‘What is your favourite opera?’ he asked.
‘Any and all of them,’ Gemini answered without hesitation.
Drakon nodded. ‘It’s something that you either love or hate, is it not? Markos and I were lucky enough to be introduced to that love at an early age by our parents. We were both a little wild during our teenage years, and my mother was determined to instil at least some measure of refinement into us before it was too late,’ he told her with a smile.
Gemini somehow couldn’t imagine the controlled and haughty Drakon Lyonedes as ever being wild. She was surprised at how quickly and enjoyably the evening had passed, with Drakon proving to be an interesting as well as an entertaining dinner companion. To the extent, she now realised, that she had become so charmed by his company she had completely forgotten the reason they were having dinner together at all this evening!
‘So.’ She sat back with a smile as they lingered over their coffee. ‘Will you be letting Max off the hook now so that he can go back to his usual duties?’
His long eyelashes lowered over suddenly guarded dark eyes. ‘We won’t complete on the purchase of Bartholomew House for another ten days.’
Gemini gave a sudden pained frown at the reminder that his company was buying her family home with the intention of turning it into a hotel. Something she had certainly forgotten in the last enjoyable three hours or so.
‘So Max stays?’ she said stiffly.
‘For the time being, yes,’ Drakon confirmed.
‘It’s time I asked Benito for the bill.’ She smiled across at the owner of the restaurant. ‘And please don’t even suggest paying,’ she added warningly as she sensed he was about to do exactly that. ‘I prefer to pay my own way, thank you very much.’
Drakon was annoyed at the realisation that by introducing the subject of his purchase of Bartholomew House he had succeeded in bringing about a return of her feelings of resentment towards him.
Had that perhaps been his intention all along in order to keep her at a distance?
Pleasant and enjoyable as this evening had undoubtedly been, it had also confirmed that Gemini was unlike any other woman Drakon had ever met. To the extent he had found himself completely relaxing in her company. He had even talked of his family and his work with her—something he had never done before with any woman. Admittedly she had been just as open with him, but nevertheless he still found the experience slightly disturbing in a way he could not entirely explain.
The sooner this situation between Gemini and her stepmother was resolved, the sooner he could return to his own previously uncomplicated life!
CHAPTER TEN
‘I ENJOYED this evening,’ Drakon admitted once he had parked his car beside the pavement outside Gemini’s shop and apartment, their journey from the restaurant having been made in complete, brooding silence.
He sensed that she had once again deliberately erected barriers between them—which was what he had intended, was it not? But having achieved his objective, he now found himself wishing for a return of that previously animated Gemini…
‘Will you allow me to take you out to dinner tomorrow evening as my way of saying thank you for tonight?’ he asked gruffly.
The streetlamp outside allowed him to see the frown between her brows as she turned to look at him.
‘Wouldn’t that rather defeat the whole object, when I took you out to dinner this evening as my way of saying thank you for dinner at your apartment last week?’ she said slowly. ‘We could go on saying thank you like this for ever!’
For ever was not something Drakon had ever considered with any woman…
Nevertheless, it was very necessary that Gemini spent tomorrow evening with him, at least. ‘I thought we could have an early dinner and then perhaps we might attend the opera together?’
Pleasure instantly glowed in those beautiful sea-green eyes before the emotion was very firmly brought under her control and she gave him a chiding look. ‘That isn’t playing fair, Drakon!’
After their conversation earlier it had never been his intention to play fair! It was important to his plans for this weekend that Gemini spend tomorrow evening in his company. If he had to use what she considered unfair means in order to achieve that end, then so be it.
‘So, what is your answer?’ he prompted tensely.
‘Isn’t it a little late to get tickets for tomorrow—? No, of course it isn’t,’ Gemini answered her own question as Drakon merely raised those mocking dark brows at her; of course he could obtain tickets for the opera—for tomorrow or any other evening!
She knew it would be m
adness on her part to agree to spend another evening with Drakon—she enjoyed his company too much, found him far too dangerously attractive to be able to continue resisting the impulse she felt to simply lose herself in him.
And yet…
She hadn’t attended the opera since her father had died—had wondered if she would ever be able to do so again when it would hold such painful emotional memories for her. And yet the thought of going to the opera with Drakon, of sharing that enjoyment with him when their earlier conversation had revealed how much he also loved it, was simply too much of a temptation for Gemini to be able to resist.