Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The next morning, Juliette heard Simon down on the lower level singing and knew not to disturb him.

In the shadows of the night, our love's a fire, burning bright.

We walk the line, we take the risk, in your arms, I find my bliss.

Over and over he'd sing certain verses and then…nothing. She knew enough about the writing process that he was experimenting with the lyrics and writing them down when he finally got them right. That kind of creativity was astounding to her, and she was more than happy to simply keep her distance and let him do his thing.

She was sitting quietly in the kitchen, enjoying her coffee, when she got a text from Nikki asking her to come over to the guest house. She was already dressed and figured she could just take her mug across the yard with her.

It was a beautifully peaceful morning, and after her awkward conversation with Simon yesterday, she was kind of relieved that he was spending so much time working on his music. The thought of facing him over dinner last night had nearly convinced her to get in her car and drive down that hideously precarious road and have dinner alone. Fortunately, he never came upstairs to eat. Nikki had made him a sandwich and brought it down to him, and Juliette had enjoyed a quiet night to herself.

And it was glorious.

At the guest house, she knocked on the door, feeling great.

"You broke Simon!" Nikki yelled when she opened the door. "What is wrong with you?"

"Um…"

"Seriously, Jules, what the hell were you thinking?"

"Um…"

She was unceremoniously yanked into the house, her coffee spilling everywhere, but that was apparently the least of her worries.

Pacing furiously, Nikki glared at her. "I am this close to calling Vanessa and unloading on her about how you are possibly the least professional publicist I've ever met! And we've had a lot of publicists over the years, but you are the first to crap all over Simon for being a decent human being!"

"Wait… what ?" she asked. There was no way Nikki could have heard about the discussion she had with Simon. He didn't talk to anyone last night. It was after midnight when he finally went to his room—and the only reason she knew that was because she stayed up late listening! And knowing that everyone here was a creature of habit, she knew Nikki never talked to Simon before nine a.m., and it was just nine now.

"Jax called me this morning because he was worried about Simon," Nikki said heatedly. "Apparently Simon called him last night because he was upset about the way you attacked him. I mean…why? Why would you do that? I've never met a human being who was so offended by someone being nice!"

"Okay, okay, okay…in my defense, I was reacting a bit to something you had said to me the other day, and now I can see that I might not have handled it the right way."

"You think?" Snorting with disgust, Nikki continued to pace. "And what the hell did I say to you that would make you attack Simon?"

Juliette sighed loudly. "First, can you please stop saying that I attacked him? That just seems like a bit of an exaggeration."

All Nikki did was continue to glare.

"When we were making the ravioli the other day, you said that he wanted to see a more relaxed version of me and how it was nice to see me being funny and casual and okay with talking about things that have nothing to do with PR or business. And you know what? It made me feel like asking me to make pasta and teach you all how to do it was some kind of test!" She paused and let out another huff. "It felt like he wanted to force me out of my comfort zone to see how I'd react. Like I wasn't being real with any of you. So yeah, that bothered me, and it was exactly how I'd been feeling about him!"

"Because he's nice?"

Nodding, she said, "Yes! And not just nice, but…super nice! The guy is always happy and smiling and you know what? That's not normal, and you need to admit that too! Most people have moods—multiple moods—and Simon doesn't! It's just one, and it's weird!"

Groaning, Nikki sat down on the massive chair on the opposite side of the sofa. "Look, this isn't going to work. I thought it could and I was really excited about the whole thing, but…you broke Simon, and I can't have that."

"I don't think I did," Juliette countered. "Maybe I challenged him. And maybe I said some things that he didn't like, but he said stuff to me too!"

"Oh, please," Nikki said with a frown. "I doubt that."

And yeah, that wasn't a surprise. She knew how long Nikki and Simon had been friends, so naturally she'd side with him.

"All I'm saying is that…okay, we had a moment yesterday that wasn't great. But I also know you've been on him to work on music, and that's all he's been doing since our talk."

