by Sarah Morgan
‘Yes?’
Her mouth tightened into a thin, dangerous line. ‘Who is she?’
‘You heard her. She’s the cleaner.’
‘Obviously she’s lying.’ The woman bristled. ‘No doubt she’s been here all day, sleeping off the night before.’
His only response to that was a faint narrowing of those spectacular dark eyes.
Recalling someone warning her on her first day with his company that Nik Zervakis was at his most dangerous when he was quiet, Lily felt her anxiety levels rocket but apparently her concerns weren’t shared by his date for the evening, who continued to berate him.
‘Do you know the worst thing about this? Not that you have a wandering eye, but that your eye wanders to someone as fat as her.’
‘Excuse me? I’m not fat.’ Lily tried vainly to cover herself with the soaking uniform. ‘I’ll have you know that my BMI is within normal range.’
But the woman wasn’t listening. ‘Was she the reason you were late picking me up? I warned you, Nik, no games, and yet you do this to me. Well, you gambled and you lost because I don’t do second chances, especially this early in a relationship and if you can’t be bothered to give an explanation then I can’t be bothered to ask for one.’ Without giving him the chance to respond, his date stalked out of the room and Lily flinched in time with each furious tap of those skyscraper heels.
She stood in awkward silence, her feelings bruised and her spirits drenched in cold water and guilt. ‘She’s very upset.’
‘Yes.’
‘Er—is she coming back?’
‘I sincerely hope not.’
Lily wanted to say that he was well rid of her, but decided that protecting her job was more important than honesty. ‘I’m really sorry—’
‘Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault.’
Knowing that wasn’t quite true, she squirmed. ‘If I hadn’t had an accident, I would have had my clothes on when she walked into the room.’
‘An accident? I’ve never considered my shower to be a place of danger but apparently I was wrong about that.’ He eyed the volume of water on the floor and her drenched clothing. ‘What happened?’
‘Your shower is like the flight deck of a jumbo jet, that’s what happened!’ Freezing and soaked, Lily couldn’t stop her teeth chattering. ‘There are no instructions.’
‘I don’t need instructions.’ His gaze slid over her with slow, disturbing thoroughness. ‘I’m familiar with the workings of my own shower.’
‘Well I’m not! I had no idea which buttons to press.’
‘So you thought you’d press all of them? If you ever find yourself on the flight deck of a Boeing 747 I suggest you sit on your hands.’
‘It’s not f-f-funny. I’m soaking wet and I didn’t know you were going to come home early.’
‘I apologise.’ Irony gleamed in those dark eyes. ‘I’m not in the habit of notifying people of my movements in advance. Have you finished cleaning or do you want me to show you which buttons to press?’
Lily summoned as much dignity as she could in the circumstances. ‘Your shower is clean. Extra clean, because I wiped myself around it personally.’ Anxious to make her exit as fast as possible, she kept her eyes fixed on the door and away from that tall, powerful frame. ‘Are you sure she isn’t coming back?’
‘No.’
Lily paused, torn between relief and guilt. ‘I’ve ruined another relationship.’
‘Another?’ Dark eyebrows lifted. ‘It’s a common occurrence?’
‘You have no idea. Look—if it would help I could call my employer and ask her to vouch for me.’ Her voice tailed off as she realised that would mean confessing she’d been caught half naked in the shower.
He gave a faint smile. ‘Unless you have a very liberal-minded employer, you might want to rethink that idea.’
‘There must be some way I can fix this. I’ve ruined your date, although for the record I don’t think she’s a very kind person so she might not be good for you in the long term and with a body that bony she won’t be very cuddly for your children.’ She caught his eye. ‘Are you laughing at me?’
‘No, but the ability to cuddle children isn’t high on my list of necessary female attributes.’ He flung his jacket carelessly over the back of a sofa that was bigger than her bed at home.
She stared in fascination, wondering if he cared at all that his date had walked out. ‘As a matter of interest, why didn’t you defend yourself?’
‘Why would I defend myself?’
‘You could have explained yourself and then she would have forgiven you.’
‘I never explain myself. And anyway—’ he shrugged ‘—you had already given her an explanation.’
‘I don’t think she saw me as a credible witness. It might have sounded better coming from you.’
He stood, legs spread, his powerful shoulders blocking the doorway. ‘I assume you told her the truth? You’re the cleaner?’
‘Of course I told her the truth.’
‘Then there was nothing I could have added to your story.’
In his position she would have died of humiliation, but he seemed supremely indifferent to the fact he’d been publicly dumped. ‘You don’t seem upset.’
‘Why would I be upset?’
‘Because most people are upset when a relationships ends.’
He smiled. ‘I’m not one of those.’
Lily felt a flash of envy. ‘You’re not even a teeny tiny bit sad?’
‘I’m not familiar with that unit of measurement but no, I’m not even a “teeny tiny” bit sad. To be sad I’d have to care and I don’t care.’
To be sad I’d have to care and I don’t care.
