‘They’re here,’ she gasped nervously, smoothing skirt to her lemon sun-dress, checking the appearance of her hair, and then chastising herself for being nervous in the first place; Cheryl was her sister, for goodness’ sake.
‘Obviously,’ Pierce mocked indulgently.
She stood at his side as they waited for the other couple, hardly able to believe the glowingly beautiful woman with the tall handsome man was her sister Cheryl. She had never seen her sister look so beautiful, her hazel eyes glowing. Her blonde hair had been restyled, the same length as Danny’s now, the more sophisticated style suiting her, the cream silk dress she was wearing obviously a designer model.
‘Danny!’ she cried excitedly, running across the room to hug her. ‘I had no idea you were going to be here.’ She turned back to Nigel. ‘Was it a surprise?’
He looked at Danny with steady blue eyes, a young version of Pierce, tall and dark, with a lithe athletic body. ‘For both of us,’ he drawled cryptically, looking at his uncle consideringly.
Cheryl looked shyly at Pierce, too. ‘It’s nice to meet you at last.’
‘I’ve been looking forward to this moment, too,’ he assured her softly.
‘Pierce?’ Nigel prompted warily.
He turned to the younger man with steely eyes. ‘I suggest we go and see to the organisation of your luggage while Danielle and Cheryl make their proper greetings.’
Nigel strode across the room to kiss Cheryl lingeringly on the mouth. ‘I shouldn’t be long.’
‘I’m sure Cheryl will survive without you for the few minutes we’ll be gone,’ Pierce mocked in a hard voice.
‘Possibly,’ his nephew snapped, following him out the room. ‘But will I?’
‘Isn’t he wonderful!’ Cheryl clasped Danny’s hands excitedly. ‘I love him so much.’
‘Cheryl…’
‘Are you and Pierce Sutherland—friends?’ her sister probed interestedly.
‘What on earth made you ask that?’ she asked warily.
‘The way he said your name,’ Cheryl laughed. ‘It was so sexy.’
‘Cheryl…’
‘Of course he’s not as sexy as Nigel,’ her sister chattered lightly. ‘But he is a very handsome man. Are you involved with him?’
‘Don’t you think you should be the one answering that question—about Nigel,’ Danny cut in irritably. ‘You disappear to New York for five days with a man none of your family even know, miss university as if it’s unimportant to you, and then come back and start questioning me!’
‘You’ve met Nigel before,’ Cheryl snapped. ‘And I’ve finished all my exams, so missing the last week doesn’t really matter. As for New York…’
‘Oh, I’m so glad you remembered New York!’ she said with sarcasm.
‘Stop acting like a maiden aunt instead of my sister,’ Cheryl dismissed impatiently.
‘I feel like your maiden aunt,’ she assured her exasperatedly. ‘Mum and Dad have been worried sick—’
‘I called them from the airport—’
‘That’s something at least. Don’t you think—’
‘Danny, before you say anything else I think I should tell you that Nigel and I were married the morning we left for New York,’ Cheryl cut in quietly.
She swallowed hard, all the breath seeming to be knocked from her body. Married? Her little sister was married! She looked in disbelief at the platinum wedding ring Cheryl proudly displayed, sure she must have made some words of admiration by the glow of pleasure in her sister’s face.
‘Nigel wanted to buy me an engagement ring while we were in New York,’ Cheryl chatted on, ‘but I don’t want one, I’ve had one engagement; it didn’t work out.’
‘Gary?’
‘Has been an absolute dear.’ Cheryl nodded.
‘He knows?’ she gasped.
‘I told him last weekend when he came up to London that I couldn’t marry him.’
‘But he—he came round at the beginning of the week,’ Danny stuttered. ‘He didn’t say a word to me then.’
Cheryl smiled. ‘I told you he’s been a dear.’
‘But… he spoke of you as if nothing had happened.’ Danny frowned.
Her sister nodded. ‘I’m sure as far as he’s concerned nothing really has. Sometimes it happens this way, you grow up and become friends instead of lovers. I’m sure we’ll always remain friends, and although you have to like the person you marry you can’t marry the person who is just a good friend.’
‘Cheryl, are you absolutely sure he understood what you were telling him?’ She couldn’t believe Gary could act so—so undisturbed.