"Pfft…talk. Good one."

Juliette fought the urge to roll her eyes because clearly one of them needed to be the adult. "He stayed downstairs playing music and singing until midnight last night and he's down there already this morning doing it again. If I broke something, it obviously helped."

Then she held her breath and prayed she wasn't about to get tossed out on her ass.

Without a word, Nikki stood and stormed out of the house. It was obvious where she was going and instead of sitting there waiting, Juliette stood and cleaned up the spilled coffee.

"She looks out for him like a mama bear," Celia said quietly as she came over to help her clean up. "And for what it's worth, I've had that same conversation with her before about how Simon needs to sort of…let loose once in a while and just scream or punch something. It's not natural to just let every single thing slide off of you." She took the paper towels they'd used and threw them out.

"It still was unprofessional of me to bait him like that. I don't know the specifics of what happened to him as a kid to make him this adamant that he doesn't want it discussed not only in the documentary, but apparently anywhere, ever, at all, and it wasn't my place to force him to talk about it. I really thought the whole nice guy person was an act, that's all."

Now she did sit back down and Celia joined her. "I thought the same thing when Nikki first introduced us. Like…I may have rolled my eyes a few too many times when she finally called me out on it."

"Wow. Was she mad?"

"Not like she just was with you, but…yeah." She paused and looked toward the front door before saying anything else. "The thing you need to know about Simon is…"

The front door opened and Juliette's heart kicked hard in her chest as she braced herself.

Nikki came storming back in and stood in front of Juliette and Celia. "Four songs! He's written and recorded four songs!" Then she laughed, like a maniacal kind of laugh. "I don't get it! He's never written like this before and he's a little obsessed right now. I've never seen him like this. Ever!"

It was on the tip of her tongue to point out how this was a good thing, but she didn't want to get too far ahead of herself. She still couldn't tell if Nikki was happy or pissed off.

"So, um…"

"He hasn't showered, he looks like shit, but the music is flowing! He didn't even go for a run this morning!" Then she smiled. "We need to make this dinner tonight a celebration!"

Juliette glanced over at Celia, who shrugged before smiling and giving her a thumbs-up.

"And I have strict instructions not to fire you," Nikki said before coming over and hugging her. When she pulled back, she grinned. "Consider yourself lucky, because Jax is waiting to hear from me about all of this. He's ready to hop on a plane and come here to tell you off. I'm going to go call him and let him know the crisis was averted! Yay!"

As soon as Nikki was out of the room, Juliette and Celia exchanged looks. "Take the win," Celia said. "And for what it's worth, I think you're good for him. Maybe taking him out of his little bubble will enhance his music." Standing, she headed for the kitchen. "Come have a piece of the caramel apple coffee cake. It came out amazing!"

"Maybe I should go…"

"Nonsense! It's all good. Like I said, Nikki's protective of Simon, but it seems like everything's cool. Let me freshen up your coffee too."

It all sounded very appealing, but she felt incredibly awkward now. Ten minutes ago, her job was in jeopardy and everyone hated her; now, she was supposed to sit and have breakfast with them?

"Stop frowning," Celia chided her as she put a plate with a piece of the cake on it on the kitchen table. "This is going to be a great day. An amazing breakfast—compliments of me—and then your fantastic dinner tonight. And Simon's writing music! Seriously, these are all good things!"

"Maybe…"

Alex came running into the room followed by Nikki and within minutes, they were all sitting at the table enjoying the coffee cake. Juliette had to admit it was delicious, but she still felt wildly uncomfortable.

"So the sauce has to just heat up today, right?" Nikki asked around a forkful of cake. "And you're sure you're okay with the pasta we chose?"

Apparently she was supposed to pretend like the last twenty minutes never happened.

Just be thankful you still have a job.

Smiling, Juliette picked up her fork and nodded. "I'm a fan of all pastas, but tagliatelle is one of my personal favorites. I was kind of thrilled when you came home with it."

