American tycoon Silas Carter to wed English society party-planner Lady Julia Fellowes!
Yes, he might well be the worldâs most eligible bachelor, according to A-List Life magazineâbut multibillionaire tycoon Silas Carter is no longer eligible. Heâs engaged to be married, and both his family and hers are reported to be thrilled with the match.
Not long ago Silas was spotted with American heiress Aimee DeTroite, who is said to be fuming at the news. Yesterday it wasnât even known that Silas and Julia were an item, much less engagedâsuggesting that this may be an arranged marriage. The present Earl of Amberley is Juliaâs grandfather. His heir is none other than Silas Carterâwho stands to inherit the title and the country house where Julia grew up, along with the familyâs sizable art and property fortune.
So, is this an arranged marriage brokered by the present Earl of Amberley to ensure his beloved granddaughter keeps the family estate? Or is this rather sudden engagement more of the shotgun variety? After all, this relationship is steamyâif the paparazzi are to be believed.â¦
LIPS light as the touch of a butterflyâs wings, but far more sensual, brushed the back of her neck, a male hand on her shoulder enclosing the small intimacy in protective secrecy, before he whispered in her ear.
âBack in a few minutes. Donât go away.â
She hadnât moved, not even to turn her head to look at him, and she didnât move now. Mainly because she couldnât, Jules realised shakily.
There were times when she would rather be anything other than one of the partners in an event planning organisation. And this was definitely one of them.
Everyone who was anyone in the celebrity world was here in Majorca, thronging the grounds of the exclusive holiday villa currently on loan to the most excitingly âinâ Hollywood superstar couple.
A-List Life, the magazine responsible for paying for this particular âbash,â which was ostensibly being given to celebrate the coupleâs first wedding anniversary, had already described them as Hollywood Royalty.
Now their carefully selected celebrity âfriendsâ were âcelebrating,â whilst the magazineâs flamboyant owner and editor, Dorland Chesterfield, interviewed the happy couple and its photographers mingled with the guests.
She was getting too cynical, Julia decided. Lucy, her friend and the owner of Prêt a Party, had been thrilled about this commission, and of course Julia could understand why.
Dorland was a millionaire and was the most influential person on the upmarket social event scene. Being hired to organise any event the magazine was sponsoringânever mind being selected, as they had been, to organise Dorlandâs fabulous and high-profile end-of-summer celeb bashâwas virtually a licence to print money, via future commissions, as Nick, Lucyâs husband, had said.
A small frown pleated Juliaâs forehead as she remembered Nickâs unkind comments about Dorland.
âThe manâs a fat, brainless star-suckerâif he is a man,â he had announced derisively when Dorland had first approached them.
âThatâs neither true nor fair, Nick.â Julia had immediately defended Dorland.
Yes, Dorland was slightly overweight, and it was true that there were rumours that prior to bursting onto the social scene and setting up his magazine he had undergone a sex-change operation, as well as equally unproven gossip and speculation about his sexual orientation. However, Julia privately suspected he might well be one of those people who genuinely were asexual. Although he was surrounded by eager wannabes of both sexes, thanks to the success of A-List Life, no one had ever been able to say categorically that he had had any sexual involvements or partnerships. It was Juliaâs belief that Dorland reserved all his passion for the great love in his life, which was fame and those who achieved it. Whatever his sexuality, Dorland could tap into the female psyche, and he also had the knack of massaging a vulnerable and famous ego to the point where even the most out-of-reach âstarâ was prepared to let down their guard with him.
The truth was that Dorland genuinely liked and admired the famous, and they, sensing that, turned to him and his magazine with the kind of exclusive articles that had other editors gnashing their teeth with envy.
Nick affected to loathe and despise him, but Julia couldnât help wondering if secretly Nick was jealous of both his success and his wealth.