Читать книгу Modern Romance January 2017 Books 5 - 8 - Мишель Смарт, Andie Brock - Страница 15
ОглавлениеXANDER POURED HIMSELF another cup of coffee then moved to fill Elizabeth’s. She put a hand over her cup.
‘I think my brain might explode if I have any more caffeine.’
He knew the feeling. He was struggling to keep his eyes open himself.
‘I apologise for Loukas’s behaviour,’ he said.
She gave a rueful smile. ‘He’s protective of you, that’s all. He’s vulnerable. With his parents both absent, you’re his security.’ She paused before asking, ‘Is he used to seeing you with women?’
‘God, no.’ He’d always been comfortable entertaining women in Athens but Diadonus was his home, a place to live and entertain family and close friends, not the socialites who littered his world. If he brought a lover here they might start getting ideas that he wanted to make the affair permanent.
Xander conducted his relationships in the same way Elizabeth matched her clients, without lies or deceit. Straight down the line. He didn’t want marriage and he made damned sure any lover knew it.
He’d done marriage once with Elizabeth but that had been a whole combination of elements thinking for him, mostly his libido, most definitely not his brain.
In those dark awful days of dealing with Ana’s death, Elizabeth’s tears still fresh in his mind, he’d known he would never marry again. He didn’t need it or want it, or the misery and contempt that accompanied every marriage he knew.
He didn’t know a single couple who’d found lasting happiness together. Quite the opposite.
Strangely, his parents had the most content marriage he knew, if content was the right word, but they were incredibly well-suited, narcissists the pair of them.
Elizabeth’s cheeks coloured and she looked away, tucking a strand of honey-blonde hair behind her ear. ‘He’s probably scared I’m going to take you away from him. Does he know where his parents are?’
‘He knows his mother’s in hospital. He thinks Yanis is away on business.’
‘Has he seen Katerina since she was hospitalised?’
‘A couple of times.’ Noticing how wiped out Elizabeth looked, he finished his coffee and got to his feet. ‘I’ll show you around.’
Elizabeth followed him out of the cave-like living area she’d been told was known as the infinity room, and into the proper living area that was fully protected from the elements. From there she was shown the main dining room, study, playroom with a full-sized snooker table, and kitchen. The sense of space was everywhere and, despite all the futuristic gizmos and gadgets, the design of the villa itself was sympathetic to the island’s heritage.
‘Did you design this yourself?’ she asked.
‘I worked closely with the architect on the blueprints but I can’t take credit for it.’
Then he took her down a flight of extraordinarily wide stairs to the ground floor. There were seven bedrooms in all, each with their own bathroom. They passed a room with the door open. It was a young boy’s bedroom. Muffled voices came from it.
‘Does Loukas have his own bedroom here?’ she whispered.
Xander nodded grimly and matched her low tone. ‘He’s stayed with me regularly since he was born but in recent years it’s become a lot more frequent. When I had the house built I let him choose his own furnishings and decoration for his room. He knows he’ll always have a home here.’
‘Does he have a bedroom at your parents’ place too?’
‘He’s never spent a night with them and he never will,’ he answered with such venom that Elizabeth took a wary step back.
‘If you hate your parents so much, how can you work with them? Or have I got that wrong?’
‘I wouldn’t go as far as to say I hate them,’ he said.
‘But you do still work together?’
‘Of course.’
‘How does that work with you being at war over Loukas?’
‘That’s personal. Work is business. We’re very adept at separating the two.’
And she thought her family was dysfunctional.
‘So you don’t have any issue working with them? You’ve never been tempted to sack them? I read that right; you are the boss?’
‘Yes, I’m the boss, but why would I? They’re both excellent in their respective roles within the company. It’s only as human beings that they’re useless.’
This was too much for Elizabeth to get her head around. She’d surrounded herself with a workforce of warm, decent people. She’d never even contemplated employing someone she didn’t like, once passing over a multilingual secretary who would’ve been able to translate contracts into six different languages. She’d preferred the one who could only translate three because she’d been a warmer person.
She’d had her fill of cold people growing up.
