Her gaze goes straight to my hand.
“Well,” she murmurs. “That escalated.”
“Mom…”
I have no idea what to say, how to explain this to her. I know I can’t tell her the truth. I am lost in my head when Julian steps in smoothly.
“I apologize Ms. Bennett, I should have included you,” he says gently as he pulls me into him and kisses my forehead before he continues, “I couldn’t help myself.”
She studies him, then smiles faintly. “I like him.”
My heart does something reckless.
He sits with us, and I can feel his eyes on me as I chat with Mom about everything but her condition.
When we leave, she squeezes my hand and whispers, “He is so in love with you.”
I don’t correct her. What would I say?
Back at the penthouse, getting ready feels strangely intimate. We move around each other like this is something we have done a hundred times. Julian brings me a glass of wine while I do my makeup.
“What are you wearing?” he asks.
“The black lace dress,” I say.
Heat flares in his eyes, and I need to look away before the blush crawls up my neck and reaches my cheeks.
“Good,” he almost growls.
We get ready together, he doesn’t hover or make me feel uncomfortable, just… there. I like how it feels to be in this spacewith him. I've never shared space with a man like this. I've always lived with Mom and Emily, barely dated, and when I did, it was never serious.
When I step into my dress, he offers to help zip me up.
My skin feels electric as he brushes my hair over my shoulder and zips it carefully, his fingers brushing my skin. The contact stills us both.
Neither of us moves.
I can feel his warm breath on the back of my neck. I want to squirm, to move, to do something to relieve this tension.
I feel one of his hands barely touch my hip, like a kiss from a butterfly, barely there, and then his phone goes off.
I hear him suck in a breath and then step back, clearing his throat, he says, “The car is here, I will meet you at the front door.”
And then he is gone, a sudden rush of disappointment settles deep… but then, as we head out, his hand finds mine. It’s not staged, not performative, not in a PR folder… It’s real.
And for the first time since everything cracked open, hope doesn’t feel reckless.
It feels possible.
Chapter 34 - Lucy
As the car approaches the entrance to the event, I can feel my anxiety ramp up. Last night, this morning... all day really has felt different than I expected. And I honestly wasn't sure what living with Julian, being his wife, would be like. It has been a peaceful, kind of wonderful. And that is part of the anxiety, I don't know how many versions of Julian I have met. I'm not foolish enough to think that he has a version of him just for me.
So as our car moves into the line for the entrance, I can feel my stomach roll.
Because I remember exactly how our first event went. The gala where I was pushed aside and ignored. He promised me it would never happen again, but still....
And this time, there is so much more on the line, because now I belong to him.
