Page 21 of Ruthless Contract
“These late-night video chats.”
“Are you... tired of me already?”
“The exact opposite,” I answered.
“Then why...”
“I need you,” I said, staring into the camera. “I need you, Juliet.”
“Romeo...”
“How long before I can have you?”
Silence followed my question.
“Soon,” she whispered.
She was lying. She was leading me on. Even so, I followed, too far gone to end this, even though I knew I should. My rational mind screamed that I would regret this. It yelled for me to think clearly, to see this for what it really was. But... fuck... I wasn’t ready for this dream to end.
“Okay,” was all I said, knowing she had no intention of ever making this fantasy our reality.
Unfortunately for her, once I’d set my mind on something, I would make it happen. No matter what.
“Lover,” she whispered.
“Yes, baby,” I drawled.
“The time isn’t right. And I’m... I’m not ready yet to... meet in person.”
Will you ever be ready?
I swallowed. Ready or not, I was going to find her. But that’s not what she wanted to hear right now. And I didn’t want to scare her. I didn’t want to rush her and risk her going into hiding. I needed her to believe we were on the same page for now.
So, I pretended to go with the flow and said, “Okay, baby.”
“Will you... wait for me?”
The way she said it, I was almost convinced she was telling the truth. I was almost convinced she would one day want me in her life. But I wasn’t a fool. Juliet With Curves had no intention of ever meeting me.
“Will you, Romeo?’
I didn’t answer. For a long time, we both just lay there, staring at our screens in silence. Finally, she sat up and started toward her laptop.
“I’ll wait,” I whispered before she could log off.
She stepped back and leaned forward, her mask peering into the screen.
“Thank you, Romeo,” she whispered.
“You’re welcome, baby.”
I was such a fucking idiot.
“Why do you only call mebabywhen we video chat?” she asked.
“Because that’s the only time you’re not trying to hack into my devices and steal my data.”
Her chuckle filled the air.
