Harper
When I heard a feminine voice behind me, calling Maddox’s name, I turned my head and saw someone around my age strutting towards our table like the restaurant was her runway. She had long legs, a sexy short dress and was dripping with confidence. She was the kind of girl that looked like she belonged on a magazine cover.
I looked back at Maddox just in time to catch a strained smile and that said enough. He knew her well. It must have been the playboy in him that had history with her.
Even when she got to our table, she walked past me and stopped by his chair like I wasn’t even sitting there.
“It’s been a while,” she said, her voice breathy.
“Been busy,” he replied, his tone just as cold as his expression.
He wasn’t being welcoming, but that didn’t stop her. She leaned closer, trying to place her hand on his shoulder but he moved to the side, a sign for her to stop.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” he said.
She pulled back her hand with a light chuckle. “I just got back in town and thought I might order a meal here. The food here has always been so excellent. I’m glad I came because I got to run into you. We have so much to talk about.”
“I’ll talk to you later.” He lazily gestured in my direction. “I’m in the middle of a date.”
She finally looked in my direction and I caught the scorn in her eyes. “I can see that. I even saw you on his page, apart from all the other posts I’ve seen about you in the past few weeks.”
I could already feel the subtle aggression towards me, but I smiled politely and tilted my head. “Who are you?”
She chuckled before introducing herself. “I’m Juliet.”
The name rang a bell. I couldn’t stop the little scoff that escaped my lips as I leaned back in my chair.
Maddox frowned while Juliet narrowed her eyes, like they were both wondering why I reacted that way.
“I’m Harper,” I said to her.
“You look like a nice girl and all, so I’ll give you a piece of advice. Run. Maddox had quite a long list of girls he liked to-”
“Whatever you want to say, don’t.” I cut her off. “The past is the past, so I don’t care.”
She smacked her lips, like she wasn’t expecting that. Then, she straightened her back, as if trying to regain her composure but her flaring nostrils gave it away.
“Can I borrow Maddox for a moment?” she forced a smile.
“No,” I said bluntly.
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Maddox let out a little laugh with raised eyebrows, like he couldn’t believe I had just said that out loud. I didn’t even regret it at all as I watched her part her lips like she wanted to protest.
But before she could speak, Maddox shut it down. “It’s good to see you, Juliet. We’ll talk some other time. I’ll call you.”
And just like that, he ignored her, turning his attention back to me and talking about the exhibition as if she wasn’t present. Embarrassed, she had no choice but to walk away. Even though Maddox wasn’t my boyfriend, it felt good to watch her storm off like that.
He also watched her for a few seconds, then brought his gaze back to me, leaned forward and said, “That was hot.”
I playfully rolled my eyes. “Isn’t that what girlfriends do?”
I expected a chuckle or something. Instead, what I got was a curious expression as he tilted his head. “When Juliet said her name, what was that?”
“Oh, that.” I paused just to take a sip from my glass of wine. “I’ve heard that name before.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “But I never mentioned her before.”
“Grayson told me.”
He nodded in understanding. “Of course he did.”
“Yup, he mentioned it once, when he was still trying to give me reasons to stay away from you. He also mentioned Claire.”
He chuckled. “Those two names usually go together. The three of us had a….thing.”
“Oh, I see. The steak is delicious.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Do what?” I paused.
“Change the topic so suddenly. You can ask me whatever you want. I know you want to.” He daringly smirked.
“So let me guess, Claire might show up someday like Juliet?”
“What?”
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