Strange, she had believed herself to be so much in love with Danny fifteen months ago. But after being Nick’s wife for over a year she couldn’t even remember what Danny looked like, let alone what it had felt like to be with him…
Nick’s was such a strong personality, and he had so much physical presence, that when he wasn’t at home the house seemed strangely empty, only coming alive again when he returned. As it had tonight…
‘Sorry.’ He grimaced now at her rebuke, running a hand through the dark thickness of his hair. ‘I—What is it?’ he prompted sharply at her indrawn breath.
How on earth could she possibly tell the man who was her husband that she longed to run her hands through the darkness of his hair, that she wanted to lie in bed next to him looking down at him, to kiss every part of him, to know the full pleasure she was sure Nick was capable of giving her; that she wanted to give him pleasure in return!
There was no way she could ever let him even see she felt that way, let alone tell him such a thing!
‘Nothing,’ she snapped abruptly. ‘I told you, I’m tired.’ She relented slightly as he raised dark brows at her unaccustomed aggression. He could hardly be blamed—or even know!—that the frustrated irritation she always felt nowadays when he was at home had returned. ‘Did you have a good business trip?’ she prompted as she moved to switch off some of the lamps prior to going to bed.
He shrugged. ‘It was the usual round of business meetings,’ he dismissed in a bored voice.
‘It can’t have been all business, Nick.’ She attempted to tease him, still deeply troubled by the way Jemima had telephoned him—and whether or not it was something that had happened before!
He looked across at her with intense green eyes, not answering her for several minutes.
And Gemini couldn’t help wondering if she had given herself away. Had her tone not been as teasing as she had meant it to be? Worse, had she sounded like a suspicious wife?
She hoped not; it was something she knew Nick would never tolerate. He never questioned her when she came back from buying trips, never showed the slightest interest in what she did on a social level while she was away from home.
Damn him!
Okay, so she wasn’t Jemima, but the two of them were identical to look at, and before she’d known the Drummond brothers there had never been any shortage of men wanting to take her out, to tell her she was beautiful, desirable. Nor since, if she were honest…
So why didn’t Nick find her attractive?
She’d asked herself that question so many times during recent months, and the only answer she had been able to come up with was that it was because she and Jemima were identical, and in Nick’s eyes maybe she was only a pale copy of her twin sister.
Now that hurt!
Because she was a person in her own right. When they were children their mother had always dressed the two girls the same, styled their dark hair the same way, so much so that they had simply become known as ‘the Stone twins’. But adulthood had brought deliberate changes, and the two women’s styles of dress were now completely different. Jemima favoured jeans and tee shirts, while Gemini’s clothes were always stylish and elegant. Jemima kept her hair cropped short for convenience’s sake; Gemini preferred a softer, shoulder-length style.
But Gemini knew she had to accept the fact that in Nick’s eyes it was the differences in their personalities that left her wanting…
‘No, not all business, Gemini,’ he finally answered her slowly, still watching her with narrowed eyes. “’All work and no play”, and all that rubbish…’ he added derisively.
She swallowed hard, not knowing if she wanted to go on with this conversation but also knowing it was too late to stop now! ‘And in what way do you “play” while you’re away, Nick?’ She hoped she had managed to make her tone sound light and uninterested this time! Sound it—because it was far from the way she felt; her hands were clenched so tightly at her sides that her nails were sticking into the palms of her hands.
He bent to switch off the gas fire before answering her. To give him time to think of a suitable answer? One that would be acceptable to a wife? His wife?
But then she was his wife in name only, and not even that really. Her fashion label GemStone meant that most people still assumed her name was Gemini Stone, and not Drummond at all…
‘I spent a lot of time in the hotel pool,’ he finally drawled, his green gaze meeting hers challengingly.
