Carole Mortimer - Mistletoe Magic

‘Well, I don’t like chocolate, and I have enough aftershave already,’ Gideon answered her slowly. ‘Would a book be impersonal enough, do you think?’ he prompted softly.

Molly felt her cheeks flush; did this man know everything? ‘I’m sure that it would,’ she bit out tersely. ‘What sort of book did you have in mind?’ Something erudite and learned, no doubt, Molly reasoned wryly.

Gideon shrugged. ‘There is a book I’ve been meaning to buy for some time. I was waiting for it to come out in paperback, and then I just forgot to buy it…’

‘Yes?’ Molly prompted dryly, wondering if her bank account had enough in it to cover the cost of a book this man hadn’t yet got around to buying for himself.

The move from America back to England had worked out quite expensive, what with shipping her few personal belongings back here and finding herself a flat to live in. But, on the bright side, at least she was one of the ten per cent of actors who were in work at any one time.

Gideon eyed her frowningly. ‘Perhaps you already had something in mind? Besides the arsenic, that is,’ he taunted.

She gave a shake of her head. ‘Not a thing.’ She doubted the one-way ticket to the North Pole would have been any better received. ‘In fact, I would more than welcome any useful advice you could give me in that direction,’ she assured him briskly, knowing she had no idea what to get for David, either.

She was also wondering what Gideon had got her for Christmas…

Obviously he had already known he would be staying for Christmas, and who the other guests were to be, so he would have purchased something for each of them before coming up to Yorkshire. Knowing how he felt about her, she dreaded to think what he would have as a gift for her.

Gideon nodded. ‘Okay, then. One of my favourite comedians is Billy Connolly, and—’

‘I don’t believe it!’ Molly protested incredulously, and colour flooded her cheeks as she realised what she had said. ‘I mean—well…Billy Connolly is—’ Whatever she had been trying to say, she gave it up as a bad job to stare at Gideon dazedly.

Billy Connolly? He was her absolute all-time favourite comedian, and had proved himself to be an exceptional actor in recent years, too. She would just never, ever have thought that Gideon Webber would like him, too…

‘An acquired taste,’ Gideon acknowledged dryly, obviously mistaking her surprise for censure. ‘One that I acquired during my university days and have never lost,’ he added ruefully.

Molly had already read the book Gideon was referring to, written by the comedian’s wife, and had found it to be moving, tragic. But ultimately the often outrageous Scottish comedian’s gift of humour had shone through all the hardships suffered in his childhood. She was just having difficulty coming to terms with having that like shared by Gideon Webber, of all people.

‘One that I acquired years ago, too,’ Molly told him evenly, deliberately masking her surprise at his preference. If asked, she would have sworn that she and Gideon had absolutely nothing in common. ‘And it’s a great book,’ she assured him. ‘What do you think I should get David?’ She deliberately changed the subject, still slightly rattled by discovering that she and Gideon had the same sense of humour.

‘That’s easy,’ Gideon answered smilingly. ‘We discussed the book last night, and David hasn’t read it yet, either.’

David sharing her slightly offbeat sense of humour she could more readily understand…

Although wasn’t it just a little too impersonal to buy both men the same gift? It might look as if she had been out and bought a job lot to attain a discount.

Gideon glanced at her. ‘I can assure you that we will both be more than pleased with the gift.’

‘Fine with me,’ Molly accepted briskly, deciding that impersonal was definitely the way to go with both these men when taking into account Sam’s warning of Crys’s attempts at matchmaking.

Something to keep constantly in mind, considering Crys’s satisfied look as she’d stood in the driveway and watched the two of them drive off together earlier.

‘THERE we are,’ Gideon told Molly with satisfaction as he turned from putting the huge spider out of her bedroom window.

‘Thank you,’ she accepted awkwardly, finding his presence in her bedroom for the second time in twenty-four hours more than a little disconcerting.

Their trip into town together hadn’t turned out quite as she had expected. She had thought that Gideon would go off and do his own chores while she wandered around doing her own. But that hadn’t happened at all—Gideon seeming quite happy to stroll around with her. Even when she’d gone into the bookshop to buy the two books Gideon had simply waited outside for her, and then they had recommenced their stroll up the street.

It had been a little disconcerting, to say the least. The shoppers around them had obviously been infused with the happiness of the Christmas spirit, and there had been none of the mad rush and bustle in this little country town that Molly had left behind her in London. People had seemed to have time to stop and chat with each other, even though most of them were laden down with gaily wrapped parcels, and the coloured lights and decorated windows had all added to the relaxed atmosphere of warmth and cheer.

Surrounded by such obvious good humour and goodwill, it had been impossible not to become caught up in it—even Gideon had seemed more relaxed, if not exactly friendly.

That was probably a little too much to hope for, Molly accepted ruefully.

But his slightly softened attitude certainly gave her hope that the Christmas holiday wasn’t going to be as unpleasant as she had thought it would—but not enough to introduce the subject of that night just over three years ago; that would be sure to reintroduce a complete dampener on the whole thing.

‘Where do you suppose everyone is?’ Molly frowned now, anxious to get Gideon out of her bedroom, but also concerned that there had seemed to be no one else at home when they’d arrived back a short time ago, having picked up the requested newspaper and meat from the butcher’s.

Gideon shrugged. ‘Maybe they’ve all gone out for lunch on the assumption we would probably do the same?’

Oh, yes, she could just see Gideon and herself sitting down to eat lunch alone together—something guaranteed to give them both indigestion, she would have thought.

Although, bearing in mind Crys’s newly acquired matchmaking tendencies, Molly wouldn’t put it past her friend to have deliberately left her alone here with Gideon in an effort to further their friendship.

‘Maybe.’ She grimaced. ‘In that case—’

‘Hi, you two!’ David greeted them from the hallway just outside Molly’s bedroom. ‘Do you happen to know whether or not you’ve had chickenpox?’

‘I beg your pardon?’ Gideon frowned uncomprehendingly.

‘Sorry?’ Molly felt just as puzzled—although that didn’t stop the colour entering her cheeks at Gideon once again being found in her bedroom.

David stepped into the doorway. ‘Apparently the reason Peter has been feeling less than his usual cheerful self is due to a rash on his face and chest. The doctor is with him now, deciding whether or not it’s chickenpox,’ he explained with a grimace.

‘Oh, no,’ Molly groaned sympathetically.

‘Chickenpox?’ Gideon’s frown deepened. ‘Isn’t he a little young to get something like that?’

Too young, Molly acknowledged worriedly. Peter was only three months old…

‘That’s what the doctor said,’ David acknowledged lightly.

‘I’ll go and see Crys now…’

David put out a hand to stop Molly as she would have hurried from the bedroom. ‘Not if you haven’t already had chickenpox,’ he warned.