'What if James is with her?' Ginny pointed out, but Roarke shook his head.
'In this house? Not a chance.'
Her brows rose. 'We're together.'
He grinned roguishly. 'That's because I'm a hopeless case, and we aren't getting married tomorrow, or is it today? Now, if we should find my mother with her, offering her some last-minute unwanted advice, that wouldn't surprise me at all.'
Ginny had been carrying an untouched glass of wine around with her for ages, and now set it down on the nearest table. 'This is getting ridiculous. I'm tired. Let's go to bed,' she grumbled, stifling a yawn.
'Now, that's the best offer I've had all day,' Roarke flirted wickedly.
'It wasn't an offer,' she refuted immediately, knowing that, had she been less tired, she would have chosen her words more carefully. 'It was a statement. I'm tired,' she repeated grumpily. It had been a long day, and unexpectedly emotional. She was drained.
'You're no fun, sweetheart,' Roarke teased. 'You were supposed to get affronted and flash those fascinating eyes at me,' he added, causing her to frown.
'I'm too tired to get affronted. And what do you mean, fascinating eyes?' she asked in surprise.
He laughed softly. 'When I've made you really mad at me, you spear me with a look.'
'I do not,' she protested, still unexpectedly unsettled by his description of her eyes.
'Sure you do. Lesser men would tremble, but I'm made of sterner stuff. I can take it.'
'Which is just as well, because you probably deserve it,' she riposted smartly, then a movement across the room caught her eye. 'Oh, look, I think your sister may be calling it a night.'
Roarke glanced round in time to see Caroline kiss her mother and say a general goodnight to whoever was left in the room before leaving with James.
'We'll give them ten minutes to say goodnight to each other, then we'll follow her. Can you last out till then?'
Ginny nodded. Another half an hour wasn't going to make a lot of difference. 'If we go outside, the air should wake me up a bit,' she suggested.
'Come on, then. We'll stroll round the house and go up by the back stairs.'
The cooling midnight air did clear her head as they slowly strolled along the terrace. At the corner they halted by mutual consent to study the view over the lake. It was such a clear night, with the lights of the town glittering almost as much as the stars overhead.
'It really is beautiful here,' Ginny observed with an envious sigh.
'I try to come over several times during the summer,' Roarke agreed.
She quirked an eyebrow at him, lips twitching impishly. 'To visit the ogre? Isn't that taking filial duty a little too far?'
His laugh was rueful. 'You're never going to let me forget that, are you?' he said, reaching out to brush a strand of red hair from her cheek.
'Hey!' Ginny protested without any great force. 'We're not on stage now,' she reminded him. Much to her surprise, he didn't remove his hand but brushed an imaginary strand from her other cheek.
'As a matter of fact, we are,' he countered softly, and her eyes widened. 'We're being watched.'
She went still. 'Who is it?'
'My over-sexed stepmother. She must have seen us come out here and decided to follow to see what we get up to,' Roarke enlarged and met her eyes. 'She knows I wouldn't miss an opportunity like this for a little romancing. We're going to have to give her a show, I'm afraid, or she'll start to smell a rat.'
Ginny desperately wanted to look round, but that would have been too obvious. All she could do was hold his gaze. 'What do you mean? Exactly what kind of show?'
With a casual movement Roarke stepped in front of her and set his hands on her shoulders. 'Brace yourself, sweetheart. I'm going to have to kiss you. Nothing else will do.'
He began to lower his head towards hers, and Ginny raised her hands to his chest. 'I didn't agree to any of this hands-on stuff.'
Roarke's lips twitched. 'What did they used to say: close your eyes and think of England? Don't worry, it will all be over in a minute,' he joked, and brought his mouth down on hers.
And that was how it began.
The kiss started out as a simple pressing of lips on lips, and probably would have stayed that way, only something happened that changed everything. Ginny was thinking she would give him 'think of England' … when her brain stopped functioning. She was unexpectedly swamped by a powerful wave of electricity which lit her up from inside and set her nerve-ends tingling. Heat surged through her system, bringing with it a sensual response that had her lips softening and parting. Before she knew it one kiss became two, then many as they sought more of the same, tasting and exploring with ever-deepening need. They couldn't seem to get enough.
