Nick had kept to his word, and their marriage of fourteen months was undoubtedly a success in all that it had set out to be. Gemini was there as Nick’s partner and hostess if he should need one, and Nick was there for her in the same guise. And the existence of their marriage had completely taken away any public sting of humiliation they might have encountered after the end of their relationships with Danny and Jemima. To all intents and purposes it had looked as if the two of them had been the ones to realise they had previously made a mistake, and those mistakes had been rectified by the two of them marrying each other.
Yes, their marriage had succeeded in everything it had set out to do. Gemini had long ago recovered from the hurt Danny had so selfishly inflicted on her heart, having realised it had been a brief infatuation. It was hardly Nick’s fault if she was now fully aware—inwardly, at least!—of her magnetic attraction to the man who was now her husband.
And now Jemima, selfish, uncaring Jemima, had calmly delivered her six-week-old baby into the marriage!
Gemini shook her head now in answer to Nick’s question concerning Jessica’s father. ‘I have no idea,’ she sighed. ‘But the nanny who delivered the baby here earlier this evening didn’t mention any man being involved,’ she added with a frown.
‘Not for some months, at least,’ Nick bit out contemptuously. ‘I can’t believe I was ever stupid enough to believe I actually loved the woman!’ he added self-disgustedly before throwing the brandy to the back of his throat, seemingly unmoved as the fiery liquid hit his stomach.
Gemini winced. Not because she didn’t feel the same anger towards Jemima for this last thoughtlessness, but because she could no longer bear the thought of Nick ever having been in love with Jemima…
Quite how these possessive feelings towards her own husband had occurred Gemini wasn’t aware, but she had found in recent months that what had begun as a purely business arrangement was no longer so. At least on her part.
But Nick’s angry response to Jemima’s latest escapade seemed to imply he was still in love with her sister.
‘How can the two of you be identical to look at and yet be so unalike in temperament?’ he added with a disbelieving shake of his head.
Jemima was beautiful, warm and funny, if irresponsible. Gemini, as the eldest twin, if only by minutes, was more serious, coolly detached and self-assured, and dedicated to promoting her own fashion label.
And it was obvious which of them Nick found the most attractive!
God, how that hurt. How could she have been stupid enough to fall in love with her own husband?
Because that was exactly what she’d done. She wasn’t even sure when or how; she only knew that she had, that every time he was at home she was totally aware of him, that she found the way he looked physically attractive, that she admired the successful way he ran his business empire. In fact, she loved everything about him! And at the same time she knew that he felt no more for her now than he had when he had first proposed this sterile marriage fourteen months ago…
Gemini stood up abruptly. ‘I don’t think getting into a character assassination—’ or otherwise! ‘—is going to help the situation,’ she told Nick briskly, smoothing down the silkiness of her grey silk robe, very aware of the fact that she had cleansed her face before going to bed and so consequently wore no make-up, that her hair was probably in disarray too.
In fact, she probably looked a fright! And the one thing she had been very decided on, when accepting Nick’s proposal of marriage, was that she would always make sure to keep her end of their bargain, that she would never be less than the beautiful showpiece and perfect hostess that he wanted in his marriage.
Nick’s mouth twisted. ‘You’re probably right—talking about the flaws in Jemima’s character could take all night!’
And Gemini had no wish to talk about her sister for the rest of the night. In fact, she had no real wish to talk about her sister at all. It was bad enough that she knew Nick still felt so strongly towards Jemima, without the two of them talking about her too!
‘In that case,’ she said coolly, ‘I suggest the two of us get back to bed—’ She broke off as Nick looked across at her with dark brows raised speculatively. ‘Separately, of course,’ she bit out tersely.
‘Of course,’ he drawled derisively.
Gemini glared at him. ‘I’m tired, and not a little irritable; this certainly isn’t the time for your warped sense of humour, Nick,’ she snapped resentfully—because a part of her so wished he weren’t joking at all.
She’d been aware the whole time they were talking that Nick was naked under that black silk robe, and just the thought made her ache!
It wasn’t difficult to see that his shoulders were wide, his body leanly muscled, and she could see the dark hair that grew on his chest, and the bareness of his legs beneath the robe. Just looking at him made Gemini’s knees tremble with a need she had never known before! With anyone…
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 employees 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 cl
ock 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.
To Mend a Marriage Page 3
