His Christmas Countess

‘Rip out those rooms, tear up the floorboards, get rid of the fireplace and everything in the bedchamber, put new dividing walls in to change the space completely.’

‘That would work,’ Grant said thoughtfully. ‘And what do I tell Charlie?’

‘Woodworm?’

‘That’s a lie.’

And Grant hates lies. ‘Tell him that the floor is dangerous. And it is. Dangerous to your peace of mind, dangerous to his if he ever sees it and asks what the marks of fire are, what that dark stain is.’

‘Clever.’

‘Of course.’ Kate said it smugly to make him laugh and, to her great relief, he did.

‘Come here.’ He hauled her up unceremoniously to lie on top of him. ‘Thank you. I was beginning to think I was losing my mind. A man ought to be able to cope with such things.’

‘Not everything, not horrors, not unless he is an unfeeling brute.’ She laid her cheek against his chest and blew gently into the dark hair, smiling as his nipples contracted tightly. ‘I think you feel more guilty because you did not love her.’ It was dangerous to talk of love. As soon as she used the word, she had a horrid feeling that Grant might think she was fishing for him to say that he loved her. Which of course he didn’t. Nor did she expect it. It was not as though...

‘Is that some feminine logic that escapes me?’

‘You cannot mourn her, only her unhappiness and the unhappiness she caused you. You dare not think too much about her in case you find you are relieved at her death.’

Beneath her the long, hard body had become very still. Kate could feel the thud of his heart, the slight rise and fall of his breathing. Then Grant said, ‘You hit hard, do you not, honest Kate? You drag out thoughts that I had not even acknowledged.’

‘I like you,’ she said and raised her head to look deep into the troubled green eyes, half shielded by dark lashes. ‘I hope I am your friend as well as your wife and your lover. Who can be honest if not your friends?’

‘My closest male friends do not suggest such things.’

‘Because they are male. Does Alex confide how much he loves Tess? Does Cris admit that he is in love?’

‘Is he?’ Surprise seemed to jerk Grant out of his inward-looking thoughts.

‘I think so. He is certainly not happy, although he hides it well. I cannot be certain, of course, but there is something in his expression when he looks at Alex and Tess, and I saw it once, reflected in a mirror, when he was looking at us. Happy marriages. I cannot believe that he would be unhappy over not being married, because he could remedy that soon enough, he is so very eligible after all. Which makes me think he loves someone and it is not returned. Will he tell you about it?’

‘Poor devil. I never thought to say that about Cris, and as for confiding, at knife point, possibly, otherwise, not,’ he admitted with a faint smile that vanished as he frowned, back searching into his memory. ‘I was not relieved she died. No, never that. If I could have gone back in time, never married Madeleine, then perhaps I would have done—but then I would not have Charlie, would I?’

Kate felt him relax as he thought of his son, then he smiled properly and she sensed the loosening of his taut body. ‘We’ll turn that space into rooms for the children. A bedroom each, a schoolroom, a nursery. That will chase the ghosts away better than any exorcism.’

‘Grant, that’s a brilliant idea.’ Kate wriggled up to kiss him and realised that he had relaxed enough to be thinking of his new wife, not his old—or perhaps it was just his body that was doing so. She slid her tongue between his lips and snuggled her hips closer against his and smiled as her husband rolled her over with a possessive growl. He would not have nightmares tonight.

But, as she went down into the whirlpool of sensation with him, the thought flickered through her mind that they were making love without restraint and without care for the consequences. Strange that she had never given it a thought before tonight. The children’s suite might need more rooms one day...

* * *

‘You are happy.’ Tess linked her arm through Kate’s as they strolled across the parterre.

‘Yes,’ she admitted. ‘We...confronted our problem. Look, you see that rough lawn down there? We are going to turn that into a water garden.’

‘I’m so glad—about both the problem and the water garden.’ Tess was not easily diverted from her theme. ‘And I am happy for both of you. I only met Grant fleetingly before I married Alex, but I liked him very much. I am so glad he has found someone to love, someone who loves him.’