Well, that was just too bad. She was who she was, and she was pretty sure that wasn’t the person Gideon thought she was. In fact, she was certain it wasn’t!

  Gideon glared down at her wordlessly for several seconds, eyes narrowing before he slowly turned away, an enigmatic smile curving those sculptured lips.

  Now what? Molly found herself wondering for the second time in almost as many minutes. Why was it, she wondered, that this man always looked as if he knew something she didn’t—like a cat that had lapped up all the cream?

  And just as quickly she remonstrated with herself for such a fanciful thought; the only cat that Gideon Webber resembled was the feral kind—a hunting tiger, perhaps.

  With her as his prey…

  ‘We can all go out this afternoon and choose a fir tree,’ Sam was saying now. ‘There’s a place not far from here where you can pick and chop down your own,’ he added with satisfaction.

  ‘Excellent,’ David said with obvious pleasure.

  ‘A real traditional Christmas,’ Gideon agreed, before once again looking at Molly, dark brows raised mockingly. ‘Aren’t you glad that Crys and Sam invited us all to stay over the holiday period?’ he added softly.

  Molly could feel all the colour draining from her face as the truth finally hit her with the force of an actual blow to the body. Neither David nor Gideon was leaving today. Or tomorrow. Or the day after. Or the day after that. These two men, as well as herself, were invited to spend Christmas at Falcon House, with Sam, Crys and Peter.

  Why hadn’t she guessed before? It had been there in front of her face all the time—the fact that David and Gideon had stayed the previous night, that neither man seemed in any hurry to leave this morning. Because they weren’t leaving any time soon. In fact, it sounded as if the six of them were going to be cosily ensconced here together for the next four days at least!

  ‘Still love Christmas?’ a familiarly taunting voice murmured softly in the vicinity of her ear.

  Her faith in the goodwill of Christmas had definitely been sorely tested in the last few minutes, but, yes, she still loved Christmas—in spite of whom she might be forced into sharing it with.

  She turned sharply to tell Gideon as much, only to find that he was much closer than she had thought he was. His head bent towards hers, their breath intermingling as Molly’s abrupt rejoinder died on her lips, and her gaze was held captive by Gideon’s as her breathing seemed to stop altogether.

  He really was the most attractive-looking man, that honey-blond hair falling endearingly over his forehead, his eyes a dark, fathomless blue over high cheekbones, the patrician nose and that firmly sculptured mouth.

  ‘Will you be on the “naughty” or “nice” list this year, do you think?’ he taunted softly.

  Attractive-looking maybe. But as soon as he opened his mocking mouth the whole image was quickly dispelled.

  Perhaps just as well…considering she had actually felt herself being drawn to that attraction for a few—mad—minutes.

  She drew in a sharp breath. ‘I…’

  ‘Come on, you two,’ David called over to them cheerily. ‘We have decorations to get down from the attic,’ he reminded them lightly.

  Molly moved gratefully away from Gideon to join David as he followed Crys from the kitchen. But she was aware of Gideon’s gaze following her every step of the way…

  She was still muttering to herself as she tied the belt on her dressing gown later that evening, after taking a shower before going to bed.

  Not that it had been an altogether bad day; the decorations had gone up without too much trouble, their evening meal had been prepared and eaten in companionably good humour, and conversation had flowed freely. Even after dinner, when they had all played a game of Monopoly, it hadn’t been as bad as she had thought it was going to be—despite the fact that Gideon had easily been the winner.

  No, on the surface it had been a successful day. Only Molly, it seemed, had been aware of the barb behind every comment Gideon had made to her…

  It had started with the naughty or nice remark, and continued unabated throughout the day—to such an extent that Molly had been relieved to excuse herself with the intention of taking a shower before going to bed.

  ‘I’ll give him naughty or nice,’ she muttered to herself as she hurried down the hallway back to her bedroom. The last thing she wanted was to bump into Gideon when she was wearing only her dressing gown. No doubt he would find some sarcastic remark to make about that, too.

  ‘I’ve always been nice,’ she grumbled irritably as she opened her bedroom door.

  Only to let out a loud scream as she saw someone silhouetted against the moonlight shining through her uncurtained window.