‘I need to get some sleep before I do any more work,’ she said, wanting nothing more than to be alone. So much had happened in the past twenty-four hours she felt dizzy. ‘Which one’s my room?’
‘We’re at the end of the floor.’ He set off towards it.
‘Adjoining rooms?’ she clarified, only following him when he nodded. ‘And there’s a lock?’
‘Correct. Worry not, kardia mou, your virtue is safe with me.’ But as he spoke a flash of heat pulsed from his eyes, quickly gone but there long enough to make her heart ripple.
He looked away to put his hand on the handle of her door. ‘Spend the day resting. Tomorrow we’ll go to Athens.’
‘What for?’
‘You need clothes, don’t you?’
‘Doesn’t Diadonus have shops?’
‘Not the sort of clothes a wife of mine should wear. I don’t care what style of clothing you buy but I do care about the label on the back.’
She nodded, understanding. Image was important in this world. To some people, image was everything. If she was to be Xander’s wife, she had to look the part and that meant couture clothing.
What did she mean, if she was to be his wife? She already was his wife.
The thought sent a little jolt through her and, for the first time, it really hit her. Xander was her husband. Her legally married husband.
And, for the first time, she allowed herself to see the memory she had shoved in a tight box in the furthest recess of her mind. What it had been like to make love to him as his wife. How it had felt to have him inside her, a part of her...
Long-forgotten heat coiled through her loins at the memories, burning into her brain...
A long, long silence stretched out between them, the atmosphere thickening until Xander’s jaw clenched and he shoved the door open. He spoke brusquely. ‘This is your room. Make yourself at home. If you need anything you’ll find a member of staff in the kitchen.’
She practically dived into it, shutting the door firmly behind her without exchanging another word, desperate to be away from him.
Alone in the pretty room that would put the world’s finest hotels to shame, she clutched at her cheeks.
It was the lack of sleep causing her thoughts and emotions to veer so wildly, she assured herself. It was no wonder old memories were being dredged up. A good night’s sleep and some distance from Xander would put her back on an even keel.
She tried the internal doors. She opened three before she found the one adjoining Xander’s room. It was already locked on the other side.
* * *
‘Have you been to Athens before?’ Xander asked her the next day, shortly before they were due to land. ‘Other than just the airport?’
‘A handful of times, but that was work. I don’t know the city at all.’ She was dressed in the clothing she’d worn out to St Francis, his staff having laundered it for her overnight. Her honey-blonde hair was loose and glossy around her shoulders, all signs of exhaustion from the day before eradicated.
They’d managed to avoid each other for the rest of the day, Elizabeth staying in her room, only emerging at dinner. She’d eaten quickly, making only the blandest of conversation before excusing herself, her goodnight to Loukas going unacknowledged.
They’d breakfasted early and dropped Loukas at school on their way to the airstrip. He had refused to look at Elizabeth. He hadn’t spoken to her since he’d told her to go away. Xander knew the best thing he could do was give his nephew time to get used to her being there.
He handed her a credit card.
‘What’s this for?’
‘To pay for your clothes and other stuff. There’s no limit on it so spend whatever you like.’
She looked momentarily disconcerted but then nodded and slipped it into her purse.
‘You don’t feel comfortable taking it?’
‘I’ve paid my own way for ten years. It’s a little strange, that’s all, but I know it’s necessary. I can’t afford to buy a new expensive wardrobe with what’s in my bank account. The money you’ve paid me won’t last long once I’ve refunded all my clients.’
‘Give me a list of the refunds and I’ll reimburse you.’ He should have thought about that before.
‘Okay.’ She shrugged. ‘And I’ll give you my shopping receipts later so you can deduct it from the final amount you pay me when this is all over.’
‘There will be no deductions. While you’re acting as my wife I’ll pick up all your tabs. The money I’m giving you is recompense for the loss of your business.’
But they weren’t acting, he reminded himself. Elizabeth really was his wife. And as he thought this, she met his gaze. A look passed between them, one that sent heat to his loins and the faintest hint of colour to her cheeks.
Xander gritted his teeth and turned away to look out of the window.
