The Mediterranean Tycoon

by Margaret Mayo

  No, I didn’t, she protested. I was merely helping him out.

  To the extent that you gave up your home? Doesn’t that tell you anything?

  I felt sorry for Nikos.

  Nikos? Rubbish! It’s Andreas you’re interested in, and the sooner you accept it the better.

  Was her conscience right? Was she secretly hoping for an affair? Or even something more? No! No! It couldn’t be. She wouldn’t let it. She didn’t want a man in her life, not ever.

  ‘Thank you for the compliment,’ she said faintly. ‘Time will tell.’ And she turned to Ben. ‘What would you like, darling?’ The table was almost groaning under the weight of a splendid buffet lunch and soon the boys were chattering too much for them to hold a decent conversation.

  Nevertheless she still felt Andreas’s unsettling eyes on her more often than she would have liked. She really had thought that they’d come here to get away from the kidnap threats, not so that Andreas could make a pass at her.

  Unfortunately the thought was tremendously exciting, and if she wasn’t careful it would be revealed in her eyes. Deliberately now she kept her gaze on the table, or the boys, trying not to look at Andreas even when he spoke to her.

  As soon as they’d finished eating Nikos and Ben wanted to go back into the pool, but Andreas forbade them until their lunch had gone down. ‘Go and play football, but mind Nana’s prized plants or you’ll be in trouble.’

  Peta said, ‘I think I’ll go and supervise.’ Anything to get away from Andreas and the sensual signals he was sending out.

  But Andreas had other ideas. ‘Leave them. I want to talk.’

  About what? Nikos? His mother? Or their own relationship? Her heart skittered along at an amazing pace.

  ‘I’m worried about Nikos’s education while we’re out here. I don’t want to send him to school because he’s an easy target if—’

  ‘You don’t think that whoever’s threatened to kidnap your son knows you’ve moved here?’ she asked in horror.

  ‘Of course not, but I’m not giving anyone a chance. I could bring in a private tutor for both boys, but I was wondering what you’d think about doing the job?’

  Peta burst out laughing. ‘From PA to nanny, to tutor. You must think I’m a many-talented person.’

  ‘I have every faith in you.’

  ‘Then you’re mistaken. I can’t teach, I don’t know the first thing about it.’

  ‘You’re good at English and maths. And I’m sure you know enough about history and geography to teach a seven- and eight-year-old. I think you’re eminently qualified. And what you don’t know I do. I’ll get all the relevant books and together we’ll make a good team.’

  Together!

  It was the way he said it that filled her with foreboding. They were not a team, she didn’t want to be a team. All the time he was adding to her list of responsibilities and now he was including himself in her duties. It wasn’t on. This wasn’t part of the original score.

  ‘You don’t look happy about it.’

  ‘I’m not,’ she flashed. ‘If I’d known what was in store I wouldn’t have come. I thought you’d be busy all day and every day and that I’d look after Ben and Nikos. I didn’t even expect to be living with your mother. I assumed you had your own villa.’

  He gave a typically foreign shrug. ‘I sold it. I saw no point in keeping it on when I’m here so infrequently. Besides, when I do come over I feel obliged to spend time with my mother. And to check up on my inheritance, of course,’ he added with a wry grin. ‘I’m sorry you feel that way.’

  ‘The whole situation is growing out of all proportion,’ she argued.

  ‘I want you to have a good time,’ he said softly.

  She raised her brows then and looked at him. ‘This isn’t a holiday.’

  ‘No, but I don’t want it to be onerous, I want you to enjoy it. Naturally there are things I need to do, I have to keep up with my business interests, but I want to spend time with Nikos as well.’

  He hadn’t done very much of that so far, thought Peta. Had it taken a kidnap threat to make him realise how important Nikos was to him? She couldn’t understand the man. Ben was everything to her, always had been, always would be. She would never have neglected him the way Andreas neglected Nikos.

  He stood now and moved to stand behind her. He touched his hands to her shoulders and she went tense. Instead of moving he began to massage.

