‘A bit.’ Gabriel bent to give his grandmother a peck on the cheek, towering over the diminutive Ava, yet as gentle as Abby had ever seen him. The look he gave Ava was so full of affection that a lump formed in Abby’s throat and she recognised why he had been so desperate to persuade her into this charade.
Even bustling and clearly excited, there was a frailty about the elderly woman that made sense of the warnings Gabriel had had from her doctor.
‘But not too much, I hope,’ she chided, looking at him anxiously. ‘You work too hard. It’s bad for you. I’m just glad you found yourself a good woman who’s spirited enough to tell you what I’ve been telling you for years! My dear.’ She turned to Abby. ‘You’re just right for my grandson. I could tell that just as soon as I realised that you weren’t going to lie down and pander to him. That lad sometimes has quite an ego.’
Gabriel burst out laughing and Abby said, sotto voce but still loud enough for them both to hear, ‘Tell me about it.’
She smiled and escorted Ava to the door but the smile dropped from her face the second the door was shut.
‘Howcouldyou?’ Arms folded, Abby spun round to glare at Gabriel. ‘Howcould youlet this happen?’
‘I had no idea my grandmother was that liberal-minded,’ Gabriel mused without, Abby felt, the right amount of horror at the fact that they had been shoved into one bedroom, a situation she had no intention of enduring.
She watched as he strolled towards his suitcase and began extracting some clothes from it.
‘What sort of answer is that?’ Abby demanded.
‘She’s always had a lot to say on the subject of thoseeasy womenwho seem happy to jump in and out of bed with me. The single one time I came here with... Wait... No, can’t quite recall her name... Sexy thing—long curling dark hair, legs up to her armpits...’
‘Gabriel!’ Abby exploded with frustration and he raised both hands in mock surrender.
‘I honestly didn’t think that she would put us together, Abby.’ He looked at her with lazy, brooding intensity, his long, lean body relaxed. If she was seething, then he appeared to be the epitome of calm. ‘I could only go on past history, and four years ago she was quite Victorian in her insistence that the woman I had brought over was housed in the furthest bedroom from my own. She likes you.’
‘I have no idea how you’ve reached that conclusion but I’m not sharing this bedroom with you.’
‘Yes, Abby,’ Gabriel said calmly. ‘You are.’
Abby gaped, lost for words. All professional cool had disappeared. She was frazzled, tired and so out of her depth that she would have needed more than a life belt to save her. And through all this Gabriel was as cool as a cucumber, his dark eyes gazing at her with utter cool.
‘When I told you that we would have to be convincing, I meant it. My grandmother might be old but she’s not an idiot and you can see for yourself how much she’s clinging to this engagement. If she thinks that it’s been engineered for her benefit, she’s going to be a thousand times more upset than when she finds out that we’re no longer an item. So storming out of this bedroom with your suitcase in your hand isn’t going to happen. Simple as that.’
‘I’m afraid you can’t tell me what to do.’ But she heard the thread of desperation in her voice.
‘And I very much hate to disappoint you, but I can. We have a deal, don’t forget. You will receive a substantial amount of money for what you’ve agreed to do.’ He raked his fingers through his hair. ‘It’s a big bedroom,’ he pointed out.
‘It’s a big bedroom with just the one bed,’ Abby blurted, and he shot her a slow, curling smile that made the blood rush to her hairline.
‘And?’
‘What do you meanand?’
‘Do you think that we are incapable of sharing a bed without sex occurring?’
‘There’s no need to be coarse!’ Abby all but wailed.
‘I understand that you’re out of your depth and floundering...’
Abby looked away, because she couldn’t deny it. Her heart was beating like a sledgehammer and the palms of her hands were sweaty. All she could see was the threatening contours of the four-poster bed, the puffy pillows, the silk throw. It was a vision of intimacy that filled her with terror.
Out of her depth? That had to be the understatement of the century.
‘I’m more than happy to take the floor, if you would feel safer.’
Abby cringed. ‘It’s not that I wouldn’t feel safe.’
‘No,’ Gabriel said thoughtfully. ‘We’ve already had the long discussion about the fact that you could share a bed with me naked and you wouldn’t be aroused in any way shape or form.’
‘I never said that!’
