by Sarah Morgan
Nik smiled. ‘He ran a very successful company, which he sold for a large sum of money.’
‘But not to you.’
‘Our interests are different.’
There was no opportunity for him to elaborate because Diandra was hovering and Lily noticed the nervous look she gave Nik.
To break the ice, she enthused over the other woman’s dress and hair and then asked after Chloe.
‘She’s sleeping. My niece is watching her while we greet everyone, then I’m going to check on her. It’s been a very unsettling time.’ Diandra kept her voice low. ‘I wanted to postpone the wedding but Kostas won’t hear of it.’
‘You’re right, I won’t.’ Kostas took Diandra’s hand. ‘Nothing is going to stop me marrying you. You worry too much. She will soon settle and in the meantime we have an army of staff to attend to her happiness.’
‘She doesn’t need an army,’ Diandra murmured. ‘She needs the security of a few people she knows and trusts.’
‘We’ll discuss this later.’ Kostas drew her closer. ‘Our guests are arriving. Lily, you look beautiful. You will stand with us and greet everyone.’
‘Oh, but I—’
‘I insist.’
Lily quickly discovered that Nik’s father was as skilled at getting his own way as his son.
Unable to extract herself, she stood and greeted the guests, feeling as if she were on a movie set as a wave of shimmering, glittering guests flowed past her.
‘This isn’t my life,’ she whispered to Nik but he simply smiled and exchanged a few words with each guest, somehow managing to make everyone feel as if they’d had his full attention.
She discovered that even among this group of influential people everyone wanted a piece of him, especially the women.
It gave her a brief but illuminating insight into his life and she saw how it must be for him, surrounded by people whose motives in wanting to know him were as mixed up and murky as the bottom of the ocean.
She was beginning to understand both his reserve and his cynicism.
The evening was like something out of a dream, except that none of her dreams had ever featured an evening as glittering and extravagant as this.
What would it be like, she wondered, if this really were her life?
She pushed that thought aside quickly, preferring not to linger in fantasyland. Wanting a family was one thing, this was something else altogether.
Candles flickered, silverware gleamed and the air was filled with the heady scent of expensive perfume and fresh flowers. The food, a celebration of all things Greek, was served on the terrace so that the guests could enjoy the magnificent sight of the sun setting over the Aegean.
By the time Nik finally swung her onto the dance floor Lily was dizzy with it.
‘I talked to a few people while you were in conversation with those men in suits. I didn’t mention the fact I’m a penniless archaeologist.’
‘Are you enjoying yourself?’
‘What do you think?’
‘I think you look stunning in that dress.’ He eased her closer. ‘I also think you are better at mindless small talk than I am.’
‘Are you calling me mindless?’ She rested her hand lightly on his chest. ‘Did you know that the very good-looking man over there with the lovely wife owns upmarket hotels all over the world? He’s Sicilian.’
He glanced over her shoulder. ‘Cristiano Ferrara? You think he’s good-looking?’
‘Yes. And his wife is beautiful. They seem like a happy family.’
He smiled. ‘Her name is Laurel.’
‘Do you know everyone? She was very down-to-earth. She admired my necklace and he pulled me to one side to ask me for the details. He’s going to surprise her for her birthday.’
‘If Skylar sells a piece of jewellery to a Ferrara I can assure you she’s made. They move in the highest circles.’
‘Laurel wants an invitation to her exhibition in London. I have plugged Skylar’s jewellery to at least ten very wealthy people. I hope you’re not angry.’
He curved her against him in a possessive gesture. ‘You are welcome to be as shameless as you wish. In fact I’m willing to make a few specific suggestions about how you could direct that shameless behaviour.’
A few heads turned in their direction.
‘Thank you for telling this room full of strangers that I’m a sex maniac. Are you sure you don’t want to dance with someone else?’
His eyes were half shut, his gaze focused entirely on her. ‘Why would I want to dance with anyone else?’
‘Because there are a lot of women in this room and they’re looking at you hopefully. Me, they look as if they’d like to kill. They’re wondering why you’re with me.’
‘None of the men are wondering that,’ he drawled. ‘Trust me on that.’
‘Can I tell you something?’
‘That depends. Is it going to be a deeply emotional confession that is going to send me running from the room?’
‘You can’t run anywhere because your father is about to make a speech and—oh—’ she frowned ‘—Diandra looks stressed.’ Taking his hand, she tugged him across the crowded dance floor towards Diandra, who appeared to be arguing with Kostas.
‘Wait five minutes,’ Kostas urged in a low tone. ‘You cannot abandon our guests.’
‘But she needs me,’ Diandra said firmly and Lily intervened.
‘Is this about Chloe?’
‘She’s woken up. I can’t bear to think of her upset with people she doesn’t know. It’s already hard enough on her to have been left here by her mother.’
‘Nik and I will go to her,’ Lily said immediately and saw Nik frown.
‘I don’t think—’
‘We’ll be fine. Make your speech and then come and find us.’ Without letting go of Nik’s hand, Lily made for the stairs. ‘I assume you know where the nursery is or should we use GPS?’
