Claiming His Christmas Bride

As for Gideon Webber…!

The only consolation to her own aversion to such an idea was that, much as he obviously loved Crys, Molly knew Gideon Webber would be furious at the very idea of being matched with her.

‘There’s a good reason behind my wife’s desire to make sure you’re all well fed,’ Sam remarked dryly after they had all assured Crys they couldn’t eat another thing.

Crys grinned unrepentantly. ‘With all the excitement and preparation for the christening we haven’t had time to put up our Christmas decorations yet,’ she explained. ‘Sam has some telephone calls to return in his study this morning and so I thought the four of us might have some fun putting up the decorations.’

‘No problem,’ David assured instantly.

‘Glad to help,’ Gideon added lightly.

Molly was so disturbed by this added delay to the two men leaving that she didn’t say anything.

‘You haven’t heard where the decorations are yet,’ Sam warned them wryly.

David chuckled, shaking his head as he looked at Crys. ‘Your wife has the ability to charm the birds out of the trees, Sam,’ he drawled affectionately.

‘Or the decorations out of the attic?’ Sam suggested ruefully.

‘That, too,’ Gideon acknowledged dryly as he joined in the teasing conversation.

It made Molly feel more out of things than ever; this Christmas holiday simply wasn’t working out in the way that she had thought it would.

‘How about you, Molly?’ Sam turned to her as he, not unusually, seemed to sense some of her confusion. The two of them had always been closer than blood brother and sister. ‘I was going to take Peter in with me this morning, but if you would rather look after him than help with the decorations…?’

She would rather do anything else other than spend the morning in Gideon Webber’s company.

But even as she opened her mouth to accept Sam’s let-out she found her gaze caught and held by Gideon’s taunting one. Delicate colour rose in her cheeks and she knew he was aware, and obviously enjoying, her discomfort in his presence.

Her mouth set stubbornly and her eyes flashed before she turned to smile at Sam. ‘Thanks for the offer, but you know how I’ve always loved putting up Christmas decorations.’ And how little chance she had had to do so during her years in America.

It simply hadn’t seemed worth the effort to put up Christmas decorations in her apartment these last few years, when there had been only herself to see them. She had been looking forward to being involved in all aspects of this family Christmas, including putting up the decorations, and she wasn’t going to let Gideon Webber’s presence ruin that for her.

‘I certainly do.’ Sam ruffled her hair affectionately. ‘When she was younger she used to insist the decorations went up in November and didn’t come down until February!’ he confided in the others.

The colour deepened in Molly’s cheeks, and she carefully avoided looking in Gideon’s direction this time, sure those dark blue eyes would be filled with mockery. ‘I’m not quite that bad any more.’ She grimaced self-consciously. ‘But I have always loved Christmas,’ she admitted ruefully.

‘Nothing wrong with that,’ David assured her approvingly.

‘Nothing at all,’ Gideon agreed huskily.

Molly looked up at him sharply, expecting to see the normal derision in his gaze, but instead she found him looking at her quizzically, his thoughts unreadable. What now? she wondered frowningly.

Gideon gave a mocking inclination of his head. ‘I’ve always thought that anyone who likes Christmas can’t be all bad,’ he drawled challengingly.

Brown eyes warred with dark blue for several long seconds before Molly broke the gaze to look at the other three people in the room; Crys still smiled warmly, David and Sam were busy clearing the table of the debris from breakfast.

Was she, Molly, the only one who could hear the deliberate insult behind Gideon’s words? Probably, she acknowledged—no one else seemed aware of Gideon’s antagonism towards her.

She turned back to him, chin raised as she met that challenge. ‘What are your own feelings towards Christmas?’

They might have been the only two people in the room as they faced each other tensely.

Gideon’s mouth quirked humourlessly. ‘What do you think?’

He really didn’t want to know what she was thinking about him right now.

‘I have no idea,’ she answered honestly. Trying to fathom the workings of Gideon could take a lifetime—and she really didn’t have two minutes of her time to waste on the hateful man.

He grinned at her. ‘I’ve always loved Christmas, too,’ he told her mockingly.

It wasn’t his words that disarmed her, but that grin. It transformed his whole face until he was boyish and charming. Two things she had never before associated with the arrogantly haughty Gideon Webber.

‘Good,’ she finally managed to answer inadequately.

The grin spread to the warmth of his dark blue eyes. ‘Not what you expected to hear, was it?’ he guessed shrewdly.

If there was one thing she had learnt about this man in the last twenty-four hours, it was never to expect the expected from him; he had so many facets to his nature it was impossible to second-guess anything he might do or say.

She gave a dismissive shrug. ‘What I do or don’t expect from you isn’t really important, is it?’ she dismissed heavily.

‘Not to me, no,’ he confirmed hardly.

Well, that definitely told you, didn’t it, Molly? she acknowledged to herself ruefully. Just as well she felt the same way about him, wasn’t it?

Brown eyes sparkled with sudden humour and she easily met his gaze this time. ‘Well, I’m glad we got that out of the way, aren’t you?’ she taunted.

Was it her imagination or did she briefly see admiration flare in those dark blue eyes? Maybe, but it was so quickly masked by his usual mockery that even if she had seen it she knew Gideon wasn’t happy with the emotion.

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?’

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