Hidden Devotion (Trinity Masters #5)(30)

Juliette didn’t respond.

He twisted in his chair, not surprised to see her asleep. She was curled into a ball with her head on the edge of the couch. Her hands were tucked into the sleeves of her sweatshirt.

She looked small, vulnerable and exhausted. Even he wasn’t dumb enough to say this, but she looked terrible—there were bags under her eyes and her face looked thinner than before.

Tablet in one hand, he sat on the couch then tugged Juliette’s shoulders until she was lying flat, head on his lap. He brushed her hair back from her face, hoping this wasn’t a completely creepy thing to do.

Normally he was the one strung out and exhausted-looking as a result of getting wrapped up in his work. It felt good to be on the other side of that equation, to be the one taking care instead of being cared for. Laying one hand protectively on her shoulder, Franco was content to simply be with her as she slept.





Chapter Nine




“I’m so full.” Juliette wiped her fingers on a napkin, resisting the urge to lick them clean. “This is seriously some of the best food I’ve had in a long time.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, I spent hours cooking it.” Franco motioned vaguely to the microwave, where he’d reheated the food that had been delivered earlier while she slept.

“I expect nothing less from a man named Francisco.”

He laughed. Her own chuckle turned into a massive yawn.

“You should go to bed.” He adjusted his glasses, which had a tendency to slide down his nose.

Juliette eyed him. Where had this commanding tone come from? And why did she find it so appealing? “I slept all day.”

“Not to be rude, but you still look tired.”

“A gentleman never tells a lady when she looks poorly.”

“I’m a terrible gentleman. Ask my mother. She gave up on me after she found a moldy bowl of cereal under my bed.”

“Eww, teenagers are gross.”

“Uh, that was when I was twenty-four and home from grad school for a visit.”

“That’s just sad.” Juliette was ready to tease him more, but she yawned so widely that her jaw cracked.

“Come on.” Franco rose and offered his hand.

She stared at his fingers, gripped by the strange feeling that if she took his hand, everything would change. If this were a movie there would be dramatic music playing. “Why do I feel so comfortable with you?”

“I feel the same way with you.” His face was serious, sculpted lips pressed together in a thin line. “I feel like…maybe I’ve been waiting for you, for the Trinity Masters.”

Juliette placed her fingers in his. “And maybe we’ve been waiting for you.”

The atmosphere shifted. This was no longer about sleep; it was about the chemistry between them, desire that could no longer be denied.

Franco pulled her to her feet, brushing his hand down her back. Juliette guided them up the stairs, lacing her fingers with his. Her heart beat louder with each step they ascended.

She paused outside the bedroom door. “I need to say something.”

Franco’s heavy-lidded gaze traveled over her. “I want you.”

“I want you, too, but—”

He detangled his fingers from hers, pointedly looking away. “Let me finish. Devon explained that members don’t have serious relationships. I want you, but you aren’t a casual-relationship kind of girl.”

Juliette reached up and stroked his face. He said he wasn’t a gentleman, but he was.

Good thing she didn’t intend to behave like a lady.

“I’m not a girl, Franco. I’m a woman. A woman who knows what she wants and can handle the consequences.”

She kissed him. This wasn’t a soft or gentle kiss; it was a kiss with intent. The intent to seduce, the intent to start something that could only end in sex.

Franco held back for a moment—either surprised or gentlemanly instincts at play—but then he returned the kiss, with interest.

He backed her up against the wall. Juliette hummed her approval as he tangled his fingers in her hair, tugging until she tipped her chin up. He trailed kisses down her jawline to her neck. She hooked one leg around his waist and he accepted her invitation, cupping her ass.

She would have given anything to be dressed in something sexier than leggings and a sweatshirt. Franco’s hands slid under her top, the brush of his fingers on her bare skin making her shiver. She stopped worrying about what she was wearing.

“Bed,” she whispered.

“Where?”

“In the bedroom.”

Franco lifted his head from her neck. “I deserve that. Okay, smartass, where’s the bedroom?”

Juliette suppressed a giggle. Wasn’t there some saying about how laughter ruined sex? She leaned right and turned the doorknob.

“Nice.” Franco cupped her ass with both hands. Juliette wrapped her arms and legs around him, kissing his neck as he carried her.

He made it three steps, tripped, and nearly dropped her.

Juliette yelped and managed to reach out and grab the doorframe while simultaneously dropping her feet to the floor. Franco tried to recover from the stumble, failed, and fell onto a pile of clothes on her floor. His glasses came off and skittered away.

Juliette stared at him sprawled on the ground, head and shoulders buried in a pile of clothes that needed to be dry-cleaned. A giggle burst from her lips. She slapped a hand over her mouth.