Читать книгу Greek Millionaire, Unruly Wife - Sun Chara - Страница 9

“Did you undress me, Michalis?” Julia, wearing a mid-thigh length robe and with tousled hair, stomped barefoot onto the terrace of the Leonadis villa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

“Did you want me to?” Amusement tugged at his mouth, and he set the newspaper he’d been reading on the table, his x-ray vision raking her head to toe.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” She clutched the robe closer about her body, and he laughed. And that had her ire rising…as well as her temperature and heart rate.

“Is it?” He leaned back in his chair, his words a low rumble in his chest sent her emotions into a scramble.

“Answer me.” She slid her fingers in her long locks and shoved them off her forehead. “Did you…I mean did we…you…me—”

“Yes and no.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Coffee?” He picked up the briki, the coffee pot, and motioned her to sit down for breakfast.

“Don’t change the subject.”

An impatient sigh filtered from his mouth, and he took his time refilling his cup, then hers. “You were exhausted after the flight and conked out after putting Amy to bed.” He raised the demitasse, took a long sip and reset it on the saucer. “Good coffee. You should have some.”

The man was maddening. Aggravating.

Hot. Sexy.

Dressed in designer slacks and an open necked shirt with a gold chain around his neck, he exuded a casual confidence.

Deceptive. The thought criss-crossed her mind, and a sound, almost a snort tickled her throat, and she gulped it down. Beneath his casual air coiled the strength and power of a puma which, once unleashed, tore up everything in its path. His unquenchable drive fueled him to succeed in everything he did.

In everything except their marriage.

The snort blasted from her then, and although she slapped her hand over her mouth to muffle the sound, it tainted the air between them.

He quirked a brow, and she lowered her lashes a fraction, glancing at his rolled up sleeves.

His forearms were smattered with dark hair, and his hands invoked memories—him holding her, touching her in her most intimate places, loving her. Erotic sensations frisked her body, and she crunched the feelings she’d just as soon forget between her teeth.

“I removed your shoes and outer clothing—made you more comfortable.”

“How thoughtful,” she said, her words dripping with sarcasm, her toes curling on the tile. Compared to him she looked and sounded like a shrew, and that compounded her resentment against him.

“I can be.”

“Where did you sleep?”

“Why, next to you.”

“No.”

“Mmm, yes.”

She wanted to smack the ‘gotcha’ look off his face, but instead, she leaned against the balustrade and gripped the twisted metal rods between her fingers. Jasmine leaves brushed her skin, and the white star-shaped flowers filled the air with exotic scent.

“Can’t have the help gossiping, now can we?”

“That never worried you before.”

His eyes glittered, his shoulders tensed. “Indeed.”

The early morning sun warmed her back, and she turned, her gaze skimming over the bougainvillea in the garden below, the scarlet blooms a contrast to the whitewashed villa. Lifting her lashes, she looked far out to sea at the sailboats dotting the horizon, and her thoughts went into reverse.

The flight from Paris to Athens had been anything but cordial. Taciturn, Michalis had sat next to her, his gaze glued on the sleeping child in her arms; but when he shifted his eyes to her, his tender look became eclipsed by the hardening of his pupils. A rip of dread pierced her, and she’d clutched Amy closer to her heart.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she’d said between her teeth.

“Like what?”

“Like I’ve committed some great sin.”

He scratched his cheek with the pad of his thumb. “Conscience nipping at you?”

“No,” she hissed. “It’s not my conscience that’s guilty, it’s—”

“You’d better get some rest.” He’d hauled himself up, reached for his laptop from the overhead compartment and settled on the seat across the aisle.

Several hours later, the Leonadis jet taxied to a stop on the runway of Athens International Airport, and Julia still refused to relinquish the child in her arms. Not during the drive to the villa, and not even after the chauffeur had set their suitcases in the foyer, and she and Michalis stood alone in the huge house.

“Let me help you with her.” Michalis had reached for the baby, but she twisted away and climbed the stairs. “The nursery’s on the right, adjacent to our bedroom.”

She faltered in her step, but kept going, shutting her mind to everything and everyone. Especially Michalis, and his ‘our bedroom’ announcement. A maid appeared in the hallway, opening the nursery door and Julia stepped inside, hugging her daughter even tighter.

The nursery was a child’s dream. A rainbow mural decorated one wall, teddy bear mobiles hung from the ceiling and stuffed toys were everywhere. The baby crib made of the finest polished wood and painted with cartoons, had the softest linen, and no doubt the most expensive.

A snicker trickled from her mouth. Michalis had given Amy everything in one day that money could buy…everything Julia hadn’t been able to give her in a year and might never be able to do.

Michalis wouldn’t spare any expense for what, or whom, he considered belonged to him. And he’d laid claim to her and her baby for the next month. Her chest grew tight. Would she have to forfeit her child to Michalis at the month’s end?

The query taunted her mind, sending a ripple of panic through her. She couldn’t compete with the Leonadis’ wealth. An explosion of air from her mouth, and the maid shot her a puzzled look. Julia gave her a brief smile, and swallowing emotion bruising her insides, laid her daughter on the fluffy mattress. Drawing the light blanket over her shoulders, she bent over and pressed her lips to the child’s brow.

