One Night with His Wife by Lynne Graham Page A

brilliant dark eyes as cool as ice, Star hung on gutsily to her smile. ‘Do you want some breakfast?’
    ‘I’m fine, thank you.’ Luc glanced at his watch. ‘If you’re ready, we should leave now for London.’
    The horrible silence stretched. But he wasn’t touched by it. Or by her discomfiture. She could see that. Inside himself, Luc was already so far from her he might as well have been back in France. There wasn’t a hint of warmth or intimacy. There was nothing. It was as if last night had never happened. And Star, who had believed herself prepared for whatever he might choose to throw at her the morning after, just could not cope with that complete denial.
    ‘Do you think I’m going to cling to you now or something?’ she heard herself demand rawly.
    Luc froze, but on the way to freezing he winced.
    Hot-cheeked with fury and pain, Star stepped forward. ‘I’m
over
you!’ she launched at him.
    ‘We haven’t got time for a scene,’ Luc murmured deflatingly.
    Star trembled, and her hands squeezed into defensive fists. ‘Saying how I feel is not creating a scene!’
    Luc elevated an aristocratic brow. ‘Doesn’t it occur to you that I might not be interested in how you feel?’
    The angry colour drained from her skin, her expressive eyes shaken.
    As Star spun away, Luc gritted his even white teeth. That sunny smile she had greeted him with had filled him with volcanic rage. The Star he remembered would have been self-conscious, shy. Not this one. Involuntarily, he recalled the wild sweetness of her response the night he had consummated their marriage. His body reacted with a surge of fierce arousal, infuriating him.
    As a punishment, he made himself focus on the shabby playpen and its tiny occupants. Both babies were watching him with surprisingly intent expressions. The littlest one, with the explosion of copper curls, the colour of which jarred horribly with her pink outfit, gave him a big, gummy winsome smile. That smile was so hopeful and appealing that in spite of the mood he was in he very nearly smiled back. Focusing on the little boy, with his solemn dark brown eyes and slightly anxious air, Luc was astonished to find himself thinking that they were remarkably attractive babies. He looked swiftly away again, but not before he had reminded himself that those children were now
his
responsibility as well. Who else was there to support them?
    Star turned back, determined to stand her ground, no matter how much his attitude upset her. ‘We had a good time in bed last night. It was just sex. I
know
that,’ she told him fiercely. ‘But it was my way of saying goodbye to you. I will not be treated like some sleazy one-night stand.’
    Luc surveyed her with dark, deep eyes and remained maddeningly silent.
    Star squared her slight shoulders. ‘Believe it or not, I’m really happy now that we’re getting a divorce. I have someone in my life who cares about me and now I’ll be free to enjoy that relationship.
He
has a heart, and an imagination…and he talks as well.’
    Luc’s narrowed gaze chilled her to the bone. The atmosphereseemed to have dropped in temperature to the level of a polar freeze. ‘Are you finished?’
    Star compressed her lips and spun away, wondering why she had bothered to try and get through to him. ‘I’ll get the twins’ car seats—’
    Luc frowned. ‘You’re planning to bring them with us?’
    Star spun back in bewilderment. ‘What else would I do with them?’
    It was clear that it had not occurred to Luc to wonder what else she might do with the twins. But then in his world young children were invariably in the convenient care of a nanny.
    ‘You just didn’t think, did you?’ she said witheringly. ‘Where I go, Venus and Mars have to go too.’
    Luc stilled, his ebony brows drawing together. ‘Venus…and Mars?’
    ‘Juno christened them in their incubators.’ Star hated the defensive edge she heard in her own voice. ‘I know their names sound a little