“Let’s have a look,” Mr. Broom said, leaning over the counter.

  Juliet peeked over his shoulder and gave me a soft, reassuring smile.

  “I’ll, uh, be right back.” I escaped the room, leaving the door slightly ajar and ran to the bathroom to clean up.

  Juliet

  My heart wouldn’t stop racing even after Roman left the room. Mr. Broom went over my photos with me, but I barely heard a word. I nodded and smiled, even took some notes while he explained things to me, but the instructions were nothing more than petals floating away in the breeze.

  “Did Roman get to his photos yet?” Mr. Broom asked.

  “No, we were going to work on them next.”

  “Very well.” He touched the edge of one of Roman’s photos from last week’s assignment. “He’s very talented.”

  “He is,” I agreed.

  Mr. Broom’s gaze strayed to the open door, and he almost seemed troubled. My stomach clenched in fear. Did he know what Roman and I were doing before he came in here? Could he smell it? Was I blushing?

  “Your friendship seems to be a good influence on him, Juliet.”

  “You think so?”

  “Yes. The kids I’ve seen from Pine Bluff…” his voice trailed off for a moment. “They don’t receive a lot of encouragement. Half the time, they drop out or end up in jail.”

  I wasn’t sure what to say besides, “That’s awful.”

  “It really is. It’s unfair. They’re not given the same chance most of the kids here are.” He blew out an annoyed breath. “Even some of my co-workers don’t want kids in the system here.” He shook his head. “Anyway, I shouldn’t be discussing this with you. Forget I said anything.”

  “Okay, Mr. Broom.”

  He glanced at the clock. “You two should probably wrap up for the day. I’m sure Mr. Hawkins has to—”

  “I have to be back by four,” Roman interrupted, coming inside.

  “Ah, very good. You probably have time to develop one more set. I’ll let you get to it,” Mr. Broom nodded at both of us before backing out of the room.

  Shaking his head, Roman gave me a half-smile. “You okay?” he asked in a low voice.

  I nodded slowly. The fear and tension from Mr. Broom almost walking in on us overshadowed all the amazing feelings Roman had given me earlier.

  “Are you?” I asked. He seemed like he was in pain right before Mr. Broom’s interruption.

  I swear Roman blushed. His gaze strayed to the side. “I, uh, haven’t had an accident like that since…well, never.”

  Accident? I wasn’t sure what he meant. Well, I had some idea. My own cheeks turned hot and I looked away. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize.” He picked up my hand and pressed it against his chest. “Feel that? My heart’s still racing.” He swooped in closer for a kiss. “It was amazing. Thank you.”

  My heart responded with its own quickstep. Feeling bold, daring, sexy even, I raised up on my tiptoes and whispered in his ear, “I think my panties are ruined.”

  He groaned in response. “What are you trying to do to me, woman?”

  Woman. I liked the way that sounded coming from his lips. I certainly felt womanly around him. But I also knew we had work to do, and I wanted him to get home on time so that I could see him again tomorrow.

  Selfish, but I couldn’t bear him getting into trouble because of me.

  “Come on, we need to finish your photos.” Another streak of boldness forced me to add, “If you do a good job, I’ll let you see how damp you made my panties.”

  “Jesus, you’re killing me,” he grumbled but got to work.

  Roman

  The photos turned out pretty damn good and I’m not usually one to compliment my own work. We hurried to clean up and put everything away before leaving school.

  Juliet danced ahead of me as we walked toward the park. “I wish I could take you out to celebrate.” The wistful catch in her tone pierced my chest.

  Every day it got harder and harder to say goodbye to her after school. The weekends were torture because I couldn’t see her at all. Sometimes I’d sneak in a phone call or two. Most of the time I spent writing letters that I’d hand her Monday morning.

  “Oh, look at all the daisies!” She took off running toward an open field in the park.

  Damn she was cute. Excited over a bunch of raggedy-looking white and yellow flowers. I helped her pluck daisies until she had a decent-sized bunch.

