Why Romeo Hates Juliet (41 page)

What on earth was that ringing sound?

Juliet reluctantly opened her eyes to the noon day sunlight streaming through the windows and turned to her bedside table where the sound was coming from. Realizing it was her cell phone and not wanting to disturb Romeo, who was still sleeping beside her in the bed, she quickly reached for it. She saw that it was Lisa, her literary agent in Vancouver.

“hello?” she croaked looking over to her husband to see if he was stirring. But he wasn’t. He was still fast asleep, which wasn’t surprising considering the passionate night they’d just spent together.

After they’d fall en asleep intertwined in each other’s arms, Romeo had woke her up one more time in the early morning hours to make love again. The act this time had been simple and sweet - nothing fancy, but she’d felt so connected to him. Juliet knew with all her heart that he truly loved her and that this was real and it was right and he was her destiny.

“Juliet, congratulations on your marriage! It’s all over the news,” Lisa was excitedly gushing on the other end of the phone.

“Lisa…umm… can you hold on a sec?” she whispered. Stealthily crawling out of bed, she put on her silk robe and quietly padded out of the bedroom, down the stairs and to the kitchen. She brought the cell phone back up to her ear. “Sorry, Lisa… thanks for your good wishes.”

“How come you never said anything?”

“Well, you could say it was kind of - a spur of the moment thing,” she fibbed.

“Oh, you mean like an elopement?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

Lisa laughed on the other end. “Well, you’ve caught yourself a big fish, that’s for sure. Movie star Romeo Boyd, imagine that! You did good, girl.”

Juliet smiled. “I did good - really good.”

“Listen…” Lisa’s voice changed to a more business-like tone. “Juliet honey, I hate to interrupt your honeymoon with some bad news, but as your agent, I have no choice. You do know your book deadline is coming up soon, don’t you?” Juliet nervously bit her bottom lip. “Yes, I didn’t forget. Do you think they would give me an extension? I know I could do it if I had some more time,” she pleaded, hoping beyond hope that there was still a chance for her to come out of this predicament without have to file for bankruptcy.

But Lisa immediately cut her off. “No, Juliet, I tried, but they’re refusing to budge. If you can’t turn in your book by then, they want their money back. I’m so sorry.”

Juliet sighed. “I don’t have that kind of money.”

“Your husband does.”

“I - I don’t know,” she stalled, but inwardly she was screaming out a resounding no. There was no way she would ask Romeo for the money, no way at all! They’d just started their life together and she wasn’t about to hit him up for a loan on day two of their marriage. She would feel like a complete loser for having to sponge off of him. No - she just couldn’t do that.

“What do you want me to tell the publishers then?” Lisa asked quietly, breaking into her thoughts.

“Tell them that I can’t deliver the manuscript and as for their money, I’m going to have to declare bankruptcy when I get home, which will be at the end of September.”

Last night she and Romeo had decided to spend the next upcoming month at the beach house together if it was all right with Rob’s parents.

After all, Romeo still had his upcoming court date to show up for and he couldn’t by law leave the island until then anyway.

“Okay, if that’s what you want.” Lisa accepted the news and then after again wishing Juliet another round of congratulations on the wedding, she hung up.

Juliet plopped into one of the kitchen chairs and sighed deeply. She couldn’t ask Romeo for the money, absolutely not, but she would have to tell him about having to declare bankruptcy, wouldn’t she? Would this affect his credit rating too? After all, she was his wife now and whatever disaster her finances were in would affect him too. And what kind of bad press would that generate for him, if his new wife had to go through bankruptcy proceedings a month after their wedding? And wouldn’t they all ask why big time, A-lister, movie star Romeo Boyd didn’t have the money to help his wife out? But she couldn’t ask him for a hundred grand, she just couldn’t! Reaching for her cell phone again, she quickly dialed Sara’s number, needing to talk to the only person who knew the truth about the financial mess she was in.

~ ~ ~

Within the hour, Sara had arrived and the two sisters were now walking along the beach outside their house.

After Juliet had made the call to her little sister, she’d taken a quick shower and thrown on a pair of jean shorts and t-shirt, along with some mascara and lip gloss. She’d then padded back into the bedroom to see if Romeo had been awakened by the noise she’d made in the upstairs bathroom, but he hadn’t. Even though it was now approaching eleven o’clock in the morning, he was still sleeping peacefully, obviously exhausted from their night of lovemaking.