"There were so many options," Celia said, winking at her as if she was saying "good job of easing into the conversation."

"We stood in the pasta aisle for far too long," Nikki told her. "I happen to love spaghetti, but it just seems a little too common for your sauce."

That made her laugh. "I don't know if I'd say that…"

"Please, we were all practically drooling yesterday while it was cooking. I'll bet it's going to be a big hit tonight." Looking over at Celia, she asked, "Do you have a plan for tonight's cake?"

Grinning, Celia nodded. "I'm going with a basic but super yummy chocolate cake tonight. Something about Italian food makes me crave chocolate. It's crazy!"

"Crazy good!" Juliette told her. "And so is this cake! But I'm definitely partial to anything chocolate, so…thank you." She took a sip of her coffee before asking, "What about Simon? If we're celebrating him and all his writing tonight, should we add anything to the menu that he likes?"

Nikki waved her off. "He's got a serious chocolate addiction too—even though he'll try to say that sweets aren't his thing—so the cake will be perfect. And he was already excited about tonight's dinner, so I think we're good there." She paused, putting her fork down. "And we're good, too, Jules. I know I got a little…um…"

"Bitchy," Celia finished for her. "You got bitchy."

Groaning, Nikki reluctantly agreed. "Fine, I got bitchy. Simon's one of my best friends and I can't help that I'm protective of him." Another pause. "And he did say that he got a little…snappish with you, too, so…sorry I didn't believe you before. He's never snapped at anyone and it just seemed a bit unbelievable. And wildly out of character for him."

"In his defense, I really provoked him," Juliette admitted. "And I'm so ashamed. Actually, I'm really freaking out about even seeing him. I know I can't avoid him, but…I was hoping to have at least another day before I had to face him."

"You have nothing to worry about. I know his cheeriness seems weird to you, but ultimately, it's going to help in this situation. He's going to come to dinner being his usual happy self and he won't even want to bring up the argument. And with all the writing he's done since then, it's going to be all he wants to talk about. Trust me."

"I'm not going to dinner."

Nikki looked at him like he was crazy. "Excuse me?"

"It's going to be awkward. You know, with Juliette. She's going to be watching me and judging me and waiting for me to say something nice and then roll her eyes." Crossing his arms, he felt like a petulant child, and yet…he couldn't seem to help it.

"I swear the two of you are going to be the death of me," she murmured, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Besides, I'm on a roll here with this next song, so…"

Looking up, she simply stared at him.

And stared.

And stared.

He hated when she did that.

"Okay, fine! I finished some preliminary work on a fifth song and I'm starving! There, are you happy?"

She shrugged.

"Nik, come on. Juliette is the first person I've ever argued with, and now I feel like such a jerk," he admitted quietly.

"Then the best thing you can do is go upstairs, shower, and join us for dinner. You can apologize, compliment the meal, and everything will go back to normal."

He knew she was right, however…

"You don't think she needs to apologize to me too?"

Her head lolled back as she whined his name.

"What? I just think we both said some stuff we shouldn't have, so we both should apologize!"

This time when she looked at him, she had a serene smile on her face, and he wasn't quite sure he could trust it.

"How about this—you go and shower, then join us in the kitchen and no one talks about what happened yesterday? It seems like you're fine, and for some odd reason, it helped your writer's block. And as for Juliette, I already know she feels awkward about everything, so perhaps it would be best if we all just had a nice, friendly dinner and stuck to safe topics. What do you say?"

"I say that sounds like the coward's way out. If we don't address it, it's bound to happen again."

"And sometimes that's okay," she told him. "Not everyone who disagrees is bad, Simon. And not every argument has to turn ugly." She paused. "Now please go and shower because dinner will be ready in like…a half an hour. And the sauce smells even better today. I don't even know how that's possible."

"Believe me, I can smell it, and I know." With a lopsided grin, he walked over and hugged her. "Thanks, Nik."

"This is gonna be a good night," she said as she hugged him back. "And Celia made you a chocolate cake."

