The Return 0f Her Billionaire Husband (HQR Presents)

by MELANIE MILBURNE

  He captured her hand and tugged her close against his body. ‘Want to put that to the test? One kiss. Let’s see what happens.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Her expression was scathing but her tone contained a trace of something else. Something that sounded very much like a dare.

  Oh, he dared all right.

  Joe breathed in the achingly familiar scent of her, brought his mouth as close to hers as he could without actually touching her lips. ‘Just one little kiss.’

  ‘You think I won’t be able to help myself, like the night we met? But I can and I will.’

  ‘Prove it.’

  Her eyes went to his mouth. ‘I don’t need to prove anything to you.’

  ‘Prove it to yourself then.’

  She wavered for a moment, her eyes going to his mouth and back to his eyes. Then her eyes glazed over with chilly determination. ‘Okay. I’ll show you how immune I am to you.’ She rose on tiptoe and planted a brief chaste kiss on his lips. She lowered her heels back to the floor and gave him an arch look. ‘See? No fireworks.’

  Joe gave a soft chuckle and released her. ‘Probably just as well. I don’t think anyone, least of all Damon and Lucy, are going to believe we’ve reconciled.’

  A frown pulled at her brow. ‘You’re not going to...?’ She clamped her mouth shut and turned away to reach for her purse on the bed. ‘So, what are we going to tell them?’ Her back was turned towards him, her hands fiddling with the clasp on her purse but he could see the tension in her slim back and shoulders as if she was bracing herself for his answer.

  ‘We’ll tell them the truth.’

  She swung back round to face him, her expression wary. ‘The truth?’

  ‘That we’re mature adults who are in the process of an amicable separation. Sharing a room for a couple of nights will not be a problem for us.’

  Her brows rose. ‘Amicable? Not a problem? Funny, but I don’t see it quite that way.’

  ‘Think about it, Juliette,’ Joe said. ‘We could go out there and pretend to be back together and then you’d have to allow me to touch you. Otherwise no one is going to buy it. I’d have to hold your hand, slip my arm around your waist, kiss you. You’d have to lie to your best friend. Is that what you want?’

  Her small neat chin came up and her grey-blue eyes pulsated with anger. ‘I want this weekend to be over. That’s what I want.’

  ‘Yeah, well, I want that too.’

  Then maybe he could move on with his life.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  THE WELCOME DRINKS party was on the terrace in front of the infinity pool that overlooked the beach. The area was decorated with lanterns with golden flickering candles inside and honeysuckle and orange blossom scented the evening air. A champagne tower was on a table festooned with ribbons and posies of flowers on each corner. Two waiters dressed in white shirts, black trousers and black bowties were on standby to hand around a delicious-looking array of finger food. A string quartet was playing at one end of the terrace with a backdrop of cascading scarlet bougainvillea. There was a large sandwich board framed by pink and white flowers with a large love heart in the centre with Lucy and Damon’s names written in beautiful calligraphy. Juliette had never seen such a romantic setting and tried not to compare it to her own wedding reception.

  There certainly hadn’t been any sandwich boards with love hearts on them.

  Celeste Petrakis, the wedding planner, a slim young woman in her early twenties with short spiky black hair, was carrying a tablet in her hand and came dashing over to Juliette and Joe as soon as they came out to the terrace.

  ‘Oh, my God, I’m so sorry but I think I’ve messed up your booking,’ Celeste said. ‘I only put down one J Allegranza on my list. I don’t know how I got that wrong. I know Damon told me you guys were separated but I must have forgotten. Blame it on my chemo brain or something. I’m so embarrassed I want to die.’ She clamped a hand over her mouth, her big brown eyes going wide as if she was worried she was going to get struck by lightning by a vengeful God. ‘Oops. Didn’t mean that. I’ve spent the last two years trying not to do that. But, seriously, I’m awfully embarrassed all the same.’

  Joe stood close to Juliette but didn’t touch her. ‘It’s fine, Celeste. We have no problem sharing a room.’

