The Forbidden Bride-To-Be. Kathryn Taylor

drapes, in shades of teal and peacock blue, were the most elegant she had ever seen. She sat on the tapestry-covered window seat and glanced outside. From the second-floor vantage point the woods beyond the stone wall were visible.

      “Not the room. What did you think of Alex?”

      She turned to face him. “I think he suspects there is something odd about our relationship.”

      “Besides that?”

      “He was polite.” Considering she had sent him flying into a wall, he had been downright gracious.

      Damon sat on the sleigh bed and tucked a pillow behind his head. “That’s all?”

      She also happened to think Alex was incredibly sexy in his flannel shirt and jeans, not at all the three-piece-suit type she had been expecting. He had a body to die for, thick eyelashes she would kill for, and warm brown eyes that sent her pulse racing.

      And her entire purpose for being here was to make a lousy impression on this man.

      Damon waved his hand. “Sophie?”

      She blinked and met his amused gaze. “What else do you want? I’m only supposed to have eyes for you, honey.”

      “He couldn’t stop staring at you.”

      “I was standing right in front of him.”

      “You were blushing.”

      She sprung to her feet. “What’s going on? Are you trying to set me up with your brother?”

      “Of course not,” he protested.

      “Good. Then we probably won’t need to stay the entire week.”

      “Anxious to leave already?”

      “You know us Gypsies. We need to wander.”

      “We have to stay the week. Really make them worry about our marriage. They’ll be so relieved when I dump you that they’ll stop interfering in my business.”

      “How come you get to dump me? Maybe I don’t want you.”

      He grinned and rose to his feet. “You can tell our friends anything you want to save face.”

      “Get lost.”

      He reached for the door handle. “By the way...if you should get a case of wanderlust during the night, be careful. Alex has the room next to yours and you share a bathroom.”

      “What?”

      “This wing of the house was originally designed for the master and mistress of the estate.” He blew her a kiss and sprinted away.

      She dropped down on the bed and sighed. Was Damon trying to play matchmaker? If so, why had he told his family they were engaged? Certainly no brother would intentionally make a play for the other’s fiancée. No, Damon must have something else in mind, but she wasn’t going to discover what until he was good and ready to tell her.

      

      Alex clicked on the computer and dialed into the office. Although he trusted his manager with the daily running of the company, he wanted to check over the orders for the day—

      Nice try, but he wasn’t buying his own excuses. He wanted something to take his mind off the sultry beauty who had invaded his home and his thoughts.

      He would bet the family business that there was no intimate relationship between Sophie and Damon. She couldn’t even pretend to like his touch. What were they up to, and was his stepmother, Elaine, also in on the plan? With six empty bedrooms in the house, why had she chosen to put Sophie in the one next to his, while Elaine and Damon took residence in the opposite wing?

      Alex smiled. It wasn’t Christmas, although he wouldn’t mind unwrapping Sophie under a tree.

      He tried to focus on the figures on the computer screen, but he couldn’t concentrate. The image of Sophie dancing across the floor as if she were making love to the music, left him with a consuming ache. A kind of hunger he hadn’t felt in a long time. If she was brought here to seduce him, she had made one hell of a good start. But to what end?

      “I thought you were on vacation.” Damon strode into the library and flopped down in a chair.

      Alex kept his gaze on the screen. “I didn’t close the company down.”

      “Business good?”

      “Yeah.” He logged off and leaned back in his seat. “So when’s the big day?”

      ‘What big day?”

      “Your wedding.”

      “Oh,” Damon mumbled. “Sophie hasn’t set a date yet.”

      Alex laughed. “Smart girl.”

      “You don’t believe I’ll go through with it.”

      “I never gave it a thought either way,” he lied smoothly.

      “So, what do you think? Does she remind you of anyone?”

      Although Alex’s first glimpse had brought back old memories, Sophie affected him in a way no other woman ever had. On second thought, there hadn’t been much of a resemblance at all. Whereas his ex had been a cool, regal beauty, Sophie was the personification of wild passion. “Should she?”

      “Don’t you think she looks like Marie?”

      He feigned bewilderment. “Who?”

      “Your ex-fiancée.”

      “You mean your ex-lover.”

      “Still holding that against me?” Damon gave him a wounded frown that he pulled off with such practiced ease. “Isn’t five years a bit long to be carrying a grudge?”

      Alex shrugged as if he couldn’t care less. He was grateful he’d found out before the wedding instead of after. Last he heard, his faithless ex was on her third marriage. “You brought her name up, not me.”

      “You’re right. Besides, Sophie is nothing like Marie.”

      “You mean she’s not trying to figure out how much you’re worth in alimony before the wedding?”

      Damon laughed. “Cheap shot—but true. Marie was a cold bitch.” He seemed to have conveniently forgotten his own part in that fiasco.

      “Why don’t you save yourself the trouble and tell me what this visit is really about?”

      “I wanted Sophie to meet my family. Nothing more.”

      Alex noted that his brother hadn’t mentioned any words of love, or even lust. Lord knew, he could sympathize with that. “All right. Play it your way. So, what does she do?”

      “She’s a graphic artist by trade. Freelance, mostly. But if you’re nice to her, you might get her to tell your fortune. She has a real gift for seeing into the future.”

      “Is that right?” Alex wouldn’t mind a peek into the future. Say, one week from today to see what this charade was really about. “I might just ask her.”

      “She’s got real Gypsy blood in her.”

      A grin pulled at the corners of his mouth. “I don’t doubt that. She does make quite an impression.” An impression that affected him physically whenever he remembered their encounter.

      “So you don’t mind if we settle here after the wedding?”

      “You’ll have to run that past Elaine. Two queens in one castle could make for strained living conditions. Are you sure your little Gypsy will want to live with her mother-in-law?”

      “What about you?” Damon’s question held a trace of challenge. He was apparently searching for something he could exploit to his benefit.

      Alex curled his fingers around a crystal paperweight and tapped it against the oak desk. “It’s