‘I really don’t think—’
‘Cut the excuses, Zervakis. Your little sister needs you.’
‘She doesn’t know me. I don’t see how my sudden appearance in her life can do anything but make things a thousand times worse.’
‘Children are sometimes reassured by a strong presence. But stop glaring.’ She paused at the top of the stairs. ‘Which way?’
He sighed and led the way up another flight of stairs to a suite of rooms and pushed open the door.
A young girl stood there jiggling a red-faced crying toddler. Relief spread across her features when she saw reinforcements.
‘She’s been like this for twenty minutes. I can’t stop her crying.’
Nik took one look at the abject misery on his half-sister’s face and took her from the girl, but, instead of her being comforted by the reassuring strength in those arms, Chloe’s howls intensified.
Sending Lily a look that said ‘I told you so’, he immediately handed her over.
‘Perhaps you can do a better job than I can.’
She was about to point out that he was a stranger and that Chloe’s response was no reflection on him when the toddler flopped onto her shoulder, exhausted.
‘You poor thing,’ Lily soothed. ‘Did you wake and not know where you were? Was it noisy downstairs?’ She continued to talk, murmuring soothing nothings and stroking the child’s back until the child’s eyelids drifted closed. She felt blonde curls tickle her chin. ‘There, that’s better, you must be exhausted. Are you thirsty? Would you like a drink?’ She glanced across the room and saw Nik watching her, his expression inscrutable. ‘Say something.’
‘What do you want me to say?’
‘Something. Anything. You look as if someone has released a tiger from a cage and you’re expected to bag it single-handed.’
There w
as a tension in his shoulders that hadn’t been there a few moments earlier and suddenly she wondered if his response to the child was mixed up with his feelings for Callie.
It was obvious he’d disliked his father’s third wife, but surely he wouldn’t allow those feelings to extend to the child?
And then she realised he wasn’t looking at Chloe, he was looking at her.
He lifted his hand and loosened his tie with a few flicks of those long, bronzed fingers. ‘You love children.’
‘Well I don’t love all children, obviously, but at this age they’re pretty easy to love.’ She waited for him to walk across the room and take his sister from her, but he didn’t move. Instead he leaned against the doorway, watching her, and then finally eased himself upright.
‘You seem to have this under control.’ His voice was level. ‘I’ll see you downstairs when you’re ready.’
‘No! Nik, wait—’ She shifted Chloe onto her other hip and walked across to him, intending to hand over the wriggling toddler so that he could form a bond with her, but he took a step back, his face a frozen mask.
‘I’ll send Diandra up as soon as she’s finished with the speeches.’ With that he turned and strode out of the room leaving her holding the baby.
CHAPTER EIGHT
NIK MADE HIS WAY through the guests, out onto the terrace and down past the cascading water feature that ended in a beautiful pool. Children cried for a million reasons, he knew that, but that didn’t stop him wondering if deep down Chloe knew her mother had abandoned her. The fact that he’d been unable to offer comfort had done nothing for his elevated stress levels, but the real source of his tension had been the look on Lily’s face.
He could see now he’d made a huge mistake bringing her here. Cristos, who was he kidding? The mistake had been taking her back to his place from the restaurant that night, instead of dropping her safely at her apartment and telling her to lock the door behind her.
She was completely, totally wrong for him and he was completely, totally wrong for her.
Cursing under his breath, he yanked off his tie and ran his hand over his jaw.
‘Nik?’
Her voice came from behind him and he turned to find her standing there, her sapphire eyes gleaming bright in the romantic light of the pool area. The turquoise dress hugged the lush lines of her body and her blonde hair, twisted into Grecian braids, glowed like a halo. The jewel he’d given her sat at the base of her throat and suddenly all he wanted to do was rip it off and replace it with his mouth. There wasn’t a man in the room who hadn’t taken a second glance at her and he was willing to bet she hadn’t noticed. He’d always considered jealousy to be a pointless and ugly emotion but tonight he’d experienced it in spades. He should have given her a dress of shapeless black, although he had a feeling that would have made no difference to the way he felt. It was a shock to discover that will power alone wasn’t enough to hold back the brutal arousal.
‘I thought you were with Chloe. Is she asleep?’
‘Diandra came to take over. And you shouldn’t have walked away from her.’ She was stiff. Furious, displaying none of the softness and gentleness he’d witnessed in the nursery.
The wind had picked up and he frowned as he saw her shiver and run her hands over her arms. ‘Are you cold? Crete often experiences high winds.’
‘I’m not cold. I’m being heated from the inside out because I’m boiling mad, Nik. I don’t think it’s exactly fair of you to take your feelings for her mother out on a child, that’s all.’
Nik took a deep breath, wondering how honest to be. ‘That is not what is happening here.’
‘No? Well there has to be some reason why you looked at Chloe as if she was a dangerous animal.’
‘This is not about Chloe.’
‘What then?’
There was a long, throbbing pause. ‘It’s about you.’
‘Me?’ She stared at him blankly and he cursed under his breath.
‘You are the sort of woman who cannot pass a baby without wanting to pick it up. You see sunshine in a thunderstorm, happy endings everywhere you look and you believe family is the answer to every problem in the world.’
