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One o’clock…?
Janey had said the baby fed approximately every four hours, and it was only three hours since Jessica’s last feed, even less than that from when she had first begun to cry.
Was Jessica sick? Did she have a temperature? What—?
‘What the hell is going on here?’
Gemini looked up with a start, staring towards the doorway, wincing as she saw her husband standing there. Just what she needed when she was so harassed, and definitely looking less than her best.
When had he arrived home? Some time ago, by the look of him; he was obviously naked beneath the black silk robe he had belted about his waist, his dark hair ruffled from sleep.
A robe was a luxury she hadn’t allowed herself when she’d hurried out of bed earlier to see to Jessica; she was wearing only pale grey silk pyjamas, and the baby had spat most of her milk down them in her distress!
So much for thinking earlier that Nick would probably never know there had ever been a baby in the house!
Gemini stood up abruptly, stilling holding the baby, whose wails seemed to have turned to hiccuping sobs now. ‘What does it look like?’ she snapped, showing her impatience with the question.
Nick blinked, green eyes narrowing in his ruggedly handsome face. ‘It looks like a baby—but I’m sure this must all be just a bad dream; we don’t have a baby!’
Considering that she and Nick had been married for more than a year now, and had occupied separate bedrooms from the beginning of their marriage, that was highly unlikely.
She and Nick had what could only be termed a business marriage, a marriage that suited both of them. At least, it had a year ago. She wasn’t so sure that was the case now. For either of them. But for different reasons…
‘That’s very astute of you, Nick,’ she drawled mockingly. ‘Although it doesn’t help in solving the problem of how to stop Jessica crying!’ she added raggedly as the baby continued to wail. ‘I wasn’t expecting you home yet,’ she added accusingly.
‘I completed my business early,’ he dismissed distractedly, striding into the kitchen with his usual ease of movement, taking the baby from her unresisting hands, frowning down into the little heart-shaped face. ‘What’s the matter, Jessica?’ he murmured soothingly to the baby. ‘We can’t help you if you—’ He stopped, frowning across at the watching Gemini. ‘Have you tried changing her nappy?’
Gemini watched in fascination as her tall, arrogant husband strolled about the kitchen carrying the slightness that was Jessica. He was one of the most handsome men Gemini had ever set eyes on, possessed of a physical magnetism that she’d been unaware of when they first married.
When had that changed?
She wasn’t really sure. She only knew that she felt a deep sense of dissatisfaction in their marriage now, a longing for something more.
‘Gemini!’ Nick prompted, impatient with receiving no response to his question of a few minutes ago.
She bristled resentfully. ‘Janey said not to change her nappy until after the feed—’
‘And I’m sure that Janey—whoever she might be!—is probably correct about the usual order of things—if it weren’t for the fact that Jessica is extremely damp!’ Nick grimaced as he pointedly peeled back the shawl the baby was wrapped in to reveal her sleepsuit was soaking wet!
Gemini felt the hot colour enter her cheeks, feeling a total sense of inadequacy where this baby was concerned. And not being in control of a situation was something she wasn’t in the least comfortable with. Especially around Nick!
She hadn’t even thought to check the baby’s nappy when she’d got Jessica up a short time ago and wrapped her in the shawl. Instead she’d been intent only on warming the bottle so that the baby would stop crying. Except that she hadn’t..! And the reason for that was now obvious.
It was even more so once Gemini had stripped off the wet clothing to find that the nappy she had had such difficulty with at the last feed had somehow moved sideways while Jessica slept. The nappy itself was almost dry, leaving Jessica’s clothes very wet. And the situation was made all the worse by the fact that all the time she was undressing the baby Nick was watching her actions with those mocking green eyes narrowed, making her feel more inadequate than ever.
She would never forgive Jemima for this!
‘Here, let me,’ Nick muttered impatiently, obviously tired of her efforts to replace the nappy and taking over the task himself, achieving an almost perfect result within seconds. Much to Gemini’s chagrin. Was there nothing that Nick wasn’t totally competent at?