  Juliette forced her lips into the semblance of a smile. ‘Yes, indeed. So please don’t worry, Celeste. You’ve done a brilliant job of organising everything. I’ve never seen such a lovely setting for a wedding. It looks like it’s going to be an amazing weekend for Lucy and Damon.’

  Celeste clasped a hand to her heart, her eyes dewy with emotion. ‘Does that mean...? Oh, how romantic! I’m so happy for you both. We’ll have a special toast for you guys later toni—’

  ‘No.’ Joe’s tone was as blunt as a sledgehammer on a slice of sponge cake. ‘We’re not back together.’

  Celeste’s face fell and she bit down on her lip. ‘Oh...sorry, I misunderstood. Do you want me to organise a fold-out bed for you? I mean, you might not want to share—’

  ‘That would be wonderful, if there’s one available,’ Juliette said, trying to ignore the magnetic heat of Joe’s body within touching distance of hers. If she moved even a fraction of a millimetre her arm would brush against him. It was almost impossible to control the urge to do so.

  Touch him. Touch him. Touch him.

  The chant was trying to keep up with her racing pulse.

  ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ Celeste said, glancing between Joe and Juliette as if she couldn’t quite work them out. ‘I can only apologise again for this stuff-up. I would hate for you to be inconvenienced by my mishandling of—’

  ‘Don’t stress,’ Joe said, moving slightly, his arm brushing against the bare skin of Juliette’s, sending a shivery sensation through her flesh. ‘It’s not a problem.’

  Juliette moved half a step away and gave the wedding planner a rictus smile. ‘We don’t want to draw attention away from Lucy and Damon. It’s their special weekend, not ours.’

  ‘Thank you for being so amazingly good about it.’ Celeste gave them a finger wave and dashed away to greet some other guests coming out to the terrace.

  Juliette glanced up at Joe. ‘I need to speak to Lucy. She’ll stress if she thinks I’m not okay about this. It’ll ruin her wedding day for her if she’s worrying about me—’

  ‘Then pretend to be okay. It’s not that hard.’

  She glowered at him. ‘Easy for you to say, Mr Show No Emotion.’

  Joe shrugged and turned to look at the guests coming out to the terrace. ‘It doesn’t mean I don’t have them.’ The bottom register of his voice throbbed with something she had never heard in it before.

  Juliette frowned and chewed on the inside of her lip. He was always so aloof and distant. He was like a steep and rocky island she continually circled, looking for a place to anchor.

  His eyes met hers in a lock that made the backs of her knees shiver. ‘This weekend could be a blessing in disguise. It could be a chance to sort out some of our issues. Not in the presence of other people, but while we’re alone.’

  While we’re alone.

  Juliette had to do everything in her power not to be alone with him. The only time she wanted to be alone with him was to hand him those hot-off-the-press divorce papers. ‘I don’t think our issues are the type that can get sorted out over a weekend, Joe. Not even over a lifetime.’

  ‘Maybe, but at least we should try. I have some regret over how I handled our relationship.’

  He had regret? She didn’t want to hear about his supposed regret. She had regrets in their multitudes. She had known he had only married her out of duty and she had married him anyway. He had been there for her on his terms, not hers. It had been a fly-in, fly-out marriage that was doomed from the start. Being with him now reminded her of how stupid she had been.

  She�
�d foolishly believed their baby would bond them—would help him fall in love with her as well as their child. She had wanted him to love her. Wasn’t that every girl’s dream? If he had loved her then it would have made her feel better about how they had come together in the first place. It would absolve some of her nagging guilt about her own feelings. She had fallen in lust with him. Simple and bald and blatant as that. Lust was what she still felt for him and it had to stop.

  She had to stop fuelling the fire that blazed inside her.

  Juliette sent him an icy look. ‘There isn’t anything you could say to me that would make me want to resume our relationship. Nothing. So don’t get any funny ideas that this weekend is going to magically fix what wasn’t right in the first place.’

  A waiter approached with a tray of drinks and Juliette took a glass of champagne. She was acutely conscious of Joe standing beside her, his arm brushing hers as he reached for a drink sending another hot shiver coursing through her body. Nerves and other emotions she didn’t want to think about had her halfway through her drink before Joe had even taken a sip.

