Need You Now by Carly Phillips

Author:Carly Phillips
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance
Publisher: CP Publishing
Published: 2022-03-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Braden walked into Grace’s for a much-needed cup of coffee and to say hello to his girl. Since having sex with Juliette, he copped to feeling pretty damned possessive. He looked around the busy shop but only saw Tawny and Grace rushing around, filling orders.

He waited until Grace walked over. “What can I do for you?” she asked. “Booth or takeout?”

“Booth. Juliette’s section.”

Grace shook her head. “I’d love to oblige you but she left early today.”

That was unlike her. “Was she not feeling well?” he asked, concerned.

“No. She had a visitor earlier. A homeless-looking woman. She sat down across from her, they had words, and Juliette was upset afterwards. Couldn’t focus and I sent her home.” Grace shrugged, indicating that was all she knew. “So can I seat you? Or are you off to find her?” she asked knowingly.

He grinned. “You got me. I’ll take a rain check on that coffee.”

Homeless-looking woman? He didn’t have a clue who her visitor could have been, who could have upset her so much she needed to leave work. Worried, he headed over to Juliette’s apartment and knocked on the door.

She didn’t answer immediately and he knocked again.

“Coming!” she called out, but it took a while for her to pull open the door a little ways. She saw him and opened it the rest of the way.

She stood in the doorway wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her. Water droplets clung to her fair skin and her hair was pulled up into a messy bun. “Braden! What are you doing here?”

“Grace said you left early. That something upset you. I came to see if you were okay.”

Gratitude etched her expression. “Thank you. Come in.”

He stepped inside and she shut the door behind him.

“I had a crazy morning,” she said. “I figured I’d take a relaxing bath and try to put it out of my head.” She gestured to her towel-clad body.

His gaze raked over her, cataloguing the swells of her breasts peeking out from the top of the towel and her long legs with pink-polished toes.

He forced his gaze upward to meet hers. “What happened?” he asked gruffly. He needed to focus on what was wrong and not how sexy she looked standing half-naked in front of him.

“Talk to me.” Grasping her arm, he led her to a small sofa and sat down beside her, aware of her coconut scent permeating his senses.

She sighed. “My mother came to see me at the coffee shop.”

He blinked in surprise. “Holy shit.”

She nodded.

He was well versed in her mother’s history of being an awful parent and even more aware of how much Juliette had wanted a mom growing up. “What happened?”

He listened as she explained, realizing that her mother had no morals or scruples, showing up and admitting to taking money to stay away and asking her youngest daughter for pity money. To top it off, she now knew for sure her father had been paying her mother to stay away from her all these years.

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