Pulling back, he knew he was smiling from ear to ear. "And now I'm officially motivated!" Jogging up the stairs, Simon went right to his bedroom and shut the door. He could hear Juliette, Celia, and Alex talking in the kitchen, and he had to admit, he kind of liked this. It reminded him of the times he vacationed with his brothers and his mom. There were laughs, good food, a few arguments—which never involved him—but ultimately, everyone got along and had a great time.

Stripping down, he turned on the hot water in the shower and gave it a minute to heat up. When he stepped under the spray, it felt amazing. Normally he showered every morning after his jog, but he didn't go out this morning. Hell, he had barely slept last night because he was completely in the zone with the music. So sometime around five a.m., when he'd only slept for about three hours, he got up and decided to stop fighting it and simply embrace the fact that the muse was there.

It was who the potential muse was that was tripping him up.

Juliette.

Yeah, he didn't feel awkward about seeing her because of the fight; he felt awkward because it was the fight that made a real difference in the music he was able to create. He'd been singing since he was a child, and he'd been writing songs since he was sixteen. But the songs he wrote were on the sweet side. He loved a good power ballad or a happy pop song. So many critics compared him to Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, and Harry Styles.

That wasn't what he was currently writing.

No, this new bit of music was a little sultrier and grittier, and it was both exciting and terrifying for him at the same time.

I see you, and I want more…hold me tight, take me to the floor…

Closing his eyes, he could clearly envision Juliette doing just that—right there on the lower level, surrounded by his guitars, and just tearing each other's clothes off. It was so real, so vivid, and it made him want to do something right now to take the edge off…

But he didn't.

Everyone was in the next room and even though he had total privacy, it just felt wrong.

He wasn't ready to get out of the shower just yet, so he focused on some of the music he was working on as the hot water ran over him.

We're speeding down the highway, the wind in our hair, in this crazy adventure, I know you'll be there. We'll write our story in the neon lights, this new love we've found, it's taking new heights.

And still he envisioned Juliette in a car beside him—laughing and beautiful. This was definitely going to be a problem. So, he turned the water to cold and quickly finished washing off and jumped out in record time. Wrapping a towel around his waist, Simon grabbed some clean clothes from the massive closet before standing in front of the vanity and staring at his reflection. He knew he could use a shave, but wasn't in the mood to do it. His hair was a little long, but he wasn't going to do anything about that either. Basically, he was kind of digging this scruffy look and with the music he was creating, he felt like maybe this could be his new image.

Scratching his jaw, he grinned. "I'm sure there's going to be a lot of opinions on that, but…they'll all have to deal with it."

Five minutes later, he walked into the kitchen. Juliette was talking about her grandfather's garden and how he grew the tomatoes they used for their sauce and how dismayed he was because she did not have a green thumb.

"The man can grow anything and I only have artificial plants in my apartment because I kill everything," she joked before taking a sip of her wine.

"I'd love to have a garden," Celia said as she handed Simon a glass. "But our yard is small, and Alex has a massive jungle gym back there. I learned the hard way that the two don't go together."

"Well, that and our neighbor's dog kept getting over the fence and ate a bunch of the cucumber plants," Nikki added. "It looked like a crime scene when he was done."

Sitting on one of the stools at the island, Simon was content to simply sit back and listen, but figured he could contribute a little to the conversation.

"My mother has a garden that she claims is her refuge," he said. "She's always got a ton of tomato plants, pepper plants, cucumbers, zucchini…and when it's a particularly good season, she always sends pictures to me, Jax, and Noah." Pausing, he laughed. "I'm not sure what we're supposed to say other than how they look great, but she's always so proud."

"Living in the city, I don't have any green space," Juliette explained. "Not that it would help, but I know my grandfather would probably come and visit more and try to make a garden for me. So maybe living in the city isn't such a bad thing." Giggling, she picked up an olive off of the small charcuterie board they'd made and popped it into her mouth.

"Mommy?" Alex whined. "My tummy hurts."

