Pursuit of a Kiss Read Online Free Page B

now.”
    “This guy was just leaving.” Jake glowered at
Brad, although he spoke to the doctor. Dr. Erosou nodded and left them to
resolve it.
    Brad whirled around to face Jake. “This has
nothing to do with you.”
    “All right, all right.” Carly stepped between
them, putting a hand on each of their chests. “Brad, you heard the doctor.
Juliet needs to relax, which means you need to go. And since Juliet doesn’t have
the strength right now to throw you out herself, I’m going to do it for her.”
    “I’ll help.” Jake smirked.
    “Dude, what the hell is your problem?”
    “Brad…” Carly started pushing him towards the
door. “If she’ll take any of your calls, you can talk to her once she’s
recovered, okay? Bye-bye, now.”
    She tried to slam the door in his face, but the
stupid hospital door had one of those mechanisms that made it close slowly even
if you pushed on it.
    “I love you, Juliet.”
    “Well then you shouldn’t have fucking cheated on
me.”
    “I swear, it was only this one time…”
    “Brad, enough,” Carly interrupted. “Look at her,
she’s pale as a ghost. You’re done.”
    With one last push to help it along, the door
finally closed. Carly leaned back against it with a laugh. “Well, that was
entertaining.”
    Juliet chuckled. “First a gunshot and now this?
What’s next?”
    Carly finally had a chance to approach the bed.
She took Juliet’s hand. “Are you okay?”
    Jake couldn’t help listening, but this time he
did move to a chair on the other side of the room to give them a semblance of
privacy.
      “I’ll be
all right. Just try to discourage Brad from coming back, please.”
    “I’ll try, but you know how he can be.”
    “Tell him I promise I’ll call once I’m out of
the hospital. I just can’t deal with him yet, you know?”
    “Are you really going to call him?”
    She scoffed. “Not a chance in hell.”
    “Good girl. Now, tell me, is this the infamous
Jake who’s friends with your brother?”
    Jake looked up at the mention of his name. He
wasn’t sure if the smirks on the girls’ faces were a good thing or not. “Uh oh,
should I be worried? How much do you know?”
    “Oh, I know everything.” Carly laughed.
    Juliet started to yawn again, so he sat beside
her once more. “You should go back to sleep.”
    “No, I’m okay.”
    “Yeah, sure you are.” Without waiting for
permission, he pressed the bed control so she could lay flat. Carly gave him a
curious glance he couldn’t quite figure out. “Um, sorry, I know you came by to
visit, but…”
    “It’s okay. I’m glad Juliet has someone taking
care of her. I’ll come back later.”
      “Sorry I
spoiled your bachelorette party.”
    “Yeah, the nerve of you, getting shot on my big
night. Always trying to steal my thunder.” Carly laughed then flounced out of
the room.
    Jake tried to sit quietly. He really did. But he
had to know the deal between her and Brad. Had she actually loved that guy?
Juliet shifted under his stare. She flicked her eyes towards him then turned
all her focus to the movie playing on TV.
    “What were you watching?”
    Jake picked up the remote and shut the TV off.
    “Guess we’re not watching anything.”
    “That was your boyfriend?”
    “Yeah, at least until last night.”
    “How did you find out he was cheating?”
    A grimace of pain crossed her face. She had
cared about him.
    “I saw him. I can’t get the image of him groping
that giggling blonde out of my mind.” She shook her head as if she could jar
the image loose. Taking a deep breath, she gazed back up into his eyes. “That’s
why I ran out of the bar and how I ended up on the boardwalk by that gang
fight.”
    Jake stroked her cheek. He didn’t know why, but
he couldn’t seem to stop touching her. “Anyone who would cheat on you is an
absolute idiot. You’re better off without him.”
    “I don’t know… We’ve been together for five
years.”
    “ Five
years ?”
    Juliet laughed. “Why,