'I'll get it.' Feeling self-conscious, Ginny clambered awkwardly off Roarke and scrambled to her feet. Smoothing her nightdress down, she composed herself as best she could before going to answer the door. A glance back at the bed showed that Roarke had vanished, then moments later she heard the shower running.
Taking a deep breath she opened the door, and gasped at the sight of her sister standing outside. 'Lucy!' she exclaimed in surprised delight.
Lucy, however, looked ill at ease, constantly glancing over her shoulder-and Ginny instantly knew what she was afraid of. Grasping her by the arm, she pulled her sister inside and hastily shut the door.
She was so pleased to see her younger sibling that she immediately enveloped her in a hug. 'It's so good to see you! I've missed you so much,' she declared in a voice thick with emotion, and only then became aware that her sister hadn't responded. Her heart sank as she realised she could have misinterpreted her sister's reason for being there. Lucy might well feel as James did, which wouldn't be so surprising. Bracing herself for rejection, she released her sister and stepped back.
'Sorry. You probably didn't come here for a family reunion at all,' she apologised uncomfortably. 'I got a little ahead of things,' she added with a laugh that teetered off-key.
Lucy's expression immediately became contrite. 'No, no, don't be silly. That was exactly what I came for, but I wasn't sure that you wanted to see me!'
'Not want to see you!' Ginny exclaimed in astonishment. 'Lucy, not a day has passed when I haven't wished I could see you.'
'I missed you, too,' Lucy confessed, and this time it was she who threw her arms around her sister. They shared laughter and brushed away a tear, and then Ginny held Lucy away from her.
'Let me look at you. You've grown so, I would hardly have recognised you.' Lucy had turned from a gangling youngster into a beautiful young woman of eighteen.
Just at that moment the bathroom door opened and Roarke stepped out. He wore nothing but a towel and a smile. The sight of him took Ginny's breath away and knotted her stomach. She could feel telltale warmth invading her cheeks.
'Ladies.' Roarke greeted them with charming panache, considering the situation.
Ginny decided to ignore his lack of clothes-as much as she could, anyway. 'Lucy, this is Roarke. James is marrying his sister. Roarke, my sister Lucy.'
Roarke's grin was dashing. 'Pleased to meet you, Lucy. Let me get some clothes on, and then we can talk and spare Ginny's blushes.' With which taunting statement he crossed the room and vanished into his dressing-room.
Lucy giggled, and Ginny rolled her eyes. 'Don't encourage him!'
'No, I'll leave that to you,' her sister returned, tongue-in-cheek. 'Thank goodness your taste in men has improved. I never did like Mark,' she added seriously, surprising Ginny.
'You didn't?' she asked falteringly.
Lucy pulled a face and shook her head. 'He was a phoney. I bet he didn't do half those things he said he did.'
Mark had bragged about where he had been and who he had met. Ginny had pretty soon discovered none of it was true. 'I wish you'd told me,' she drawled wryly. She could have saved herself a lot of grief.
'You wouldn't have believed me,' Lucy replied with a fatalistic shrug, and Ginny knew she was right.
'Probably not,' she conceded.
Lucy suddenly laughed brightly and gave Ginny a knowing look. 'But I like what I've seen of this one,' she said saucily, which made Ginny laugh. 'He's delicious.'
'And unavailable,' Ginny countered swiftly, surprised by the way her nerves had leapt at the notion that Lucy found Roarke attractive.
Roarke chose that moment to reappear, dressed in the trousers of his morning suit, white silk shirt and bow tie. Pausing by the couch, he retrieved the blanket and pillow he had used to make his bed.
'Come and sit down,' he invited.
'I can't stay long. Dad will be looking for me,' Lucy warned them, though she went to the couch, giving the bedding an odd look.
Roarke was equal to the unspoken question. 'We argued. I spent part of the night on the couch,' he admitted easily.
'Only part?' Lucy queried archly, and Roarke laughed, looking right at Ginny.
'We made up,' he said huskily, causing Ginny's cheeks to burn hotter.
'Making up's the best part,' Lucy agreed flirtatiously.