Brilliant, Lily thought. Why couldn’t she have said that to Professor Ashurst when he’d given her that fake sympathy about having hurt her? She needed to memorise it for next time. ‘Excuse me a moment.’ Leaving a dripping trail behind her, she shot past him, scrabbled in her bag and pulled out a notebook.
‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m writing down what you said. Whenever I’m dumped I never know the right thing to say, but next time it happens I’m going to say exactly those words in exactly that tone instead of producing enough tears to power a water feature at Versailles.’ She scribbled, dripping water onto her notebook and smearing the ink.
‘Being “dumped” is something that happens to you often?’
‘Often enough. I fall in love, I get my heart broken, it’s a cycle I’m working on breaking.’ She wished she hadn’t said anything. Although she was fairly open with people, she drew the line at making public announcements about not being easy to love.
That was her secret.
‘How many times have you fallen in love?’
‘So far?’ She shook the pen with frustration as the ink stalled on the damp page, ‘Three times.’
‘Cristo, that’s unbelievable.’
‘Thanks for not making me feel better. I bet you’ve never been unlucky in love, have you?’
‘I’ve never been in love at all.’
Lily digested that. ‘You’ve never met the right person.’
‘I don’t believe in love.’
‘You—’ She rocked back on her heels, her attention caught. ‘So what do you believe in?’
‘Money, influence and power.’ He shrugged. ‘Tangible, measurable goals.’
‘You can measure power and influence? Don’t tell me—you stamp your foot and it registers on the Richter scale.’
He loosened his tie. ‘You’d be surprised.’
‘I’m already surprised. Gosh, you are so cool. You are my new role model.’ Finally she managed to coax ink from the pen. ‘It is never too late to change. From now on I’m all about tangible, m
easurable goals, too. As a matter of interest, what is your goal in relationships?’
‘Orgasm.’ He gave a slow smile and she felt herself turn scarlet.
‘Right. Well, that serves me right for asking a stupid question. That’s definitely a measurable goal. You’re obviously able to be cold and ruthlessly detached when it comes to relationships. I’m aiming for that. I’ve dripped all over your floor. Be careful not to slip.’
He was leaning against the wall, watching her with amusement. ‘This is what you look like when you’re being cold and ruthlessly detached?’
‘I haven’t actually started yet, but the moment my radar warns me I might be in danger of falling for the wrong type, bam—’ she punched the air with her fist ‘—I’m going to turn on my freezing side. From now on I have armour around my heart. Kevlar.’ She gave him a friendly smile. ‘You think I’m crazy, right? All this is natural to you. But it isn’t to me. This is the first stage of my personality transplant. I’d love to do the whole thing under anaesthetic and wake up all new and perfect, but that isn’t possible so I’m trying to embrace the process.’
A vibrating noise caught her attention and she glanced across the room towards his jacket. When he didn’t move, she looked at him expectantly. ‘That’s your phone.’
He was still watching her, his gaze disturbingly intent. ‘Yes.’
‘You’re not going to answer it?’ She scrambled to her feet, still clutching the towel. ‘It might be her, asking for your forgiveness.’
‘I’m sure it is, which is why I don’t intend to answer it.’
Lily absorbed that with admiration. ‘This is a perfect example of why I need to be like you and not like me. If that had been my phone, I would have answered it and when whoever was on the end apologised for treating me badly, I would have told him it was fine. I would have forgiven them.’
‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘You do need help. What’s your name?’
She shifted, her wet feet sticking to the floor. ‘Lily. Like the flower.’
‘You look familiar. Have we met before?’
Lily felt the colour pour into her cheeks. ‘I’ve been working as an intern at your company two days a week for the past couple of months. I’m second assistant to your personal assistant.’ I’m the one who broke the photocopier and the coffee machine.
Dark eyebrows rose. ‘We’ve met?’
‘No. I’ve only seen you once in person. I don’t count the time I was hiding in the bathroom.’
‘You hid in the bathroom?’
‘You were on a firing spree. I didn’t want to be noticed.’
‘So you work for me two days a week, and on the other three days you’re working as a cleaner?’
‘No, I only do that job in the evenings. The other three days I’m doing fieldwork up at Aptera for the summer. But that’s almost finished. I’ve reached a crossroads in my life and I’ve no idea which direction to take.’
‘Fieldwork?’ That sparked his interest. ‘You’re an archaeologist?’
‘Yes, I’m part of a project funded by the university but that part doesn’t pay off my massive college loans so I have other jobs.’
‘How much do you know about Minoan antiquities?’
Lily blinked. ‘Probably more than is healthy for a woman of twenty-four.’
‘Good. Get back into the bathroom and dry yourself off while I find you a dress. Tonight I have to open the new wing of the museum. You’re coming with me.’
‘Me? Don’t you have a date?’
‘I had a date,’ he said smoothly. ‘As you’re partially responsible for the fact she’s no longer here, you’re coming in her place.’
‘But—’ She licked her lips. ‘I’m supposed to be cleaning your villa.’
His gaze slid from her face to the wash of water covering the bathroom floor. ‘I’d say you’ve done a pretty thorough job. By the time we get home, the flood will have spread down the stairs and across the living areas, so it will clean itself.’