When he’d first learned their annulment hadn’t gone through, the thought of her being his wife had been an abstract concept. It hadn’t seemed in the slightest bit real. Their marriage was a piece of paper, nothing more.
Two days together, back with the one woman in the world who’d been able to turn his head as well as his loins, and that piece of paper was starting to feel a lot different.
He didn’t deny that he’d once had real feelings for Elizabeth but that had been the result of the chemistry neither had felt restrained from acting upon. So strong had it been that it was hardly surprising remnants of it still simmered between them.
How would she react if he grabbed her to him and kissed her?
Locking his jaw, he wiped the pointless question from his mind.
Whatever desire Elizabeth might feel for him now, she’d made it clear she wouldn’t entertain acting upon it. And neither would he. She might not be the dreamer from before but he’d given his word and intended to keep it.
The adjoining door separating their two bedrooms would remain locked for the duration of their marriage.
* * *
Elizabeth’s few visits to Athens had left an impression in her head of a bustling city brimming with noisy, exuberant people. Those impressions turned out to be correct. Athens was an amazing city.
Xander got his driver to drop her in the Kolonaki district where, he assured her, she would have no trouble finding suitable shops to buy a new closet of clothes in.
Being an enthusiastic shopper, she welcomed the opportunity to forget her troubles for a few hours of retail therapy. That she didn’t have to consider price tags made for a welcome bonus.
Living in New York was expensive. Her mortgage payments took a huge chunk of her income so she normally selected her clothing carefully, knowing she had to choose items that made her look professional but not threatening. She had to fit into whoever’s company she might find herself and, most of all, she had to not stand out. She had to be unobtrusive. Most of all, what she selected had to be affordable.
Suddenly, she could dress for herself again, something she hadn’t felt able to do since she’d left college and formed Leviathan.
About to hand her new credit card over to an assistant in a boutique that sold the most gorgeous clothes, she felt her cell vibrate through her purse and pulled it out. It was a message from Xander telling her to make sure to buy herself some evening wear.
Her cheeks heated at the words. Evening wear...? Then she realised he meant cocktail dresses and gowns, not lingerie.
Turning her mind away from wearing anything racy in front of Xander, she paid for her goods, which were boxed up for her and put aside for Xander’s driver to collect later, and walked to an upmarket department store further up the street. She might have no intention of buying anything racy but she did need to buy underwear.
After five hours she’d spent an absolute fortune and wandered to Kolonaki Square to find the café she’d agreed to meet Xander at.
Her heart skipped to find him already there, chatting on his phone. He’d removed his tie and undone the top button of his shirt.
When he spotted her, he ended his call and stood to greet her.
‘Are you done?’ he asked, putting his hands on her hips and pressing a kiss to her lips.
The gesture was so unexpected that she froze.
Xander had kissed her.
He gave a half-smile and traced a thumb across her jawline. ‘Married couples usually kiss, kardia mou.’
Totally flustered, she groped for the nearest chair to sit on. ‘Can’t we just settle on air kisses?’
His eyes held hers. ‘Not in public. Take a seat. I’ve ordered us coffee.’
She put her purse on the table and opened the menu. ‘I’m starving. Have we got time for me to grab a salad?’
‘We’ve plenty of time.’
She scanned the menu, anything but to have to look at him. Looking at Xander made her stomach do funny things. It made her entire body do funny things.
When a waitress arrived with their coffee she ordered a slice of chocolate baklava tart.
Xander pulled a bemused face at her choice. ‘I thought you were going to have a salad?’
‘So did I until I saw the word chocolate.’
He grinned and there, right before her eyes, he turned into the young man with the irresistible smile she’d fallen in love with all those years ago.
Her heart, already pounding erratically, seemed to bloom within her chest and an ache spread low in her belly. She had to fight to stop herself staring at the exposed strong throat and the sensuous lips she had so loved to kiss.
‘Is something the matter?’ he asked, staring at her closely.
She grabbed her coffee, but as she shook her head to deny anything was wrong a sense of dread raced through her to realise that, as incomprehensible as it was, she wanted him to do far more than kiss her.