Celia was stirring the pasta, so Nikki was instantly at his side, feeling his head. "What's going on, baby?" she asked softly.

"I ate too many things on the shark board," he said before breaking out in tears. "It hurts!"

"Sorry, guys!" Nikki called out as she scooped him up in her arms. "Gotta go!"

Juliette opened the door for her and quickly stepped aside. Then she looked over at Celia. "Um…"

Draining the pasta, Celia was the picture of calmness. "I wasn't paying close attention to how much he was eating," she said wearily. "He hasn't learned about moderation yet." Shaking the colander, she looked over her shoulder at the two of them. "Would you be offended if I made a couple of plates for me and Nik and took them over to the guest house? I don't think we'll be back."

Simon knew he suddenly felt a wave of panic, and when he glanced over at Juliette, he could tell she was feeling it too. How were they supposed to have dinner alone? He was already apprehensive about seeing her tonight, and Nikki told him Juliette felt the same way, so…

Maybe I should fake a stomachache…

Five minutes later, Celia had two plates made and covered, placed them in an insulated bag, and smiled. "This definitely wasn't how I saw the night going. I was looking forward to hanging out and hearing more about the new music, Simon."

"The new music. Right, uh…"

"Tomorrow. I'm sure Alex will be fine in the morning." With a grin, she opened the back door. "And I left the whole cake for you guys," she said with a wave. "See you tomorrow! Bon appétit!"

The door shutting sounded as loud as a gunshot, and neither moved for a long moment. Ultimately, this was going to be awkward no matter what, so he opted to just go with it. It couldn't possibly be any worse than their discussion yesterday.

"Why don't you sit down and I'll make our plates," Juliette said, beating him to the punch.

"Oh, um…can I help with anything?"

Shaking her head, she smiled, but he could tell it was forced. "Celia pretty much has everything set up here for me, so it's just a matter of putting the food on the plates. But…maybe top off our wine?"

"On it." Thankful for something to do, he refreshed their glasses and then sat down. The table could seat ten and it felt silly for it to just be the two of them here. There was a smaller table on the opposite side of the kitchen, and it just seemed more logical for them to eat at that rather than the bigger one. Taking their glasses, he walked across the room. "Why don't we eat at the smaller table? You know, since it's just us."

"Good idea," she said, still smiling the forced smile.

Simon went back and grabbed the napkins, silverware, and bowl of grated cheese and brought it over to the new table. Then he held out a chair for Juliette so she could sit.

"Thank you."

When he sat, he knew he had to say something to break the tension. There was nothing worse than forced small talk and stilted conversation. With a small sigh, he looked at her. "Okay, we need to discuss the elephant in the room so we can relax and enjoy our dinner," he began. "We both said things yesterday that we probably shouldn't have, but I hope we can agree that it's over and we don't need to rehash it."

"Oh thank God," she said, her shoulders sagging with relief. "That definitely wasn't me at my best, so I'm just going to apologize and promise it won't happen again."

"And I'm going to apologize too, because that was completely out of character for me. So…I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," she told him, picking up her fork. "Now we can eat!"

Simon breathed his own sigh of relief before twirling the pasta onto his fork and taking a bite. Flavor exploded on his tongue and the moan of pure pleasure was out before he could stop it.

The smile she gave him this time was one of absolute delight. "That's the highest compliment a chef can hear!"

All he could do was nod because he wanted to take another bite. The pasta was done perfectly, the sauce was better than any other he'd ever tasted, the meatballs were delicious, and so was the rest of the meat. "Damn, Juliette, I don't even know what to say. I don't think I have the words to do this meal justice."

"That's okay, the sounds you made after that first bite said it all."

After that, the ice was officially broken and the elephant had left the room.

"I heard you playing," she said. "And you'll have to forgive me because I'm not familiar with all your stuff, but was that new music or were you just jamming?"

"New music." As soon as he said it, he regretted it because now she was going to ask how it was coming and what inspired it and what was he supposed to say to that?