Cheryl shrugged. ‘I gave him back his ring.’
‘And he didn’t think you were asking him to get it cleaned or something?’
‘Danny,’ her sister said patiently, ‘I explained to him about Nigel, told him that I intended marrying him if he asked me, then I gave Gary back his ring. He couldn’t have misunderstood that!’
No, he couldn’t. And yet he had seemed to be unaffected by it. ‘He wasn’t upset?’ she persisted.
‘He was disappointed,’ her sister corrected.
‘But you were so jealous because I’d had him to the house for dinner!’
Cheryl’s mouth quirked. ‘Wasn’t I supposed to be?’
‘You mean you were having me on?’
‘You weren’t very subtle, Danny,’ she teased, giggling a little. ‘Even dear sweet Gary guessed what you were up to!’
‘Oh, that’s just marvellous!’ she said in disgust.
Cheryl sobered. ‘We both know you meant well, Danny. But Gary admitted that he had known things weren’t right between us for the last six months or so—before I had even met Nigel,’ she added pointedly. ‘Gary just didn’t want to hurt my feelings by saying so.’ She shrugged.
‘And your marriage to Nigel?’
Cheryl’s expression turned to one of extreme tenderness. ‘I’ve never felt so happy,’ she smiled. ‘When he got back Sunday evening he asked me to marry him, and when I accepted he told me he had been walking about with a marriage licence in his pocket since the day after we met, just hoping I would say yes. How could I resist him after that! It was too irresistible not to get married before we went to New York.’
She could see that her sister was happy with her new husband, she just didn’t see why they needed to get married so quickly.
‘You would all have tried to talk me out of it,’ Cheryl defended when she said so. ‘I didn’t want to wait, and neither did Nigel.’ She blushed. ‘We were tired of waiting.’
‘I am pleased for you, but I just—’
‘No buts, Danny,’ she encouraged. ‘Just be happy for me. And it looks as if you won’t have lost out on your opportunity to be my bridesmaid either,’ she grimaced. ‘Mum and Dad are insisting we have a second wedding in church.’
‘How does Nigel feel about that?’ she derided. ‘Most men try to avoid even one wedding!’
Cheryl laughed happily. ‘Now that we’ve acted so impulsively it’s time to please the in-laws,’ she teased. ‘We met Nigel’s parents while we were away, and I think they would like us to have a grander wedding, too. Nigel would like Pierce to be his best man.’
Danny frowned. ‘Did he know that the two of you were married?’
‘No one did.’ Cheryl shook her head. ‘We were having too good a time to spoil it. Now tell me about you and Pierce. And don’t say there’s nothing going on, even a child could see that there is.’
And her sister was far from being that, she had learnt today. Cheryl was much more mature than she had given her credit for, and she had no doubt that this new Cheryl would make a success of her marriage.
‘I love him,’ she replied with complete candour. ‘And he wants me.’
‘And?’
‘And he’s got me.’
Her sister nodded. ‘You know he was married?’
‘Yes,’ she sighed. ‘But it was so long ago, and one unhappy marriage…’
<
br /> ‘Oh, it wasn’t unhappy,’ Cheryl instantly denied with a frown. ‘They were both very young, but from what Nigel’s told me the two of them were ecstatically happy together.’
She had assumed, from the little Pierce had told her, that he had loved his wife and the emotion hadn’t been reciprocated. But if they had been so happy together, why was Pierce so bitter about the past? It was just something else to add to the list of things she didn’t know about the man she loved.
‘Danny—’
‘Danielle, there’s something you should know,’ Pierce strode back into the room, quickly followed by Nigel, the younger man putting his arm protectively about Cheryl’s waist. ‘Cheryl and Nigel—’
‘Are married,’ she finished self-derisively, moving to kiss her new brother-in-law on the cheek. ‘Welcome to the family,’ she said ruefully.
Cheryl kissed Pierce. ‘I don’t think I can bring myself to call you“uncle"—in the circumstances.’ Her eyes glowed with mischief as she looked from Danny pointedly back to Pierce.
His mouth quirked mockingly. ‘In the circumstances,’ he drawled, ‘maybe you’re right.’
