She leaned against the back of the door, sagging against it in relief and stared hard at the message again.
***
Shit. What had he done?
Dan had promised himself he’d leave Jet alone now that she was back to her old life. If she wanted to get in touch, then that was her decision.
How long had that lasted? A little over twenty-four hours by his calculations, which was bordering on pathetic or desperate, he wasn’t sure which. The message was true though. It was quiet in the barn this morning without Jet and he did miss talking to her.
Hell, he missed everything about her. Her uncertain smiles, like she wasn’t sure she should allow herself to be happy, as well as her melodic laugh when she didn’t have time to censor herself. He missed the way she listened in that thoughtful way she had. Like she was really listening to everything he had to say. Then when he was done, she’d say something to confirm she’d heard everything he’d said, but she’d also build on it with that clever mind of hers.
God, he was an idiot. None of that mattered because she was Juliet-freaking-Temple. She may no longer be married to one of Australia’s richest men, but that’s where she belonged—with the rich and famous. Not here at this winery discussing some quaint idea he had for their latest range of Rhodes Wines. He needed to get a grip and now he was really regretting sending that message.
It was her first day at work and she was probably in meetings, getting back up to speed about her business, which was her passion.
Dan jumped in surprise as the phone vibrated on his desk. Then he blinked. It was ringing.
‘Answer it, you fool,’ he muttered, and managed to pick up the phone with unsteady hands.
‘Hey Jet,’ he said calmly, more calmly than he felt. He’d hoped for a message later today, maybe at the end of the work day when she wasn’t too busy, but here she was calling him. It was highly likely she was pissed at him for his inability to keep to his word, so he opted for ignorance in the vain hope he was mistaken. ‘How’s work?’
There was silence on the end of the line. He was just about to remove the phone from his ear to double check the call had gone through when she spoke.
‘Strange.’
After his own beat of silence, he replied. ‘Strange how?’
He heard Jet sigh.
‘Strange. I don’t know how to describe it.’
More silence followed and it sounded like she’d sat down. In her office, perhaps?
‘Try,’ he suggested.
‘I don’t know, Dan.’
Hearing his name from her lips made him close his eyes. He was glad she couldn’t see her effect on him.
He tried again. ‘Strange as in zombies have overtaken my business, or strange as in I’ve been away too long and I’ve forgotten how to run my own business?’ he offered.
He was rewarded with a soft laugh. ‘Neither of those, fortunately. But would it sound weird to you if I said it doesn’t feel like my business any more? Like it’s someone else’s?’
‘I’d say that would be understandable, given the events of the last couple of months.’ It was a carefully worded reply and they both knew it. ‘It’s going to take a few days, maybe a week or two for you to feel at home in your old life. Don’t be so hard on yourself.’
‘That’s just the thing. I know all that and I keep telling myself to just be patient, but there’s something else.’
When she didn’t elaborate, Dan couldn’t resist. ‘Let me guess. You’ve had an epiphany after being around an incredibly talented young winemaker. You’ve decided event planning is no longer your thing and you’re going to study winemaking?’
She laughed again. ‘No. Hardly. I’ll leave that to the experts like you. But you’re not completely wrong, actually.’
More silence.
‘So,’ he began, ‘this is where I make some comment about the fact that I’m often right and you’re wise to see the light. Except I have no idea what it is I’m right about.’
‘My old life,’ she replied. ‘I don’t want to go back to it. It’s not me anymore. Or at least the me I want to be.’ He heard her inhale an unsteady breath. ‘I’ve decided I don’t want to be Juliet Temple anymore, Dan.’
Chapter Twenty-Five
By the time Jet left the office that evening, she was exhausted. After her phone call with Dan, she’d been called into meeting after meeting, first with her staff and then with potential clients Jayde wanted her to meet.
Despite her weariness, Jet walked past the elevator and chose the stairs. Her penthouse was located on the third floor of the painstakingly restored Art Deco building. In the midst of her grief and anger at Andrew’s betrayal and indiscretion, the foyer of her apartment had been one of the few things to cut through her pain. The wood panelling and grand arching staircase were from another time and Jet had known the moment she’d seen it, she would be alright. She would take the money from the generous pre-nuptial agreement and buy it, and make a home of her own. Andrew hated anything historic or traditional, referring to it as ‘stuffy’. The house they’d lived in together at Vaucluse had been a cutting-edge modern design. Nothing like this classy, old-world foyer that reminded Jet of her British heritage.
Dan was right. She just needed time. This apartment was her home. She’d been through a lot and she needed to re-adjust, that was all.
Dan had been so patient on the phone earlier. He’d listened attentively and she’d found herself telling him things she hadn’t told anyone. Like the fact she was seriously considering dropping the Temple name. And that she’d been thinking about it long before the mess with Alex had happened. He hadn’t told Jet she was stupid, like she knew Andrew would. Andrew only ever thought about business. He’d say she’d be a fool to lose the Temple name for the connections it would continue to provide.
Instead Dan had told her to do what felt right. What made her happy. He agreed she had to make smart business decisions, but what was the point of having your own business if she wasn’t happy?
