The Bridegroom's Secret. Melissa James

life, during both the good times and definitely through the bad.

      The Belles had come up with the idea of throwing them a wedding when it looked like Matt was going to lose the company after his father’s wildly unsuccessful speculations. Since then her private love story had become public entertainment. The invitation list for the quiet family wedding The Belles had planned was now up to over 150, and the simple garden venue was now the cathedral on the harbour front, which had room for media photo shoots and the live television feed. Their wedding had become an official “human interest story,” and was being followed by a top magazine, three tabloids and two TV stations covering the tristate area.

      But all the media interest had also saved The Belles from going under when the high-society Vandiver wedding cancellation had left them deep in the red; so Julie’s every smile for the cameras held as much gratitude and relief as it did resentment.

      She turned now, with the smile that had felt more like a grimace for the past few months. “Of course… Jemima, isn’t it?”

      Jemima Whittaker of Boston People Today, the magazine covering her wedding, beamed at her. “So good of you to remember.”

      Remember? It was impossible not to when the woman had been in her face almost constantly for the past few months.

      “So how do you feel about your fiancé’s phenomenal success in saving McLachlan Marine Industries from financial flatlining?”

      Her gaze flicked to Matt, talking to some people she didn’t recognise in the centre of the room—probably more members of the press— and she felt her smile soften with the love she couldn’t hide. “I’m incredibly proud of him, of course, but I knew he could do it. He’s so dedicated to his workers and their families.”

      “Your fiancé didn’t just save jobs, Miss Montgomery. The new water converter he’s invented will revolutionise the industry.” The reporter sounded one point less than smug with the information. “The new contracts with Jet Stream Industries and Red Line Marine—not to mention the giants in the motor industry showing marked interest in a land prototype— will give McLachlan’s more power and wealth than it’s known in its eighty-year history. Matt’s done more than rescue the company from the investment mistakes of his father—he’s become a multimillionaire, is being hailed as a wunderkind, and has been nominated for businessman of the year after he gave shares in the converter to every McLachlan’s worker that waited for their overdue salaries. Many of them are now well on their way to being rich. How do you feel about that?”

      It took all of Julie’s willpower to not blink or frown. Matt had enjoyed so much success in the public arena, had done so much more than save the company, and he hadn’t told her? “As I said, I always knew he was a genius,” she replied with another halfway-to-grimace smile, wondering why this reporter knew so much about the importance of Matt’s invention, while she, his fiancée, knew nothing.

      “I suppose you think so because he chose you instead of Sara Enderby or Elise Pettifer,” Jemima laughed, totally without spite— probably because, like Julie herself, she came from less exalted origins than most in the room. Jemima’s hand swept to where Matt stood in a crowd of people, laughing—and it was only then Julie realised that six of the eight people surrounding him were very attractive women. “You’re one secure woman, obviously. If Matthew McLachlan were my fiancé, and he had two very beautiful exes making him laugh the way those women are right now, I’d drape myself over him faster than Speedy Gonzalez.” She laughed again as she said, “Or kick them out of the way like that baby kangaroo on the cartoons.”

      The two exquisite blondes on either side of him were his ex-girlfriends?

      Self-control. Julie held her hands at her sides, refusing to check the current state of her French twist. Her bright-red French twist. She didn’t smooth her hands over her lightly applied makeup. She knew the freckles showed anyway.

      “With Elise in particular, everyone was taking bets on the wedding date,” Jemima went on, still without malice but with a good deal of curiosity. Digging. “She’s an engineer, too, you know. In fact, I’ve heard rumours that she worked with him on the design of the water converter. They seemed the perfect match. That’s why there was such interest when he broke up with her, and was seen with you so soon after.”

      A perfect match…oh, weren’t they just? The handsome, high-born genius and the beautiful, high-society woman, one of his own people, who made him laugh so easily. Perfection, side by side….

      Julie had met both women earlier, but hadn’t thought much about either of them afterward. They’d seemed nice women, without any sign of cattiness in their conversation or demeanour. Not by word or act had they shown anything but kindness to her.

      But then, why would they need to compete, when they were so beautiful?

      Then she remembered the look in Matt’s eyes when he’d seen her tonight, and the world seemed to spin the right way again. “You’ll have to ask Matt about who he works with and why. That’s his place. Thanks for the advice, but after all, those women are in his past—I’m his future. I’m the one wearing his ring.” With a cool smile she ended the interview.

      But she didn’t continue toward Matt. That might make it seem as if she didn’t trust him, which could create fodder for a speculative story about the status of their relationship. She’d had enough of that in the past few months.

      Finally the night was over, his gift to Julie. Now, after all his months of work to save McLachlan’s, he could be alone with the woman he loved.

      Matthew McLachlan smiled, almost bursting with the pride and love he felt. In a love story filled with obstacles—from his father’s opposition to Matt falling for an unknown Australian woman, to the intense media speculation, to the problems with his business and hers—Julie had risen to every occasion. She’d won everyone over with her quirky humour, her strength, grace and dignity. An extraordinary woman…and she was all his. His woman, his love.

      He’d known she felt intimidated by the overwhelming media and social interest in their lives, especially since The Belles’ plans for their wedding had become public knowledge. He’d seen her trepidation about tonight. Then he’d given her the dress he’d bought for her on his last trip to New York and the McLachlan diamonds his mother had brought down for her, the possession of all the future McLachlan brides. He’d seen the utter delight in being so spoiled fill her face, the excitement at being the belle of the ball, as he’d jokingly called her, playing on her job at The Wedding Belles.

      Though he’d also known she didn’t like all the hype, and felt she didn’t quite know what to say to his high-powered friends, he could barely hold in the pride when she was nothing but herself, without an ounce of pretentiousness or trying to fit in. She’d neither clung to him, nor hidden out with her own friends, but had spent the night circulating. His mom, who’d adored Jules from the start, hadn’t even had to show her future daughter-in-law the ropes of a society function. Julie had dealt with the press, the cattier members of high society, and won the approval of the older women, so hard to impress. “A lovely girl,” had been the consensus he’d overheard after Jules had moved on.

      She’d even chatted pleasantly with two of his ex-girlfriends, Elise and Sara, asking them about themselves, as she always did. She had such an interest in people of all walks of life. And when the press had seen the women together and had taken a picture, Matt had seen the frustration on the face of the reporter, because all three women were laughing, their body language relaxed and friendly.

      “What a sensational woman,” his old friend Victor had said as he left the party. “Why didn’t she fall at my feet?” he’d muttered, with true envy in his voice.

      “You’re a lucky man,” his other oldest friend, Guy, had added, with a quick, wistful glance at