  Peta felt a deep heat invade her body and she wanted to jump up and run away before it took hold, but to do so would reveal too much about her feelings. She sat as still as a fawn caught in a car’s headlights, not even breathing, hoping that he’d get the message and go away.

  What was it going to take, Andreas wondered, to get Peta to relax with him? She was driving him crazy. He’d thought that she’d enjoy new sights and sounds, forget her animosity towards men in general and allow him into her life.

  Nothing seemed further from her mind.

  ‘I’m serious about wanting you to enjoy your time here, Peta,’ he said, continuing to massage slowly and surely until he felt the tension start to drain out of her. ‘It’s not supposed to be all work and no play. We’ll go sightseeing, we’ll do all sorts of things together—the four of us.’ The last was added when he felt her stiffen again, when he knew she was thinking that he’d meant just the two of them. Which he had!

  He increased the pressure, massaging deeper and deeper, feeling great pleasure as she gradually relaxed. Her closeness intoxicated him, sent a lightness to his head as though he’d drunk an expensive wine. He felt himself swaying closer towards her, inhaling the heady fragrance of her perfume, hearing her faint murmurs of satisfaction. He became so engrossed in what he was doing, in the feel and smell of this exciting girl who was becoming such an important part of his life, that he didn’t hear his mother enter the room.

  ‘Andreas!’ she rapped.

  He felt Peta jump, felt the tension return with a vengeance and cursed his parent for intruding at this particular moment. With one word she had undone all that he’d achieved.

  With a slow smile and no sign of embarrassment Andreas turned to his mother. Peta, on the other hand, felt mortified. If the woman hadn’t thought it before she must surely now be convinced that she was trying to latch on to her son.

  ‘You want something, Mother?’

  Dark eyes flashed contemptuously in Peta’s direction, and then back to her son. ‘A little of your time, if you can spare it.’

  Peta pushed herself to her feet, standing tall and proud, not letting this objectionable woman see for one second that she was disturbed by her presence. ‘I’ll go and find the boys,’ she said pleasantly.

  But outside she stood and fumed. She could see now where Andreas’s autocracy came from. Except that somewhere deep inside him lived a warm, generous, compassionate human being. She doubted many people saw it. Maybe that part came from his father. Or was she misjudging his elegant mother? Was there warmth inside her, too? If so it was well-hidden.

  She found Ben and Nikos kicking a ball around on one of the terraces, but they soon tired of it and begged to be allowed in the pool again. Peta decided to join them. But on her way up to her room to change she bumped into Andreas’s mother.

  The woman looked at her down the length of her nose. ‘A word with you, please.’

  Peta smiled carefully, doing her best to hide her inner tension.

  ‘Follow me.’

  She was taken to what Peta presumed was her own private sitting room. The walls were a yellow-ochre colour, and the easy chairs and cream leather settee sat on a square of carpet patterned in the same yellow, with splashes of sage-green and ivory. The rest of the floor was tiled in cream. In her scarlet, black and white outfit, the older woman stood out like a blot of red wine on a white tablecloth.

  Mrs Papadakis carefully shut the door behind them and whirled to confront Peta. ‘Tell me exactly why you are here.’ The red slash of her lips was tight and straight, her dark brow
n eyes filled with suspicion.

  ‘I think you already know.’ Peta tried to keep her tone pleasant as she boldly looked the older woman in the eye, but it was difficult keeping it up in the face of such animosity.

  ‘You are posing as Nikos’s nanny, I believe. It is actually my son you are interested in, is that not so?’

  Peta shook her head vigorously. ‘Andreas hired me to look after Nikos. It wasn’t my idea.’

  ‘You were previously his personal assistant?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You have no training in looking after children?’

  ‘Not exactly, no paper qualifications, but I have Ben. I understand children and I love them. I—’

  ‘And you are also in love with my son. Is that not so?’

  ‘No!’ Peta’s response was immediate. ‘Most definitely not.’

  ‘It does not look that way to me. Let us get this straight here and now, Miss Peta James, you are not good enough for my Andreas. He will marry no woman who has a child out of wedlock; I will see to that. Besides, he is still in love with Maria.’

  Peta felt a slither of discomfort. Who the hell was Maria?