  ‘I’m glad to hear it,’ Gideon murmured dryly as he turned from gazing out of the window. ‘But did you have to scream like that?’ He gave a pained wince as he stepped forward into the glow of light given off by the bedside lamp she had left on for her return, still dressed in the casual shirt and trousers he had changed into earlier this evening.

  ‘Yes, I had to scream like that!’ Molly assured him furiously. ‘What on earth do you think you’re doing in my bedroom?’ She glared across the room at him, her heart still beating double time, her legs feeling slightly shaky from the shock she had just received.

  ‘Waiting for you, obviously,’ he drawled dismissively. ‘Do you think you could shut the bedroom door? If I’m staying, there’s no point in drawing more attention to ourselves than necessary.’

  No point in…! She had thought her torment was over for at least today, and now he had the cheek to just appear in her bedroom like this!

  Molly made no effort to close the door behind her. ‘But you aren’t staying,’ she told him forcefully. ‘In fact, I don’t know what gave you the impression you could just come in here—’

  ‘You said earlier we had to talk.’ He shrugged.

  Molly gave him an exasperated look. She had said they needed to talk—knew that he needed to be put right concerning several ideas he had conceived about her. But this was hardly the time—or the place—for such a discussion.

  ‘Not now. And certainly not here,’ she added impatiently. ‘Do you have any idea what people are going to think if they find you in my bedroom?’

  Crys, for one, would probably start picking out wedding-dress patterns.

  ‘That was the reason I suggested you close the door,’ Gideon reasoned dryly.

  On second thought, maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea, Molly decided, and she moved to close the door quietly. Anyone walking by to one of the bathrooms down the hallway would hear the two of them talking.

  Gideon’s brows were raised when she turned back to glare at him. ‘Did you have a specific person in mind when you made that suggestion?’ he taunted. ‘I haven’t interrupted an assignation, have I?’

  Considering David was the only other eligible male in the household, Molly thought his remark in particularly bad taste. ‘Don’t judge everyone else by your own behaviour,’ she snapped scornfully.

  Gideon’s eyes narrowed. ‘Exactly what do you mean by that remark?’ he demanded icily.

  ‘Oh, it’s different when it’s made about you, isn’t it?’ she derided exasperatedly, not really having any idea what she meant; it had just sounded like a good thing to say. It had also obviously touched a raw nerve…

  ‘You—’ She broke off abruptly as a knock sounded on the bedroom door, looking from the closed door to Gideon, her expression stricken.

  ‘Molly?’ Sam called concernedly through the door. ‘I’m sorry to bother you, but Crys said she was sure she heard you scream a few minutes ago?’

  Molly gave Gideon an accusing glare, having no idea what she should do now. If she opened the bedroom door then she would have no choice but to try to explain Gideon’s presence here to Sam. And if she didn’t open the door Sam was going to think it very odd.

  ‘I think you had better open the door and reassure him of your safety,’ Gideon murmured softly.

  ‘Oh, you think, do you?’ Molly muttered furiously. ‘None of this would have happened at all if you had thought a little harder about the possible repercussions of a late-night visit to my bedroom!’

  He gave a humourless smile. ‘The only repercussion I could think of was if you thought I had come here with some idea of seduction in mind—’

  ‘In your dreams, buster,’ she cut in disgustedly.

  ‘Molly…?’ Sam sounded worried as he knocked a second time.

  ‘It’s okay, Sam.’ Molly raised her voice so that he could hear her as she moved to open the door, deliberately keeping it only slightly ajar in the hope that he wouldn’t be able to see Gideon in the room behind her. ‘I’m fine, Sam,’ she reassured brightly. ‘I—it was just…I saw a spider.’

  ‘And we all know how you love spiders,’ her stepbrother sympathised affectionately. ‘I’ll come in and get rid of it for you,’ he instantly offered.

  Not with Gideon in her bedroom, he wouldn’t! ‘No, it’s all right, Sam.’ She firmly stood her ground in the doorway. ‘I—you see…’

  ‘The fact is, Sam—’ Gideon spoke purposefully as he moved to stand visibly beside Molly ‘—I heard Molly scream, too, and I have already disposed of the spider by putting it out of the window.’

