Star-Crossed - Kele Moon
3
Prologue
“I’m thinking of taking Clay up on his offer to be my training partner.” Jules closed her eyes at the smooth male voice that sent a shiver of pleasure running up her spine. She pressed the cell phone closer to her ear as she stared out at the street where lights blinked merrily at her in a wide array of color from the neighbors’ Christmas display and lawn reindeer.
“No,” she whispered. “Please don’t.”
“Why not?”
Jules laughed incredulously. “You need a list?”
“Yeah, gimme a list.”
“My brother thinks you’re trouble,” Jules started. “He says your family’s involved in organized crime.”
“I’m not holding it against you that your brother’s the sheriff of Hicksville and an asshole besides. Seems unfair you should be judging me by who I’m related to.” Jules hated that she enjoyed his voice as much as she did. His New York accent sounded warm and exotic to her ears when she should use it as nothing but a reminder that they were too different to be together.
“I don’t do fighters.”
He snorted. “Really? You could’ve fooled me.”
“That was an extreme situation. It shouldn’t have happened. You need to stop calling me.”
“You gave me your number.” He was quiet for one long moment before he confessed. “And I think about you—a lot.”
4
She thought about him too.
In fact Jules couldn’t stop thinking about him. She’d barely gotten any sleep in four nights, and it was starting to affect her life. The Christmas lights blurred to misty streams of color as she admitted, “I think about you too, but you can’t call me anymore.
It was fun, but it’s over.”
“I’m saying yes to Clay,” he said dismissively, ignoring her wishes in a bullheaded way that was totally infuriating. “I’m coming to Hicksville. I wanna see what the hell they put in the water that makes such badass fighters. Clay took a bullet like he was friggin’ superman and then lay there bleeding like it was no big deal. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You better not,” she warned, wondering how on earth she’d ended up falling into bed with the one man she couldn’t intimidate. “I grew up drinking this water, Romeo. You come here and start messing with my life, you won’t have time to worry
’bout Clay and Wyatt. I’ll dent that hard head of yours personally.”
“That sorta turns me on.” Romeo’s voice was taunting and sexy. “I like ’em feisty.
Especially with that twangy accent you got going on. I’d give my last UFC check to see you in a pair of Daisy Duke shorts. With those long legs, I bet they’d look amazing.”
“I ain’t kidding. Three rounds in the cage with me and you’ll be running back to New York with your tail between your legs. I’m a scary bitch. I can give you a long list of references confirming it.”
“You can get me in a cage anytime you want. If it turns you on, it turns me on too.
Bruises don’t scare me. Hurt me, baby. I like it.” Jules let her head fall into her hand. She knew there were several good reasons why fighters were off the menu. She couldn’t exactly intimidate a guy who made a living in the cage. “This ain’t happening.”
Romeo was quiet on the other end for one long moment before he said in a soft, sensuous voice that sent goose bumps dancing over her skin, “Juliet.”
5
“Don’t call me that.” She sighed, hating that both her body and mind responded to her name on his lips. “Just don’t call me. Period.”
“I wouldn’t tell anyone. It’s not exactly stellar timing for me either, but no one has to know what’s between us.”
“Are you joking? Is this a fucking joke? You wanna keep it a secret?”
“As soon as I get all my promotional shit cleared up, I’m moving my training camp to Garnet. I wanna know what it’s like to live by that good ol’ country integrity you guys seem to thrive on. I need a new training partner and a new team. Clay’s offer is a little too good to pass up,” Romeo said rather than argue with her. “And now I got you to look forward to. You intrigue me, Juliet. I wanna get to know you, and I think you wanna know me too.”
“Don’t call me that,” Jules ground out, her pulse picking up at the realization she’d see him again. Her body throbbed at the memories she’d been trying very hard to forget the past several days. “I’m gonna kill Clay ’cause this is the last thing I need. I can’t handle drama like this.”