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‘I would love to go to the opera with you,’ she accepted huskily.
‘Good.’ Drakon nodded his satisfaction with her answer. ‘Is six o’clock too early for me to call and collect you so that we might enjoy an early supper together first?’
Saturdays were always Gemini’s busiest day of the week, but she didn’t have a wedding or a party to provide floral arrangements for tomorrow, and no doubt Jo would be happy to shut up shop just this once, while her employer went upstairs to get ready for her evening out.
‘Six o’clock sounds perfect,’ Gemini said, happiness bubbling up inside her at how much she was already looking forward to seeing him again tomorrow.
Only because he was taking her to the opera, she told herself firmly. It had absolutely nothing at all to do with the fact that she had enjoyed his company so much this evening she felt a slightly hollow feeling inside at the thought of parting from him.
And if she really thought she could fool herself, then she was being totally delusional!
Not only had she been completely physically aware of Drakon all evening, but she had enjoyed his company and conversation in a way she never had with any other man. He was intelligent and well read, as well as lazily charming when he wished to be, and she had found it heart-warming when he’d talked so affectionately of his family.
All of which meant Gemini was now seriously in danger of falling even deeper under his spell.
Who was she kidding? If she became any more deeply attracted to him she was likely to go up in flames at his slightest touch!
Which was reason enough not to give him the opportunity to touch her again this evening, at least.
‘Six o’clock tomorrow,’ she confirmed abruptly as she pushed open the car door and quickly stepped out onto the pavement. ‘No need to get out, Drakon; the cavalry has arrived!’ she said dryly as she turned and saw Max’s familiar black Range Rover pulling into the kerb a short distance behind Drakon’s Mercedes.
‘Nevertheless, I have every intention of seeing you safely to your door.’ Drakon frowned his irritation at Max’s sudden arrival as he got out of the car, his hand moving up to lightly cup her elbow as he nodded a brief acknowledgement to Max. ‘My mother would be horrified if she were ever to hear of such a shocking lack of manners on my part after she took such care to instil gentlemanly behaviour in both Markos and I,’ he teased gently when Gemini looked up at him questioningly.
She chuckled softly as they walked to the outer door leading up to her apartment. ‘Your mother sounds utterly charming.’
A remark that instantly caused him to wonder what his mother would make of Gemini…
He had no doubt that Karelia would approve of Gemini’s independence and determination. Of the way she had survived the loss of first her mother and then her father in but a few years. Of the way she remained calm in the face of her stepmother’s relentless vindictiveness. And no doubt his mother would be amused by the way Gemini had quietly shown herself to be more than a match for his own indomitable will and arrogance.
Yes, he knew his mother would approve of and like Gemini as much as Markos did.
Drakon’s mouth compressed, and his hand dropped away from Gemini’s elbow at the thought of his cousin’s open admiration for her. ‘I will call for you at six o’clock tomorrow.’ He turned sharply on his heel and left her.
Gemini watched the stiffness of Drakon’s back as he returned to his car, got behind the wheel and drove off without so much as a backward glance in her direction.
Surely that couldn’t be disappointment she was feeling—especially after her earlier decision not to allow him to touch her again—just because he hadn’t so much as attempted to kiss her goodnight?
If it was then she was already far too deeply emotionally involved with him than she’d feared…
‘I don’t understand…’ Gemini turned to look dazedly at Drakon the following evening as they sat in the back of the chauffeur-driven limousine he had collected her in.
The chauffeur had just driven into what looked to be a private airport, before stopping the car beside a small, sleek jet and getting out from behind the wheel to come round and open Gemini’s door for her.
‘I thought you said we were going to have an early supper before going to the opera?’
‘We are,’ Drakon said.
He’d already taken her breath away once tonight, when she’d opened the door to him and seen how devastatingly handsome he looked in an obviously expensively tailored black evening suit, with a snowy white shirt and white bow tie. Now he’d stunned her once again.
Gemini stepped slowly out onto the tarmac, too surprised to do anything other than allow him to clasp her elbow as he led her up the steps into the sleek plane. ‘Where are we going?’ she asked breathlessly as she took in the opulent comfort of what she now realised must be the Lyonedes jet Drakon had mentioned.
Four soft white leather armchairs were placed about a table where Drakon now saw Gemini seated before sitting down opposite her. There were another six armchairs for more casual seating, a thick black carpet on the floor, and an extensive bar towards the back of the cabin where a male steward stood pouring two glasses of champagne. A huge screen—no doubt where Drakon viewed some of the films they’d discussed over dinner the previous evening—took up most of the wall next to the cockpit.
‘You may close the door now, Malcolm, and inform Drew that Miss Bartholomew and I are ready to leave.’ Drakon smiled up at the steward as the other man placed the glasses of champagne on the table in front of them.
Gemini decided to take a sip of the bubbly wine before she attempted to speak; her throat was feeling unnaturally dry. ‘Leave for where?’ she queried, relieved when her voice came out sounding almost normal—she felt anything but.
How could she feel in the least normal when, instead of sitting in one of the small and expensive restaurants in London that catered to the opera crowd, she was on a private jet, the engines now roaring as the plane began to taxi down the runway in preparation for flying them off to goodness knew where?
