generosity, coupled with the evening, touched her to the point of speechlessness.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like them. They’re too lovely for me.” It was difficult to believe anything so beautiful could have come from something so innocuous an animal.
“Nonsense! I’ve watched you struggle with that hair. Nobody needs these more than you do.”
Cate raised a self-conscious hand, the room suddenly warm. The swim with Nathan had been glorious, the closest to washing her hair in months. The hot water had removed the grime and salt, and now it bloomed into a riotous bramble.
“Here, allow me,” Thomas said, too anxious to wait. He fanned his fingers like giant combs and swept them through the unruly tresses. The large, blunt-tipped fingers worked away the tangles and snarls with surprising adroitness. Her pulse quickened at the unexpected warmth of his fingers following the curve of her skull, brushing her neck and temple.
“You’ve done this before,” she teased. “Most men wouldn’t be caught dead attempting to arrange a woman’s hair.”
“As I said, I had four sisters; it was either do it or be thrashed.” There was a smile in his voice.
Once worked out to his satisfaction, Thomas gave the heavy locks a deft upward twist, and pressed a comb into place.
“Goes perfect with your color,” he declared, standing back to admire his work. “Hand me the other one and I’ll get this side.”
Thomas preceded in much the same manner, but stopped in mid-motion. Puzzled, Cate looked up to find his gaze fixed on the door behind her. Twisting around, she saw Nathan standing there. He stood uncommonly still, the walnut eyes gone to coal-colored pits.
“Nathan!” She tried to come full around, but was prevented by Thomas’ grip in her hair. “Why didn’t you say something? You could scare a soul lurking about like a bloody ghoul.”
“I didn’t desire to intrude. Unexpected company can be such a wretched inconvenience, don’t you think?” Nathan said coldly.
“Nonsense,” Thomas declared jovially. “Pray join us. We were just having supper. Hungry?”
It was a bit of an empty offer, as Nathan probably saw. The cloth had long been pulled. It was unthinkable that friend or guest would go wanting, if Nathan was so inclined, which by all appearances, he was not.
At last Nathan moved. With a cat-like smoothness, not a bell disturbed, he strolled around the table, each dip of his hip a stabbing accusation. “Nay, I seem to have left me appetite somewhere.”
With dramatic precision, he inspected the wine bottles, tipping up each to exhibit their emptiness. He reached across Cate to pluck up her glass with two fingers. Sniffing, he arched a brow.
“Very nice,” Nathan murmured, coldly. “How much of this have you had?”
“What do you care?” She bit her lip, instantly aware of how defensive it sounded.
Nathan threw back his head and drained it in a single gulp, then set back with the same two-fingered care. She had seen him in many moods, but this was different, as dark and dangerous as his precious sea. “Nathan can have a black temper,” Thomas had said. An eruption seemed imminent.
Thomas’ hand was now a searing weight on her neck, his thumb repeatedly tracing the curve of her ear. The gesture might have gone unnoticed, but Nathan was in a keen-eyed mood and fixed on it like Artemis on a rat.
“Thomas has just given me these combs—” Cate began.
“A little present,” Thomas put in.
“…and he was putting them in for me.”
“I dare say.” Nathan tipped his head and narrowed one eye to a cutting slit. “Both arms broken, so he had to do it, eh?”
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous.” She shifted uneasily nonetheless. “You should know better than anybody how wild this hair can be.”
“Sure,” Thomas said lightly. “You’ll recall those sisters of mine.”
Thomas resumed his task, pointedly ignoring Nathan, who stood with his hands propped on his hips. It was noticeable that, amid all the tension, Thomas was the most placid. If anything, he exuded contentment.
Cate could think of nothing to say that didn’t sound defensive. The lavish lighting, elegant table, drinks and gifts: if seen from Nathan’s viewpoint, it was an intimate scene.
This is ridiculous. It’s like something out of a farce!
“How did everything go with Creswicke’s fiancée?” Cate asked finally.
Nathan broke his glare at Thomas to direct a tight-lipped smile at her. “Hmm? Oh, fine. Predictably inevitable, as always, fine.”
“Everything went according to plan?” Thomas said, concentrating on a deeply entrenched snarl.
“Aye, perfect,” Nathan said distractedly. Folding his hands behind his back, he rocked on