Without conscious thought she let her hands slip up around his neck, her fingers fastening in his hair, whilst at the same time Roarke let out a purely male groan and slid his arms around her, pulling her tight up against himself. When Roarke's tongue sought her mouth Ginny welcomed him with a sigh of pleasure, matching him stroke for stroke. They drowned in the kiss, and at the same time it began to spiral out of control. Neither seemed able, or willing, to stop it.
The angry banging of a door echoed across the night and startled them back to the present. The kiss ended, leaving them staring at each other in slowly dawning realisation that they were in each other's arms and couldn't remember how they had got there. Of course, that situation didn't last. They simultaneously recalled that the kiss was supposed to be no more than a gesture, and their shock was mirrored on both faces.
'Oh, my God!' Ginny declared thickly, very much aware that her heart was racing, her knees were trembling and her breathing was ragged.
'What the hell-?' Roarke muttered unevenly, and released her just as she stepped back from him.
They stared at each other in disbelief. Roarke raised a faintly trembling hand and dragged it through his hair.
'Well, that was unexpected!' he attempted to joke, but the words came out heartfelt. He meant what he said and it was no laughing matter-for either of them.
Ginny touched a finger to lips that felt slightly swollen. 'Tell me that didn't happen,' she commanded in horror.
Roarke laughed hollowly. 'What did just happen?' he wanted to know, but Ginny couldn't help him.
Of course, they both knew what had happened, but neither wanted to believe it. The kiss was supposed to have been a token gesture. It had turned into a passionate conflagration that still had their bodies tingling.
Ginny turned away from him, striving to get her breathing back to normal. 'This isn't happening. I don't want this.'
'You think I do?' Roarke growled behind her.
Ginny licked her lips, but that was a mistake, for she could still taste him. 'Just … don't start getting any wild ideas, OK.'
'Sweetheart, I don't want to have any ideas about you!'
She spun round again, eyes flashing accusingly. 'Then why did you kiss me like that?'
'Why did you?' Roarke countered, and they were left staring at each other in angry silence.
It was Ginny who finally broke the hiatus. 'This is a silly thing to be arguing over. Neither of us planned it, it just happened. It must have been moon madness. Things like this often happen at weddings, but it doesn't mean anything. It isn't going to happen again.'
'You can say that again,' Roarke agreed dryly. 'Hopefully, Jenna will have got the message.'
Their eyes met, and both knew the other was thinking that the message she had got was more than either had bargained for. Then it hit them that they hadn't given Jenna a thought, and they turned as one to find the terrace empty.
'She's gone,' Roarke confirmed. 'It must have been the door closing that … ' He left the sentence hanging for Ginny to fill in the blanks.
'Yes, well, I think we should draw a veil over the last ten minutes and call it a night,' Ginny suggested uncomfortably.
'We still have to see my sister,' he reminded her.
'It's getting late, Roarke. She could be asleep already. We can see her first thing in the morning. Your mother isn't going to let James anywhere near her before the wedding, so the coast will be clear,' Ginny pointed out, wishing she had thought of that earlier, then that kiss-or kisses-need never have happened.
'You're right,' Roarke agreed, clearly in no mood to prolong the evening either. 'Tomorrow will be better.'
By which time she should have got her head round what had happened tonight, and put it in perspective. It was laughable to think that she and Roarke could be attracted to each other. It had been a momentary aberration, and the clear light of day would put their relationship back on its customary footing. She had no doubt of that … no doubt at all.
Back in their bedroom, they barely spoke. Ginny collected her night things and disappeared into the bathroom. When she came out again, Roarke had taken a pillow and cover from the bed and made up the couch. Without a word, he went into the bathroom whilst Ginny hung up her things in the dressing room and hurried into bed. She had turned out the light and closed her eyes when Roarke reappeared. She heard him move about carefully in the darkness, then all noises ceased.