* * *
Xander checked his watch as he waited for Elizabeth to appear. He’d had to leave early that morning for a breakfast meeting in Athens and only just made it back in time to say goodnight to Loukas.
He hadn’t seen her all day. That hadn’t stopped him from constantly thinking about her, which was damned frustrating as he was supposed to be concentrating on spreadsheets for the company’s year end.
He took satisfaction from the fact that their profits for the year were up seven per cent, but with his head in Diadonus and the woman living under his roof that satisfaction was muted.
His thoughts were broken when a figure stepped into the infinity room.
The effect was like being struck by a bat. ‘Elizabeth?’
‘You sound surprised,’ she said tartly. ‘You summoned me and here I am.’
He’d messaged her earlier to say they would be eating out that night.
‘Your hair...’
Unlike the glossy sleek hair he’d become accustomed to, she’d gone for the natural look, drying it into a mass of thick, tight blonde curls.
‘What’s wrong with it?’ she demanded.
‘Nothing. It’s beautiful.’ He’d forgotten how curly her hair truly was. The difference was astounding.
Looking at her...
It was like staring at a portrait of the past and he had to swallow a lump in his throat that accompanied the sudden strong hammer of his heart.
The insolence that had been set on her face when she entered the room softened and colour stained her cheeks as she looked away from him and murmured, ‘It takes for ever to straighten.’
‘Why do it, then?’
A shrug. ‘It made me feel more professional. And now I don’t need to look professional, so...’ Another shrug.
She was wearing a pretty baby-pink dress that fell below her knees and had the thinnest of straps, falling in a V to skim her golden cleavage.
He remembered the first time he’d taken one of her breasts into his mouth. He’d thought nature must have made them especially for him. Small but beautifully formed, enough to fit into his mouth and cover with the palm of his hand. He remembered making love to her, how she would arch her back and grab his hair, how her legs would tighten around him as she came with loud moans.
Suddenly he ached to have her, to thrust deep inside her and experience that heady pleasure again.
He’d never found that compatibility or connection with anyone else. He’d had relationships throughout the years but had always been careful in his selection of lovers. No wide-eyed dreamers with a zest for life. No one with the potential to charm him with one beaming smile or a ringing laugh. Not that there was anyone remotely like her in his world.
A decade ago she’d been a virgin. He’d been old enough to have experience but young enough to still be discovering women’s bodies. By the end of their fortnight together he knew more about the workings of Elizabeth’s body than he knew of his own.
Making love to her now would be different from how it had been ten years ago. They both had an adulthood of experience to add into what was already proving to be a combustible mix.
‘Let’s make a move,’ he said abruptly. Theos, he couldn’t be alone in a room with her for a minute without thinking of sex.
She wrapped a creamy shawl around her shoulders. ‘Where are we going?’
‘Diadonus Town.’
Her relief was obvious.
‘What?’
‘I thought you were going to take me to Athens.’
‘You don’t like Athens?’
‘Sure, but it’s a bit of a pain to get to if we’re only going for a meal.’
That those were his exact thoughts was something he kept to himself.
‘Just so you’re prepared, there’s a few members of the press on the island itching to get another picture of us together, so remember to smile.’
‘I shall turn my frown upside down.’
With a tug in his groin, he was taken by the urge to wipe the frown off her face with something stronger than words.
Jamming his hands in his pockets, he led the way out.
* * *
The restaurant Xander took her to was a short drive away, an old-fashioned taverna perched above a beach. There were only six other diners.
‘Is it always this quiet?’ Elizabeth asked while they waited for the main courses to be served.
‘It’s winter,’ he answered with a shrug. ‘Come the spring and the whole of Diadonus will be filled with tourists.’
‘I read it’s a party island.’
‘We attract a young crowd but it’s not like Mykonos or Santorini. We get a lot of family vacationers.’
‘Do the tourists bother you?’
‘Not at all. Tourists are what keeps our economy floating.’
She sipped her glass of rosé and was relieved when the owner returned to their table with their next course. If they were eating she could pretend the atmosphere between them didn’t shimmer with a strange electricity and that every time she met his gaze her lower belly didn’t clench with longing.
