Читать книгу Greek Affairs - Кейт Хьюит - Страница 49

“NIKOS?” Spiros said behind him.

Nikos slowly closed the front door he’d wrenched open after Sara had fled. Turning, he looked at his grandfather.

“Is something wrong?”

“No. Sara and I argued. She left for the boat. She’ll get soaked.”

“She can dry off there. Eleani had hoped she’d stay the night. I’ll have to tell her Sara has already left. What I won’t tell her is that she left so precipitously.”

Nikos headed back to the stairs.

“Are you all right?” his grandfather asked.

“I’m always all right.”

But it was a lie. Nikos realized that when he stepped back into his bedroom. His lonely bedroom. When he’d been younger, he’d been so full of hopes and dreams. He would not have a marriage like his parents’. He would find a beautiful woman who would love him. Who would want to have all the closeness of family he saw with his grandparents and that his own parents had spurned.

Ariana was that woman, he’d once believed. She had proved false and it had changed him. Now for the first time in years, he thought about his old dreams. A home, family, children. The insight that had shocked him before returned. Who would he teach about the island’s history and special places? Who would he regale with family stories, from the war to the rebuilding, to the exploits of his grandfather and father? If he did not marry, did not have children, the family ended with him.

But he needed more than children. He wanted someone who came to a marriage with dreams similar to his own. Was someone out there—waiting for him?

What if Sara’s dreams matched his? He could get past the way she’d used him if they did. Had the way she’d been with him only been talk? What if she’d been that way to gain his sympathy in case things didn’t work out as she’d planned, and she needed to enlist his help?

He looked at the bed, remembering that first moment when he’d awoken and had seen Sara. For a split second it had felt absolutely right. As if he expected her there, and there she was.

She’d never once asked for anything—unlike other women who wanted trinkets or wanted to be seen in nightclubs, not spend quiet evenings on the aft deck of a yacht.

Damn, if he could just trust his own feelings.

He had once before and had been proved wrong. Dare he risk it again?

The sun rose the next morning in a cloudless sky. Sara had her things packed before the Cassandra began its engines. She had sent a message to the house thanking them for their kindness and saying goodbye. She knew they might be up already, but she had no desire to speak to anyone.

Stefano brought her some breakfast, croissants and rolls, freshly baked by Dimitri. She hadn’t got the recipes she’d wanted. So be it.

She knelt on her bunk and looked out of the small porthole as they pulled away, watching as the house on the hill grew smaller until the Cassandra swung round and the house was lost from view.

She felt numb again. They would reach the resort before lunch. She’d contact the travel desk and see what the earliest flight to London was. She didn’t need to worry about leaving anyone in the lurch by her departure. The kitchen at the resort had made arrangements when she’d been chosen to serve on the Cassandra. The yacht wasn’t scheduled for another cruise that she knew of. By the time it was, its regular chef would be ready to come back.

It wouldn’t take her long to clear out her room at the resort. Maybe there’d even be a flight out today.

As far as her relationship with Eleani was concerned, she’d write. They could gradually build up a connection. Or maybe not. Sara had done as her mother had asked. Her life was not her mother’s. Eleani was a relative, but there was only a tiny bond between them. It might grow or not. Sara didn’t care at the moment.

She refused to think about Nikos. He’d made his position clear numerous times. She had been dumb in the extreme to even hope for a difference in him. She refused to admit she loved him. He would never love her in return, and she did not want to end up like her mother, always pining for a man who had left and would never be back.

The knock on her door later had Sara’s heart leaping in expectation. She opened it, disappointed to see Stefano there.

“The captain asks if you’d like to watch our arrival from the bridge.”

She considered it. But shook her head. “Please tell him thank you, but I’ll stay here. I’ll be ready to leave when we dock.”

She closed the door, knowing she was closing off her last chance to spend some time with Nikos. It was not worth the pain of saying goodbye again for a few moments in his company. She preferred to make the break clean and final.