‘Circumstances?’ Only Nigel still looked puzzled. ‘What circumstances?’
‘Come with me while I freshen up and change, darling,’ Cheryl invited. ‘And I’ll tell you.’
Danny stood at Pierce’s side as the other couple left the room, Nigel still frowning as Cheryl refused to answer him.
‘What have you been telling your sister about us?’ Pierce asked drily.
‘Only that I love you,’ she replied distractedly, still preoccupied with the fact that Pierce’s marriage had been a happy one. And his memories, obviously good ones, were almost as old as she was! ‘She guessed the rest,’ Danny dismissed.
‘What are your feelings about them being married?’
‘I’m sure they will be very happy together.’
He nodded. ‘They’re driving down to see your parents tomorrow.’
‘Mum and Dad will like that.’
‘Why don’t you go with them?’
She raised startled eyes. ‘You—’
‘No, not me,’ he replied harshly. ‘But I understand this is a family time, that you might like to join in the celebrations.’
‘You’re part of Nigel’s family,’ she pointed out softly.
‘And I’ll celebrate with him today,’ Pierce rasped dismissively.
‘Then so will I.’
‘I’d rather you went with them tomorrow,’ he told her abruptly.
‘Why?’ she looked up curiously at his closed expression.
‘I have someone coming here to see me tomorrow—’
‘Oh—oh, I see.’ She paled, turning away. ‘In that case—’
‘You don’t see at all, Danielle,’ Pierce roughly jerked up her chin so that he could look at her face. ‘My visitor tomorrow is a man. He and I have business together.’
‘And you would prefer it if I weren’t around,’ she realised heavily. ‘I apologised for yesterday; I can assure you I’ll never do anything like that again. It was only—’
‘Danielle, I told you, I found your entrance last night spectacular—and so did Paul.’ He grasped her shoulders. ‘But this meeting tomorrow is very important to me. It is also extremely private.’
She also knew that he didn’t want to become any more involved with her family than he already was, that it was all part of avoiding any deep relationship. ‘I’ll go with Cheryl and Nigel,’ she decided. ‘I haven’t seen my parents for some time, and—’
‘You’ll be back tomorrow night?’ He frowned.
She smiled warmly. ‘If you want me to be.’
‘I do.’ He nodded abruptly, adding nothing to the statement.
She nodded. ‘Then I’ll be back.’
‘Would you like to“freshen up and change” before we eat?’ he suggested softly.
‘Aren’t you ever satisfied?’ she teased.
‘Of you?’ He raised dark brows, as if he were slightly surprised by the answer. ‘No.’
They still arrived back downstairs for aperitifs before the newly married couple. Dinner was a light-hearted affair, even Pierce relaxed a little under the glow of Cheryl’s obvious happiness. Nigel looked only slightly less radiant than his wife, apparently ignoring the relationship Cheryl must have told him existed between his uncle and Danny.
That assumption was quickly dispelled!
Nigel joined Danny out on the terrace as Cheryl and Pierce decided what music they were to listen to. He stood silently at her side for several minutes, gazing up at the moonlight. Finally he spoke. ‘I’ve never seen Pierce this relaxed.’
Danny turned to smile at him. ‘It’s been a successful evening.’
‘I didn’t just mean tonight.’ Nigel shook his head. ‘He’s seemed more at ease when I’ve spoken to him on the telephone this last week.’
‘I hadn’t noticed.’ But she had, knew every subtle change in the man she loved. And there was something about his business meeting tomorrow that made her uneasy. Who had business meetings on a Sunday? Extremely private, Pierce had said. Her uneasiness about the situation was hard to describe, but it existed.
‘He seems to have put it out of his mind for a while,’ Nigel added thoughtfully.
Danny gave him a sharp look. ‘Put what out of his mind?’
‘For sixteen years he’s been eaten up by guilt and remorse, it’s time he put it all behind him and started to live normally again.’
Sixteen years? Why on earth should Pierce feel guilt and remorse about his wife’s death? Nigel seemed to assume she knew. Maybe she would have known if she hadn’t been five years old at the time! And she wasn’t about to ask Pierce himself, knew he would resent the intrusion into his privacy.
