Page 5 of Unpacking Secrets
At worst? It’d be like a tidal wave ofDisappointed in Youlectures from every grandparent figure in my life.
“You’re an idiot,” I whispered to myself.
With a sigh, I sat back in the chair and rubbed my hands over my face. Not only was I not sure how to fix the situation, I wasn’t even sure Icould.Juliet didn’t seem like the forgiving type with that short fuse, and setting a match to the embers had been altogether too thrilling to keep me from doing it again.
When she was standing there in front of me, I’d watched her bristle under my intentionally cold perusal—and I’d been perversely pleased by it. The woman was indeed a dead ringer for a much younger Nan Montgomery, though Nan had been so slender as to almost seem fragile for as long as I could remember.
Juliet was nothing of the sort. Fragile wouldn’t make it into a list of the top hundred adjectives I’d use to describe her.
I doubted she was any taller than Nan, whose presence always seemed far bigger than her few inches over five feet, but Juliet was all soft curves and rounded limbs. At first, she’d seemed almost timid, at least before the flames started leaping off her.
The kind of flames that indicated something I didn’t want to notice about this woman. Not yet, not ever.
Passion.
It shouldn’t have annoyed me, the echo of Nan so clear in her riot of blazing curls and those fierce blue eyes behind a sprinkling of freckles, but it did. It drummed up more emotion than I’d had in my system in a long time—emotion, and something more.
The flare of attraction that sparked through my body irritated me even further. Instead of warning me away, the fury radiating from her had only made me wonder what it’d be like to kiss her.
I got the impression it wouldn’t be as soft and sweet as she looked. Underneath, this woman had a backbone of steel.
Another thing she and Nan had in common.
Regardless, that lapse in concentration had nearly knocked the wind from my sails, so I’d plopped my ass back down in the chair and smirked at her to cover my momentary flash of curiosity. The smirk had only pissed her off further, stoking those flames of aggravation higher.
For me? The attraction hadn’t faded, nor had the curiosity. I still wanted to know, but there would be no kissing.
She might be beautiful, but I sincerely doubted she’d be sticking around.
Even if she wasn’t Nan’s granddaughter, my own stupidity had effectively obliterated any chance I might have had to win her over. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d marched straight out of here to demand they hire a new manager immediately. I’d be lucky to still have a job once word got around about how I’d spoken to her. Even if none of the old guard came right out and said it, the guilt-tripping alone might weigh on my soul heavily enough to send me packing.
Why couldn’t I have just kept my mouth shut?
Juliet Morrison had spirit, that was for damn sure, and once I was ready to be honest with myself, I would have to admit that the quick comebacks and those blazing blue eyes had been a refreshing reminder of Nan.
Sally popped her head through the doorway, her eyebrows drawn down in a glare. “I just saw our new employer storm out of here like she was ready to punch someone, Henry. What did you do?”
“Do? Why does her bad mood mean I did something?”
“Because everyone else here is happy to welcome Nan’s flesh and blood back into the fold. Whatever your issue is with Juliet, you better sort it out fast.”
“Why?” I demanded, recognizing full well that I sounded like a petulant brat.
“Because Nan wanted this for her, Henry. You know she did.”
I rubbed a hand over my eyes. “I know. Would you believe me if I said I didn’t mean to rile her up like that?”
“Probably not,” Sally replied.
“It’s true. She’s got Nan’s temper.”
“And you’re just sweet as pie, huh?”
“Usually,” I muttered.
It was half true—I was normally pretty even-keeled, but Juliet Morrison ignited something that had lain dormant inside me for a long time.
Interest.
