She swallowed hard. ‘I never said—’
‘Not you.Kate.’ Disdain dripped from his tongue. ‘I have it on good authority that I’m the crappiest of the crap.’
Juliette felt affronted on his behalf. ‘You know that’s not true, don’t you?’
He shrugged. ‘Do I?’
‘You should. Don’t let someone else’s bitter, spiteful words make you think otherwise.’
‘That’s not the worst of it.’
She waited for him to speak, worrying that if she pushed too hard, he would clam up and leave. She didn’t want that.
Eventually, and to her relief, he spoke again. ‘Apparently, I’m a womaniser now. And I’m trying to replace Evin’s mother. Apparently, it’s okay for her to cheat on me, but if I go on dates…’ He laughed again, this time he seemed genuinely amused by the thought. ‘Chance would be a fine thing.’
‘Who’s filling her head with this nonsense?’ Juliette asked.
Reid raised his shoulders and dropped them heavily. ‘Not a damn clue. The sick thing out of all this is Kate doesn’t want me, didn’t want either of us, yet the moment she gets wind that I’m happy with someone new, even if it’s a blatant lie, she wants to swoop in and remind me ofus. Earlier, when she phoned, she was trying to be all sweet and saying things like, “Remember when we used to take Evin to that theme park on the mainland and we’d stand there holding hands watching him play? How cute were we as a family?”’ His tone was mocking. ‘Then, at the end of the conversation, she announced she’s thinking of suing for full custody. We have joint custody at the moment, with him living with me for the majority of the time and just visiting her for some holidays and some weekends. But now she’s decided that isn’t enough. Wants things to change. Apparently, she can’t get pregnant with her current husband, so she thinks she can just takemykid. I don’t know what she thinks she’s playing at.’
Juliette’s heart sank. ‘Oh no. Reid, that’s awful, I’m so sorry.’
‘She does this, but then, on the other hand, hints, not-so-subtly, that she wants us to get back together so we can bring Evin up together.’ He shook his head.
‘Maybe she’s realising what she’s lost?’ Juliette offered.
He turned to her and smiled. ‘That’s kind of you.’ He sounded surprised. ‘But I don’t think that’s it. She enjoys being in control, like I’m her puppet and she’s the bloody master. But, ultimately, I think she actually enjoys me being alone and unhappy.’
Juliette reached out and placed a hand on his arm and grinned mischievously. ‘Well then, you need to be happier than ever just to piss her off.’
He laughed and his whole face lit up. Then, without warning, he leaned close and kissed her gently on the lips. It was unexpected, sweet and soft, and she closed her eyes and allowed it to happen, until she remembered they were outside where anyone could see and pulled away swiftly. She brought her fingers to her lips and fought for something to say, but no words would come.
Seeing her reaction, Reid stood. ‘Shit, I’m so sorry. That was… I didn’t mean—’
‘No, no, it’s okay. You took me by surprise. But—’
‘Look, I should get going. Kendric is watching Evin and no doubt he’ll be letting him eat too much sugar before he goes to bed. I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I’ll blame the single malt.’ He smiled nervously, cleared his throat and raised his hand. ‘Well, goodnight Juliette.’ And there was that formal use of her name again, closing down the barriers between them once more.
‘Any time, Reid. Imeanthat. I’d like to think we could be friends,’ she told him, hoping he would know she meant that’sallthey could be. Even if there were conflicting thoughts going on inside her.
22
As she fluttered her eyelids open, Juliette already knew she’d need painkillers. It hadn’t helped that she’d hardly slept a wink through worrying about Reid and that kiss. She hadn’t been kissed on the lips by a man in so long that reliving it both excited and scared her. It was something she would never have anticipated. Up to that point she had presumed he didn’t like her; that he tolerated her for Evin’s sake. Could she have been wrong or was it the alcohol, like he’d said?
She wondered who on earth could be so vindictive as to pass on false stories to Reid’s ex-wife when they knew that there was potential for terrible repercussions. Who would want to hurt Reid and why? Clearly,someoneenjoyed meddling rather too much. Her mind wandered to Leanna, but surely she wouldn’t do such an evil thing to the man she supposedly adored?
After her third cup of tea and a couple of paracetamol, Juliette took some dry toast out into the garden and sat quietly, letting the morning rays of sun warm her skin. At least the museum was closed today so she didn’t have to face anyone looking as she did, which, from a quick glance in the hall mirror, was grey with a slight tinge of green.
She returned inside and was standing at the bottom of the stairs, contemplating returning to the comfort of her bed, when the landline phone rang. She picked up the portable handset and walked carefully through to the kitchen, each step on the tiled floor vibrating through her tender skull.
‘Hello?’
‘Hi Jules, it’s Kendric, Reid’s brother. I know I said I’d wait to hear from you, but something has come up and I wanted to let you know I’m not free today, after all. I’m so sorry.’ Relief flooded her veins. She had felt uneasy about meeting with him after what Leanna had insinuated. The last thing she needed was to be accused of playing the brothers off against each other, even if she’d been doing no such thing. She had only just met Kendric, for goodness sake.
‘That’s fine. I hope everything’s okay.’
‘I wish it was. But sadly no. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say Reid’s ex-wife has a lot to answer for.’
Concern sent a shiver of unease down Juliette’s spine and she chewed her lip. ‘Is Reid okay?’
