Defying Drakon. Carole Mortimer

      Gemini didn’t have an objection per se. It just didn’t seem exactly…businesslike for her to dine with Drakon Lyonedes in the intimacy of that amazing apartment with its magnificent—romantic?—views over London. Even if he was once again dressed formally in one of those expensively tailored dark suits—charcoal-grey this time—with another white silk shirt, and a pale blue silk tie meticulously knotted at his throat. That square chin was freshly shaven, and the darkness of his hair appeared slightly damp. As if he had just stood naked beneath the shower—

      Imagining Drakon naked in the shower was so not a good idea when she was already completely aware of him!

      He raised dark brows at her lack of reply. ‘This is a business discussion, after all, is it not?’

      Well, when he put it like that…‘Of course,’ Gemini affirmed gratefully, falling into step beside him as they entered the eerily silent and only semi-illuminated building.

      They walked over to the lift, the slender three-inch heels on her strappy sandals sounding over-loud in that unnatural silence. She felt their complete aloneness even more once they had stepped inside the private lift to be whisked silently up to the top floor of the building.

      ‘It really is very good of you to agree to talk to me again so soon.’ Gemini rushed into awkward speech in an effort to quell her increasing nervousness as she gripped her slender black evening bag tightly in front of her.

      Not that she was normally the nervous type. Far from it. She was usually pretty outgoing. But there was just something so broodingly intense about the man standing beside her…

      Drakon gave a tight and humourless smile. ‘After your less than orthodox behaviour earlier today, you mean?’

      A delicate blush warmed her cheeks. ‘Yes.’

      He nodded. ‘There are certain aspects of our conversation earlier that are…incomplete.’

      She blinked up at him. ‘There are?’

      ‘Oh, yes,’ he said grimly.

      Gemini brightened. ‘Of course—I hadn’t finished telling you about my proposal!’

      ‘That too,’ he acknowledged.

      Too? What other part of their conversation earlier today had been left ‘incomplete’?

      Gemini had no more time to dwell on that question as the lift doors opened and Drakon stepped back to allow her to precede him into the sitting room of his apartment. The sitting room seemed much more intimate this evening, illuminated only by four lamps placed about the room, and the glittering London skyline stretched enchantingly in the distance through those floor-to-ceiling windows. A small round table was intimately laid for two in front of one of them, tableware and glasses gleaming, three cream candles in the silver candelabra as yet unlit…

      ‘Would you care for a glass of wine?’

      Gemini dragged her gaze away from the intimacy of those place-settings to look across at Drakon as he stood by the bar, his face appearing more harshly brooding in the dimmed lighting. ‘I—yes, thank you,’ she accepted, placing her bag down on the arm of a chair. ‘White, if you have it.’

      Drakon smiled slightly to himself as he turned away to open and then pour the wine, sensing Gemini’s discomfort as she continued to stand in the middle of the room. ‘Was the rest of your day pleasant?’ he murmured softly as he crossed the room to hand her one of the two glasses of fruity white wine.

      She gave him a startled look as she slowly reached out and took the glass he held out to her. ‘Er—busy. As usual.’

      ‘Busy in what way?’ Those black eyes studied her over the rim of his glass as he sipped the perfectly chilled wine.

      Gemini had hardly expected to be discussing what sort of day she’d had when she next saw Drakon! Almost as if they were out on a real date. Which was utterly ridiculous! Not that she was dating anyone at the moment, her last brief romantic interest having ended months ago, but even so…His relationship with Angela apart, Drakon looked as if he ate up willowy blondes for breakfast, chewed them round for the rest of the morning, and then spat out their bones before enjoying a brunette for lunch!

      Although perhaps thinking about Drakon eating her up wasn’t the best idea when Gemini now found herself unable to look anywhere but at his sculptured mouth as she imagined how those lips would feel against her skin…

      ‘We’re always busy the day before a big wedding.’ She rushed into speech in an effort to dismiss those erotic and entirely inappropriate thoughts. ‘There’s the church to decorate, the bride’s bouquet and all the corsages and buttonholes to arrange, then in the morning we’ll have to do the top table and twenty others in the reception marquee.’ She shrugged. ‘I have to be up very early tomorrow too in order to make sure it all gets done well before they return from the wedding at four o’clock.’

      Exactly why had she felt the need to add that part? she scolded herself. There was absolutely no way she would still be here in the morning!

      Drakon looked slightly puzzled. ‘I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

      ‘Oh. Sorry.’ She grimaced before taking a quick sip of her wine.

      It was excellent. Of course. A perfectly chilled Pinot Grigio, if she wasn’t mistaken. Which she probably wasn’t; her father had considered learning to recognise a good wine as an important part of her education.

      ‘Delicious wine.’ She nodded her approval before placing the glass down on one of the side tables. Delicious, but definitely lethal for her to drink too much of it when she’d barely had time to draw breath all day let alone eat. Especially as her thoughts had already wandered into what it would feel like to have Drakon’s mouth on her!

      ‘I am pleased you approve,’ Drakon drawled dryly, even as he wondered about the reason for the blush that had now coloured Gemini’s cheeks. ‘You were about to explain the reason for your involvement in this “big wedding”?’ he reminded her.

      She nodded, that white-gold hair gleaming pale and silvery in the lamplight. ‘I own and run a florist’s shop.’

      Drakon scowled. ‘I didn’t know that…’

      Gemini shrugged those slender shoulders. ‘There’s no reason why you should have done.’

      Oh, but there was…As soon as his business meeting this morning had been over Drakon had telephoned down to Max Stanford and asked him to check not only whether Gemini was indeed who she claimed to be, but also into the dynamics of the relationship between Gemini and her stepmother. Perhaps he should have asked Max to put together a more detailed personal dossier on Gemini?

      To learn that she had a job at all, let alone owned and ran her own florist’s shop, came as something of a surprise to him. Miles Bartholomew had come from old money, and had only added to that wealth during his successful business life; as his only child Gemini would surely have no reason to work. Unless…

      His jaw tightened. ‘I thought you said you were not left without funds when your father died?’

      ‘I wasn’t.’ She smiled, revealing small and even white teeth. ‘As I said, I have a trust fund. I’ve owned my shop for five years now—I’m afraid I’m just not the type to sit on my backside looking pretty while I wait for some handsome prince to whisk me off my feet and into marriage,’ she declared.

      This young woman was ethereally beautiful rather than merely pretty, and Drakon had no doubts that there had been plenty of men during her twenty-seven years who would have wished to ‘whisk’ her off to somewhere probably a lot less permanent than matrimony. Himself included…?

      ‘And do you enjoy owning and running a florist’s shop?’ he bit out, annoyed with his own thoughts.

      ‘I love it!’ She gave him another bright smile, those sea-green eyes glowing.

      ‘And