Page 63 of Indescribable Love

She seriously thought she had him, but…

“As part of Simon’s team, you’re all allowed to be filmed. You’ve been in background shots without an issue, Jules. We won’t need to have any audio of you or talk to you.” He shrugged. “Plus, Simon’s been very aware of where the cameras are every night when he walks off the stage. Seems to me he wanted this shot.”

A rebuttal was on the tip of her tongue, but…what if he was right? Simon had promised her that he wouldn’t out them, but what if he’d changed his mind? What if he decided that he wanted their relationship out in the open and simply took the decision out of her hands?

“Think about it,” Nick said before casually strolling away.

Seething, Juliette took a moment to calm down. There was no way she was going to take a chance on confronting Simon here and risk anything else being caught on camera. So she found ways to busy herself while she knew he was back in his dressing room showering and changing. She talked to a few people, thanked several members of the arena staff, and even hid out for a few minutes in the women’s restroom. Her phone vibrated in her pocket.

Simon: You okay?

Simon: The car’s ready for us. Nik and I are waiting for you.

Knowing Nikki would be a good buffer on the ride back to the hotel, she relaxed.

Juliette: On my way.

But as she walked along the long corridor toward the dressing room, she realized that she didn’t have a room of her own to go to after the tense conversation she and Simon were going to have.

“Hell, I can pay for my own damn room if I need it.” Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that, but there was something to be said for sleeping apart to cool down.

There’s also that whole don’t go to bed angry thing, but…whatever.

She found the two of them and Gage waiting for her, and she kept a completely neutral expression on her face.

So did Simon.

The drive back to the hotel was almost painfully quiet, and she guessed she wasn’t the only one with a lot on her mind. When they climbed out of the car, Simon’s hand rested on her lower back and she felt a moment of calm, like maybe she was overreacting. Nikki walked beside them and kept giving them nervous glances, but even she stayed quiet all the way up to their floor. Simon walked into their room first, but before Juliette could follow, Nikki stopped her.

“If you need anything, even a place to crash tonight, the room next to me is vacant. I still book a room for you, even though…well…you know. Just knock on my door and I’ll let you in. Unless you want the key now? I can run down to my room and?—”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” And she turned to walk away again, but Nikki stopped her.

“He’s upset too, Jules,” she said quietly. “And whatever he tells you, you can trust it to be the truth. Nick and the rest of the crew? I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them.” Then she gave her a weak smile. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Some of the fight went out of her the moment she walked into their suite. Simon’s back was to her and he was staring out the window. The city was shrouded in darkness with the exception of some downtown lights, and she could see his sad reflection in the glass.

Slowly, Juliette walked around, putting her purse on a chair, and then kicked off her shoes. In her mind, he was going to be the one to break the silence, but it seemed like he was waiting for her to do it.

So she did.

“Did you come out and kiss me on purpose?” she forced herself to ask.

It seemed like forever until he turned to face her. “Is that seriously what you think? We’ve talked about this. You asked me not to do that.” He paced a bit, his hands raking through his still damp hair. “It wasn’t something calculated,” he said, his voice tortured and sad. “I was thinking of you, and when I saw you, I wanted to kiss you. That’s all there is to it.”

She let out a shaky breath as he walked toward her. “Oh.”

Toe-to-toe, his hands rested on her hips. “I was so damn happy, Juliette. The show went great, the crowd was fantastic, and then…there you were. In that moment, I was riding high with everything I want in this world.” He paused. “I want you. I love you.”

Her heart hammered like a beast at his words.

“Simon…I…I…”

Placing a finger over her lips, he silenced her words. “Don’t say anything just because you think you have to. I needed you to know how I feel. What happened tonight was because I couldn’t help myself. Please don’t be angry with me.”

Well, shit. She couldn’t, even if she really wanted to.

He loved her.