As she walked along the beach, Juliet felt the warm sand giving way underneath her bare feet and a secret smile flitted across her lips as she remembered how wonderful it had felt to make love to her husband in that same sand last night.

“You know I was dying to call you this morning,” Sara grinned, “but I figured that you would either have your hands full with Romeo’s hot body and he’d have his hands full with yours, or you would have killed him last night, in which case you’d have had your hands full trying to explain things to the police. But since I didn’t get any calls from you in jail, I figured it had to have been the first scenario.” Juliet laughed. “I should be furious with you for deserting me in my hour of need, you know.”

“Believe me, last night three was definitely a crowd.” Sara stopped walking then and took in her sister’s bright eyes and contagious smile. “You are happy, aren’t you, Juliet? He is what you want?”

“Yes. I love him and I want a life with him. Isn’t that crazy? Imagine me as Romeo’s Boyd’s
real
wife.”

“Darling, God works in mysterious ways and he obviously loves a good joke,” Sara giggled, before slipping her arm through her sister’s and resuming their walk. “Now, about what you told me over the phone regarding your financial problem, you have to tell him today, it’s the only way.”

“No!” Juliet shouted the word out, as she came to a standstill. “I can’t do that!”

“Do you really want to start your marriage off with secrets?”

“How can I tell him that I’m in debt and that I’m broke, broke, broke; it’s too humiliating!”

“Well, you’ll have to tell him eventually if you intend on declaring bankruptcy next month, won’t you? I mean, the guy’s your husband; he’s going to find out.” Sara took in her sister’s frightened visage and her tone softened. “Look - why don’t you just ask him for the money? He makes millions per picture and he’s been a big star for over ten years. A hundred grand is nothing to somebody like him.”

“It may be nothing to somebody like him, but it’s something to somebody like me! That’s a lot of money, Sara and I just can’t ask him for it. What if he thinks I married him for his money?”

Sara suddenly burst out laughing. “You’re kidding, right?” She shook her head in disbelief at her sister’s insane remarks. “Juliet, you may have fake married him for revenge, but everyone knows you didn’t fake marry him for his money. You didn’t even know you were marrying him for real, for crying out loud.”

Juliet sighed in surrender. “I know I have to tell him, but I’ll do it next month, after we’ve had some time to get to know each other better, okay?”

“Fine,” Sara nodded, “Maybe today isn’t the right time anyway.” She paused before continuing. “I spoke with Rob after you called and told him that I’m coming home tomorrow.”

Juliet was shocked. “What? Sara, don’t go, please?”

“I have to. School’s starting up in a few weeks and I’ve got to get back to prepare my classroom. I’ve already booked the flight.”

“I’m going to miss you so much,” Juliet said softly, resigning herself to her little sister’s departure.

Sara grinned impishly. “No, you won’t, not with that hot hunk you’re married to, and we’ll see each other sooner than you think. Which reminds me, Rob said his parents wouldn’t mind if you want to spend more time here. They’re still in Europe and won’t be back until November anyway, so the beach house is all yours for as long as you want it.”

“Thanks for everything,” Juliet replied, suddenly throwing her arms around her sister to give her a strong hug. Her eyes began to mist over. She would miss Sara so much, but she knew that no matter where each of their paths took them in life, they’d always be there for each other.

~ ~ ~

After the sisters came in from their walk, they could both hear the shower running in the upstairs bathroom. Obviously, Romeo was finally up.

Juliet then disappeared into the kitchen to make coffee for everybody and Sara went to open the laptop computer in the living room to see if any pictures of yesterday’s fiasco-of-a-wedding had been uploaded on Gossip World Magazine’s website yet.

Juliet was just about to reach for the freshly brewed carafe when she heard her sister shout out an expletive from the other room. Running out to see what had happened, she found Sara with her back against the computer screen, obstructing it from Juliet’s view.

“I don’t think you should see this,” her little sister said protectively.

Juliet’s heart started beating out of her chest as she took in the concern splashed across Sara’s face. “What’s happened?” she asked, as she pushed her sister out of the way and focused on the computer images. Her eyes widened in shock at what she saw. There, on Gossip World’s website, were grainy photos of her and Romeo kissing on the beach last night - and they were both stark naked. And then there were more pictures of them walking hand in hand back to the house, again naked. It looked like the images had been taken after they’d made love, probably from some boat positioned out in the ocean, hidden by the darkness of night. “Oh my God!” she shouted, her face turning three shades of red, “I’m mortified.”

“hello, ladies.”

The sisters literally flinched in surprise and both turned at the same time to face Romeo, their bodies blocking the computer screen from view.