  As she stood there smiling at the flowers a large yellow and blue butterfly fluttered between us and landed on her hand.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered. “Look!”

  “I see him.” As carefully as possible, I slipped her cell phone out of her backpack to grab a picture. “Don’t move.”

  The pretty creature sat still long enough for me to take two pictures. One close-up of him on her hand and one of her staring down at him.

  Then the breeze picked up again and he floated away.

  “Wow. That’s never happened to me before. I used to pick daisies with my mom when I was little.” Her face fell. “They’re my favorite. My mom wore them in her hair on her wedding day. I always wanted to—”

  “What?”

  She blushed and looked away. “Nothing.”

  “What?”

  The pink on her cheeks spread to the tips of her ears and down her neck. I think I knew what she was going to say. I even guessed why she was hesitant to tell me. But I wanted to hear the words from her mouth.

  “If I ever get married,” she twirled a few locks of hair around, “I want to wear them too.”

  I stepped closer and bent down, touching my nose to her. “What do you mean if?”

  “I don’t know. If.”

  “Juliet, the day I met you, I knew I was gonna marry you.”

  Her mouth fell open. “What?”

  My fingers grazed her chin, tipping her head back. I swallowed hard. “I need some time to get my life sorted. Graduate. Find a job so I can take care of you the way you deserve. But yeah, then we’re getting married.”

  She placed her hand on her hip and tilted her head. “That sounds more like a statement than a question.”

  My lips quirked at the challenge in her voice. “I’m not ready to ask you, yet.”

  She went up on tiptoes and slipped an arm around my neck, threading her fingers into my hair. “You don’t need to take care of me. We’ll take care of each other.”

  I didn’t have a chance to respond. She leaned in and kissed me. Slow and soft.

  That sweet kiss saved me, because I had no words.

  “Where are we going to live?” she whispered when she backed away.

  “Near wherever you’re going to college, I guess.”

  “You’re not going to college?”

  I snorted. “Not likely.”

  “Your grades are even better than mine. You should. If you could go anywhere and do anything, what would you want to do?”

  “Something outdoors maybe. Or a pilot.”

  “You don’t like being caged in.”

  “Nope. Hate it. Hate not having any damn control over my life.”

  She wrapped her arms around me and pressed her cheek to my chest, squeezing me tight. “We will one day, Roman. I promise.”

  Christ, I couldn’t breathe. I liked the sound of we. I’d never been part of a we before. I slipped my arms around her and hugged her back. “I like cars. Fixing them and stuff.”

  She gave me a curious look.

  “One of the foster families I lived with when I was younger. They fostered a bunch of kids and owned a garage. Used to race cars on the weekends. Something always needed fixing at their house. I used to hang out in the garage and help out after school.”

  “That must have been fun.”

  Fun wasn’t quite the right word. “They expected their foster kids to work. For free. To earn our keep. I guess what the state paid them wasn’t enough.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s all right. The husband was cool. He taught me how to do the easier stuff. Oil changes. Tire rotations. That kept me busy. But I’d also help him on the bigger jobs so I could learn.”

  “That was smart.”

  “I guess.” I glanced down at my hands, turning them over. “I like solving problems. Fixing stuff that’s broken.”

  “You’re good at it.” She squeezed my arm. “You fixed me.”

  “You’re not broken.”

  Her gaze skipped away from mine, sparking a desire to seek and destroy anyone who hurt her.

  “Everyone’s a little broken, don’t you think?” she said softly. “But when I’m around you, I feel whole.”

  Relief crashed over me with the force of a ten-foot wave. In a few words, she summed up all the feelings I couldn’t name whenever we were together. “I feel the same way.”

  She took my hand and we started walking. More than any other day I didn’t want to say goodbye to her.