‘When did you get to be such an expert on babies?’ she muttered resentfully as Nick put Jessica’s clean clothes on seemingly without effort, too. The baby was clean and dry minutes later, the crying having stopped as she began to fall back to sleep cradled in Nick’s strong, comforting arms.
‘I’m no expert, Gemini,’ Nick drawled derisively. ‘I just used a little common sense. Besides…’ He shrugged. ‘I’m ten years older than Danny; I used to enjoy helping out with him when I was a child.’
Gemini stiffened at the mention of his younger brother. By tacit agreement neither she nor Nick had talked about Danny or Jemima since the first day of their own marriage. The reason for that was simple enough; there had been nothing left to say about either of them.
And Gemini couldn’t help but be surprised at Nick mentioning Danny now…
Although it did give her the perfect opening for her next comment…! ‘Nick, Jessica is Jemima’s baby,’ she told him baldly, her gaze narrowing as she watched closely for his reaction to the announcement.
There wasn’t one. At least, not one that he allowed to be visible to Gemini. But that was typical of Nick, too. Her husband was a man who showed little emotion about anything except the mockery that seemed to be such a natural part of his nature. Although Gemini was sure that inside he had to be churning with some sort of emotion. He had to be!
Because if all their lives hadn’t been turned upside down fifteen months ago by Jemima’s selfishness, he could have been Jessica’s father…!
CHAPTER TWO
‘I SUGGEST we put the baby back to bed and you can tell me what the hell you’re talking about!’ Nick rasped now, his mouth tight.
Gemini could completely sympathise with his feelings. Fifteen months ago Nick had been her sister Jemima’s fiancе, a little fact her sister seemed to have forgotten when she’d seen someone else that she wanted! And her engagement to Nick hadn’t been the only thing Jemima had conveniently forgotten!
‘Shouldn’t I feed the baby first?’ she prompted uncertainly; after all, it was now four hours since Jessica’s last feed.
‘Hardly!’ Nick gave a pointed look at the sleeping baby.
Gemini could feel that heated colour enter her cheeks once again. Damn it, she was usually so cool and in control, especially around Nick, who was always so competent himself; it was totally unfair that she found herself in this unfamiliar role with him as a witness!
And she didn’t feel any more comfortable with the situation as the two of them placed the baby back into her carrycot and arranged the blankets over her. They looked like a pair of doting parents, for goodness’ sake—and, considering the sterile state of their marriage, that was something they would never be!
‘Time for a brandy, I think,’ Nick muttered grimly once they had settled the baby back in her cot in the spare bedroom.
‘I’ll just get my robe,’ Gemini told him lightly, ever conscious of the fact that she was only wearing the milk-stained pyjamas.
Nick gave her a mocking sideways glance. ‘I’ve seen women in less, Gemini,’ he drawled derisively.
She flicked her hair back, her chin raised haughtily. ‘Not me, you haven’t,’ she snapped.
‘True,’ he murmured mockingly. ‘But it’s a fact you are my wife…’
She knew what she was. Didn’t need any reminding. Nor did she need to be reminded of the fact that there had been other women in Nick’s life before he married her.
And since…?
She’d tried over recent months not to think too deeply about Nick’s private life. Before that it hadn’t occurred to her to think about it; it was only lately she had begun to wonder—
No! These were thoughts that took her nowhere—except to sleepless nights as she lay torturing herself with wondering whether or not Nick really was away on business, or if there could be some other reason, someone, who kept him away from home for days at a time!
It was an aspect of their marriage they hadn’t discussed when they’d decided to marry each other fourteen months ago. It hadn’t occurred to Gemini at the time to discuss it; if she’d thought about it she’d probably assumed that Nick would make his own arrangements. It was only in recent months that Gemini had found herself thinking about that side of his life too…
Because, as she knew only too well, Nick was a very attractive man, and it would be ridiculous to assume that he had remained celibate during their marriage. And it certainly hadn’t been her he was making love to…!
Damn it, she didn’t want to think about that, had no right to do so. They had married each other for their own reasons, and they weren’t reasons that allowed for interference in each other’s private lives.