Because he couldn’t have spent every evening in the swimming pool, and they both knew it! But to pursue this subject any further would surely be dangerous on her part; Nick would want to know the reason for her interest, and there was no way she could tell him it was jealousy of the time he spent with anyone else but her! Especially if that ‘anyone’ should turn out to be Jemima!
‘That must have been nice.’ She nodded, turning to leave.
‘Er—Gemini…?’ Nick stopped her as she reached the door.
She froze, turning slowly back to face him. Had she given herself away, after all? She could read nothing from his closed expression. ‘Yes?’ she prompted warily.
‘I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve accepted a dinner invitation for the two of us with the Crawfords tomorrow evening,’ he drawled pointedly.
The point was completely lost on her! Why should he think that would be a problem for her? She was always more than happy to go out with Nick. In fact, she looked forward to the evenings they would be out together in public; Nick was always the attentive husband on such occasions, and even though she knew it was a façade she still revelled in his protective care!
‘Jessica…?’ Nick reminded her as she continued to look blank. ‘I don’t think it would be quite the thing to take her along with us—do you?’ he added mockingly.
The baby! She’d done it again, Gemini realised; of course, they would need a babysitter for Jessica if the two of them were to go out together!
‘Perhaps Mrs James…?’ She grimaced hopefully.
‘We can ask her.’ Nick nodded. ‘Although I don’t think that was part of her job description when I employed her ten years ago!’
Gemini was sure it wasn’t. Rachel James was a woman in her late fifties, and while she used the title of Mrs she had confided in Gemini shortly after she’d come to live here as Nick’s wife, that it was a courtesy title only, useful in the profession she had chosen for herself, but that she’d never actually been married.
Which meant she’d probably never had to deal much with children, either, and in particularly not a very young baby!
‘I’ll have a talk to her in the morning,’ Gemini assured Nick dismissively. ‘But I don’t think Mrs James will mind.’
‘No,’ he acknowledged dryly. ‘I had visions of there being problems with Mrs James when you came to live here as my wife,’ he explained at Gemini’s questioning look, ‘but in fact it’s turned out to be the opposite! Mrs James always comes to you for instructions,’ he murmured ruefully. ‘Fills the house with daffodils at all times of the year because she knows they’re your favourite flower, prepares the meals she knows you like—’
‘If any of that is a problem for you, Nick, you should have said,’ Gemini put in uncomfortably; she hadn’t even realised he had noticed those slight but subtle changes in the household.
She’d only mentioned once in passing to the housekeeper that she loved daffodils, that their golden colour always made her feel in a cheerful mood—and before she knew it the house was ablaze with the beautiful blooms. Just as she had once mentioned that she preferred to eat fish and chicken to red meat—only to find that red meat all but disappeared from their dining table!
‘Oh, it isn’t a problem, Gemini,’ Nick assured her derisively. ‘I merely look on in admiration at the charm you’ve exerted over our formerly austere housekeeper.’
It wasn’t a question of charming the older woman; she merely treated Rachel James like a person. She hadn’t grown up in a household that had had employe
es in the house of any kind. She’d lived on her own in a flat before marrying Nick. She wasn’t accustomed to having staff in her home. Rachel had somehow sensed that in her, and had helped her all she could, forging a bond of understanding between the two women that Nick probably couldn’t understand.
Nick raised dark brows. ‘How is it you’ve never attempted to exert that charm over me…?’ he prompted huskily.
Gemini gave him a sharp look. Was he flirting with her?
For the most part, Gemini and her husband lived together quite comfortably, with a friendly politeness between them. And Nick rarely, if ever, made any sort of remark that stepped over that line of friendship, that could be taken as being in the least flirtatious. And yet this evening he’d done so more than once…
Don’t overreact, Gemini, she inwardly warned herself, her pulse beating fast, totally aware of every muscle and sinew of Nick’s near-naked body, able to smell the aftershave that was such a part of him as he stood only feet away from her.