  Fine black brows rose. ‘He has not told you about her? Maria was his wife. He loved her deeply. He went completely to pieces when she died. I doubt anyone will ever take her place.’

  ‘I see,’ said Peta quietly. ‘But it makes no difference. Ours is purely a business arrangement.’

  ‘Then why was he touching you?’ asked Mrs Papadakis fiercely. ‘You—you had your eyes closed and such a look of pleasure on your face that it was positively sickening.’

  Oh, Lord! It was true, she had enjoyed his touch, it had created sensations that she’d rather not remember, but for his mother to have witnessed it was excruciatingly embarrassing. ‘The pleasure was in having the tension in my shoulders relieved,’ she announced primly.

  ‘And why were you tense, may I ask?’

  ‘I was up early, it’s been a long day, everything’s new.’ And your less-than-warm welcome didn’t help, she added silently. ‘I worry too whether Ben will like it here. There are a hundred and one reasons.’

  ‘And not one of them concerns my son?’

  ‘Why should it?’ asked Peta boldly. ‘You’re very much mistaken, Mrs Papadakis, in thinking that I’m interested in Andreas for any other reason than that he’s paying my wages.’

  ‘You do not find him remotely attractive?’

  What the devil was his mother trying to do? Did she want her to say that she was angling after an affair with him? That he was a good catch and his money would be useful? Would that satisfy her? The answer was undoubtedly yes. It was the very ammunition Mrs Papadakis needed to throw her out.

  ‘I think any woman would find your son attractive,’ she said with her head held high, her blue eyes looking directly into the other woman’s. ‘He’s not the sort of man you can dismiss easily. But I can assure you there’s nothing going on between us, nor is there likely to be. I have no intention of getting involved with a man again, ever.’

  She crossed her fingers behind her back, because if there was one man who could make her change her mind it was Andreas Papadakis. He had lit fires inside her that had taken her completely by surprise and she was having to fight every one of her self-imposed rules.

  ‘Good,’ came the swift response. ‘I am glad to hear it. You may go now.’

  The woman’s tone set Peta’s hackles rising; she was treating her like a servant, like one of her own employees. About to open her mouth and ask who the hell she thought she was talking to, Peta had second thoughts. This was Andreas’s mother, and if she wanted to keep her job then she’d better respect her.

  She swung on her heel without another word, but was fuming as she made her way to their apartment. Did Andreas’s mother ever come here? she wondered as she closed the connecting door. Or were these rooms sacrosanct? Were they totally Andreas’s domain? She hoped with all her heart that it was so.

  After changing swiftly into a swimsuit with a matching overshirt, Peta hurried back out and flung herself into the pool. She did several punishing lengths before she began to calm down, ignoring the cries of the boys as they tried to attract her attention.

  It was Andreas who eventually stopped her, cutting in front and forcing her to slow down. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked. ‘You look as though you’re ridding yourself of demons.’

  He urged her to the side, where they hauled themselves up and sat on the edge with their feet dangling in the water. He had an incredible body, she discovered, all hard muscle and deeply tanned skin. It did nothing for her equilibrium. It sent all sorts of indecent thoughts rushing through her mind.

  ‘Maybe I was,’ she mumbled, then corrected herself. ‘I was in need of some exercise.’

  ‘I see,’ he said quietly, but she could see that he didn’t. It was there in the frown that creased his handsome forehead, in the puzzled look. ‘Has my mother said something to upset you?’

  ‘Why should she?’ asked Peta, not looking at him, watching her toes instead as she swished them in the water. She didn’t want him to say anything to his parent, she didn’t want the woman to think she had been telling tales.

  ‘I know what she’s like.’

  Peta shook her head. ‘It’s not your mother. Like I said, I’ve been sitting all day; I needed to wake up my body. Having a pool of your own is the height of luxury as far as I’m concerned. Ben loves it already.’ The boys were racing up and down the pool now, each one trying to outdo the other.

  ‘There are other ways I could wake up your body.’

  He spoke softly, and Peta thought she must have misheard, but when she glanced at him she knew differently. There was a burning light in his eyes and it sent a shiver down her spine. She looked away again quickly, pretended she hadn’t heard, hadn’t seen. ‘Isn’t it good the way Ben and Nikos get on together?’