Nick had poured the brandies when Gemini joined him in the sitting-room, its gas-flame fire adding a cheeriness to the room. Which was just as well, because Nick’s grim expression wasn’t in the least cheering!
‘So, true to form, Jemima has done it again—only this time she’s dumped her baby on you?’ he rasped without preamble.
‘Not exactly.’ Gemini grimaced, taking her glass of brandy to sip it gratefully; she should have guessed Nick would get straight to the point! ‘What I mean is that, yes, Jessica has been brought here, but it wasn’t by Jemima. You see—’
‘No—I don’t see,’ he cut in with icy disdain. ‘But then, where your irresponsible sister is concerned—does anybody?’
Gemini wasn’t even going to attempt to defend her twin sister. She simply couldn’t imagine two people more unalike than Jemima and herself; Jemima roamed the world in search of the latest scoop, very rarely in the same place for any length of time, whereas Gemini had lived in London all of her life, dedicatedly etching out a career for herself in the world of fashion.
No, she couldn’t say she understood her twin’s need for travel and excitement, but by the same token she was her sister…
‘Jemima is in America,’ she told Nick evenly. ‘The young lady she engaged as Jessica’s nanny is going to be married tomorrow, and so obviously she can’t look after her at the moment—’
‘Obviously,’ Nick acknowledged disgustedly.
Gemini drew in a deep, controlling breath, knowing his anger was well merited; Jemima was going to hear exactly what she thought of her when she returned. When…!
‘But the nanny has assured me that Jemima should be back on Monday,’ she added, more with hope than any degree of certainty; if Jemima didn’t have her story by then, there was no telling when she would be back!
‘And so she’s left you here holding her baby—literally?’ Nick dismissed scathingly.
She frowned. ‘Admittedly, it’s a little inconvenient—’
‘Inconvenient!’ Nick echoed, shaking his head disgustedly. ‘Considering the two of you haven’t even spoken for well over a year, I find the whole thing incredible. I won’t say unbelievable—because nothing your sister does surprises me any more!’ he added grimly.
He still cared, Gemini realised with dismay. It had been almost fifteen months since Jemima had broken her engagement to him so thoughtlessly, but it was obvious from the bitterness Nick was showing now that the insult had been far from forgotten. Or forgiven…
And why should it be—wasn’t it for that very reason that she and Nick were now married to each other…?
Nick’s romance with Jemima had happened so suddenly and so quickly, sixteen months ago, that it had only been at the dinner to celebrate their engagement that the two of them had been introduced to each other’s families. Both sets of parents were dead, and so it was left to Gemini, as Jemima’s sister, and Danny, Nick’s younger brother, to represent what little family there was left.
Gemini had been sceptical about the suddenness of the romance, believing it to be just another of Jemima’s rash—and usually disastrous!—impulses. But to her surprise Nick Drummond had turned out to be exactly the sort of man every mother would wish their daughter to meet and marry: obviously wealthy, very handsome, with an arrogance that protected all of those close to him. And, as Nick’s future wife, Jemima had definitely come into that category.
The only problem Gemini had been able to see with the match had been that if anything Nick was just too perfect, too arrogant, too much in control of himself and those around him. Jemima, on the other hand, had been ten years younger than her new fiancе, full of fun and life, eager for excitement and adventure.
But the four of them had enjoyed a pleasant dinner together. Danny Drummond was ten years younger than his brother, a professional naturalist photographer who worked freelance for several well-known magazines. He was completely different from his brother in looks, a little under six feet in height, with overlong blonde hair and laughing brown eyes.
What should have been apparent to all of them that night was that Danny was also full of fun and life, eager for excitement and adventure…
Gemini had been bowled over by him, fascinated by his stories of trekking through Africa in his search for wildlife pictures that would appeal to others as well as himself, and at the end of the evening she’d been only too happy to accept his invitation for the two of them to have dinner together the following evening.