‘Cheryl says you’re in love with him.’ Nigel looked at her intently. ‘If you are, then get him to give up. It’s been sixteen years now, he has to let go.’
‘I’m sorry, Nigel, but I—’
‘I hope to God you aren’t encouraging him in the insanity,’ he rasped. ‘It’s self-destructive!’
‘I—’
‘Come on, you two,’ Cheryl teased lightly as she stood in the doorway. ‘Pierce has made room for us to dance.’
‘Have you been charming my taciturn uncle?’ Nigel mockingly reproved his wife.
‘I’ve been charming her.’ Pierce joined Cheryl. ‘She’s promised me the first dance.’
Pierce listened with indulgent amusement as Cheryl chattered to him while they danced, Nigel watched them with indulgence as he danced with Danny.
‘I’ll take care of her.’ Nigel suddenly noticed Danny’s serious expression. ‘She’s very special to me.’
That hadn’t been the reason for her brooding thoughts, genuinely concerned about Nigel’s enigmatic conversation about Pierce. She shook off her feelings of apprehension with effort, smiling brightly. ‘She seems to think you’re special too,’ she challenged.
‘That’s because I am,’ he returned cheekily.
Danny gave a splutter of laughter. ‘Modest, too. My parents are going to love you!’ She knew her father would like his outspoken wit, her mother his air of confidence and caring.
‘I hope so.’ He looked slightly disconcerted. ‘It’s very important to Cheryl that they do, and if it’s important to her then it’s important to me, too.’
Danny gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. ‘Believe me, they always wanted a son like you. I hope you don’t mind,’ she frowned, ‘but I’d like to go with you tomorrow.’
‘Pierce?’
Her gaze was suddenly evasive. ‘He has an important business meeting.’
Nigel frowned. ‘You don’t happen to know who with, do you?’
‘He didn’t say.’ She shrugged lightly. ‘It could be Paul Banyon.’
‘He and Clarissa are already on their way back to the States.’ Nigel shook his head. ‘Damn,’ he muttered grimly. ‘When will he stop tormenting himself in thi
s way!’
‘Nigel?’
‘Cheryl would like to dance with her husband now,’ Pierce cut in lightly, although there was steel in his eyes.
Danny could feel the tension in him as they danced to the romantic music, guessed that he had probably overheard part of her conversation with Nigel. And he didn’t like it. ‘Pierce, I—’
‘I don’t care to be discussed with my nephew in that way,’ he cut in icily. ‘And if you intend to continue to gossip in this way I believe our relationship will have to end.’
Danny gasped at the inflexibility in his voice. ‘I wasn’t gossiping!’
‘You told Nigel of my meeting tomorrow when it is none of his business!’
‘I thought he would already know—’
‘I told you, it’s a private meeting!’
‘You also said it was business,’ she reminded exasperatedly.
‘As my accountant, Nigel is not told of all my business meetings,’ Pierce dismissed haughtily.
‘Well, I’m sorry.’
‘Your apology is accepted.’ He nodded distantly, ignoring her angry snort at his interrupting of her sarcasm. ‘Now I believe it’s time to politely end this evening; Cheryl looks very tired.’
Cheryl was yawning as she and Nigel went upstairs to their suite, the atmosphere suddenly very tense in the lounge. Danny stood awkwardly in the middle of the room as Pierce poured himself a drink when she refused his offer.
‘Where do you want to sleep tonight?’ he suddenly asked abruptly.
She didn’t know if the query were a genuine one or a way of asking if they would be sharing a bed tonight. ‘It’s cosier in my bed,’ she answered softly.
‘Cosier?’ He derided the description. These black moods of sarcasm and coldness were becoming less frequent, but they were all the more cutting because of that.
‘I realise my bed isn’t long enough for you,’ she lightly teased. ‘But at least we can’t lose each other in it.’ She found his king-size bed too large!
‘Then let’s go.’ He threw the drink to the back of his throat before leaving the empty glass on the table.
Their lovemaking was different again that night. Pierce didn’t want her to reciprocate the caresses he had taught her, although he sent her over the edge of desire time and time again, taking her with deliberate slowness. It was as if he were punishing her for something, and afterwards Danny lay unfulfilled emotionally, but physically satiated, in his arms.
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