  Molly closed her eyes briefly, wishing for this to simply be a nightmare, but knowing that it wasn’t; it was possible to wake up from a nightmare! She opened her eyes again, to find Sam looking down at her speculatively, dark brows raised over knowing green eyes. After what Sam had told her earlier, concerning Crys’s efforts at matchmaking, it wasn’t too difficult to guess what he was thinking—or whose fault that was.

  ‘That was kind of you, Gideon.’ Sam turned his speculative gaze on the other man. ‘I know from past experience how Molly hates to deal with spiders herself.’

  ‘Didn’t you know? Gideon is well known for his kindness.’ Molly felt stung into snapping; the man wouldn’t know ‘kind’ if it jumped up and bit him on the nose!

  Her obvious sarcasm was completely wasted on Gideon. His expression was one of total unconcern.

  ‘Well, if you’re sure you’re okay…?’ Sam prompted lightly.

  ‘I’m fine,’ Molly assured him.

  ‘I’ll say good night, then.’ Her stepbrother smiled, that knowing look still in his laughing green eyes.

  ‘Again,’ Gideon acknowledged dryly. ‘I’ll just have one last check for any more spiders before I leave,’ he added dismissively.

  And as there hadn’t been a spider in the first place…

  Molly found herself forcing a strained smile as Sam turned and walked back down the hallway to the bedroom he shared with Crys, giving him a half-hearted wave before closing her bedroom door and turning on Gideon.

  ‘Now look what you’ve done!’ she burst out furiously, eyes blazing deeply brown. ‘Sam no more believes you were in my bedroom searching for nonexistent spiders than I do!’ she added accusingly.

  He looked nonplussed and raised blond brows. ‘He doesn’t?’

  ‘No,’ she snapped, colour warming her cheeks as she remembered that earlier conversation with Sam. A conversation she had no intention of giving this man even a hint of!

  Gideon shrugged unconcernedly. ‘It sounded quite plausible to me. Especially as it turns out you really don’t like spiders,’ he added mockingly.

  Molly’s gaze narrowed dangerously. She had disliked spiders all her life, no matter what size they were. She had no explanation for it—knew there was no logic to the fear—she just couldn’t stand them in the same room with her.

  ‘So what do you imagine Sam does think I’m doing in your bedroom?’ Gideon prompted softly, his expression deliberately guileless.

  ‘I’m sure you can work that out for yourself!’ she breathed agitatedly, knowing exactly what Sam would be thinking—saying—right now.

  Gideon raised dark blond brows. ‘As far as anyone else is concerned, we were introduced for the first time yesterday morning at the christening. Do you usually invite men into your bedroom on such short acquaintance?’

  ‘Do I…? You’re the one who invaded my bedroom, not the other way round!’ she reminded accusingly.

  It was bad enough that Sam and now Crys were aware that Gideon was in her bedroom, without having to take the responsibility for it, too. In fact, if she had to put up with any more of his insults this evening she was going to hit him.

  ‘I didn’t “invade” anywhere, Molly,’ he came back evenly. ‘I simply waited in here for you to come back from taking your shower.’

  ‘And you had no right thinking you could do that,’ she returned exasperatedly. ‘I may have said the two of us need to talk, but I’m certainly in no mood to talk to you at the moment,’ she added disgustedly.

  There was a moment’s silence, and Gideon’s gaze was speculative now. ‘Then what are you in the mood for?’ he finally murmured softly.

  Her eyes widened furiously at his obvious meaning. ‘Why, you arrogant—’

  ‘I don’t think so.’ Gideon reached out and easily caught her wrist as her hand would have made contact with one of his cheeks. ‘In fact…’ he muttered grimly, and his head lowered and his mouth took possession of hers.

  Molly was so stunned by the unexpected kiss that for several long seconds she merely stood transfixed in his arms, his body hard against the softness of hers as his mouth explored hers with complete thoroughness.

  Cold thoroughness…

  That was what brought her to her senses, what stopped her from responding. Because, to her intense dismay, she actually wanted to respond.