“I’ll have your bags unpacked Kyria—”

“Thank you.” Julia bypassed her into the adjoining bedroom. “But that can wait.” As soon as the door closed behind her, she’d crashed out on the king-sized bed, squeezing the pillow in her arms. A tear had oozed between her lashes, then another…

“I’ve hired a nanny,” Michalis announced, his words echoing on the sunlit veranda and rocking Julia from her thoughts.

“What?”

“By tonight, you’ll be fully rested,” he said, his meaning unmistakable. “And to ensure you stay that way, I’ve hired a nanny for our daughter.”

“No way.”

“Yes.” Michalis lifted the demitasse to his mouth and took another sip of the Greek brew, fixing her with a piercing look over the rim. “It’ll ensure we won’t be disturbed—”

“Michalis, I don’t want my daughter looked after by a nanny. I’m perfectly capable—” She tossed him a cool glance over her shoulder, keeping her voice light but beneath her fingers, the steel design of the railing embedded in her palms. “There’s no need.”

“There is.” He slammed the cup down and twisted in his chair, the sunlight glinting on his hair. Even as her mind rejected, another emotion prodded her to reach out, brush back the stray lock from his forehead … craving to touch him.

A seagull squawked, snapping her from her foolishness and reminding her why she was here and what she stood to lose.

“Why?”

He blotted the corner of his mouth with a napkin, his laser-sharp focus sending a clear signal.

“What’s the rush?” she asked, her words a croak. Behind her, the surf crashed upon the sand, beckoning her back to the spectacular view of sea and sky curving around for miles.

“I want to get my month’s worth of entertainment.” He grinned… his mouth became a devilish slash, and she shifted away, the morning breeze cooling her hot cheeks. “And I want you to be in top form.”

“That is so crass.”

“In whose mind?”

She whipped around, about to hurl a blue streak at him, but at the last second, checked the impulse. Ignoring her twittering nerves, she took a deep breath and delivered him a more provocative response. “You hired me for the month…so…twenty-nine days left now.”

“Keeping tabs already?”

Dismissing his mocking tone, she flicked her head back, flexed her fingers away from the steel bars and imagined she was working the catwalk as she sashayed toward him. “Why wait for tonight?”

“Theos mou!” He vaulted from the chair, a muscle boxing his jaw, a storm brewing in his eyes and the napkin squashed in his fist.

But Julia wouldn’t leave well enough alone. For some perverse reason, she wanted to goad him to his limit, so she reached out, stroking his cheek with the tip of her finger. “I know how to entertain you.”

“Had more practice, have you?”

A stunned silence, and then the crack of her hand across his cheek reverberated around them. She didn’t know who was more shocked out of the two of them.

The stillness between them turned to a deadly calm, broken only by the ocean’s mysterious concerto behind them.

“Get something to eat,” he said, his words smooth steel, icy. Then, the corner of his mouth lifted…a leer if she ever saw one. “Once we get started, babe…” He brushed his cheek with the back of his hand, the imprint of her fingers stark upon his skin.

“I’m—” she began, but his next words jabbed and the apology dissolved on her tongue.

“We may not want to come up for air, let alone food.”

All she could do was gape at him…gape at this remote stranger and wonder where she’d gone wrong. Had she ever known the man she married? She doubted it.

“We set sail at noon.” He hurled the napkin on the table. “Be prompt.”

“What’s happened to you getting to know Amy?” She couldn’t resist a jab of her own nor a lift of her brow.

“I intend to, but first—” He took a step closer and cupped her chin in his palm, his coffee-laced breath tickling her cheek, her mouth, and his thumb stroking her bottom lip. “I want to get reacquainted with you.”

Julia swatted his hand away, and he laughed, the sound frosting her skin.

“I won’t be separated from my baby.”

“Amy will be in good hands.” His suggestive look implied that Julia would also be in good hands—his. “We’ll be back in a couple of days.”

“I won’t leave her with a stranger.”

“Nor would I,” he agreed, surprising her.

“I believe you’ve met the nanny once.” His eyes glinted like ocean agates, drilling into her.

Julia shook her head, crinkling her brow. “I don’t recall—”

“My meeting in Athens should only take a couple of hours.” He nixed her words, glanced at the Omega watch on his wrist and strode toward the exit. “Don’t be late.”

“Very well,” she sighed. “Amy and I will be ready.”

He paused in stride. “Maria will take care of Amy.”

A chill darted through her even though sunlight beat down upon her. “Maria?”

“The nanny.”

She brushed her hands over her arms, banishing the unsettling premonition.

“You’ll…like her.” He descended the stairs, his words mingling with the echo of his footsteps, and she couldn’t be sure she’d heard right.

“What can I get for you, Kyria—”

Julia waved the maid away and plunked onto the chair, her heart thudding in her chest. Bypassing the heartier fare of cereal, milk, eggs and bacon, she snatched up a piece of toast.

The front door slammed shut, and she jumped, then the rev of the car motor ripped through the air making her grind her teeth in annoyance until the sound became muted in the distance.

“Grr!” She bit into the dry bread, imagining it was a piece of Michalis’ anatomy she’d sunk her teeth into. Thoughtfully she chewed, choked down the morsel, and knew she’d have to find a way to trump her soon to be ex-husband’s plans.