But it was very late, that time of the night when nothing seemed quite as it usually was, and Nick probably didn’t mean anything at all by the remark he had just made. In fact, it was probably all the talk of Jemima that had prompted it!
She gave a self-deprecating smile. ‘Probably because I know I would be wasting my time!’
‘I wouldn’t be too sure of that,’ he murmured throatily.
‘I would,’ she assured him flatly, all too aware of how he felt about her sister.
‘Why don’t you try it and see?’ he encouraged softly, seeming suddenly closer now, although Gemini hadn’t been aware of him moving.
Gemini was more sure than ever that he was confusing her with Jemima. ‘You don’t really—’ She broke off as she heard the sound of Jessica’s whimpering cry coming from upstairs.
‘Saved by the bell—or in this case the baby,’ Nick drawled. ‘I think Jessica has decided it’s time for a feed, after all,’ he muttered dryly.
And Gemini, for one, didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed at the interruption!
There was something different about Nick tonight, on his return from this business trip. He was exerting a sensuality over her that she would have to be totally uninterested not to be aware of—and she was far from being that!
‘You warm a bottle and take it up to her; I’ll turn the lights off down here when I come up,’ Nick told Gemini briskly as he turned away, and that air of intimacy that had briefly been between them was totally dispelled at the return of his usual terseness.
Gemini grabbed the bottle from the kitchen and hurried up the stairs, all the time aware that Nick was still in the sitting-room, where she’d left him.
What had happened between them just now? she wondered as she fed the baby. And had it really happened between them, or had Nick briefly allowed her similarity to Jemima in looks to deceive him…?
Somehow—sadly—she had the feeling the latter was the true explanation…!
CHAPTER THREE
GEMINI couldn’t believe it; her bedside clock read ten o’clock in the morning!
But it couldn’t be. She’d last fed Jessica at two o’clock, and although she knew very little about babies, surely Jessica was too young yet to have gone through the eight hours from her last feed?
Oh, no. Was there something wrong with the baby?
Gemini’s expression was frantic as she jumped out of bed and rushed to the spare bedroom—only to find the carrycot was empty!
But where was Jessica?
She felt sick as she rushed down the stairs. If anything had happened to the baby she would never forgive herself—
‘Where’s the fire?’
She turned sharply at the sound of Nick’s mocking voice coming from the doorway of the breakfast-room, coming to an abrupt halt as she saw the sleeping baby in his arms, her tension leaving her so suddenly she felt like a deflated balloon.
She groaned, putting a shaky hand to her forehead. ‘I thought Jessica had gone,’ she admitted breathlessly, that sick feeling still in the pit of her stomach.
‘She’s a little young to have just walked out of here, don’t you think?’ Nick mocked.
‘Very funny!’ She raised her head to glare at him with angry blue eyes. ‘I had no idea where she could have gone!’
‘And now you can see that she’s perfectly safe down here with me,’ he taunted, turning back into the breakfast-room, looking comfortable and relaxed in faded denims and a black shirt this morning. ‘Come in here and have a cup of coffee; you know you aren’t even halfway human until you’ve had your first cup of coffee of the morning!’
Living in such close proximity with this man meant he knew altogether too much about her, Gemini decided grumpily as she followed him into the breakfast-room and poured herself a cup of coffee. Because he was right, of course—when wasn’t he?
Her first gulps of the rich brew were bringing back some feeling of equilibrium. She frowned as she looked up to find him watching her with an amused smile on his arrogant face as he sat opposite her at the table. ‘It isn’t funny, Nick,’ she complained irritably.
‘I wasn’t laughing at you, Gemini—I was just thinking how sexy you look in pyjamas! And you blush delightfully, too!’ he added teasingly as her cheeks coloured fiery red at the intimacy of the compliment.
Because it was no longer two o’clock in the morning—and Nick was still making flirtatious remarks!
She’d changed out of the grey milk-stained pyjamas when she’d finally got to bed last night, and was wearing another silk pair now, the same cobalt-blue as her eyes this time. And once again she hadn’t had time to put a robe on over their silkiness!
