The bite in her voice could have cut through steel. Jules grimaced and looked up at the gray London sky. Lunch at a swanky restaurant after the revelations of last night with Vivian in a terrible mood.

Wouldn’t this be fun?

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

It was not, in fact, fun.

Lunch was a silent and awkward affair. Jules had arrived about ten minutes before Vivian. It gave her enough time to drum her fingertips on the table and force herself not to look at Twitter again.

Then Vivian arrived at twelve thirty on the dot, casually elegant in slacks and a loose red blouse. Jules exhaled slowly at the sight of her. You dumbass. You’re a goner for sure.

Thankfully, no reporters had followed Vivian to the restaurant, but several patrons inside recognized her. A few even knew her, and as they stopped by the table to say hello, Jules saw the curiosity and sometimes even the glee in their eyes. They must have seen the photos too.

Vivian greeted all of them with a cold smile, and soon enough her acquaintances mumbled their farewells and left her alone.

Simon had told Jules that Vivian didn’t do “friends.” Now Jules could see why.

Core was a soothing environment, even under these circumstances. Much more chill than the pink Music Room or the golden Dorchester ballroom. The color scheme was pale mint and cream, and the furniture had pleasing contemporary lines. Jules lusted after the wooden appetizer presentation plates. It wasn’t like she cooked, but they’d look great in her kitchen. It must be nice to be able to buy stuff like this whenever you wanted.

The food was excellent too, but she couldn’t enjoy her roasted monkfish. Still trying to set a good example for Vivian, who looked less than enthused, she ate almost every bite. Eventually, Vivian managed to eat most of her food, which still wasn’t saying much, since Core was one of those restaurants that served teeny-tiny portions for outrageous sums of money.

Total rip-off. What Vivian needed was an Olive Garden. Jules tried to imagine her in one and almost choked on her ice water.

“What is it?” Vivian asked as she set her fork down.

“Nothing.” She dabbed her napkin over her mouth. “Just swallowed the wrong way.”

Vivian glared. “No, you thought of something funny. I can always tell with you. What are you laughing at?”

I can always tell with you? Please, please let that only be when Jules was thinking funny thoughts and not lustful ones.

“Because,” Vivian continued, “I don’t see that there’s much to laugh at today.”

Oh, so she wanted to get huffy. Jules couldn’t blame her—when you were in a bad mood, sometimes you just wanted to lash out. And Vivian had plenty of reasons to be in a bad mood, but she wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to put up with bullshit today.