Mistletoe Magic. Кэрол Мортимер

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      But not until she had done something about the way she looked.

      And she did try. She washed her hair and styled it until it was silkily gleaming on her shoulders, applied make-up to hide her paleness and those dark shadows beneath her eyes, even chose her clothes carefully: a burnt-orange-coloured blouse teamed with fitted black denims. It was just that none of those things could hide the fact that she looked and felt thoroughly exhausted from all the thinking she had done during the night.

      Oh, damn the man—and his suspicious mind. If it weren’t for both those things she would be enjoying a warm family Christmas with Crys, Sam and the baby, just as she had envisaged when she’d accepted their invitation to stay.

      ‘Last again?’ Gideon taunted the moment she entered the kitchen, shortly after nine o’clock.

      He would have to be the first person she saw this morning—and he wasn’t alone, either. Crys was sitting at the kitchen table with him.

      The latter turned to smile warmly at Molly as she walked over to pour herself some coffee from the pot. ‘Sam and David have taken Peter and Merlin for a walk to give me a few minutes’ break; Peter was cranky all night—didn’t seem to want to settle.’ She grimaced affectionately.

      ‘I know the feeling.’ Molly nodded, sipping her hot coffee, her brooding gaze daring Gideon to come back with another one of his barbed comments after the total inaccuracy of his initial statement; they both knew that David had been the last down the previous morning.

      Crys at once looked concerned. ‘Sam said there was a spider in your bedroom last night,’ she sympathised.

      Molly looked coldly at Gideon now. ‘There was,’ she confirmed flatly. And that sadistic swine had left her alone in her bedroom with it all night.

      He returned her gaze steadily, the blandness of his expression giving away none of his emotions or thoughts.

      In Molly’s opinion he didn’t have any of the former, and far too much of the latter.

      ‘Lucky that Gideon was able to deal with it for you.’ Crys nodded happily.

      The only thing Gideon had dealt with was his own need to tell Molly exactly what he thought of her—before leaving her alone with that monster spider!

      ‘Wasn’t it?’ she returned noncommittally, no longer even looking at Gideon, just too tired to cope with any more of his scorn, even in a look. ‘Could I borrow your car to go into town this morning?’ She turned to Crys. ‘I still have a little last-minute shopping to do.’

      It had also occurred to her some time during the sleepless night that, as she hadn’t known they were going to be here over the holiday period, she didn’t have presents to give to either David or Gideon tomorrow morning.

      Not that she particularly wanted to get Gideon a Christmas present, unless it was a bottle of arsenic, but it would certainly look odd if she bought something for everyone else and deliberately excluded him.

      There was no help for it; she would have to buy him a present, too. Something completely impersonal, she had finally decided—like a one-way ticket to the North Pole. He would certainly feel at home there, amongst all that ice and snow.

      ‘I’m driving into town myself this morning.’ Gideon was the one to answer her. ‘So you may as well come in with me.’

      Molly’s eyes widened in horror at the thought of spending any more time alone with this man while she felt so tired and vulnerable. And she made no effort to hide the emotion when he looked at her mockingly.

      ‘What a wonderful idea!’ Thankfully Crys had turned to look at Gideon and didn’t see Molly’s response to the suggestion. ‘Perhaps you wouldn’t mind picking up a newspaper and my order from the butcher’s while you’re there?’

      ‘Glad to,’ Gideon assured her smoothly.

      ‘Great.’ Crys grinned as she stood up. ‘I’ll just go and get the list.’ She hurried from the room.

      Oh, yes, just great, Molly echoed heavily in her thoughts, knowing it had been taken for granted that she would accept Gideon’s offer to drive her into town.

      And why not? Ordinarily it would be the normal thing to do. It was just that there was nothing in the least ‘ordinary’ about the emotions that passed like electric volts between Gideon and herself.

      ‘You look tired this morning.’

      It was a statement, not a question, and a totally unwelcome one as far as Molly was concerned. Once again she looked up to glare at Gideon. ‘And whose fault is that, do you think?’ she challenged tartly.

      He grimaced. ‘From the accusation in your tone, I gather that it’s mine…?’

      Her eyes flashed deeply brown. ‘You gather correctly. You—’

      ‘Here we are.’ Crys bustled back into the room with the appropriate list. ‘It’s the shop in the square—not the one down the street,’ she added lightly, not seeming in the least aware of the tension in the kitchen between Molly and Gideon.

      And why should she be? Molly reasoned ruefully. As Gideon had already pointed out, as far as any of the family were concerned the two of them had only met for the first time at the christening.

      ‘I’m sure that between the two of us we’ll manage to find it,’ Gideon assured her as he stood up. ‘Hmm, Molly?’ he prompted pointedly.

      Molly felt a small shock run through her body as he called her by her first name, sure that it was the first time he had done so in the last two days. Not that it had sounded in the least warm or familiar—just slightly alien coming from this particular man.

      ‘I’m sure we will,’ she confirmed flatly. ‘I’ll just go and get my coat and meet you at the car.’ She turned to leave without waiting for any response to this remark, just needing to get away for a few minutes on her own.

      To regroup.

      Also to make sure she removed all sharp instruments from her handbag—just in case she was goaded into sticking any of them into Gideon as he drove. After all, it was him she felt like doing harm to, not herself.

      The green Jaguar saloon was comfortable, she would give him that, Molly allowed grudgingly a few minutes later when she sat beside Gideon as he drove the car down the long driveway out onto the public road. Warm and comfortable. But that was only the car. The owner was anything but those things.

      Perhaps it was too warm and comfortable, she decided a few minutes later as her eyes began to close and her head to nod tiredly.

      ‘You really are tired, aren’t you?’ Gideon said slowly as Molly made a concerted effort to stay awake.

      ‘Why would I say I was if I wasn’t?’ she snapped back testily.

      There was complete silence in the car for several long seconds, and then Gideon gave a sigh. ‘Perhaps I was a little hard on you last night,’ he said grudgingly.

      Molly turned to give him a sharply suspicious look. Surely he couldn’t be apologising for the things he had accused her of yesterday СКАЧАТЬ