hope this meets with your approval."
Ross stopped at a set of double doors opposite the nursery, and her heart thumped in her chest.
"I thought you might want to be close to the children—especially while your own twins are settling in."
"Y-yes. That would be nice."
Her fingers unconsciously pleated the ribbon of the bouquet she still held. Was she about to discover that Ross also shared the same room? After all, they'd just promised to spend a lifetime together. It wouldn't be too much to ask that they share the same bedroom, even platonically.
"I'll leave you here to change. In the meantime I'll get out of my own suit and meet you downstairs."
"Sure." The word was a bare puff of sound. To her infinite relief she watched Ross move away and disappear into a room at the end of the corridor.
So he didn't expect her to share a bed with him.
Taking a deep, fortifying breath, Cara opened the door to the bedroom, then stared. The suite was huge. Huge and ornate and...
"Positively medieval," she murmured, stepping inside, closing the door again and resting her back against the carved panels.
Stark-white walls stretched up and up to a vaulted ceiling edged in ornately carved wood. A four-poster bed complete with a richly embroidered canopy and coverlet had been positioned against one wall, while at the other was a small sitting room. Directly opposite the door was a huge bay window complete with multicolored mullioned panes.
Kicking her shoes off, Cara set the bouquet on a mahogany table and shrugged out of her jacket. An investigation of the other two doors revealed a walk-in closet larger than her previous bedroom and a bathroom complete with a Roman-orgy-size tub, a separate shower and a full dressing area.
"Welcome to the lives of the rich and shameless," she whispered, then paused when she caught sight of her own reflection in the mirror.
"What have you done, Cara m'girl?" she asked softly, repeating the often used phrase her older brother would ask whenever he sensed she'd been up to no good.
But on the heels of that thought came a fierce certainty that she'd done the right thing. She couldn't have competed against a man like this. Not in a million years. She had only to look around her at this house to realize that Ross Gifford had all the necessary tools to get what he wanted. If
he'd decided to take Zoe away, a simple CPA wouldn't have been able to stop him.
Her chin tilted defiantly. Which meant that she'd made her decision and she would stick by it. One way or another, she would find a way to make the best of this situation. She might not feel comfortable in his house—or even his life—for the time being. But she could change that. It wasn't as if she were a total stranger to the better things life could offer. She'd rubbed shoulders with the wealthy during her brief marriage to Elliot.
But she was soon beginning to realize that Elliot's wealth was nothing compared to Ross's. She would have to be on her best behavior with Ross's friends and associates.
The moment the thought popped into her head, she grew still. No. She'd played that game with Elliot—trying to mold herself into the woman she thought he wanted so that he would be happy. In doing so, she'd lost more and more of her own identity and self-worth.
Ross Gifford had known what she was before he married her—a simple person with simple tastes. She would be herself around him, damn it. And if he didn't like it, then he could.. .he could...
Find someone else? Like Elliot had done?
Groaning, she marched into the closet, intent on finding her things. She refused to think any more
about the marriage or her role as Ross's wife. If she wanted to keep her sanity, she would need to concentrate on the here and now and not the what-ifs of the future.
Cara quickly found that all of her belongings had been neatly hung on the closet rods or placed in the drawers underneath. Everything had been sorted according to function, style and color with
Ross stopped at a set of double doors opposite the nursery, and her heart thumped in her chest.
"I thought you might want to be close to the children—especially while your own twins are settling in."
"Y-yes. That would be nice."
Her fingers unconsciously pleated the ribbon of the bouquet she still held. Was she about to discover that Ross also shared the same room? After all, they'd just promised to spend a lifetime together. It wouldn't be too much to ask that they share the same bedroom, even platonically.
"I'll leave you here to change. In the meantime I'll get out of my own suit and meet you downstairs."
"Sure." The word was a bare puff of sound. To her infinite relief she watched Ross move away and disappear into a room at the end of the corridor.
So he didn't expect her to share a bed with him.
Taking a deep, fortifying breath, Cara opened the door to the bedroom, then stared. The suite was huge. Huge and ornate and...
"Positively medieval," she murmured, stepping inside, closing the door again and resting her back against the carved panels.
Stark-white walls stretched up and up to a vaulted ceiling edged in ornately carved wood. A four-poster bed complete with a richly embroidered canopy and coverlet had been positioned against one wall, while at the other was a small sitting room. Directly opposite the door was a huge bay window complete with multicolored mullioned panes.
Kicking her shoes off, Cara set the bouquet on a mahogany table and shrugged out of her jacket. An investigation of the other two doors revealed a walk-in closet larger than her previous bedroom and a bathroom complete with a Roman-orgy-size tub, a separate shower and a full dressing area.
"Welcome to the lives of the rich and shameless," she whispered, then paused when she caught sight of her own reflection in the mirror.
"What have you done, Cara m'girl?" she asked softly, repeating the often used phrase her older brother would ask whenever he sensed she'd been up to no good.
But on the heels of that thought came a fierce certainty that she'd done the right thing. She couldn't have competed against a man like this. Not in a million years. She had only to look around her at this house to realize that Ross Gifford had all the necessary tools to get what he wanted. If
he'd decided to take Zoe away, a simple CPA wouldn't have been able to stop him.
Her chin tilted defiantly. Which meant that she'd made her decision and she would stick by it. One way or another, she would find a way to make the best of this situation. She might not feel comfortable in his house—or even his life—for the time being. But she could change that. It wasn't as if she were a total stranger to the better things life could offer. She'd rubbed shoulders with the wealthy during her brief marriage to Elliot.
But she was soon beginning to realize that Elliot's wealth was nothing compared to Ross's. She would have to be on her best behavior with Ross's friends and associates.
The moment the thought popped into her head, she grew still. No. She'd played that game with Elliot—trying to mold herself into the woman she thought he wanted so that he would be happy. In doing so, she'd lost more and more of her own identity and self-worth.
Ross Gifford had known what she was before he married her—a simple person with simple tastes. She would be herself around him, damn it. And if he didn't like it, then he could.. .he could...
Find someone else? Like Elliot had done?
Groaning, she marched into the closet, intent on finding her things. She refused to think any more
about the marriage or her role as Ross's wife. If she wanted to keep her sanity, she would need to concentrate on the here and now and not the what-ifs of the future.
Cara quickly found that all of her belongings had been neatly hung on the closet rods or placed in the drawers underneath. Everything had been sorted according to function, style and color with
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