Engaged at the Chatsfield Read Free Page B

hell is going on?’
    Juliet kept her smile in place as a cameraman had followed them into the hotel to capture a shot of Lucca Chatsfield, who was heading to the bar with a bevy of beautiful women surrounding him like groupies around a rock star. ‘Look, darling,’ she said. ‘Don’t you think he’s gorgeous? No wonder he’s got all those women trailing after him. I’ve heard he’s really charming, too. Maybe you could introduce me to him since you know his father.’
    Marcus glowered at her. ‘Just you wait until I get you alone, young lady.’
    Juliet didn’t have to pretend to shiver in anticipation. It was for real. She hadn’t realised how heart-stoppingly handsome he was when he was het up. He was always so cool and in control. So polite and formal and aloof. But underneath that cool reserve was a man with strong feelings and emotions. With hot-blooded passion.
    A Chatsfield staff member came over to them with a sycophantic smile. ‘Miss Montague, you should have told us who you were when you checked in,’ he said. ‘We didn’t know you were the sister of a Hollywood movie star. We’ve upgraded you and Mr Bainbridge to one of our deluxe suites specially designed for affianced couples. The champagne is complimentary, of course.’
    Juliet could practically hear Marcus’s eyes rolling into the back of his head. ‘Oh, you shouldn’t have done that.’ She tried to disguise a flutter of panic. This was getting so out of hand it was farcical. He was going to strangle her for this.
    ‘Thank you.’ Marcus gripped her hand even tighter. ‘It’s much appreciated.’
    Once they had been given their swipe card keys, Marcus led Juliet by the elbow to the bank of elevators. ‘Don’t say a word.’
    ‘I can ex—’
    He pushed a finger against her lips. ‘Not. One. Word.’
    Juliet tasted the sweat and salt of his fingertip as she ran her tongue over her lips while the elevator climbed to their floor. She knew he had a right to be a little cross with her, but surely he would understand once she explained? It wasn’t even her fault. Harriet had assumed...
    But then she wondered if he was angry because he already had someone in his life.
    In his bed.
    Her stomach plummeted.
    Had he been hooking up with someone here at the hotel?
    Had she ruined his rendezvous with a lover? Gate crashed his love life?
    Juliet didn’t like thinking of him with other women. She knew he had them. He wasn’t as much of an out-and-out playboy as Lucca Chatsfield, or even her brother, but he had relationships from time to time. Nothing serious as far as she knew. She suspected he was wary of commitment since his parents’ breakup had been so acrimonious and drawn out and so horribly, embarrassingly, horrifyingly public. It was why he loathed the press so much. As a young child he had been dragged into the public brawling match between his parents as they fought for custody.
    Marcus would tread very carefully before he selected a wife, if he ever did so. One thing she knew for sure: it would never be someone like her....
    He opened the door of the suite, where her luggage had already been delivered. There was an ice bucket with a bottle of champagne with a blue-and-gold satin ribbon around its neck and two silver champagne flutes with the Chatsfield C engraved on them. A floral arrangement with two red velvet hearts was on the polished sideboard and the king-size bed had two red long-stem roses lying across the snowy-white feather pillows. The new CEO was certainly cracking a very efficient whip around the Chatsfield, Juliet thought.
    The door closed with a snick and she turned to face Marcus. ‘Please don’t be cross. I didn’t mean—’
    ‘Do you have any idea of what you’ve done? You’ve caused a freaking media circus out there. Everyone is tweeting about us like we’re reality show celebrities.’ He shoved a hand through his hair and muttered a curse as he started pacing the floor. ‘If I lose this project because