Oh, damn it, after a year of being what she hoped was the perfect wife, always perfectly groomed and dressed, in the last twenty-four hours Nick had seen her not once, but twice, wearing only the pyjamas she favoured for sleeping in. It wasn’t fair!
She pushed some of her hair impatiently back behind her ears as the silky softness fell about her face. ‘I can’t believe I slept until this time of the morning!’ She couldn’t remember the last time she had slept in later than eight o’clock.
Nick shrugged. ‘Jessica woke at seven for a feed, and when I looked in on you you were sleeping so peacefully I just left you to it and fed her myself. It wasn’t a problem.’
Nothing ever was with Nick; he always seemed able to cope with any situation that was thrown at him—including crying babies that needed feeding.
Strange, because when Gemini had first met him, albeit as Jemima’s fiancé, her one worry about the relationship had been how Nick would cope if the two of them had children. He’d already been thirty-eight, his lifestyle firmly in place, and the arrival of children would definitely throw that routine out of the window! It hadn’t been something she’d particularly thought about when the two of them had married instead—children weren’t even a possibility when they occupied separate bedrooms!
But if the situation warranted it, as Jessica’s needing a feed had this morning, Nick obviously felt no qualms about entering her bedroom…
She looked at the sleeping baby nestled in his arms, her expression softening as she saw the total vulnerability of such a tiny creature. She admired the way Nick held Jessica, so capably that the baby couldn’t help but feel secure and loved.
Would she feel the same way if Nick held her like that…?
Gemini looked away abruptly, swallowing hard. ‘You certainly do seem to have a way with babies—’ She looked up questioningly at Nick as he began to chuckle softly.
‘I thought you were going to say with females.’ He dryly explained the reason for his humour.
‘And just how would I know that?’ Gemini came back waspishly, stung by the reference to other women.
Nick tilted his head questioningly to one side as he looked across at her, the intensity of that gaze making Gemini feel suddenly uncomfortable.
She’d said too much again! She seemed to have been doing rath
er a lot of that the last twenty-four hours, too. But the arrival of Jessica into their well-ordered existence seemed to have broken down those barriers of politeness that had separated them. Besides, it was very difficult to maintain a polite front when dressed only in revealing silk pyjamas—especially when Nick had already remarked that she looked sexy in them!
She stood up, pushing her chair back noisily. ‘I think I’ll go back upstairs and get dressed—’
‘Gemini.’ Nick softly cut across her rushed words of departure. ‘If you ever want to change the terms of our marriage, you only have to say the words…’
She stood stricken to the spot, staring down at him. What words? He didn’t seriously expect her to just blurt out that when she wasn’t feverishly working, to keep her mind and body busy, she thought of little else but being in Nick’s arms, of the two of them making love together?
If he did, then she really had said too much! And the last thing she wanted from Nick was his sympathy—or, even worse, that he should decide second best, in Jemima’s twin, was better than nothing!
Gemini deliberately adopted a derisive expression. ‘Really, Nick, if I ever feel the need of a man in that way there are dozens of available ones out there who would do just as well—and who’d cause far less complication!’ she told him tauntingly.
His mouth tightened grimly, his eyes taking on a cold brilliance as he looked at her through a frown. ‘I wouldn’t recommend you try it, Gemini,’ he warned softly.
She stiffened resentfully at his tone, drawing herself up to her full height of five feet eight inches in her bare feet. ‘Would that be because you’ve already tried it yourself?’ she challenged caustically.
‘I—’ His lips clamped together angrily as the housekeeper bustled into the room with a fresh pot of coffee. Nick continued to hold Gemini’s gaze for several seconds more before allowing her to turn and look at Mrs James.
But those few seconds had been long enough for Gemini to know there had been more than advice in Nick’s words; he had meant them as a warning.
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