  As if she’d heard my thought she pointed at an old, Victorian house on the edge of the park. It was pink, yellow, and white. Gaudy as hell, but somehow still pretty. “I wish we lived there. You and me.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  She nodded and bounced on her toes as she walked, dragging me along faster. “The park would be our backyard and it would be close to school, so when it snowed we wouldn’t have to ride the bus.”

  “You mean right now?”

  “Right now,” she confirmed. Her cheeks turned that pretty shade of pink again. “I’d like to fall asleep next to you every night and wake up with you every morning.”

  I stopped, dropping our bags on the ground with a thud. I yanked her against me. “I think of you every night when I go to bed, wishing you were next to me.”

  She smiled up at me. “I do the same.”

  My hands slid down to her waist. It didn’t matter that we were in a public park in the middle of the afternoon. I wanted to strip her down and finish what we started in the photo lab.

  “Roman?” she whispered. “We need to get going.”

  Damn, she was right. I grazed her cheek with my knuckles and gave her one last kiss. “You’ve given me a lot of memories to replay when I fall asleep tonight.” I’d also probably have to get up a few times and rub one out, but I couldn’t say that to her. My hands ached to cup her breasts again. To touch her without anything in between us. “Juliet, was that okay before? Are you okay?”

  “God, yes.” She lowered her voice. “That was amazing. I’ve never felt anything like it.”

  I brought my lips to her ear. “Don’t you ever touch yourself?”

  She gasped and shook her head slightly. “Never.”

  Great, so I was the pervert in this relationship.

  I kissed her cheek and along her jaw. “I’d make you feel like that every night, Juliet.” My gaze dropped to the V of her dress. Just low enough to give a glimpse of the creamy swell of her breasts and the valley between. “I’d kiss you everywhere.”

  She shivered and closed her eyes.

  “Are you cold?”

  “No, I’m hot all over.”

  I inhaled a long, deep breath, savoring her scent mixed with the sweet spring air. “So am I.”

  Finally, I found the strength to move my feet. In front of her house, I kissed her cheek one last time before jogging down the street.

  Not toward home. No, that day I felt like I was running away from home.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Juliet

  I watched Roman sprint down the street, praying he made it home in time. It was almost impossible to swallow over the lump in my throat. I hated it when he left.

  My uncle’s truck rolled into the driveway and a knot of fear pulled my stomach tight.

  “You messing around with that boy again?” he called out.

  Mortification heated my cheeks. The whole neighborhood didn’t need to know the details of my life.

  “We’re not messing around. He’s my friend.”

  His eyes roamed over my dress, making me wish I hadn’t left my cardigan in my locker.

  “I heard he lives in that group home. I want you to stay away from him. And don’t you dare be lettin’ him in my house. He’s probably got criminal tendencies.”

  The knot in my belly twisted. Why was he checking up on Roman? How? When? “I don’t let any of my friends in the house.”

  “Good. Keep it that way.”

  I wanted to run back to school. Or run after Roman. Or run away with Roman.

  Unwilling to be alone in the house with my uncle, I puttered around outside until my aunt pulled up. “What are you doing, Juliet?”

  I gestured toward the flowerbeds I’d been absently weeding. “Thought I’d get a head start.”

  She eyed my dress and grimy hands. “You should’ve changed first.”

  “Oh.” I glanced down and a thin laugh escaped me. “I guess so.”

  “This is why I don’t like to waste money on nice clothes for you, Juliet.”

  I was aware. I’d worn thrift store finds and hand-me-downs forever. Until Dex started slipping me money and gift cards to go clothes shopping and Vienna had let me “borrow” her hand-me-downs. Never mind we weren’t anywhere near the same size.

  “Well, go wash up and change so you can help me with dinner.”

  “Sure.” I scooped up my bag and wandered inside. My uncle was stretched out on the couch with a bottle of Jim Beam at his side. That was never a good sign. I wondered if he’d lost another job.

  If that was the case, I really might run away. I’d had enough of living through their arguments and weeks of his drunken rages when he was out of work. Lots of bad things happened during those times.

