Unravel Me by Christie Ridgway Read Free Book Online Page A

“All right.”
    He crossed his arms over his chest. “I have Juliet’s back.”
    Juliet swallowed her groan. Great. Here they went. “Noah—”
    “No matter where I am, no matter if it’s today, tomorrow, or ten years from now, I’m there,” he said over her protest. “Someone tries to take advantage of Juliet—whether it’s of her wallet or her heart—well, just understand I won’t stand by and let that happen. I’ll always be watching out for General Weston’s widow.”
    General Weston’s widow . Good lord, did Cassandra even know that’s who she was? Juliet thought. But of course she did. There was the Internet. Not to mention all the media attention during the last year. Cassandra would know as well as Noah that Juliet was the object of derision and suspicion by some.
    And pity by others. Is that what Noah felt toward her? Is that why he’d just made his declaration?
    “I understand,” Cassandra said. “And I’m glad my sister has such a loyal champion.”
    Out of nowhere, tears burned the corners of Juliet’s eyes and she blinked them back. She didn’t need a protector, damn it, and despite what Noah claimed, he was only her temporary “champion” anyway. He would move on to his own life, and soon, just as she’d told him at the restaurant.
    She swallowed, feeling a desperate need for fresh air. “Good-bye,” she told the other woman, already moving toward the door. Noah had his fingertips at the small of her back, even as she looked over her shoulder. “I’ll . . . I’ll talk to you, um, soon.” Caution, remember? No need to be more specific than that.
    Cassandra’s smile was bright. But her eyes were, too. Bright with unshed tears that matched the ones Juliet felt gathering once more.
    Just like that, her resolve broke. “Come to dinner,” Juliet urged. “The day after tomorrow. You and Nikki. Ask her.” Without even looking, she felt Noah’s dismay at her rash words.
    “Are you sure . . .” the other woman started.
    “I’m sure.” Of course, Juliet wasn’t, but she couldn’t make herself take back the invitation.
    “All right,” Cassandra replied. “I’ll call Nikki.”
    Noah had Juliet’s fingers now and was towing her out the door toward his truck. Even though she sensed his concern, she couldn’t help but appreciate the secure warmth of his clasp.
    So be careful about Noah, too, Juliet warned herself, trying to tug free of him. While it might be too soon with her sisters, it was too late to become attached to the man who held her hand.
     
    Juliet surveyed the selection of cookbooks spread on the kitchen’s butcher-block island, and tried remembering her last impulsive action. If she didn’t count the act of inviting her sisters to dinner, before that there was . . . there was . . .
    There was the night she’d decided to marry Wayne. When she was thirteen years old.
    A rap on the glass of the French door behind her made Juliet spin around. Obscured by the mullions stood Noah, who had been repainting the flaking backyard gazebo for the past few hours. She gestured, and he swung open the door to step inside, bringing with him a blast of outdoor-scented air and the unsettling, electric presence of raw maleness.
    Barefoot, Noah was dressed in a pair of ragged camouflage pants.
    And nothing else.
    So right there in the room with her were his uncovered powerful arms and shoulders, not to mention the rippling board of his abdomen. Above that, his naked chest, with all its muscular bends and fascinating dips. Pressing the small of her back against the edge of the island, she put more room between herself and his skin, though she couldn’t keep her gaze from inspecting every tanned inch. There was a streak of clay-colored paint under the curve of one pectoral, just three shades lighter than the hard-centered disc of his nipple.
    She yanked her attention to his face, even as heated pinpricks washed from her nape to her heels. “What, um, what can I do for