LITMIR.BIZ

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deepened. ‘Gideon is a love.’

      Molly almost stumbled up the last stair in surprise at this statement. A love? Gideon?

      ‘Well, I think he is,’ Crys added with a frown of consternation at Molly’s reaction to this statement.

      ‘Probably because he is, as far as you’re concerned,’ she dismissed. ‘I’m a completely different matter, I’m afraid. Perhaps it’s just that he doesn’t approve of actresses,’ she added, as Crys looked less than happy.

      ‘But he did come and dispose of that spider for you last night,’ Crys reminded her cajolingly.

      ‘Crys, it’s a mistake for you to try to matchmake between Gideon and me.’ Molly didn’t even attempt to correct her friend concerning Gideon’s ‘disposal’ of the spider. What was the point? Probably she and Gideon would never meet again after this Christmas holiday. There was no point in upsetting Crys’s friendship with Gideon just because she found him a sadistic swine.

      ‘Sam’s been talking to you,’ Crys guessed indignantly.

      ‘Not at all,’ Molly said easily, having no intention of implicating Sam in any of this. ‘I would have to be blind not to see what you’re up to,’ she told her friend affectionately. ‘But just stop, hmm? I’m not Gideon’s type. And he certainly isn’t mine,’ she added more forcefully. ‘I’ve never been attracted to that arrogant, macho type.’

      ‘But—’

      ‘Excuse me, ladies,’ cut in an icy-cold voice from behind them. ‘But you appear to be blocking the stairway,’ Gideon added pointedly as he stood on the step behind them.

      Molly closed her eyes briefly before looking up at the ceiling above them, all other thoughts fleeing as she saw the yellow rose painted in the dome above. James’s trade mark…

      She became completely still. She had forgotten that she had recommended James’s work to Sam when he’d been looking for an interior designer to come here four years ago, but that yellow rose above them in the domed ceiling reminded her all too forcefully of the friend, husband and brother the three of them had all lost.

      For a few seconds everything seemed to stop, including time and sound, and a mellow calm settled over her before she once again became aware of exactly where she was. And whom she was with.

      She turned sharply, hoping that Crys hadn’t seen her brief distraction, or the reason for it; the last thing she wanted to do at this time was to remind Crys of the husband she had loved and lost. But she needn’t have worried; Crys had been distracted herself by one of the Christmas decorations on the stair banister that had come loose, and she was attempting to fix it back in place.

      Not so Gideon, Molly saw with dismay. His jaw was set rigidly, blue eyes glittering with fury as he glanced up at the domed ceiling and then back at her.

      Molly stepped away. ‘I’ll see you both later,’ she managed to murmur before hurrying up another set of stairs to her bedroom on the third floor.

      She closed the door thankfully behind her, knowing it was pointless even trying to explain to Gideon what had happened just now; he didn’t seem to believe a word she said anyway. And especially when it came to the subject of his brother James…

      She was almost knocked off her feet as the door was pushed open behind her, and regained her balance to turn and see Gideon silhouetted in the doorway.

      ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ he snapped furiously, moving into the room to close the door behind him with barely suppressed violence, his eyes glittering dangerously as he looked across at her with unconcealed contempt.

      Molly swallowed hard. She could try pretending she had no idea what he was talking about, but she had a feeling that would just make him angrier still. If that were possible! But at the same time she knew he wasn’t going to believe her if she told him the truth—that just for a moment, for a very brief moment, she had felt a closeness with James, an emotional affinity, and had mentally assured him that Crys was happy again now, that Sam would take care of her always.

      If she even tried to put that into words she knew how stupid it would sound.

      And to someone like Gideon, who seemed to enjoy thinking the worst of her, it would sound so much worse than stupid…

      ‘Well?’ he bit out harshly, a nerve pulsing in his jaw, hands clenched at his sides.

      Molly drew in a deep breath. What could she say? How could she explain?

      ‘How dare you moon about like some lovesick idiot?’ Gideon rasped before she could formulate any sort of reply. ‘James is dead,’ he snapped viciously, before stepping forward to grasp her arms painfully in his hands and shake her slightly. ‘Dead—don’t you understand? When are you all going to accept that!’

      Molly felt the colour drain from her cheeks at the stark brutality of his words. She knew James was dead, they all did, but that was no reason not to think of him sometimes. Especially now. Christmas was like that—a time of warmth and joy, but also a time to think of loved ones who were no longer here.

      She shook her head. ‘I have accepted it—’

      ‘No,’ he rasped forcefully, shaking her again. ‘I don’t think you have.’

      Molly’s breath caught sharply in her throat. ‘I don’t give a damn what you think—’

      ‘In that case…’ Without any warning, any indication of what was coming, Gideon’s mouth came crashing down on hers.

      Molly was too stunned by the assault to respond at first, her breath lodged somewhere in her chest as Gideon crushed her against the hardness of his body, his arms like steel bands, his mouth ruthlessly plundering her own.

      But that blinding numbness only lasted for a matter of seconds, and then Molly started fighting against him in earnest, her hands pushing at his chest as she wrenched her mouth away from the punishing determination of his.

      ‘Stop it!’ she gasped, glaring up at him with pained brown eyes. ‘Gideon, stop this!’ she cried again as his eyes glittered fiercely down at her.

      He became very still, his face pale, set in grim lines as he stared down at her with narrowed eyes, his hands still tightly gripping her arms.

      Probably as well; she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t collapse completely if Gideon weren’t holding her upright.

      ‘Please—stop,’ she groaned emotionally.

      She simply couldn’t take any more today. The last twenty-four hours seemed more like a hundred. And it wasn’t over yet.

      ‘It’s Christmas,’ she added huskily.

      Gideon blinked, still frowning darkly, although the glitter seemed to be fading from his eyes.

      He shook his head. ‘What the hell am I doing?’ he finally muttered self-disgustedly, releasing her abruptly to step away.

      Molly swallowed hard. ‘I have no idea. But I have a feeling you’re going to regret having done it once you have time to think about it,’ she added shakily.

      One thing she was absolutely sure of was that the last thing Gideon really wanted to do was kiss her—at the time it had probably just seemed preferable to any other method of silencing her.

      Gideon continued to stare at her for several long, breath-stopping moments, and Molly wasn’t sure quite what he was going to do next. In the circumstances, he probably wasn’t too sure himself.

      He gave another shake of his head, frowning darkly now. ‘I apologise for…for whatever that was,’ he bit out abruptly, turning sharply away, seeming dazed by his own actions.

      Molly felt her heart sink as she watched him walk heavily across the room. ‘Gideon…!’ she cried out as he opened the bedroom door.

      ‘Yes?’ He turned back to her, his expression bleak.

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