Don't Mess with the Girl with Candy novel Chapter 439

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, then lay 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 well last night? Why do you look so pale?”

“I’m fine,” Juniper denied stubbornly.

The last 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.

Shanley moved off of Juniper, carefully helping her sit up. He then faced the three murderous glares and explained calmly, “If I said Juniper just fell and I was trying to 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.”