Roarke dumped the bedding on the bed and took one of the chairs whilst Ginny joined her sister on the couch.
'I'm glad you didn't respond to Ginny the way your brother did,' Roarke observed, and Lucy sighed.
'It isn't easy going against a man like our father. James collapses under pressure, and there's no one who can exert pressure as well as Dad.'
Ginny had firsthand knowledge of that. 'I'm sorry I wasn't there to help.'
'You had to get out. I understood that.' Lucy immediately waved away the attempted apology. 'When Dad told us we weren't to see you or speak to you, it made me angry. Later, he said your name wasn't even to be mentioned, and I really hated him. I used to mention you all the time, just to annoy him. It was worth being sent to my room to see his face go red. You were my sister, and nothing he said or did was going to change that. I'm really sorry I didn't speak to you last night, but he was watching, and if I'd attempted it he would have made Mum's life a misery. So I waited until this morning and snuck out before he did his rounds!' she finished with a spirited laugh.
Roarke grinned at her. 'Seems the women of your family are a strong-willed bunch. Could it have something to do with the hair?' Lucy's hair was red, too, if less vibrant than Ginny's. 'I'll have to watch what I say around you two.'
'Oh, I'm a kitten compared to Ginny,' Lucy contested. 'Just don't get in her way when she's really mad.'
'Lucy!'
'Well, it's true! You're by far the most passionate of us all!'
Ginny couldn't help her gaze drifting to Roarke, saw in his eyes the acknowledgement that he had already discovered the passionate side of her for himself. She hadn't wanted it to resurface, but it had. Twice now she had found herself a captive of her sensual response to this man, and she didn't like it. It wasn't part of her plan.
'I'm not the person I was, Lucy,' she denied, turning back to her sister. 'I learned the hard way not to be so foolish. The world didn't stand still these last eight years.'
'Why didn't you keep in touch?'
'Not because the Brigadier told me not to, but because I thought you would fare better if I stayed away.'
'You were right in a way, it was better-until recently,' Lucy confirmed, then her expression clouded.
Ginny's stomach knotted. 'What happened?'
Lucy opened her mouth to explain, but the clock on the mantelpiece began to chime, and she got to her feet quickly. 'Half past eight already! I can't talk any more now, Ginny. Dad asked for breakfast in his room for all of us, so I'd better go. We'll talk again, I promise,' she insisted as she made her way to the door.
'Let me make sure the coast is clear,' Roarke commanded, taking a swift look up and down the hall. 'It's OK.'
The two women hugged each other swiftly, and then Lucy left, walking briskly down the hall. At the corner she glanced back and waved, then she was gone.
'Nice girl,' Roarke remarked as he shut the door again. 'I find it amusing that a man like Sir Martin, who likes to throw his weight around, should have two daughters strong enough to fight him. He can't have expected that his son would be the weaker one.'
'He should have done. The red hair comes from his side of the family. James takes after our mother,' Ginny responded with heavy irony, and their eyes met as they shared the joke. However, when the laughter faded, they found themselves remembering what it was that Lucy's arrival had interrupted, and the air around them began to crackle with electricity.
Ginny licked her lips and took the bull by the horns. 'What happened earlier … That was a mistake,' she declared firmly.
Roarke had no trouble following her. 'I couldn't agree with you more.'
She folded her arms protectively. 'I'll play the part as I promised, but we'll have to keep our distance. I don't intend for anything to happen a third time.'
'I'm with you all the way, sweetheart. Finding myself physically attracted to you wasn't on the cards for me, either,' he acknowledged. 'Discovering this unexpected fire in you doesn't help. It would have been better if that ice in your blood hadn't melted!'
'I never had ice in my blood. That was your invention. If I appeared frosty, it was because I didn't like you.'
'Well, sweetheart, we would both have been better served if you'd continued to dislike me,' Roarke shot back.
'I never stopped. In fact, right now, I dislike you every bit as much as I ever did!' Ginny returned fire swiftly.
'Then why didn't you put up more of a fight when I kissed you?' he wanted to know, incurring her wrath.