Читать книгу His Hidden American Beauty - Connie Cox, Connie Cox - Страница 8

NIKO SAT AT the dining table surrounded by family, knowing he’d turned down his best chance of a family of his own.

His ex-fiancée hadn’t asked him for anything extraordinary—only to give up his work, to give up his soul.

She hadn’t understood. He hadn’t been able to make her understand what Doctors Without Borders meant to him. That he’d never felt more alive as he beat the odds, winning out over a harsh world unlike any his family had ever seen and snatching the downtrodden back from the edge of death. What were the odds he could make his family understand anyway?

Misunderstood. Different. The story of his life. Was there anyone on the planet who could understand?

In walked Annalise Walcott. She’d shed her lab coat, exposing the silk blouse over her trousers. Classy.

She was the total package, wasn’t she? Brains and beauty. Such a winning combination.

While he’d appreciated the shorts earlier on the gangway, now he appreciated the way her silky blouse moved across her …

“Uncle Niko, what are you staring at?” His nephew Marcus interrupted as the teen followed Niko’s line of sight.

“Just taking in the scenery.”

“You mean that brunette at that corner table? She looks like your type.”

Niko checked out the voluptuous dark-haired woman sitting alone. Big hair, big earrings, big bone structure, everything he usually liked in a woman. He even liked her interesting nose, more aquiline than fashionable, but it suited her. “She’s okay, I guess.”

Beside him, Yiayia was taking a keen interest in the conversation while trying to appear as if she wasn’t.

“You’re not talking about Dr. Walcott, are you?” Marcus asked.

“Absolutely.”

His nephew gave him a quizzical look. “She’s not Greek.”

“It’s not like I’m going to marry her.”

Marcus laughed. “Everyone knows you’re not the marrying kind, Uncle Niko. We all live through you vicariously, even Dad.” Marcus elbowed his father next to him to get his attention.

Niko’s brother Stephen gave him a somber frown. “You’ve got to settle down sometime, Niko. We all liked Melina. Maybe if you talked to her? Apologized for whatever you did. Or even if you didn’t do anything—”

“My broken engagement is none of your business, brother.”

Stephen narrowed his eyes, but backed down and looked away when Niko continued to glare, using refilling his wife’s wine glass as his excuse to turn away.

The eight years that separated them in age also separated them in values. Or maybe they were just too different. His brothers were so much like the father he could barely remember, while he was his own person.

If only he didn’t have to keep reminding them of that.

Marcus spoke barely loud enough to hear. “It’s true, isn’t it, Uncle Niko? The Christopoulos men are destined to be family men, aren’t they?”

“You’ve been listening to Yiayia too much.” Niko could see a lifetime of family tradition shackling his nephew, just as it tried to shackle him.

“Every man has to find his own purpose. Family is a very good purpose—just not for everyone.” Knowing what he was about to do was tantamount to anarchy, Niko leaned in and pinned his nephew with his stare. “Promise me, Marcus, that you’ll take some time to think about what you want—not what anyone else expects from you.”

Marcus swallowed hard. “Not everyone is as strong-willed as you are, Uncle Niko. I envy that about you. But someday …”

Niko thought of all the trips he took abroad with Doctors Without Borders, the trips his family thought he took for leisure. They thought he was gallivanting to tropical paradises, giving his wild side a long leash before settling down while his partners carried his load.

He encouraged them to think that. What would they think if they knew his partners admired and supported his perilous service work? And how would they feel about him if they knew family wasn’t on his radar?

Not providing grandchildren was the second-biggest sin in the Christopoulos family Bible, right under “Don’t live dangerously.”

It was a rule he wasn’t very good at following. Neither had his uncle or his grandfather. But, then, his parents had both been killed in a car wreck while on a trip to the store. Playing it safe didn’t mean a person would be safe. And following the family rules didn’t mean he would be happy like they were.

How did the good doctor juggle her family with her medical practice? Working on a cruise ship, she was separated from her loved ones more often than not, wasn’t she?

Because he was staring, and because she turned and caught him at it, he stood and walked toward her to invite her over.

She looked around, as if she were looking to see who he was approaching.

He brightened up his smile a few notches.

She gave him a nervous smile back, shook her head and started to turn away. And his ego took the well-aimed shot to heart. Of all the women in all the world, why did he have to find this one so fascinating?

Then fate worked in Niko’s favor. The captain, coming up behind her, helpfully pointed out that a guest was requesting her presence.

“Good evening.” As the ship rocked, the captain politely rested his hand on Annalise’s back, effectively keeping her still and steady. “Are you in need of our doctor?”