  Somewhere in the course of the last twenty-four hours—and she couldn’t for the life of her imagine when it could have been—she had become attracted to Gideon Webber!

  It couldn’t have been when he was tormenting her. Nor when he was being sarcastic. After all, despite her earlier unfortunate love affair, she wasn’t a complete masochist, and certainly hadn’t deliberately allowed herself to become attracted to such an arrogantly impossible man. But for some reason she had done so anyway…

  Which was why he had to stop kissing her!

  ‘No!’ She pulled sharply away to object, pushing away from him as his arms momentarily tightened about her.

  Gideon looked down at her with hooded blue eyes. ‘No?’

  ‘No,’ she repeated firmly, glaring up at him. ‘I’m well aware of what you think of me, Gideon—’

  ‘Are you?’ he taunted, his arms dropping back to his sides as he slowly stepped away from her. ‘Somehow I doubt that very much,’ he added harshly.

  Molly easily met that contemptuous gaze. ‘I would have to be a complete idiot not to know,’ she snapped. ‘And, no matter what you may think to the contrary, I am not an idiot! For some reason you have decided I’m some sort of femme fatale—’

  ‘For some reason?’ he repeated scathingly, shaking his head disgustedly. ‘I didn’t imagine you that morning at James’s apartment. Or the fact that you were completely naked underneath the shirt you were wearing—James’s shirt,’ he added pointedly. ‘Two pretty good reasons for deciding something, wouldn’t you say?’ He eyed her contemptuously.

  Molly gasped, could feel the flush in her cheeks. ‘If taken at face value, yes. But—’

  ‘What other way is there to take them?’ Gideon cut in scornfully. ‘You aren’t trying to tell me that it was just coincidental that Crys was away at the time on a promotional tour for the publication of her newest cookery book?’

  Molly looked at him wordlessly for several long seconds. He really did think…

  She dropped down abruptly onto the bed, staring up at him disbelievingly. She knew he had a bad opinion of her, but…

  She shook her head dazedly. ‘Didn’t you ever talk to James about that morning? Didn’t you ask him?’

  ‘No, I never spoke to James about it,’ Gideon cut in harshly. ‘And I didn’t ask him anything, either. What I did do was tell him what an idiot he was for risking his marriage to Crys over a brief affair with someone like you,’ he concluded grimly.

  Molly felt numb—couldn’t think, couldn’t speak, could only stare at Gideon Webber in stunned disbelief. It had never occurred to her…

  ‘So there you have it,’ Gideon continued when she made no reply. ‘Was this what you wanted when you suggested the two of us talk—all of this out in the open, with no more need for even cursory politeness between the two of us?’

  ‘I wasn’t aware that there had been much of that anyway,’ Molly felt stung into replying, still stunned at what this man was accusing her of. He believed she’d had an affair with his brother James!

  His mouth twisted humourlessly. ‘There is in front of Crys and Sam,’ he snapped. ‘Crys obviously knows nothing about you and James—’

  ‘There was no me and James!’ she cried protestingly, at the same time knowing that on the evidence this man had, her protest sounded hollow, to say the least. Even if it was the truth.

  His top lip curled contemptuously. ‘Obviously nothing James felt important enough to need to make any deathbed confession to Crys.’ Gideon gave a disgusted shake of his head. ‘That’s something to be grateful for, at least!’

  ‘But…’

  ‘But I know. And you know,’ Gideon continued hardly. ‘Let’s just leave it at that, hmm?’

  Molly’s eyes widened disbelievingly. ‘You surely don’t think that I would ever—’

  ‘Who knows what you’re capable of?’ he cut in disgustedly. ‘From what I can gather, Crys is your best friend—and yet you felt no compunction about taking advantage of her absence from the marital home to jump into bed with her husband.’

  This was incredible. Unbelievable. Oh, it certainly went a long way towards explaining Gideon’s behaviour towards her—it was just totally inaccurate as to what had really happened just over three years ago.

  ‘There’s only one positive thing that I can see about this situation,’ Gideon continued hardly.

  ‘There’s a positive to all this?’ Molly echoed dazedly.

  ‘Oh, yes.’ Gideon nodded with grim satisfaction.

  She blinked. ‘And that would be…?’