There had followed a month in Gemini’s life the like of which she had never known before. Danny was completely unconventional; their dates had been equally so. Danny had even whisked her off to a Scottish island for the weekend on one occasion—because he’d wanted to film the birdlife there.
Gemini had been enthralled, enraptured, her own life and career put on hold every time Danny made one of his unannounced appearances. But it had all come to an abrupt end the day she had visited Danny’s apartment and found Jemima there with him…!
She looked across at Nick now, remembering all too clearly the humiliated anger they had both felt at learning that her sister and his brother had been indulging in a little relationship of their own behind their backs…
‘I should have known, damn it,’ Nick muttered to himself now.
Gemini gave him a puzzled look. ‘Should have known what?’
He looked as if he were about to explode with anger. ‘Jemima called me today—’
‘Jemima did?’ Gemini cut in angrily; the last she had heard of Jemima and Nick’s friendship they hadn’t even been talking to each other! And now it appeared Jemima was telephoning him…!
He nodded. ‘On my mobile. Apparently she tried to call the house this morning—’
‘I was out shopping,’ Gemini said dazedly. Her sister had called Nick on his mobile…! For the first time in the last year. Or had Jemima contacted him before in this way?
Nick’s mouth twisted. ‘And Mrs James was away for the day,’ he realised. ‘Jemima wanted to know if we would be at home this weekend. I assured her that we would,’ he said grimly. ‘I had no idea the reason she wanted to know was because she intended dumping her baby here!’
Well, at least Jemima’s telephone call to Nick proved that her sister wasn’t quite as irresponsible as she had thought her to be; at least she had ascertained that someone would be at home before Jessica was brought here!
But what else did it mean…? Was Jemima in the habit of calling Nick on his mobile? Despite the fact he was her husband, Gemini simply didn’t have the sort of relationship with Nick that would allow her to ask him such a question.
‘If it’s not too stupid a question—who the hell is the father?’ Nick rasped, with a return of that cold, remorseless anger that had become such a part of him fifteen months ago on learning of Jemima and Danny’s duplicity.
And the question wasn’t so unreasonable, either—because two months after Jemima had broken her engagement to Nick, because she’d supposedly been in love with Danny, she and Danny had also parted!
But it had been too late then for any second thoughts on Gemini or Nick’s part—because they had already been married to each other…
She wasn’t naturally impulsive by nature—she believed Jemima must have inherited all that part of their character at their birth—but at the time there had been no doubt in Gemini’s mind that she had fallen in love with Danny Drummond, hook, line and sinker. Only to find that he had been having an affair with Jemima almost from the very first evening they had all been introduced!
Gemini had been devastated by both Danny and Jemima’s behaviour. Nick’s reaction to his brother and fiancеe’s duplicity had been much less predictable—he’d asked Gemini to marry him!
Her initial reaction to the proposal had been one of disbelief. And a questioning as to why, after being hurt so badly, she should want to marry anyone!
But even as she had asked herself that question she had known the answer all too clearly; all of her friends and business acquaintances had known of her relationship with Danny, of how for one wild, impetuous month she had put the rest of her life on hold to be with him—even GemStone had taken second place to the relationship for a while. She was going to look a complete idiot, both privately and professionally, when it became public knowledge that Danny had actually preferred her sister!
But she’d been sure Nick couldn’t be serious about the proposal, that it was just a knee-jerk reaction to Jemima’s betrayal. But he was quite serious, Nick had assured her grimly. Why shouldn’t they marry each other? They were both adults, and falling in love had proved a humiliating experience for both of them. And he was thirty-eight, he’d stated, it was time he had a wife, and Gemini, successful, self-assured, wise now to the stupidity of falling in love, would make him a very good one. And she, he’d claimed, would gain a husband who made no emotional demands on her, who was proud of her achievements and, most importantly of all, would never hurt or humiliate her in the way Danny had.
It had been this last claim, a brutal reminder of how ridiculous she was going to look to the outside world, and feeling still deeply wounded by the hurt Danny and Jemima had inflicted on her, that had made her make the last impulsive decision of her life and say yes!
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.