His thoughtful advice made her miss him that little bit more. At the end of the phone conversation, it had been on the tip of her tongue to invite him to Sydney, but she knew it would be wrong of her. He needed time, too. To think over whether he wanted to be connected to someone like her, despite his earlier message. She knew Dan wore his heart on his sleeve and she didn’t want to take advantage of that.
Jet thought through all of this as she made her way up the three flights of stairs. She was so deep in thought she didn’t notice the man standing by her front door until she was almost on top of him.
She sucked in a sharp breath. ‘Andrew.’
‘Juliet.’ His piercing green eyes studied her. He was leaning on the door, dressed impeccably in a navy suit, and he made no move to step out of the way.
His open gaze annoyed her and she reached into her bag for her keys. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Seeing you’re home safe with my own eyes.’
She located the keys in the depths of her bag and the sharp metal dug into her fist as she gripped them tightly.
‘Well, here I am. You can go now.’ It was rude of her, but she was too tired and too on edge at the sight of her ex-husband to care.
He made no move to get out of the way. ‘How was work?’
She gripped the keys harder. ‘Busy.’ She pulled the keys out of her bag and held them up none too subtly in front of her, making it obvious he was in the way.
He caught her wrist with his hand. Those green eyes flashed with something and his thumb stroked the back of her hand. She snatched her hand away.
‘Please move, Andrew.’
‘I’ve missed that tone of voice.’
‘I very much doubt that.’ She stepped around him and used her shoulder to shove him out of the way.
He didn’t resist. If he’d wanted to stop her, she wouldn’t have had a hope in hell of getting to her front door and they both knew it.
She slid the key into the lock.
>
‘Where were you?’
It was a demand.
Jet swung back around to face him, leaving the keys hanging in the lock. ‘Is that what this is about?’
‘You can’t just disappear off the face of the earth and not leave me with any idea of your whereabouts.’
‘Funny. Now that we’re divorced, I thought I could do whatever the hell I like.’ She turned back to the door in disgust.
When it came to Andrew Temple, it was all about control. Well, she’d had enough. She unlocked the door and pushed it open, not bothering trying to close it behind her. Andrew was here for a fight and he wasn’t going to go away until he’d been heard. Jet would rather finish this inside where her neighbours couldn’t hear them.
She stalked through her apartment, heading straight to the kitchen, and poured herself a glass of mineral water. She was taking a grateful sip when Andrew strolled in.
‘Classy place. Not my style.’
‘I know.’ Jet’s golden eyes flared at him over the glass. In the two years since they’d been apart, Jet had never invited him here.
A hint of a smile touched his lips. ‘You always had class, even when you were a backpacker.’
‘If it’s alright with you, Andrew, I’m tired and not much in the mood for a trip down memory lane. What do you want?’
‘To know where you were.’
Jet set the glass carefully down onto the counter in front of her. ‘That’s none of your business.’
He placed both palms on counter, leaning towards her. ‘Tell me.’
‘Commissioner Roberts not doing your bidding these days, is he?’
Jet jumped as Andrew slammed a fist down on the marble. When he spoke, it was barely a whisper. ‘Now Juliet. I want to know.’
‘Or what? You’ll make me?’ Despite the blood pumping through her veins, Jet managed to sound calm. Andrew wasn’t used to this version of Juliet and this was scary new territory for both of them. In the past Juliet had always been the one to retreat first, to leave in a silent rage or to relent because it had just been easier. Not anymore. He might be frightening when he didn’t get his way, but somehow Jet knew he’d never hurt her.
Andrew blinked and stepped back, letting out a huff of surprise. ‘Wherever you’ve been, it suits you.’
Jet watched, not moving, as he went around to the fridge and pulled out a beer. She didn’t bother telling him it was over six months old and had been left there after a friend’s husband came over one evening.
She watched him drink straight from the bottle, his Adam’s apple moving up and down beneath his dark five o’clock shadow. Jet hated that she still found him attractive. She was almost certain he knew it, but what he didn’t know was that she didn’t find him attractive because of his presence or his power. She found him attractive because of who he wasn’t when he was with her. It had been the unguarded moments like this when he was just a regular guy that had drawn her to him. Beneath all his gruffness, there was a clever sense of humour and a caring nature he rarely showed to anyone. She still wondered if he’d let down his guard more often and allowed that caring side to show whether their marriage would have lasted.
Jet shook the thoughts away fiercely and said the words guaranteed to chase away any further reminiscing. ‘You’ve been seeing Edie.’
Andrew put the bottle down and had the grace to look sheepish for a second, then he shrugged. ‘Fucking her. Her words not mine.’
‘Charming.’ Jet’s hand shook a little as she picked up her glass.
‘Does it bother you?’
‘Not in the way you think.’
‘Which is?’
‘I don’t want you to hurt her.’
Andrew threw his head back and laughed, so that the deep sound echoed around the kitchen. When he recovered, he shook his head at her. ‘That’s priceless. The woman has my balls in a vice as it is, there’s no hope of hurting her.’
‘I hope not.’
‘Juliet, believe me when I say I’m letting her take me for a ride and enjoying the trip.’