When they docked at the resort she was ready. She watched from her porthole until she saw Nikos striding away from the ship. Then she went to find out how soon she could be on her way to England.

Luck was with her. She booked a seat on a 7:00 p.m. flight to London. Packing the things in her room swiftly, she arranged to have her bags picked up and delivered to the taxi she’d take to the airport.

She went to the kitchen to tell the chief chef she would not be coming back to work. It was hard. She’d enjoyed the weeks she’d spent in the kitchen and all she’d learned about genuine Greek cuisine. She vowed she’d keep it up when she returned home.

It was time to leave.

She looked neither left nor right but went straight to where the taxis picked up and delivered guests. Pointing out her bags, Sara was on her way. She gazed unseeingly out the windows as they sped through the traffic and on to the airport. Despite her best efforts, her heart was aching. Tears flooded her eyes and she brushed them impatiently away. She’d learned about doing without her heart’s desire from her mother. Maybe the Andropolous women were destined not to find happiness with the first man they fell in love with. It didn’t mean she had to settle for anything but the best. Someone who was above all the other someones in the world. Would she ever find it again?

She loved Nikos Konstantinos. The admission hurt. She rubbed her chest and tried to shake off the ache. She hardly knew him. She’d forget about him within weeks of getting back home.

Liar, an inner voice said.

Sara knew she’d never forget Nikos.

She paid for her ticket, checked her luggage and made her way to the concourse to await the flight. She couldn’t wait to see Stacy and tell her everything. Or almost everything. Sara wondered how long it would be before she could talk about Nikos without revealing how she felt.

The preliminary boarding began. She’d be home in a few hours.

“Sara,” Nikos said.

She looked up. “What are you doing here?” she asked, astonished to see him.

“I want to talk.”

“You can’t be here. Only people with tickets can be here. Besides, they’ve called my flight.”

“I bought a ticket. It was the only way. But I don’t want to use it. I don’t want you to use yours. I want to talk.”

“We have nothing to say. You’ve made that perfectly clear—especially the part where you think I’m angling for money, no matter who gets in my way.”

“I think I was wrong about that.”

“What? You think you were wrong about that. You were totally wrong!”

People began to watch them. Sara glanced around, seeing the curiosity on their faces.

“Go away,” she said, looking anywhere but at Nikos.

“If I go anywhere, it’ll be to London. If we have to sit side by side on the plane and hash this all out, I’m good to go.”

“We are not sitting together on the plane.”

He held out his boarding pass. The seat number was adjacent to hers.

“How did you manage that?” she asked suspiciously.

“Money has its uses. I bribed the ticket agent.”

“That’s just wrong.”

“Not as wrong as your leaving before we have a chance to talk—really talk. Sara, don’t go. Stay here in Greece. Get to know Eleani. Get to know me.”

“You? What do you have to do with my relationship with my grandmother?”

“Nothing. Do what you want with her. Stay for me.”

She didn’t understand. “I’m going home.”

“Make Greece your home. You speak the language, know the food, the traditions—the dances. Stay, make your life here—with me.”

Now Sara knew she was confused. Nikos wanted an arranged business marriage. He couldn’t be proposing.

“Exactly what are you talking about?” she asked.

It was his turn to look around at the avid audience they had. Frowning, he held out his hand for hers. “Come with me. I’d prefer some privacy.”

“Nothing you have to say requires privacy, unless you plan to blast me for using you to reach my grandmother.”

“Dammit, I want to ask you to marry me, but not in front of a hundred strangers,” he snapped.

Sara blinked. “Marry?” she squeaked. Had she heard him correctly? The man who thought all women were after his money and couldn’t love him. The man who wanted a business marriage with a woman of equal fortune was proposing to her? Poor, working woman Sara Andropolous?

No, she had not heard him correctly.

Someone in the group of passengers clapped. Soon dozens took up the applause.

Sara felt the heat rise in her cheeks. “Did you just propose?” she asked. How dare he propose in front of a hundred strangers.

“I did. You have enough witnesses.”

“You don’t want to marry me.”

