Page 31 of Mistletoe Mistake
Maybe the problem had never been me at all. Maybe the problem had simply been that he'd never known what to do with me.
~Cole~
After Gemma left, I pulled out my laptop, still wearing only the bathrobe that she'd previously had on. It still smelled of her, and the scent managed to keep me semi-hard even as I tried to concentrate on my work.
Only a few minutes later, my phone buzzed, and as Gemma's name appeared, I quickly snatched it from the table. Her message invited me to go to some house with her tomorrow, and I didn't even bother to look at the details. After the evening we’d just shared, I'd go anywhere and do pretty much anything for another night with her. No price was too high.
I really hadn't even meant to ask her for another night. She had come so close to walking out the door without the words coming out of my mouth, but now that they’d been said, I didn't regret it. I would regret it more if I never had her in my bed again.
So what if this would be the first time the same woman had been in my bed for more than one night since Samantha? Since that Christmas Eve? It didn't mean anything, I told myself. The whole thing was still just a business deal, just like always. The terms might be different, but they were still clear: I would keep her company and she would keep me company. We owed each other nothing beyond that.
I'm free tomorrow. Text me the details of where and when to meet you. C
With my reply sent, I turned back to my laptop screen and got back to work.
About an hour passed before Nellie phoned me again.
“Nellie.” I answered the phone with just her name, putting her on speaker phone. She had a habit of diving right into whatever she had to tell me, which I appreciated, and she did it that time too.
“I've found the source of the rumours that interested the paparazzi, but before we get to that, let me ask you: exactly how much did you know about Gemma Redvers before you started seeing her?”
I frowned down at the phone, though she couldn’t see me. “First, I'm not 'seeing' anyone. Second, the woman I was photographed with tonight is named Gemma Sudlow.”
“So, you knew nothing.” Nellie sighed, sounding disappointed in me. “Are you going to be seeing her again?”
I bristled both at the implication that I didn't know something that I should, and at Nellie's newfound interest in my personal life. “Explain to me how that's your business.”
“It's my business because I need to know if I should work on killing the story or if you're going to get photographed together again. Am I saying this was a business thing, or will you be taking taxis back to your hotel together regularly?”
I'd certainly been planning on doing it again the following evening. “Back up a second. Why did you call her... whatever you called her?”
“Redvers,” Nellie repeated. “That's her legal name. It sounds like she hasn't told you who her father is.”
Each word put my back up a little more. Why would she suggest that Gemma had hidden something from me? I had done a basic background check on her and Holly, and nothing came up about her having a different name. As far as I'd been able to tell, they were both regular, middle-class, working women. The only thing that had been unusual was that we hadn’t been able to find any record of where Gemma had gone to school, but I assumed she must have gone somewhere abroad. She'd confirmed as much to me that evening when she said she'd spent some time in New York, so I hadn't thought anything further of it.
“Just tell me.” I hated guessing games.
“Her father's name is Andrew Redvers. Histitleis the Earl of Totnes.”
Her father being an earl was interesting, I supposed, but ranks of nobility had never particularly interested me. I didn’t see how it made any significant difference to my life. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
Nellie sighed, like she was dealing with a child who refused to pay attention. “It means she's from a very old, very wealthy family.”
The fact that she came from money did surprise me, but she probably had her reasons for wanting to separate herself from that. It really didn’t concern me. “So, that's why the press cares that I was seen with her?” I tried to guess.
“No.”
My stress level getting higher with each passing second, I rubbed my forehead with my hand to try to release some tension. “Get to the point, Nellie. Why are they interested?”
“Have you heard of a TV show calledLadies of Knightsbridge?”
“Does that sound like something I would know about?” I snapped back. My patience was wearing thin.
“Fine, stupid question. It's a reality show following young women from old noble families as they fritter their time away, shopping and socializing. It's got a big following in the UK."
“And Gemma is on this show?” Of all the things she’d said, that surprised me the most by far. I couldn't imagine Gemma doing something like that.
“No,” she quickly corrected me. “She wasn't on it directly, but she was... a bit of a plot point last season, for lack of a better description.”