Jet blew out a breath and Andrew took another swig of beer.
‘It’s nothing like what you and I had,’ he commented.
‘Don’t.’
‘No, I’m serious. You were never like that. Edie’s a vixen. You’re a goddess. There’s no comparison.’
‘Andrew.’ At Jet’s clipped tone of voice, Andrew paused with the bottle to his lips.
‘Even your prim accent still turns me on.’
‘For fuck’s sake, Andrew, that’s enough!’
He blinked and lowered the bottle, appearing genuinely surprised.
Jet stepped around the bench so she was standing directly in front of him. ‘I’m going to change the name of the business and I’m changing my surname.’
Surprise turned to shock, but Jet didn’t give herself time to enjoy it. She needed to get this out.
‘You can keep your precious surname, Andrew Temple. Whether my business prospers or fails without it, I don’t care. It will be my business and from now on, you don’t get to have any say, do you understand? This has gone on far too long.’
A slow smile spread across his face. ‘Interesting. So it’s no longer Juliet Temple Events then? It’s Juliet Jones?’
‘No,’ Jet replied, finding it odd to hear her maiden name for the first time in over three years. ‘It’s Jet Appleton and the company will be called Je T’appelle.’ The French words rolled effortlessly off her tongue. ‘That’s French for—’
‘I’ll call you. Cute. But who’s Jet Appleton?’
Jet shot him a frosty glare. ‘I am.’
Chapter Twenty-Six
Despite Jet’s initial reservations about returning to her old life in Sydney, the following two weeks flew past. After her run-in with Andrew, her situation suddenly became a lot clearer. Now she’d let the cat out of the bag about her name and business, she knew she needed to follow through. Perhaps it was immature of her, but nothing would be worse than being on the receiving end of Andrew’s derision if she backed down from her announcement.
Jet set about making the changes happen straight away. She filled in the paperwork to change her surname the very next day and sent it off to Births, Deaths and Marriages. While it had been tempting to legally change her first name as well, Jet chose to leave her Christian name as Juliet, and go by the nickname of Jet. Although she barely remembered her parents, that was the name they had chosen for her.
The next thing Jet did was to get her team of staff on board with the changes. She held a two-hour meeting briefing them about her decision to change the name of the company—leaving out the part about her ex-husband being a domineering, control freak. Instead, she pitched it as an opportunity for growth and a sign of the company’s success.
Jet was grateful more than ever that she’d withstood Andrew’s ongoing pressure to form a company board for the business. For years he’d been saying it was an essential step to take her success to the next level. A big reason she’d resisted was because she didn’t want him on the board. Now it meant she could make these changes without needing to gain anyone else’s approval. If she one day chose to have a board, it would be when she was well and truly free of her ex-husband’s reach.
The meeting wasn’t without the expected questions and concerns. However, by the end of the session the young women that worked for her were excited about the changes. Cleverly, Jet had created a rebranding team, to make her team feel part of the process. They would be overseeing aspects like the logo update, website changes and communicating the refresh to their existing clients.
No matter how busy Jet was, she found time to talk to Dan. It hadn’t been a conscious decision to talk to him every day, but somehow that’s always what ended up happening. Either she’d think of a question to ask him or he’d message her with a thought about something, and by the end of each day there would be an excuse for a phone conversation.
As Jet locked up for the night, she smiled
to herself, already anticipating reading the message Dan had sent her an hour earlier when she’d been in a meeting. For whatever reason, she liked to read his messages when she was alone. She’d been saving this one for when she was heading home, like holding out for a piece of delicious chocolate.
Jet punched the security code into the keypad to arm the alarm for the night and enjoyed listening to the click-clack of her heels on the pavement as she walked to her car. Dan had been right. She had settled back into her old life—with a few changes. While she’d found herself opting for heels at the office again, Jet rarely wore as much make-up as she used to and didn’t always wear a suit depending on what the day held. It was funny how some minor changes to her day-to-day life made her feel more herself.
Jet felt around in her handbag for her phone as she walked. The sun was setting, the summer evening sky an artist’s palette of warm oranges, light blues and purples. It was past seven in the evening. It had been another busy, but satisfying day. Thoughts of the rebranding and Dan filled her head. And how stupid her designer bag was. It really was much too big.
Absently, she registered a young man wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap approaching from the opposite direction. Her office was located in the well-heeled eastern Sydney suburb of Double Bay and like everyone in the area, the guy’s outfit was fashionable. Smart jeans, a casual black shirt and trendy leather jacket. It was pretty warm for a leather jacket, so chances were he was strolling home after Friday night after-work drinks. Maybe Jet would encourage her team to stay for Friday night drinks next week.
Jet pulled the phone out of her bag and glanced down at it. She broke into a big smile when she read over the message.
My turn to Je T’appelle tonight? When you get home, there should be a case of wine waiting by your front door. My treat.
Only the night before Dan had sounded slightly mortified when she’d admitted to not having any good wine in the house. She secretly hoped he’d delivered her a case of Rhodes wine, because she’d developed a taste for it during her time there.
Don't Let Me Forget Page 16