Niko had the strongest urge to push away the captain’s hand, replacing it with his own.

Need. Yes, he was in need of her. Just standing next to her made endorphins flood his brain. What was it about her? And what excuse could he use to keep her close to him?

“If you have a few seconds, Dr. Walcott, I could use the reinforcement when I explain once again to Sophie’s grandmother why Sophie can’t have late-night snacks.”

The captain dropped his hand and Annalise took a breath and an automatic step back from Niko, trying to find her comfort zone. But nothing about this man could be described as comfortable. As soon as the captain was out of earshot, she called him on his excuse. “I’ve seen you with your family, remember? When you speak, they all look at you as if every word was gold. You don’t need any help from me, Doctor.”

“But I do.” His tiger eyes glittered. “You might notice I’m the only unmarried brother left. My family would like to change that. You’ll keep me safe from their matchmaking, at least for tonight.”

Too aware that everyone at Niko’s table intently watched them, Annalise hesitated.

“Please?”

Annalise had never been able to turn down a plea for help—at least, that’s what she told herself as she said, “Okay. But don’t make a habit of this.”

As she wove in and out, past the other diners, she questioned herself but could come up with no reason why she hadn’t made her usual polite escape whenever a man took notice of her.

Was it the sincerity in his voice? What about him made her feel ready to respond to the interest in a man’s eyes?

All the Christopoulos men stood as Annalise approached their table. Their good manners made her feel self-conscious and very feminine.

With Sophie now cuddled in her Aunt Phoebe’s lap, it left an open seat between him and Yiayia.

As Niko pulled out the chair for her, he leaned in and whispered, “You’re blushing. Nice.”

“I’m not used to such …” She held her hand out to the standing men, speechless.

“A show of good manners,” Yiayia finished her sentence. “Take it as your due, dear. You deserve it.”

What would it be like to be a part of a large family where she was loved and respected on a daily basis?

A warm glow deep inside vied with the chill of nerves prickling along her skin.

Conflicted. Was she doomed to always be conflicted?

“Wine, Doctor?” A server held the bottle of merlot for her inspection.

Normally, Annalise would say no. While she enjoyed an occasional glass of wine with a good book, she never drank in uncomfortable social situations. But she found herself saying yes instead.

“And you, sir?” the waiter asked Niko.

He started to shake his head, but his brother Stephen was nodding instead.

“Give the man another drink. He’s a doctor, you know? Under stress all the time. Look at that strain around his eyes. You need to cut loose every now and then, Niko, or you’ll be looking as old as me before your time.” Stephen held his glass out. “And pour me another one, too, will you?”

Niko knew his brother’s remark was a dig at his supposed frivolous lifestyle, which Stephen was both jealous of and proud he’d played a part in providing. Niko should have never let the misunderstanding lie between them for so long.

But so much had been happening when he’d left for his first mission. The restaurant fire, the miscarriage that had threatened his sister-in-law’s life and Sophie’s diagnosis had rocked the foundations of his very strong family.

Leaving his family at their time of need had been the hardest decision he’d ever had to make.

He wasn’t good at raw emotion. Just being there for his loved ones had made him feel trapped and helpless—made him remember too much.

He’d had to take action. Do something. Fix something. There had been nothing he could do for his family to make them any better.

But he’d had the medical dossiers of a half-dozen children in his briefcase—children who could die without his medical care. He’d decided he would only be in the way if he stayed around.

He’d reasoned that there was no sense in adding to everyone’s worries if Doctors Without Borders wasn’t for him. Now that he’d made his decision, he wouldn’t put a damper on this trip, but he would tell them at the end that working for Doctors Without Borders would be permanent.

He had already made arrangements to begin the sale of his share of the partnership as soon as he returned home. But for now he would keep pretending, for their sakes.

“Everything okay?” Annalise’s hand fluttered over his arm, as if she wanted to touch him but felt he was off limits.

Niko pasted on his brightest smile. “I’m sharing a glass of wine with a brilliant, beautiful woman. What could be better? Except maybe a bit of privacy.”

While he didn’t know her well, he read her eyes with ease. Concern turned to disappointment. It seemed that’s all he did lately, disappoint the women in his life.

But, then, Annalise wasn’t in his life, was she? She was a simple, uncomplicated diversion. In three weeks, walking out of her life would be as easy as walking off this ship.

He’d meant to be flippant, but he tempered it with truth. “I’ve got a lot going on in my head right now. I guess I haven’t quite made the transition to vacation mode yet.”