  ‘Mmm.’ It was an abstracted sound, as though he hadn’t been listening. He continued to look at her in that mind-burning way.

  Even though his mother was probably right and his heart did belong to Maria, thought Peta, it didn’t stop him wanting, perhaps needing a woman in his bed. And maybe that was what she wanted, too. Would an affair with him be such a bad thing? At least she would know from the onset that at the end of it they would each walk away with their hearts intact. But it was a big decision to make. She needed to consider it.

  ‘I think I might join them again,’ she said huskily, in an effort to delay the moment.

  ‘No, Peta, wait.’ His hand touched her arm and Peta knew that if she dived into the pool now she’d be electrocuted. Such a jolt had shot through her at his touch that it was all she could do not to snatch away. ‘Why is it that you’re afraid of me?’ he asked quietly.

  She attempted a laugh, but it came out as a hollow sound with no semblance of laughter. ‘What are you saying? Why should I be scared of you?’

  ‘You tell me.’ He touched her chin and turned her face to him. ‘I think we’re both aware of a mutual attraction, so why fight it?’

  ‘Because it wouldn’t be proper,’ she burst out breathlessly. ‘I’m in your employ. Are you forgetting that? There’s a world of difference between our lifestyles.’

  ‘I couldn’t give a damn,’ he exploded. ‘Barriers don’t exist where need is concerned. I know you’ve been hurt, I know that you’ve sheathed yourself in ice so that no man can touch you again, but something tells me that the time has come for the ice to melt. In fact I think it’s already melted a little. Am I right?’

  Peta closed her eyes, wincing inwardly. He was so very near the mark. And before she could say anything he said, ‘The fact that you’re not denying it tells me all I need to know.’

  ‘You think you’re so clever, don’t you?’ Sharp words were her only form of defence. ‘You think every girl you come into contact with falls for your charm. I don’t want an affair with you, Andreas. If and when I ever fall in love again it will be all or no
thing. I have no time for casual sex.’

  She flattened her feet against the side of the pool, ready to dive back into the water, but Andreas, guessing her intention, reached an arm out as a barrier—and then he kissed her. Right there in front of the boys.

  CHAPTER SIX

  THE kiss lasted no more than a few seconds, but it was enough to tell Peta that the dam had broken and feelings and sensations such as she had never experienced before were flooding in. She wanted to cling, she wanted to kiss him again; she wanted to take all he had to offer.

  And Andreas saw it. He saw the colour that flushed her cheeks, he saw the passion that darkened her eyes, and he saw the battle she had with herself.

  ‘It’s all right,’ he murmured. ‘It’s all right to let go.’

  She searched his face, looking anywhere except into his eyes because she knew that if she did she would be lost. But it was just as bad looking at his mouth, at those beautifully moulded lips that seconds ago had claimed hers. Unconsciously the tip of her tongue came out to moisten her own lips and she heard his warning groan before he leaned forward and took her mouth again.

  His arms didn’t hold her, she was as free as a bird, but it felt as if she was his prisoner. It felt as if his mouth was shackling her to him and there was no escape. It was telling her that this was what she wanted, needed, had been looking for ever since Joe let her down.

  ‘Mummy!’

  The spell was broken, and as she moved her head Peta saw out of the corner of her eye Andreas’s mother watching them from an upstairs window. The pleasure of the moment faded, unease taking its place. This woman had the power to make her life here very uncomfortable, and she had unfortunately just given her the ammunition.

  The water was blessedly cool as she launched herself in, and for the next half an hour she and Andreas played with the boys. It felt good, it felt as if they were a real family, and if it hadn’t been for his disapproving parent Peta would have felt happier than she had in her whole life.

  Parents were always reluctant to let go, she realised, even when you were grown up and capable of making your own decisions. Andreas’s mother didn’t want to accept that he was getting on with his life after Maria. And her own mother, when she’d phoned to tell her first of all that she was moving in with her employer, and then actually going to live in Greece with him, had been totally against it.