I was never angry.”
I don’t know how I missed it six years ago, but I notice that Joseph has a pretty prominent cleft chin. I can’t keep my eyes off of it. Off of him.
He looks twenty times better than my late night fantasies could ever have conjured up. Confidence, dominance, and desire rolls off of him in waves.
“That’s even worse.” His voice drops a few octaves. “That means I didn’t leave enough of an impression.”
My mother suddenly knocks on the door.
“Juliette, are you all right in there?”
“Yes, Mom,” I respond nervously. I’m almost twenty-five years old, but the same house rules still apply whether I’m twelve or twenty-five. No boys (or grown men) in my bedroom other than my brothers and my father.
“Chandler is looking lonely out here.” She imagines herself whispering through the door. “Get back out here.”
“Coming, Mom.”
Joseph has an icy look on his face and his posture stiffens.