  I was almost seventeen. Maybe Roman and I could get an apartment like we talked about. We’d need to find jobs. I could work a few hours in the afternoons and still keep up on my schoolwork. Weekends I could work all day and night.

  It wasn’t fair for me to expect Roman to do that, though. Except he didn’t seem to love the group home too much. Maybe I’d ask him tomorrow.

  I held onto thoughts of tomorrow all through the night. It helped drown out the fighting of my aunt and uncle. One day, this misery would be a distant memory.

  One day.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Juliet

  “Hurry up!” Vienna called.

  “I’m coming. Sheesh!” I hiked my backpack over my shoulder and moved faster through the school’s rear parking lot.

  Roman had to help out with chores at the house in order to be allowed to go on tomorrow’s class field trip. Vienna decided we should go shopping.

  I tossed my backpack behind my seat and folded myself into her car.

  “We need to find you something hot to wear,” she declared. “We’re going to be lounging by the pool all afternoon.” She twisted the key in the ignition and the throaty engine of her sports car roared to life.

  I clicked my seat belt into place.

  The wheels chirped as she took off. “Now, I know you and Roman are all lovey-dovey, but it won’t hurt for him to see that other guys think you’re hot too.”

  “I don’t care about other guys.” I hit the button and my window slid down. The wind ruffled through my hair and I closed my eyes.

  “I know you don’t, Juliet.” Her voice held the final threads of her patience. “But he should appreciate how lucky he is and see how desirable you are.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Roman appreciates me.”

  “Ooo, do tell.”

  “I don’t need to play games with him. He lets me know how he feels all the time.”

  She huffed. “Fine. Then at least help me pick out a suit.”

  Finally, I smiled. “No problem.” I had a few dollars in my purse. Probably not enough to buy a fancy bathing suit, though. Not unless I could convince Vienna to stop at the discount mart.

  She parked right by one of the side entrances to the Stonewall Mall on the lower level and marched us inside to a store full of bathing suits. Since it wasn’t officially summer, nothing was on sale yet.

  “Eighty dollars for three pieces of tissue paper?” I hissed in her ear as I carefully returned a bright orange bikini to its rack.

  She rattled off the name of a designer I’d never heard of before and pushed me toward the next rack. “This!” She yanked a hanger with a jewel-green two-piece. “Not too revealing. And that emerald shade will look so pretty on you.” She fluffed my hair.

  “It’s beautiful.” My eyes bugged at the price tag. “Maybe later in the summer when it’s on sale, though.”

  “It’s your size. At least go try it on.”

  Reluctantly, I followed her to the dressing room. A few minutes later, I wished I hadn’t bothered. The suit actually flattered my figure, making my legs look longer and my hips perfectly curved.

  “Holy boobs.” Vienna adjusted the straps of my top and glanced at her own chest. “I wish I filled out the top as well as you do.”

  I scanned the white and blue suit she was wearing. “That looks perfect on you.”

  “Hmm.” She stared in the mirror, posing every which way, adjusting the material and straps with each pose.

  “Vienna, you’re not going to be sitting still in one pose all day long. Buy something you’re comfortable wearing.”

  “You know they’ll be taking yearbook pictures tomorrow.” She lifted her chin at an awkward slant and pouted at the mirror. “I want to make sure I look good from every possible angle.”

  “Wouldn’t it just be easier to join the yearbook committee and choose the pictures yourself?”

  Her mouth widened into a happy “O.” “You’re a genius!”

  “I have my moments.” I picked up my clothes. “Can I change now?”

  “Sure.” She ducked out of my dressing room and into hers. “I have a few more to try on. Do you mind?”

  “Nope. I’m going to run next door and get a lemonade. Do you want one?”

  “Too much sugar.”

  I rolled my eyes and zipped my jeans. Grabbing the suit, I placed it neatly on the hanger. Outside the dressing room, I gave it one last longing look, before hooking it over the bar for the salesgirl to put away.