looked down at the faded Oriental carpet beneath Shay’s feet. “This carpet? Well, it certainly looks old enough.”
“We don’t want to damage it.”
“What about your feet? They’re wet, too.”
“I’m not dripping water the way you are.” He pointed at the ornate pattern, which was now a bit darker than before. “See?”
Juliette decided he was not only teasing her, he was testing her. Why, she didn’t know, unless he’d seen through her amnesia act. It probably wasn’t the best role she could have chosen for her escapade—not that she’d consciously done so—but it was too late to backtrack now. Juliette looked him boldly in the eye and called his bluff.
“Back pocket, you said?”
She leaned around so she could slide her hand down his side, past his waist and over his tight butt. Her fingers hesitated at the top of his pocket, but his eyes held a challenge, and with a quick move she slipped her fingers inside his pocket and began grasping for the key. Her fingers slid over his firm buttocks as she explored the inside of the pocket quite thoroughly, then jerked her hand up and out. She wanted to blow on her fingertips to cool them off. “The key’s not there,” she announced in a tight voice.
His eyebrows shot up in astonishment. “It’s not? I wonder what I…oh, how stupid. I remember now. I put in on my chain with my car keys this morning.” He lifted his hand and revealed the key ring dangling from his little finger. “Sorry, Red. I forgot. Seems like you’re not the only one with a bad memory.” He leaned down and unlocked the door.
She stiffened and her voice dripped ice when she said, “You can put me down now.” She knew he was suspicious of her story, and he’d just confirmed it. She’d have to watch it from now on, or run as if the hounds of hell were snapping at her heels.
“No can do, the same carpet is in the hallway.” Clasping her high in his arms, he practically strolled down the hall toward the ornate caged elevator at the other end.
Annoyed, Juliette hissed like a wet kitten. She hated it when people patted her on the head and treated her like a fool. “I suppose you pulled that little trick to humiliate me? Right?” She raised her brows to their haughtiest level. “I demand that you put me down immediately.”
He chuckled as he stepped inside the open elevator and slid the cage shut. He pressed the button for the third floor before he answered her. “Now, Princess—”
“Don’t call me Princess.”
“—don’t lose your temper. You tell me what man could resist hanging on to an armful like you? I just wanted to see if you’d lost your spirit along with your memory.”
Her spirit. He thought she had spirit? Was this man off track! If she had any spirit at all she’d tell her brother that she didn’t intend to get married right now. Especially not to a man she didn’t love and had known practically forever as another brother. Spirit. That’s a laugh. The most spirited thing Juliette had ever done she was doing at this very moment. The only problem was, she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do next.
2
SHAY SET HER DOWN just outside the doorway to his apartment.
Juliette looked at her feet and dripping hem. “No heirloom carpets up here, I suppose?”
Shay laughed. “My landlady didn’t mention the carpets up here at all.”
Juliette shuddered as she stared at the huge red cabbage roses that sprawled across the moss-green background. “I don’t blame her.”
Sending her an amused glance, Shay fit his key into the lock and turned the knob. He shoved the door wide and said, “After you.”
Juliette hesitated at the threshold. After all, the minute she stepped over it she was committed. Whatever happened for the rest of the evening was in her hands. Her breath quickened at the absolute knowledge that she was in control. Right now she could take what she wanted and the rest of the world be damned. No past, no future…only the present.
“If you’re worried about the carpet,” he said with a wink, “take my word for it—ain’t no roses on this floor.”
A small laugh gurgled in the back of Juliette’s throat. “Thanks for telling me, but I’m not concerned about the rug.”
Shay’s expression sobered, his voice suddenly gruff, as if he was trying to allay her fears. “Don’t be concerned about anything else, either. It’s safe.”
“Like a sanctuary, you mean?”
“Being a former altar boy, I wouldn’t say anything so sacrilegious.”
“Since when is safety a sacrilege?”
“When it’s used to run away from things people should be facing.”
Juliette froze. It was as if he could see into her soul. How did he know so much? Or was it merely a lucky guess? Lucky guess, she hoped. But he was right. She was running away, even if it was temporary. Instead of being here, she should be standing up to her brother right now, saying that although she loved him and wanted to help him, she had to consider what she wanted, too.
“Go on in, Red. I’ll make some coffee to warm us up.”
Juliette entered the short hallway, blinking when he reached around her and turned on a light. The soft glow illuminated the room beyond, beckoning to her, inviting her to leave the past behind and take temporary refuge. Regardless of what Shay had said, the thought relaxed her. She looked around the soft, rosy-peach-colored room. “This is very nice, so soothing.”
Shay snorted behind her as he ducked into a doorway off the hallway and headed into the kitchen. “I might as well be living in a perpetual sunset.”
“I like that. Don’t you?”
Shay flung open the white shutters that separated the kitchen from the living area. “Not every minute, I don’t. I’m more of a dark-chocolate-and-beige man.”
Juliette chuckled. “Lots of leather, I suppose?”
Shay leaned through the cutout opening and winked at her. “Only on my women, Red.”
“Oh—I forgot your coat. I left it in the car.” She could still feel the weight of his leather jacket as it had engulfed her, still smell the masculine scents that lingered in the lining.
He gave her an airy wave. “I’ll get it later. Come to think of it, that old leather looked pretty good on you.”
She stared back at him. His face was perfectly charming when he relaxed and put all of his formidable nature behind him. Or maybe she was seeing something she wanted to see. After all, it would be much better for her if he was a pussycat instead of a tiger. It wouldn’t be quite as threatening, or as damaging to her view of herself. Not that she didn’t have the stomach for lion-taming. At least she hoped she did. It was hard to say. Most of the men she’d known had been rather tame beasts. Now that she looked at Shay again, the thought of him as a neutered house cat was laughable. If ever a man was tense and ready