“If you would come with me as I asked, I would explain.”

She rose and picked up her tote. Turning to face the majority of the passengers, she shrugged. “Looks like I’m not going to London after all.” With a smile she turned back to Nikos. “This had better be good. If you have me miss my flight for anything less than perfection, I’m not going to be happy.”

He reached out and took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers, raising them to his lips for a brief kiss.

“If you would just say yes, it would make everything easier.”

“And why do I want to make things easier for you?” she asked, feeling daring. Her heart sang. He had proposed and she had no intention of refusing. But if he didn’t know that yet, it wouldn’t hurt to draw this out a bit.

He began striding down the concourse. Sara had to run a couple of steps to catch up.

“How did you find me?” she asked.

“I called your room and you didn’t answer. It didn’t take long to discover you had booked a flight out tonight. My fear was the traffic, that I wouldn’t make it before you left. Which means I would have had to follow you to England.”

“You could have said something before,” she grumbled. “We were on the boat for three hours.”

“I wanted more privacy than can be found on Cassandra,” he said, heading back to the terminal. In less than five minutes they were in the back of his limousine. He flipped a switch, closing the window to the driver’s section. He pulled Sara into his arms and kissed her. Thoroughly.

Breathlessly she pulled back a few moments later and gazed up into his warm brown eyes.

“Is that a yes?” he asked.

“I thought you were going to explain things,” she countered, stalling. She still wasn’t sure he knew what he was doing. He really wanted to marry her?

“Time enough for all the explanations in the world once you tell me you’ll marry me. I love you, Sara. I never thought I’d say those words again. I never thought I’d truly feel the emotion again. But I do—when I’m with you. When I think about you. When I dream about you.

“I want to spend my life with you, and have you with me every day. Maybe we’ll have some babies together—children we can love together, raise together, and who will give us grandchildren that will delight our souls. Or if we don’t, you will always be enough for me. Say you love me. Tell me you didn’t just use me to get to Eleani. That our time meant something special to you—as it did to me.”

“It did. Of course it did! I fell in love with you, too. I was thrilled when you visited me on the aft deck. But your story about Ariana scared me. I knew you were planning to ask Gina to marry you—rumors like that don’t stay quiet long. I didn’t want to repeat the mistake my mother made. I didn’t want to hold on to hope that you would learn to love me. She never stopped hoping my father would return.”

“She loved him that much?”

Sara shook her head slowly. “I’m not sure. Sometimes, and especially after talking with Eleani, I wondered if it was just her pride. She’d given up so much for him, she wanted it to come right. Only, for her it never did.”

“We won’t be like your parents. Nor mine, come to that. I don’t mind entertaining or going to parties, but it’s you I want to be with. Sailing in the Cassandra, swimming in the sea.”

“Working at the resort. I can still cook there, right?”

“If you want. Or not, if you don’t.”

“I do. I love my job. And there’s so much more I can learn about Greek foods. If you adjust your hours, we’ll be together when we’re not working.”

“So you have it figured out?”

She smiled and touched his cheek. “It just came to me. It would be the perfect life.”

She couldn’t believe Nikos Konstantinos was proposing to her. Afraid to pinch herself lest she wake up, she continued to gaze into his warm eyes, brimming with love—for her.

“If we have any children, I want us to raise them, not a series of nannies and tutors. No boarding school.”

“But we will show them the island.”

“Of course. We can teach them to dive in the cove, swim in the sea,” he affirmed. “And explore historic places. Together.”

“You’re serious about this, aren’t you?” she asked with wonder. Who would have expected Nikos to marry a Greek woman who had no money and a job as a chef?

“You still haven’t said you will,” he reminded her.

“Yes! Of course I’ll marry you. I love you, Nikos. Please love me forever.”

“I know how you view promises made. I share the solemnity of a vow. I promise I will always love you,” he said with a kiss that had Sara convinced of his love.

She had the happy ending her mother had missed. She would embrace it with both hands and never take it for granted. Their love would last forever, of that she was sure. Nikos had promised.