The Bridegroom's Secret. Melissa James

eyes as she looked at him all night, he couldn’t wait anymore. “Come here, woman.” He dragged her into his arms. “Do you have any idea how incredible you looked tonight? I’ve been dying to take this off you for hours.” He lowered a strap of her dress and softly kissed her shoulder.

      “Matt,” she whispered as her shoulder lifted and her head fell back in the abandoned sensuality he could arouse in her with a touch.

      He felt her quiver, and smiled. Hell, yes, he was a lucky man. Every day it just got better. He’d never been so happy in his life. To have a magnificent woman like Julie crazy in love with him from first sight, before she’d known who he was or what his bank balance was, had been unbelievable to him from the start.

      To have her love him still, through the turbulent months where he’d sold off almost everything to prevent his mother from losing her apartment, to keep McLachlan’s afloat and his workers in their jobs; to have her love him through the endless weeks when he’d been so deep in thought with the practical applications of the water converter, he’d practically forgotten she was there; to love him through a backyard engagement party and few presents, to cheerfully agree with the plans for a private wedding at City Hall to save costs—

      Julie Montgomery was a walking, loving miracle, and he intended to hold on to her for life.

      That’s what tonight had been about. Now that he’d returned to his place in the world, McLachlan’s was safe and all its workers secure, he wanted to thank her for everything, to show her off to the world for the extraordinary woman she was, to pronounce to the world that this was no temporary thing. Matt McLachlan was a one-woman man, and he was definitely taken.

      Jules turned her face to his, kissing him softly, once, twice. But when he dropped the spaghetti-thin strap from her shoulder, she shook her head. “Your mother’s here,” she whispered.

      He moved to kiss her throat in a way he knew she couldn’t resist. “She knows we’re lovers, Jules.”

      She shivered again with the touch, and Matt grinned as he bent to kiss lower.

      “But it doesn’t feel right,” she said softly, punctuated with kisses. “I’m sorry, darling, but I can’t—not with your mother in the house.”

      With a sigh he kissed her shoulder, and put the dress back in its place. “Ah well, she’s only here for two nights. I can wait that long. You do realise I won’t sleep, don’t you? You’re a cruel woman, Montgomery.”

      “Did your mother know about the importance of the water converter from the start?” she asked out of nowhere. “Or was it only when you sold it?”

      Though her voice held the usual love and faith, there was a note in it—some deeper insecurity he’d never heard before—and Matt started. “What was that?”

      “Your mother,” she said, still smiling but with a clear worry beneath—and he wondered who’d been talking to her. “Does she know about what the water converter is, and the contracts that did far more than pull McLachlan’s out of the red?”

      Now totally diverted from his one-track course to the bedroom, he frowned. “I don’t understand.”

      “It’s nothing important, really. Just me being insecure.” She kissed him again and smiled, her eyes full of love. Almost. The diffidence was new to her, new to him, and it niggled at him. Something was wrong. “Did you tell your mother about the water converter, and what it could mean for you, for her, for McLachlan’s and all your workers, before it sold?”

      Thoroughly confused now, he answered, “Well, of course. She’s my mother.” And it affected her financial future. She’d needed to know what was happening when the banks had started making threats to sell her apartment and the house to pay for the huge investment he’d made in the water converter.

      Julie paled. “I see. Does she know how well it’s doing—the multimillion-dollar contracts with the marine companies, and the possibility of the giants of the motor industry wanting a land prototype?”

      “Who told you that?” he asked, startled. Who’d stolen his surprise? He’d planned tonight to the last detail. He’d been itching to tell her all about his hard work and success for weeks, and tonight had seemed the perfect time.

      Now someone had stolen his rights from him, and he was furious—not with Julie, but with whoever had ruined their perfect night. When he found out who…

      “Jemima Whittaker from Boston People Today.” Julie turned her face, fiddling with the diamonds around her neck. “How long have you left me out of the loop about your invention and the contracts, Matt? I had to be told about this important part of your life by a magazine reporter who thought I knew. It was so hard to hide how surprised I was.” He saw her hands come together, fingers twisting hard around each other. “It was so embarrassing. Why, Matt? Why did you tell your mother, let the media know all about it, and not me?”

      He felt the colour drain from his face as he saw the sign flashing in front of him: Danger Ahead, Flash Floods. “It’s been a hard time for you and The Belles during the past six months. You’ve been working overtime, and going through so much, trying to save your own business from disaster. I didn’t want to burden you, Jules.” He heard the unconvincing tone of his voice and cursed it, knowing he sounded as nervous as he felt. If that reporter had gone further, and told her the other things he’d been waiting to tell her…

      “But you told your mother,” she said softly, with a sadness in her voice that smote at him, making him realise he’d never thought about how she’d take his news—as surprise or secret. A secret others knew.

      “I was going to tell you tonight, sweetheart.” Tell you everything, including about Kirsten and Molly, while you were in my arms, after the best night of your life. Knowing without a single doubt how much I love you.

      His best-laid plans were going awry. In that superb dress, decked out with diamonds, she’d never been lovelier—but with her drooping head and her hand jerking as she plucked at the McLachlan necklace, she looked like a wilted flower.

      “We discussed this before, Matt. I want to share the bad as well as the good. I’ve told you about The Belles’ problems, and not only when I’ve needed to work overtime, but what I’d be doing, why—and with whom.”

      The sadness in her tone told Matt he wasn’t just in deep water, but in a stormy sea without a life preserver…and he realised how much he’d hurt her by his silence, not just now but for the past few months. By waiting for the right moment, instead of telling her the things she deserved to know, he’d hurt the woman he loved more than life or breath.

      While he tried to prevent the shock from slowing his system, her next question broad¬ sided him. “Jemima said there are rumours that Elise Pettifer helped you with the water converter. Are they true?”

      Like a final premonition of disaster, the name echoed around and around in his head. “Elise?” Damn, oh, damn…

      “Yes, she told me that you dated her, too, if that’s what’s making you look so worried.” Julie bit her lip. “Jemima said you dated her for almost a year. She’s really nice, Matt. Well- bred, beautiful, and she’s a fellow engineer to boot. Everyone was so shocked when you apparently ditched her for someone like me. They were waiting for the wedding date to be announced.” Her eyes darkened with an emotion he didn’t dare name. “So how long has she been working with you on the water converter?”

      Matt broke out in a cold sweat. Dear God, she knew about his past with Elise, that he’d been working with her on a secret project, and he hadn’t been the one to tell her about it. “My relationship with Elise was nothing like me and you,” he said tightly. “We—damn it, it was a convenient thing. Neither of us had