She stared at him with a total lack of comprehension. ‘I do like babies, that’s true, and I don’t see any reason to apologise for the fact I’d like a family one day. I don’t see sunshine in every thunderstorm, but I do try and see the positive rather than the negative because that’s how I prefer to live my life. I put up an umbrella instead of standing there and getting wet. Sometimes life can be crap, I know that but I’ve learned not to focus on the crap and I won’t apologise for that. But I don’t see what that has to do with the situation. None of that explains why you behaved the way you did in that room. You looked as if you’d been hit round the head with a plank of wood and then you walked out. And you say it was about me, but how can it possibly—?’
Her expression changed, the shards of anger in her eyes changing to wariness. ‘Oh. I get it. You’re worried that because I want a family one day, that because I like babies, it makes me a dangerous person to have sex with, is that right?’ She spoke slowly, feeling it out, watching his face the whole time and she must have seen something there that confirmed her suspicions because she made a derisive sound and turned away.
‘Lily—’
‘No! Don’t make excuses or find a tactful way to express how you feel. It’s sprayed over you like graffiti.’ She hitched up her dress and started to walk away from him and he gritted his teeth because he could see she was truly upset.
‘Wait. You can’t walk back in those shoes—’
‘Of course I can. What do you think I usually do when I’m out? I’d never been in a limo in my life before I met you. I walk everywhere because it’s cheaper.’ She hurled the words over her shoulder and he strode after her, wondering how to intervene and prevent a broken ankle without stoking her wrath.
‘We should talk about this—’
‘There is nothing to talk about.’ She didn’t slacken her pace. ‘I cuddled your baby sister and you’re afraid that somehow changed our relationship. You’re worried that this isn’t about sex any more, and that I’ve suddenly fallen in love with you. Your arrogance is shocking.’
He kept pace with her, ready to catch her if she twisted her ankle in those shoes. ‘It is not arrogance. But that incident upstairs reinforced how different we are.’
‘Yes, we’re different. That’s why I picked you for my rebound guy. It’s true I want children one day, but believe me you’re the last man on earth I’d want to share that with. I don’t want a guy who describes a crying child as an “incident”.’
‘That is not—Cristos, will you stop for a moment?’ He caught her arm and she shrugged him off, turning to face him.
‘Believe me, Nik, I have never been less likely to fall in love with you than I am right at this moment. A little girl was distressed and all you could think about was how to extract yourself from a relationship you’re not even having! That doesn’t make you a great catch in my eyes so you’re perfectly safe. I understand now why you have emotionless relationships. You’re brilliant at the mechanics of sex, but that’s it. I’d get as much emotional comfort from a laptop. Seriously, you should stick to your technology, or your investments or whatever it is you do—’ She tugged her arm from his grip and carried on walking down the path, her distress evident in each furious tap of her heels.
He stared after her, stunned into silence by her unexpected attack and shaken by his own feelings. In emotional terms, he kept women at a distance. He’d never aspired to a deeper attachment and when his relationships ended he invariably felt nothing. He had no interest in marriage and didn’t care about long-term commitment.
But he really, really cared that Lily was upset.
The feeling was uncomfortabl
e, like having a stone in his shoe.
He followed at a safe distance, relieved when she reached the terrace and ripped off her shoes. She dumped them unceremoniously on a sunlounger and carried on walking. The braids of her Grecian goddess hairstyle had been loosened by the wind, and her hair slithered in tumbled curls over her bare shoulders.
A man with a sense of self-preservation would have left her to cool down.
Nik carried on walking. He walked right into the bedroom, narrowly avoiding a black eye as she swung the door closed behind her.
He caught it on the flat of his hand, strode through and slammed it shut behind him.
She turned, her eyes a furious blaze of blue. ‘Get out, Nik.’
He shrugged off his jacket and slung it over the nearest chair. ‘No.’
‘You should, because the way I feel right now I might punch you. No, wait a minute, I know exactly how to make you back out of that door.’ She tilted her head and her mouth curved into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. ‘You should leave, Nik, because I’m—oh, seconds away from falling in love with your irresistible self.’ Her sarcasm made him smile and that smile was like throwing petrol on flame. ‘Are you laughing at me?’
‘No, I’m smiling because you’re cute when you’re angry.’
‘I’m not cute. I’m fearsome and terrifying.’
What was fearsome and terrifying was how much he wanted her but he kept that thought to himself as he strolled towards her. ‘Can we start this conversation again?’
‘There is nothing more to say. Stop right there, Nik. Don’t take another step.’
He kept walking. ‘I should not have left you with Chloe. I behaved like an idiot, I admit it,’ he breathed, ‘but I’m not used to having a relationship with a woman like you.’
‘And you’re afraid I don’t understand the rules? Trust me, I not only understand them but I applaud them. I wouldn’t want to fall in love with someone like you. You make Neanderthal man look progressive and I’ve studied Neanderthal man. And stop looking at me like that because there is no way I can have sex with you when I’m this angry. It’s not happening, Nik. Forget it.’