Page 68 of Worth the Risk

Her face softened, the wariness receding. ‘Of course. Gideon—’

‘Congratulations on number five, by the way,’ I slotted in before she could dig deeper.

There was only one woman I let that deep. Only one woman I might be too flawed to deserve. The sense of loss sucker-punched me.

Between Giles, Gemma and Leonora, dinner conversation flowed seamlessly, though my less-than-stellar dinner-hosting abilities attracted more than a few pointed looks as the hours dragged on.

When a throat was cleared I realised I was staring at Leonora.

‘Do I have something in my teeth?’ Her smile was pleasant but barbed questions brimmed in her eyes.

‘Even if you did, you’d still be magnificently stunning,’ I replied.

Gemma grinned. ‘Is this our cue to take our after-dinner drinks elsewhere?’

Colour tinged Leonora’s cheeks. ‘No, it’s not.’

‘Shame,’ I muttered under my breath.

‘It’s good to see you like this again, Gideon,’ Gemma said.

I stared at her. ‘Like what?’

‘Like your old self. We’ve been worried about you since Penny. I’m glad you’re moving on.’

Beside me, Leonora stiffened.

‘I moved on a long time ago, Gemma.’ I attempted to modulate my voice.

‘There’s moving on and there’s relocating to Detachment Town. I, for one, am grateful you’re back,’ she said, taking another bite of food.

I caught Giles’s gaze. He shrugged.

Gemma smiled. ‘Did you know Damian’s back in London? He’s dying to see you.’

A flaming arrow pierced my chest. ‘Is he?’

‘Well, he tried to play it cool but I know he is. He still won’t tell me why the hell he buggered off to America so abruptly, though.’ She frowned, then a wide yawn caught her unawares.

‘Giles, I think your wife is tired. Perhaps you should see her to bed?’

Leonora flowed to her feet, her movements sensually graceful and her eyes avoiding mine as she stepped away from the table. ‘I’ll take her if you two want to have your after-dinner drinks upstairs. It’s all set up for you.’

Giles smiled. ‘Excellent idea.’

I was in danger of letting my shredded control get the better of me, so I stayed seated and watched her escort Gemma off the deck.

Three excruciating hours dragged by before I entered the master suite. As I suspected, Leonora wasn’t there.

I arrived at her door a minute later, stopped to take a breath before I knocked. She took her precious time to answer it.

She’d changed out of her dress into a thigh-length negligee that tripled my heartbeat. My gaze ran feverishly over her before meeting hers.

‘Will you let me in, Leonora?’

Her chin lifted. ‘Why should I?’

‘So I can apologise.’

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