  ‘Did you hear me say I want us to get back together?’ There was a bite in his tone that nipped at her feminine pride. His eyes were espresso coffee dark and glittering with barely suppressed anger. ‘That’s the last thing I want.’

  Juliette took another sip of champagne and then looked down at the remaining bubbles in her glass. ‘Good to know.’ It was good, wasn’t it? He wanted out. She wanted out. Why then was her chest feeling as if something heavy was pressing all the air out of her lungs? She rapid blinked to clear her suddenly blurry vision, her throat so tight it felt as if a champagne cork was stuck halfway down.

  Joe released a long slow breath and moved closer again, resting his hand on the top of her shoulder. The anger had gone from his gaze, to be replaced by a brooding frown. ‘I apologise for being blunt but what’s done is done and can’t be undone.’

  Juliette summoned her pride back on duty and brushed off his hand as if it was soiling her dress. ‘I thought we agreed not to touch?’ Her tone was sharp, her glare cutting.

  ‘Please welcome the bride and groom.’ Celeste’s cheery voice rang out and the string quartet accompanied Lucy and Damon as they came out onto the terrace to cheers and applause from the assembled guests.

  The press of the other guests gathering for a better view brought Joe to stand shoulder to shoulder with Juliette to make more room. Juliette painted a smile on her lips while her elbow landed a surreptitious jab in his ribs. He gave a low grunt that sounded far sexier than she had bargained for and a wave of heat rose over her skin. The steel band of his arm came around her and his hand glided down to her hip in a hold that was blatantly possessive. She glanced at his left hand resting on her hip and saw the gold glint of his wedding ring. The ring that claimed her as his. She was conscious of every point of contact as if her body had been finely programmed to recognise his touch.

  She could have been blindfolded and still known it was him.

  Lucy and Damon approached arm in arm and with wide smiles. An aura of happiness surrounded them and Juliette wished some of it could brush off on her. Why couldn’t she have found happy-ever-after love?

  ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe my eyes,’ Lucy said, grabbing Juliette in a bone-crushing hug that almost spilt the rest of her champagne. ‘What’s going on? Don’t tell me you two are—?’

  ‘No.’ Joe’s strident tone served to underline the word and land another free kick to Juliette’s self-esteem. His arm dropped from around her waist and he added, ‘There was a mix-up with the accommodation and we’re trying to make it easy on Celeste, who double booked the room.’

  ‘Oh, well, then...’ Lucy’s eyes began to twinkle as brightly as the princess diamond ring on her finger. ‘I hope it won’t be too much of a problem for you sharing?’ There was a wink-wink-say-no-more quality to her tone.

  ‘No problem at all.’ Juliette kept her features under tight control but she couldn’t control the creep of warm colour she could feel pooling in her cheeks. Or the lingering hot tingle on her hip where Joe’s hand had rested just moments before.

  Damon grinned and grasped Joe’s hand. ‘Who knows what a weekend on Corfu will do, eh? Great to have you both here to share our special day with us.’

  ‘I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,’ Joe said with an enigmatic smile.

  After a moment or two, Lucy and Damon moved on to greet other guests, and Juliette lifted her glass to her lips and drained it. ‘No problem sharing a room. Who knew what a consummate liar I could be? Go me.’

  Joe’s expression was shadowed by a contemplative frown. ‘As I said, we could use this weekend to help both of us move forward.’

  She raised her brows, sending him a scathing look. ‘And how do you propose we do that? Hmm? Kiss and make up? Thanks, but no thanks.’

  He took her empty glass off her and placed it on the stone balustrade nearby. ‘It would be a start, don’t you think?’ His darkened gaze dipped to her mouth as if he were recalling every kiss they had ever exchanged.

  Juliette’s lips tingled and she fought not to lick her lips to draw any more of his attention to them. She sent him an arch look. ‘That’s how we got into this mess, if you remember. You kissed me.’

  One side of his mouth came up in a sardonic half-smile. ‘I seem to recall you made the first move.’