Beside him, Juliette nodded. "You don't have to go into any details with me, but as your publicist, it would be cool if we could share something about your creative process on social media. You know, maybe a video clip of you playing the guitar, or even one of you singing a verse from one of the new songs? It's totally fine if you don't want to. I just thought…"

"We usually only do that sort of thing when I'm in the studio recording, but…I guess some casual stuff would be fine," he said. "And since this isn't my home, I don't mind pictures or videos. I'm a fairly private person and don't share a lot of personal stuff on social media."

"That's totally understandable. And smart," she added. "We don't have to do this tonight. I just wanted to throw that out there."

She was totally back in publicist mode, and he already missed the more relaxed version of Juliette. After finishing another bite of his dinner, inspiration hit. "How about after we're done eating, we go downstairs and I'll play some of it for you? Not for work purposes or anything, just…Nikki heard some of it and she always gushes to encourage me. I'd really like your opinion—as a friend, not a publicist. Plus, sometimes I think she just likes to compliment the song even when it's not that good. I know you'll be honest with me and not just say what you think I want to hear."

For a moment, she simply blinked at him as if she couldn't quite comprehend what he was saying.

"We don't have to," he quickly amended. "I just thought…"

"No, I'd like to!" she blurted out. "After everything yesterday, I just thought?—"

"That we weren't going to talk about yesterday?" he teased, and thankfully, she laughed.

"Right."

Still looking uncertain, Juliette took a sip of her wine, and Simon knew it was a stalling tactic. He could wait. There was still food on his plate that he was thoroughly enjoying, so she could take all the time she needed. They ate in companionable silence, and it wasn't until he took his last forkful that she finally responded.

"I would really like to hear what you're working on, Simon. Actually, I'm honored that you want me to hear it. From the little bit that I heard earlier, I was just…it sounded amazing. I can't believe that was all new and just came to you."

"Now that's a great compliment. Thank you."

Juliette stood and picked up her plate. "Why don't you go downstairs and get set up or do whatever you need to do while I clean everything up?"

"Nuh-uh. There's no way I'm making you do all the work. Technically, since you cooked, you shouldn't have to clean—at least, I've always been told that's the rule—so I'm more than willing to help."

She didn't argue, and they worked together to get the kitchen cleaned up and everything put away, all the while talking about food and about how they hoped Alex was feeling better.

"The kid normally has an iron stomach," he told her. "But I think with all the sweets Celia's been making, it all may be a little too much for him."

"He just looked so pitiful. I felt so bad! Poor little guy."

"I'm sure he'll be fine in the morning, and maybe he even learned a lesson about moderation."

Juliette chuckled. "Simon, he's just a little boy. By tomorrow, he will have forgotten all about this, I'm sure."

He had to agree.

Looking around the kitchen, it seemed like they had it back to its pristine self. Juliette started the dishwasher and then washed her hands. "I know I probably shouldn't even be thinking about this, but how about we bring our dessert downstairs? This way, when we're ready for it, we can enjoy it without messing up the kitchen."

"I like that logic," he told her, picking up the covered cake holder. "Grab a couple of plates and forks. There are drinks downstairs. Unless you want coffee?"

She shook her head. "I could probably have some decaf, but for now, I'm fine with some water."

Leading the way down the stairs, Simon placed the cake on the wet bar and then walked over to pick up one of the guitars. Without a word, he sat down and tried to clear his head as he warmed up. Strumming and not really thinking about what he was playing, he took a few minutes to get his head where it needed to be.

Juliette sat at the opposite end of the sofa. She was barefoot and wearing a floral, sleeveless maxi dress. Her hair was loose and falling over her shoulders, and as she shifted to get comfortable, she tucked her legs under her. When she caught him looking at her, she smiled, and that was all he needed to start singing.

And it didn't even occur to him that this was the first time anyone outside of Nikki or his band ever heard him play new music. All he knew was that right now, there was no one else he'd rather play it for.