Tia could not believe her eyes. She stood rooted to the carpet in Julieta’s bedroom. First, shock hit her. Julieta was lying on her bed kissing a guy!
Then recognition hit her. Jin! Then elation hit her. For two reasons. Jin! Julieta was kissing Jin. Which meant she didn’t love Tae. Which meant Tia still could. Maybe she still had a chance with him, after all.
The second reason for her euphoria was that someone – Jin – had finally hurtled the frozen wall of Julieta’s heart. Tia had spent all morning looking for her sister, worried that some evil had befallen her. But now Tia had discovered that Julieta wasn’t just safe; she was safely locked in Jin’s arms.
Back to shock. Tia rethought her earlier notion of safety. Jin and Julieta were not in a safe position. She needed to break them up before they got into trouble.
“Julieta! What are you doing lying in a bed with a guy?!”
Jin and Julieta parted ways with lightning speed. So quickly that Jin fell off the twin bed, his bottom unceremoniously landing on the cold, hard floor. Eyes wide, he scrambled to his feet as Julieta sat up on her bed.
“Tia! We weren’t IN bed! We were lying ON the bed!”
Tia quirked her right eyebrow. “I really must protest, Julieta! You barely know this guy.” She glanced apologetically at Jin. “No offense intended, Jin. I know you’re a really nice guy. It’s just my sister doesn’t need to be raising a baby alone while you go gallivanting all over the whole world singing with your friends!”
Jin raised his eyebrows. He hadn’t received such a dressing down in years. Why did he suddenly feel seventeen instead of twenty-seven?
“Tia! I would never take advantage of your sister!”
Tia simply quirked a challenging eyebrow at him. “Jin. Didn’t you already take advantage of the situation? And TODAY of all days?”
Julieta came flying back down to earth. Her birthday. Today was her birthday. The most tragic day of her whole life.
“Perhaps I was helping your sister rewrite history. Giving her something joyous to remember on December 4.” It was Jin’s turn to quirk his eyebrow at Tia.
She stood speechless for a moment. He was right about that part.
“But you couldn’t have kissed her while you were standing up in the living room? I mean, what were you two doing in a bed together in the first place?”
She clearly suspected him of ulterior motives. He felt the need to clear up this misunderstanding.
“She fell asleep in my car. She was thoroughly exhausted. She hasn’t eaten since Sunday!”
“What?!” Now Julieta was the recipient of Tia’s ire. “Julieta! Please stop! Stop abusing your body! WHAT is going on? Why are you doing this?”
Jin looked at Julieta. “She doesn’t know?”
“Know? Know what? What is going on here?!” Tia exclaimed, clearly exasperated.
Jin passed a hand over his suddenly weary face. He fondly remembered his life before this firebrand and her ice queen of a sister had entered it. It had been peaceful. Humorous even. Boring in comparison to dealing with all this intrigue and drama.
“You haven’t told her?” He looked at Julieta, surprise clearly written on his face. Julieta really had been shouldering all her burdens alone. His heart churned in his chest.
Julieta sighed. “First things first. Jin, how did we come to be in my bed?”
“You were talking to me in the parking lot at your work. You suddenly passed out. I caught you and put you in my car. An hour and a half later, you were still asleep, so I brought you home.”
She interrupted him. “How did you get into my apartment?”
He had the grace to look a little shamefaced. “I found your key in your purse. I’m sorry. It was the only way I could think of to get you into your bed. I swear, I didn’t touch anything else in your purse. I carried you into your room, but then I tripped over something, and we both fell onto your bed. I was afraid to move and wake you up, so I just stayed there next to you.” Well, that was mostly the truth. He hadn’t had any desire to move away from her beautiful self. He had quite enjoyed his uninterrupted view of her lovely face. He finished, “Then apparently I fell asleep too.”
Julieta just stared at him. He really was her knight in shining armor. A look of such vulnerability crossed her face that Tia felt like she should leave the room and give the two of them some privacy. But she didn’t do it. She wasn’t going to leave her fragile sister so susceptible to a guy. And she still needed a lot of answers. Julieta had clearly been hiding something from her. And Jin knew what it was.