Neither said anything, made mute by the shock of seeing him suddenly appear. His towel-dried, crew-cut hair was still damp from the shower, his face was now covered with more than a day’s growth of beard and he was shirtless, wearing only his jeans. He exuded a very rough and rugged type of charm.

Self-consciously, he raised his hand to his stubbled cheek and laughed. “You’re going to have to lend me one of your razors, Juliet. It seems I’ve got nothing except the clothes on my back.” His eyes twinkled with mischief as he looked at his new wife, the hot images of what they’d done together last night still fresh in his memory. Suddenly, he took in her worried expression and his eyes flitted to the same expression on Sara.

“What’s going on?” he asked, as his smile faded.

“Nothing,” Juliet casually shrugged her shoulders. “In fact, I think you and I should go shopping today and buy you a whole new wardrobe of tacky man shirts and shorts. Why don’t we go now?”

Romeo ignored her suggestion, as his eyes narrowed on the both of them. “What are you two hiding behind your backs?”

“We’re not hiding anything,” Sara piped up, “We’re just girl talking, that’s all.”

“Okay,” he nodded. He smiled at his wife then and his teeth flashed white. “How about a morning kiss from my wife?” Relieved that he was going to drop the subject, Juliet quickly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. “It’s actually noon, Mr.

Boyd. Somebody was plumb tuckered out from last night.”

He snaked his hands around her waist and lowered his lips to hers, “Wildcats are not only dangerous…” he whispered into her mouth, “… but they’re also…” He let the word linger between them as his hungry lips lowered a hair’s breath away from hers, but instead of kissing them, he whipped her body away from him, exposing the computer screen. “Not to be trusted,” he dictated forcefully, as he lowered his eyes to the laptop.

Juliet’s nervous eyes flitted over his head to Sara, who was actually covering her mouth trying to hide a giggle. She frowned at her sister for finding this funny before lowering her gaze back to her husband to wait for his outburst. She didn’t have to wait long.

“What the fuck!” he raged, as he scrolled through all the pictures on the website. “How dare they invade our privacy? This is a private beach on private property. They have no right, goddamn it.” He reached for the cell phone lying on the desk and began dialing.

“Who are you calling?” Juliet asked him, trying to instil some calm into the situation.

“Knox, my agent. I want to know who took those goddamn pictures and then there’s going to be hell to pay. Nobody treats you like that, I swear it.”

Juliet snatched the phone out of his hand and shut it. “Let’s not make this worse, okay? The damage is done, the pictures are already out there and I don’t look too bad in them, if I do say so myself,” she grinned.

But Romeo wasn’t laughing. “You don’t understand…”

“Then explain it to me.”

His palm came up to her face to caress her cheek. “You’re in my world now, Juliet, and the mud they sling at me is going to stick to you too. I should’ve known and protected you better.”

Juliet’s heart melted at his sweet words. “They can’t hurt me. As long as I know you love me, nobody and nothing can.” Romeo’s hands enveloped her waist and he pulled her soft body to him. “In that case, nobody and nothing can,” he whispered, as he brought his starving lips down on hers and began to kiss her with tenderness.

Sara had been watching their little exchange with intense interest and was now completely convinced that Romeo Boyd truly loved her sister. It was all so easy to see. No matter what happened, Juliet would always be cared for and cherished. She breathed a sigh of relief, reassured now that her big sister would be fine without her.

~ ~ ~

After Sara had finished packing up the rest of her things at the beach house that afternoon and had finally left to go back to her hotel, Romeo and Juliet had made love again before heading out to the mall to pick up new clothes, shoes, toiletries and a cell phone for him.

The paparazzi, stationed at the top of their private road, had followed their Escalade into town and then followed them from store to store, taking endless pictures of the honeymoon couple shopping. At one point, when they’d gotten a bit too close and Romeo had sensed Juliet’s fear again, he’d broken his own rule about not talking to them and asked them politely to please take it easy on his wife for awhile because she was new to the game. They’d backed off a bit after that.

Romeo had also insisted on having Sara fly home to Vancouver on his private jet. Tommy and Nick had decided to leave too, and it had been arranged that the plane would first stop off in British Columbia to drop Sara off before heading south to Los Angeles to bring the boys home. That night all three, after a tearful farewel between Juliet, Sara and Faith, boarded the jet and left. Romeo had hugged Tommy goodbye but had ignored Nick completely, still jealous of the actor’s interest in his wife.

~ ~ ~