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“You’re a saint.”
“No. I just try to remember that she’s your sister and you love her.”
He shifted, rolling to his back and pulling her over to rest her head against his shoulder. “I keep thinking that she’ll work it out, find something to do that makes her happy. I’d hoped, when she married Derrick, that she’d be happy with him, in America. But she hated Atlanta.” Derrick Landers was from an old Georgia family. “The marriage lasted...what?”
“Four years?” Derrick was in property development. He’d done well for himself and he’d been generous, in terms of money anyway, when he and Brooke had divorced.
“Four years,” Rafe repeated, his deep voice echoing beneath her ear. “She came back to us angry. And she’s been angry ever since.”
“I don’t know, Rafe. It seems to me she’s always been angry, as far back as I can remember.”
“Maybe so.”
“Definitely so.”
He made a low noise that she took for agreement. “I’m continually amazed that Geoffrey’s so well-adjusted, to tell you the bald truth.”
“I do worry for him. But then I try to remember that Brooke loves him absolutely. She may not be very good at showing it, and she never met a situation she couldn’t make into a crisis. But I think he knows that she loves him, even if he’s often frustrated with her. It gives him a certain balance, a basic feeling of security—which is something Brooke herself doesn’t have.”
He touched her jaw, her cheek. She sighed in pleasure at the sweet caresses and he whispered, “You always see the best in people.”
She snorted out a laugh at that. “Your sister might disagree.”
He kissed the crown of her head. She felt his lips against her hair and knew complete happiness in that moment. Then his fingers strayed beneath the covers. He found her hand and guided it lower. “I have something to show you....”
She tipped her head up enough to press her lips to his throat. “I think I’ve already seen it.”
He lifted her chin higher with a finger and kissed her, his tongue meeting and tangling with hers, making her breath catch and her heart beat hard and deep. “Bored with me already, eh?”
Down beneath the blankets, she closed her fingers around him, stroking. “Not bored,” she whispered against his lips. “Not in the least.”
He groaned.
And she ducked her head under the covers, moving down.
He lifted the covers and peered under them at her. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to have another look after all....”
His deep chuckle ended on another groan.
* * *
Genny woke up in the morning smiling.
Rafe was already gone. But he’d left her a note on her night table: “Off for an early meeting with the house team. Tonight, I have something to show you. You might remember it from last night.”
Laughing, she snatched up the note and pressed it to her chest. Her husband might not be in love with her, but he certainly cared for her. They had so much in common, shared a life they both wanted. And he wanted her. He’d proved that more than once last night.
Things were good between them—better every day.
She showered and dressed and went down to the Morning Room, where Brooke and Melinda had their heads together about the photo shoot. Genny dished herself up some oatmeal, adding blueberries and cream. Then she poured a tall glass of milk and sat down with them.
Melinda flashed her a warm smile. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” she replied.
Then Brooke went on talking.
Genny left them to their plans and concentrated on her food. She was starving for some reason. Could be the baby. Or maybe all the exercise she’d had last night. She giggled to herself at the thought.
The other two women stopped chattering and swung questioning glances her way. Melinda seemed to be waiting politely for her to say something. Brooke wore her usual impatient glare.
“Oops,” she said. “Sorry. Just a happy thought, that’s all.” A very happy thought, as a matter of fact. She put on her most innocent expression and spooned up another heaping bite of oatmeal and berries.
The other two went back to their plans. The photo shoot was tentatively scheduled for the end of the next week. Melinda would call the photographer and the modeling agency right away and be sure that everyone she needed would be available. They were going to keep it simple, so Melinda could try to keep costs down. Brooke seemed happy, animated. Maybe it was having a project that interested her. Or maybe it was having a friend to laugh and make plans with....
Genny ate the oatmeal and then returned to the sideboard for sausages and a scone slathered in clotted cream and jam made from Hartmore strawberries. She’d polished off the scone and was finishing up the last sausage when the other two women fell silent.
