Page 48 of Their Diamond Ring Ruse

‘Harrison.’ She heard Julian say.

‘I suppose congratulations are in order,’ he said stiffly.

‘Thank you.’

He was only doing this to keep up appearances, because a Harrison very clearly giving a Shah the cold shoulder would set tongues wagging. And they couldn’t have that.

‘The board can’t stop talking about you two. Seems like you’re a changed man, Ford.’

‘I’m the same man. Lily just brings out a different side of me.’

Flashes of that night in the pagoda came to her mind. Of being in his bed for the first time. Of him giving her the necklace she wore. All the hidden pieces of himself he’d shown her. They were always there. No one else cared to see it, and Lily couldn’t think of a greater travesty, but it made what they had all the more special.

Lincoln was looking at her again. Something wavered in his gaze. The look of someone having lost a prize. She hated it.

Julian must have noticed the change in her, because he excused them, leading the way to the tables that were now filling up before dinner was presented.

And that was when she met Henry Cross.

Of course she knew of him, and had wondered what he would be like since the first time Julian had mentioned him, but she hadn’t expected to meet him here.

‘I’m glad you made it, Julian,’ Henry said. ‘And you must be Lily. Pleasure to finally meet you.’

‘And you.’

Lily smiled politely. The tables were filling quickly, and she noted that everyone around them was from Arum. Her brother was seated opposite her, looking uncomfortable next to Lincoln, but Julian wouldn’t let her focus on that.

Throughout their meal, and through all the chatter, she relished the touch of his thumb on the back of her neck. The whispers and the kisses. All of it distracting her from the fact she was sharing a table with the people she was hoping to get away from. The very people Julian was trying to win over.

The feeling she’d had when she’d walked into his closet swarmed over her. She wanted him so much, but this could never last. Not when they had such opposing goals.

When the meal was done and most of the seats vacated, Henry asked Lily to stay.

‘You can go, Julian. You have work to do.’

Lily watched with shock as Julian rolled his eyes and then obeyed and stood. He kissed her cheek and turned to his mentor.

‘Don’t steal my date,’ Julian warned, before walking away.

Lily wanted to burst out laughing. She hadn’t thought there was a soul on earth that Julian would listen to. But maybe it was more that Henry understood what Julian needed, and in turn Julian had shown her how much he trusted Henry.

‘I have not seen him this happy in my life. You’ve done this, Lily,’ said Henry, as he watched Julian walk away.

‘Thank you.’

Lily’s heart squeezed at the tenderness in his kind brown eyes. ‘You care for Julian a lot.’

‘I don’t know if he’s told you how we met?’

‘Not much.’

Lily was on tenterhooks. Eager to collect every little piece of Julian she could.

‘I went to give a talk at his college. I could tell there was something special about him, and when we spoke I saw a young man with a massive intellect in worn-down thrift store clothes. I knew then I couldn’t let him languish, just because he didn’t have the privilege of his fellows. So I took him under my wing. He was so serious. Never smiled. Not even on the day of his graduation.’

‘You were there?’ Lily was so glad that Julian had found someone to care for him.

‘I was. I taught him everything I knew about business, but it became clear very quickly that he saw things differently, and soon the young upstart was giving me advice.’ Henry laughed with clear affection. ‘But I didn’t want him working for me.’

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