Falling for the Rival

Ch. 2: Miss Priss

Romeo

Juliet Milton wasn't in my plans for tonight.

Neither was the prank that made the adrenaline-drunk crowd believe there's a fire at the warehouse. I know for a fact there isn't one, and the incident has Richie Dixon's guys written all over it.

He lost to me three Sundays in a row, and apparently, he still can't get over it.

Sore loser.

He's not my immediate problem, though. Miss Priss is.

I fucked up letting her name slip. And now that she's seen me, it could all go to hell. I shouldn't have let her distract me. Who would've thought a woman dressed like someone kidnapped her from an office in Manhattan could be a threat?

To my annoyance, I find her ridiculous outfit hot. The knee-length skirt does a poor job of hiding her curves.

She gapes at me with her pink lips parted, and the questions I won't answer swimming in her green eyes. Then she takes a deep breath as if getting ready to do something as ridiculous as screaming.

Again.

"Quiet, Juliet," I warn her. "You don't want to do something reckless."

As she closes her mouth, her lips become a thin, annoyed line. Juliet Milton looks as if she wishes the fire was real, and I was caught in the deadly flames.

"I need to find my friends," she says. "I'm going back in there."

Go figure. Miss Priss is the first Milton to care about someone beside herself.

Juliet turns around. Several silky light brown strands escape her already ruined ponytail and brush my hand as I wrap it around her bicep and yank her back toward me.

For a split second, all my thoughts vanish, and I hyper-focus on the spot where I hold her, keeping her with me. Even through layers of clothes, her heat sears my palm, sending a pleasant buzz over my skin.

Her mouth drops open with a soft gasp as though she feels it too, and I release her abruptly.

What the hell is wrong with me?

"No, you're not," I growl. "It isn't safe."

"Neither is being here with you."

Challenge burns in Juliet's eyes when they meet mine. She's insane if she thinks I'd let her go back and run her mouth about my secret.

Car doors slam, and a siren whines in the vicinity, dousing me in dread.

Cops. Shit. They can't see me here.

I grab Juliet's hand and drag her across the street where two run-down brick buildings stand side by side, separated by a dark, narrow alley.

She struggles to break free from my grasp. "What are you doing? Let me go!"

"Cops," I say through gritted teeth. "You don't want them to see you here, do you?"

Without giving her time to react, I press her to the wall, covering her with my body as a police cruiser slowly rolls down the road, missing us thanks to the darkness cloaking the foul-smelling space around us.

Juliet's chest rises and falls fast against mine, making me feel all sorts of things I shouldn't. She's clutching the fabric of my hoodie, probably terrified. The top of her head nestles under my chin, and as she shifts, loosening her grip on my clothes, a whiff of a flowery scent drifts into my nostrils, making me light-headed.

Without meaning to, I inhale deeply to get some more of it into my lungs.

Juliet clears her throat. "They are...I think they're gone."