After breakfast, Juniper, feeling drained and sporting two adorable dark circles under her eyes, went back to her room to try and get some sleep.


    As she was drifting off, she vaguely heard the door creak open, a slight breeze wafting in. She instinctively opened her eyes and was met with an impossibly handsome face.


    Shanley? Didn''t Felton say he had urgent work to attend to? Was she hallucinating? She must be.


    Juniper stared for a two-second beat, theny back down and firmly closed her eyes. Then, she opened them again. Shanley was still there, a fond smile on his face as he watched her.


    "It''s me."


    Juniper shot up, her eyes wide as she stared at him.


    "I brought you a milkshake,” Shanley said, gently brushing a stray lock of hair from her forehead, his eyes filled with concern. "Didn''t you sleep wellst night? Why do you look so pale?"


    "I''m fine," Juniper denied stubbornly.


    Thest thing she wanted was for him to know she''d missed him so much she couldn''t sleep. After all, the only other thing that had ever kept her up at night was money.


    "Is that so?" Shanley didn''t press, the smile in his eyes deepening. "The milkshake is downstairs. Want to go drink it?"


    "Okay."


    Suddenly, all her sleepiness vanished. She scrambled out of bed, but having not slept and getting up too quickly, she felt a wave of dizziness and stumbled forward.


    "Careful "


    Shanley''s expression changed, and he reflexively reached out to catch her.


    With her keen instincts, Juniper tried to steady herself by leaning back, but the momentum was too much In an instant, they both tumbled onto the bed with himnding on top of her Their bodies pressed together. their eyes met, and the air crackled with a sudden, charged intimacy.


    “Are you alright?” Shanley asked, his voice husky. He propped himself up with one hand on the bed and kept the other around her waist, trying to avoid crushing her.


    Juniper just shook her head, her gaze fixed on his face-specifically, on his eyes, where she could see her own reflection. It was a little blurry, so she tried to lean in closer.


    "Good," Shanley said, his voice growing raspier. He forced himself to look away from her, his reason barely hanging on.


    Just as he was about to push himself up, the bedroom door swung open, and the three brothers appeared in the doorway.


    "Juniper, Shanley is "


    Their words died on their lips as they took in the scene. The three of them froze, their expressions shifting through a kaleidoscope of emotions.


    In the span of thirty seconds, a thousand thoughts raced through their minds. That old fox was really pushing his luck. They give him an inch, and he takes... their sister If he dared to hold her today, he''d be confessing his love tomorrow an marrying her the day after. They wanted to break his legs-but Shanley knew martial arts. They probably couldn''t win. Maybe they could hire someone to take him out-but their "disloyal" little sister would probably wage war on them.


    Forget it. It was a lost cause.


    Shanley moved off of Juniper,


    carefully helping her sit up. He then faced the three murderous res


    I said


    and exined calmly "If I said Juniper just fell and I was trying


    Catch her..."


    “...you just so happened to fall on top of her?" Melvin finished, his arms crossed and


    his voice dripping with sarcasm.


    "And you just couldn''t manage to get up right away?" Harold added cuttingly.


    "What a coincidence," Jimmie drawled, his lips twisting into a tight smile.


    Shanley arched an eyebrow, a flicker of awkwardness on his face. But that was exactly what had happened.


    "Juniper, go wash your face," Jimmie ordered, then jerked his chin at Shanley. "You. Downstairs. We need to talk."


    "Fine," Shanley replied with a helpless smile. “Juniper, I''ll go down first."