  She ground her teeth so hard she was worried they would turn to powder on the spot. Did he have to remind her how forward and brazen she had been that night? So reckless and out of character. She shot him a pointed glare. ‘You didn’t have to take me up on it.’

  ‘You seriously overestimate my willpower, cara.’

  Juliette’s chin came up. ‘You’d better make sure it’s in better shape this time around.’

  One of his ink-black brows lifted. ‘For when you beg me to take you to bed, you mean?’

  Her hands clenched into tight balls by her sides in case she was tempted to slap him. ‘Not going to happen.’ She injected as much confidence in her tone as she could.

  His lazy smile made the base of her spine fizz and tingle. He picked up one of her fists and gently prised open her fingers, his thumb stroking the middle of her palm in a way that was unmistakably sexual. His gaze held hers in a mesmerising lock no amount of willpower to resist could ever have matched. ‘You shouldn’t be ashamed of our chemistry.’ The pitch of his voice lowered to a knee-weakening burr.

  Juliette pulled her hand out of his, rubbing at it as if he had burned her. ‘I’m not ashamed. I’m disgusted. And for God’s sake, stop touching me.’

  His smile didn’t fade but a line of tension appeared next to his mouth and his eyes hardened. ‘Careful, cara. We’re in public, remember? Sheath those pretty claws until we’re alone. Then you can rake them down my back to your heart’s desire.’

  Juliette had to blink away the scorching-hot images his words evoked. Her body was on fire, swamped with memories of his masterful lovemaking. It had taken her almost two years to be able to reach an orgasm with her ex and even then it was hit and miss thereafter. She had practically orgasmed on the spot the moment Joe kissed her the first time. He never took his pleasure before he satisfied her. He knew her body better than she knew it herself. She had explored every inch of his and, by doing so, had found a passionate and adventurous streak in her personality she hadn’t known existed. Standing within touching distance now made her body miss him all the more. She could feel a magnetic pull towards him as if an invisible current of energy was calling her back to base.

  To distract herself, she took another glass of champagne off a passing waiter. She figured it was better to keep her hands and mouth otherwise occupied.

  ‘Do you know any of the other wedding party guests?’ Joe asked after a long moment.

  Juliette crossed her arms and cupped one hand under her elbow, holdin
g her champagne glass in the other hand. ‘Only Lucy. And Damon, of course. I haven’t met any of the four other bridesmaids before because they’re friends Lucy made since moving to Greece. What about you?’

  ‘I’d heard about his cousin Celeste but not met her before today. But I’ve met two of the bridesmaids once or twice before.’ He took a measured sip of his drink, lowering his glass from his mouth to glance at the view over the terrace.

  A dagger of jealousy jabbed her in the gut. ‘Oh, really?’ Juliette made sure her tone was just mildly interested when in fact she wanted to know dates, times, places and whether he had been to bed with either of them. How could any woman resist him? She certainly hadn’t been able to.

  Joe turned to look at her with an unreadable expression. ‘It’s kind of ironic how Damon and Lucy met through us, isn’t it?’

  ‘Ironic in what way?’

  He gave a one-shoulder shrug and looked down at the contents of his glass, twirling it to set the bubbles spinning. ‘They seem pretty happy together. Whether or not it lasts is another thing.’

  ‘Do you have to be so cynical? They’re in love. Anyone can see that. That’s what we were lacking. We married for all the wrong reasons.’

  He didn’t respond and instead tipped his glass back and drained it. She couldn’t take her eyes off the strong tanned column of his throat and the peppery regrowth on his jaw that, in spite of a recent shave, was already vigorously reappearing. How many times had she felt his stubble against her soft skin? On her face, on her belly, between her thighs...

  Juliette suppressed a shudder and turned to look at the other guests milling about for the next part of the entertainment the wedding planner had organised. Which bridesmaids had Joe met before? The blonde one? The sleek raven-haired one? The one with the big boobs and legs that went on for ever?

  Joe held out his hand for her empty glass. ‘Would you like something soft this time? Orange juice? Mineral water?’