Page 30 of The Return of Her Billionaire Husband

Juliette tried to ignore the little stab of disappointment that jabbed her. ‘Will you be long?’

He leaned down to press a light kiss to her lips. ‘Not long at all.’

* * *

Joe walked the streets of Paris, ruminating on how he had approached life’s challenges. Juliette’s comment about her parents always working had struck a chord with him. Ever since he was a young child, he had thrown himself into tasks, study, work, to escape the shadows of his childhood. The loss that had defined him since he’d taken his first breath. Being successful, wealthy and hard-working had given him a framework for his life that had never let him down until he’d met Juliette.

But now he could feel the foundations of his personality undergoing a change, like a fine crack running through concrete. A gradual destabilisation of his identity as a man who needed no one.

Who kept himself emotionally separate, distant. Safe.

But the more time he spent with Juliette, the wider the cracks grew, allowing him to envisage the sort of man he could be if he was able to let go of the past. A man who could love and be loved in return. A man who would no longer need to keep his emotions locked down. A man who could embrace his vulnerabilities and face whatever life threw at him with emotional courage instead of cowardice.

His feelings for Juliette were something he had tried so hard to ignore. And he’d been damn good at it so far. So good he’d convinced himself not to beg her to come back to him when she’d left. So good he’d not revealed things to her he should have revealed while they were together. Things that might well have made a difference if he hadn’t been so determined to hold himself apart, as he had done with every other relationship, both intimate and otherwise.

But now his feelings were tiptoeing out of their hiding place, their tentative footsteps leaving soft little impressions on his heart that felt almost painful.

He looked down at the wedding ring on his finger, the symbol of his commitment. A commitment he wasn’t entirely sure Juliette wanted from him any more. She had made no commitment other than to spend the next few days with him before she went back to London.

Could he dare to hope to change her mind?

* * *

Juliette had showered and dressed and was putting the finishing touches to her make-up in preparation for the dinner when Joe returned to their hotel. She met his eyes in the mirror of the dressing table. ‘You’re cutting it fine. Isn’t the dinner at seven-thirty?’

He gave a crooked smile. ‘It won’t take me long to get ready.’ He came up behind her and, slipping one hand inside his jacket pocket, retrieved a rectangular jewellery box. ‘I found something for you when I was out walking.’

Juliette turned on the stool and raised her brows. ‘Found? Like on the footpath?’ She gave him a mock frown and waggled a reproving finger at him. ‘You’ve been spending money on me again.’

He handed her the box. ‘And why shouldn’t I spoil you?’ He leaned down to press a light kiss to the top of her head. ‘Mmm... You smell beautiful.’

Juliette lifted her face to meet his gaze. ‘It’s the same perfume I’ve always worn.’

His fingers brushed beneath her chin in an idle movement, his eyes dark and lustrous. ‘I know. I smelt it everywhere in the house after you left.’ His mouth turned down at the corners as if the mention of that time caused him pain. He glanced at the jewellery box in her hands. ‘Go on. Open it.’

Juliette looked down at the box and ran her fingertip over the gold embossed designer label on the black velvet lid. She prised open the lid and gasped when she saw a glittering diamond on a gold chain as fine as a thread and two matching diamond droplet earrings.

‘Oh, Joe, they’re gorgeous.’ She could only imagine how much they’d cost. It was the sort of jewellery designer where one didn’t shop if one needed to see a price tag before considering purchasing anything.

‘Here. Let me put the necklace on you.’ His voice had a gruff edge, his expression hard to read.

She handed him the box and turned so she was facing the mirror again, watching him carefully remove the diamond from its plush white velvet bed. She shivered when his hands brushed the sensitive skin of her neck as he fastened the diamond in place. He handed her the earrings one at a time for her to insert into her earlobes. Then he rested his hands on her shoulders and met her eyes in the mirror.

‘You look stunning.’

Juliette touched the diamond with her fingers, the earrings glinting like stars when she turned her head from side to side. ‘I hope I don’t lose one of them.’

He gave a grim smile that wasn’t really a smile. ‘There are worse things to lose, cara.’ His deep tone echoed with a sadness that was almost palpable.

She placed one of her hands over one of his, pressing down on it in an I-know-what-you-mean gesture. Her throat thickened, her chest tightened, her eyes glistened. ‘You’d better get dressed. It’s almost time to leave.’

He looked as if he was about to say something—his brows moved closer together and his mouth opened as if in preparation to speak—but then seemed to change his mind. He gave her shoulders one last squeeze and turned away to get ready for the dinner.

* * *

The fundraising dinner was held in the ballroom of a private mansion within walking distance of their hotel. By the time Juliette and Joe arrived, the guests were making their way to their allotted tables after having drinks and finger food in the foyer. The room was decorated with simple and elegant arrangements of flowers and pastel-coloured paper rosettes and ribbons rather than less environment-friendly balloons.

Joe seemed to know many of the guests and introduced her to several people on the way to their place at the huge table but she found it hard to remember all their names. She smiled and shook hands with everyone, quietly wondering if any of them knew the circumstances about her and Joe’s marriage.

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