Lily gave a gurgle of laughter. She wondered if any of his employees realised he had a sense of humour. ‘You’re not going to fire me?’
‘You should have more confidence in yourself. If you have knowledge of Minoan artefacts then I still have a use for you and I never fire people who are useful.’ He reached for the towel and tugged it off, leaving her clad only in her soaking wet underwear.
‘What are you doing?’ She gave a squeak of embarrassment and snatched at the towel but he held it out of reach.
‘Stop wriggling. I can’t be the first man to see you half naked.’
‘Usually I’m in a relationship when a man sees me naked. And being stared at is very unnerving, especially when you’ve been called fat by someone who looks like a toast rack—’ Lily broke off as he turned and strolled away from her. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or affronted. ‘If you want to know my size you could ask me!’
He reached for his phone and dialled. While he waited for the person on the other end to answer, he scanned her body and gave her a slow, knowing smile. ‘I don’t need to ask, theé mou,’ he said softly. ‘I already know your size.’
CHAPTER TWO
NIK LOUNGED IN his seat while the car negotiated heavy evening traffic. Beside him Lily was wriggling like a fish dropped onto the deck of a boat.
‘Mr Zervakis? This dress is far more revealing than anything I would normally wear. And I’ve had a horrible thought.’ Her voice was breathy and distracting and Nik turned his head to look at her, trying to remind himself that girls with sweet smiles who were self-confessed members of Loveaholics Anonymous were definitely off his list.
‘Call me Nik.’
‘I can’t call you Nik. It would feel wrong while I’m working in your company. You pay my salary.’
‘I pay you? I thought you said you were an intern.’
‘I am. You pay your interns far more than most companies, but that’s a different conversation. I’m still having that horrible thought by the way.’
Nik dragged his eyes from her mouth and tried to wipe his brain of X-rated thoughts. ‘What horrible thought is that?’
‘The one where your girlfriend finds out you took me as your date tonight.’
‘She will find out.’
‘And that doesn’t bother you?’
‘Why would it?’
‘Isn’t it obvious? Because she didn’t believe I was the cleaner. She thought you and I—well...’ she turned scarlet ‘...if she finds out we were together tonight then it will look as if she was right and we were lying, even though if people used their brains they could work out that if she’s your type then I couldn’t possibly be.’
Nik tried to decipher that tumbled speech. ‘You’re concerned she will think we’re having sex? Why is that a horrible thought? You find me unattractive?’
‘That’s a ridiculous question.’ Lily’s eyes flew to his and then away again. ‘Sorry, but that’s like asking a woman if she likes chocolate.’
‘There are women who don’t like chocolate.’
‘They’re lying. They might not eat it, but that doesn’t mean they don’t like it.’
‘So I’m chocolate?’ Nik tried to remember the last time he’d been this entertained by anyone.
‘If you’re asking if I think you’re very tempting and definitely bad for me, the answer is yes. But apart from the fact we’re totally unsuited, I wouldn’t be able to relax enough to have sex with you.’
Nik, who had never had trouble helping a woman relax, rose to the challenge. ‘I’m happy to—’
‘No.’ She gave him a stern look. ‘I know you’re competitive, but forget it. I saw that photo of you in the swimming pool. No way could I ever be naked in front of a man with a body like yours. I’d have to suck everything
in and make sure you only saw my good side. The stress would kill any passion.’
‘I’ve already seen you in your underwear.’
‘Don’t remind me.’
Nik caught his driver’s amused gaze in the mirror and gave him a steady stare. Vassilis had been with him for over a decade and had a tendency to voice his opinions on Nik’s love life. It was obvious he thoroughly approved of Lily.
‘It’s true that if you turn up as my guest tonight there will be people who assume we are having sex.’ Nik returned his attention to the conversation. ‘I can’t claim to be intimately acquainted with the guest list, but I’m assuming a few of the people there will be your colleagues. Does that bother you?’
‘No. It will send a message that I’m not broken-hearted, which is good for my pride. In fact the timing is perfect. Just this morning I embarked on a new project. Operation Ice Maiden. You’re probably wondering what that is.’
Nik opened his mouth to comment but she carried on without pausing.
‘I am going to have sex with no emotion. That’s right.’ She nodded at him. ‘You heard me correctly. Rebound sex. I am going to climb into bed with some guy and I’m not going to feel a thing.’
Hearing a sound from the front of the car, Nik pressed a button and closed the screen between him and Vassilis, giving them privacy.
‘Do you have anyone in mind for—er—Operation Ice Maiden?’
‘Not yet, but if they happen to think it’s you that’s fine. You’d look good on my romantic résumé.’
Nik leaned his head back against the seat and started to laugh. ‘You, Lily, are priceless.’
‘That doesn’t sound like a compliment.’ She adjusted the neckline of her dress and her breasts almost escaped in the process. ‘You’re basically saying I’m not worth anything.’
Dragging his gaze from her body, Nik decided this was the most entertaining evening he’d had in a long time.
* * *
‘There are photographers.’ As they pulled up outside the museum Lily slunk lower in her seat and Nik closed his hand around her wrist and hauled her upright again.