âI saw the way you were looking at me just now. It isnât too late to renegotiate, Jules.â
The heat of his gaze instantly warmed the blood pumping through her veins. He very quickly made her aware of every inch of her body and how she responded to him.
âYes it is,â she said. âWay, way too late.â
âWell then, I guess Iâm just trying to be nice.â
He made her reluctance to accept his offer seem childish. âOf course,â she said, but a part of her still wondered. There were too many undercurrents running between their every interaction.
They had been apart for so long, most days it was easy to ignore what had happened between them. But now they were looking at months together. In close quarters.
Julianne had the feeling that the pressure cooker theyâd kept sealed all this time was about to blow.
* * *
Her Secret Husband is a Secrets of Eden story: Keeping their past buried isnât so easy when love is on the line.
One
âYour dadâs heart attack was pretty serious this time.â
The doctorâs words did little to make Heath Langston feel better about his foster fatherâs condition. He stood outside Ken Edenâs hospital room, listening to the doctorâs prognosis. He felt helpless, which was not the way he liked it. He might be the youngest of the âEden boys,â but he owned his own advertising firm on Madison Avenue. Heâd single-handedly developed one of the most successful ad campaigns of the last year. He was used to everyone, from his secretary to his business partner, looking to him to make decisions.
But this was serious stuff. Life and death. Not exactly his forte. Ken and Molly Edenâs only biological child, Julianne, hadnât stopped crying since she arrived. Heath preferred to keep things light and heâd much rather see Julianne smile, but even he couldnât find anything to make a joke about right now.
The Edensâ five children had rushed to their family farm in Cornwall, Connecticut, the moment theyâd gotten the call about Kenâs heart attack. Heath had gotten into his car and bolted from New York City, not knowing if his foster father would be alive by the time he got to the hospital. His biological parents had died in a car accident when he was only nine years old. He was a grown man now, the CEO of his own company, but he wasnât ready to face losing another parent.
Heath and Julianne were the last to arrive and were receiving the report the others had already heard.
âHeâs stable now, but we were lucky,â the doctor continued. âThat aspirin Molly gave him may have made all the difference.â
Julianneâs tiny figure stood in front of him. Despite the doctorâs serious words, Heath couldnât keep his eyes from going to her. She took after Molly, being petite but powerful. Today, she looked even smaller than normal, with her shoulders hunched over and her head dipped down to focus her eyes on the floor. Her blond hair had been long and loose when sheâd first arrived, but after sitting forever in the waiting room, sheâd clipped it up into a messy twist. She shivered at the doctorâs words and tried to snuggle deeper into her green cashmere sweater.
Heath put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. His brothers each had their fiancées to hold for support, but he and Julianne were both alone. His heart went out to her. He hated seeing his feisty, confident artist looking so broken. Although theyâd grown up in the same house, she had never been a sister in his mind. She had been his best friend, his partner in crime, and for a short time, the love of his life.
Knowing they had each other in this dark moment made him feel better. Tonight, he hoped they could put their tumultuous past behind them and focus on what was more important. Since Julianne didnât pull away, she had to feel the same. Normally, she would give him a playful shove and artfully dodge the physical contact, but not today.
Instead, her body slumped against him for support, her back pressing into his chest. He rested his cheek against the gold strands of her hair and deeply breathed in the scent that was imprinted on his brain. She sighed, sending a tingle of awareness traveling along his spine. The sensation turned the doctorâs voice into a muffled mutter in the distance. For a moment, there was only him and her. It wasnât the most appropriate of times, but he would revel in the contact.