Vivian set down her purse, took the snake brooch, and affixed it to Jules’s blouse near her collar.

Jules stopped breathing as she realized that this was as close to her breasts as Vivian’s hands had ever been and that perhaps she should pay attention to how it felt because it might not happen again for a while.

Once the brooch was fixed, Vivian stepped back and gave her the stop-being-an-idiot look. Had it always been so affectionate?

“When I tell you that you can have something,” she said, “then you can have it.”

Jules blushed with pleasure. “Okay,” she said, then added, “Same here.” When she heard the words out loud, she realized they sounded like a total come-on.

Vivian obviously realized it too because she cleared her throat, glared, and said, “Let’s go.”

Jules followed her, still blushing and feeling the memory of Vivian’s hands on her blouse a lot more than she felt the weight of the golden snake.

* * *

They arrived at Heathrow early, but the rest of the Du Jour crew was well used to Vivian’s timing and had beaten them there.

Jules looked at her colleagues and wondered that they couldn’t see her radiant secret. They’d be shocked breathless if they did. Disapproving too, and—she was pretty sure—jealous in a couple of cases.

Everything was different now, and none of the people she saw almost every day could know.

“Good morning.”

She twitched at Simon’s sudden appearance. His eyes were baggy and tired. He must have had a hell of a time last night.

Simon definitely can’t know. What a weird thought. They’d shared so many stories of Vivian’s caprices over the years. Now there was an invisible wall between them. She pressed her lips together and fought down a brief pang of regret.

“Feeling better?” he asked.

Huh? “Oh! Yes. All recovered, thanks.”

“You sure seem to be. I haven’t seen you this pumped since you told me about getting into The Cut. What’s up?”

Jules was clearly not off to a good start when it came to acting casual. Maybe, just maybe, her happiness shouldn’t radiate from her face. “I’m just glad I’m not puking my guts up anymore.”

Simon wrinkled his nose. Then he saw her new brooch. His eyes widened. “Well, well. How’d you snatch that one from under her nose?”

“What?”

“The Stephen Webster.” He pointed at the snake. “She’s been coveting it ever since she saw it in the showroom a few days ago. Or is this merely a cunning and extremely quickly executed knockoff?”

“Would you believe me if I said knockoff?” Jules said weakly. Damn it. She’d fixated on a piece Vivian had actually wanted. Great, just great.

“I wouldn’t believe you if I’d seen you knocking it off yourself.”