‘Water, please.’
‘I can’t tempt you with a glass of wine?’
Peta shook her head. And once the water had arrived, and Stellios announced that he would bring to them a feast fit for a king, she asked the burning question. ‘What am I doing here?’
There was the glimmer of a smile on his lips. ‘You’re having dinner with me, of course.’
‘But why?’
‘Because it doesn’t look as though I’m going to see you any other way.’
‘That’s your fault; you’re always out,’ she declared hotly.
‘There is much work to be done.’
Peta shook her head. ‘Always work. Don’t you ever stop to think that Nikos might want to spend some time with his father? You go out before he’s up and come home after he’s gone to bed.’
‘Has he said anything?’
‘Actually, no, but that’s only because he has Ben to play with. You’re failing in your duties, Mr Papadakis. I thought you were concerned about him.’
‘I know he’s safe here.’
‘How do you know,’ she argued, ‘when you never see him?’
‘My mother reports to me each evening.’
‘I bet she does,’ Peta flared. ‘I bet she also tells you that I’m useless as a teacher. Exactly why have you brought me out here tonight? To give me my marching orders?’
A look of surprise crossed his face. ‘Why would I want to do that?’
‘Because I’m surplus to requirements. I don’t fit in here, I never will.’
‘You’re talking nonsense, Peta. And as for your teaching abilities, I’ll have a word with Nikos tomorrow, find out exactly what he has learned. My mother says you spend too long tutoring them; that is her only complaint.’
Peta wasn’t sure that she believed him, and if she hadn’t been hungry she would have suggested he take her home again. She didn’t want this conversation. She didn’t want to be sitting beside him in a little Greek restaurant where the owner kept popping his head round the door and smiling favourably on the two of them.
‘Let’s forget the whole thing,’ said Andreas sharply. ‘Let’s concentrate on us.’
To what end? wondered Peta with a sharp stab of unease. ‘What are you doing that’s taking you away from the house for so many hours each day?’ she asked, determined to steer the conversation away from anything personal.
One eyebrow lifted, as though he had guessed her tactics, nevertheless he answered evenly, ‘I have an office in Athens—it’s the main hub of my company. I’m restructuring it. If it wasn’t for the fact that I need you to look after Nikos I’d whisk you away there to help me. Some of those girls don’t know the first thing about efficiency.’
‘I’m flattered,’ she said. ‘How long is this…restructuring going to take?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘So your son’s going to see nothing of you for several more weeks?’
His lips tightened. ‘You don’t believe in pulling punches, do you?’
‘I would never neglect Ben.’
‘Nikos isn’t neglected,’ he declared harshly. ‘Don’t say that. I love my son dearly.’
‘Do you ever tell him? Do you ever show it? Dammit, Andreas, kids aren’t kids for long. He’ll be grown up before you know it and then you’ll wish that you’d spent more time with him.’
His eyes became glacial. ‘I didn’t bring you out to discuss my son,’ he snarled, clearly resenting the home truths.
Peta raised her finely shaped brows. ‘So—if it’s not to sack me, and it’s not because of Nikos, that leaves only one thing. But it won’t work, Andreas. I’m not interested in you, not now, not ever.’
He looked at her long and hard, searing her skin with an uncomfortable heat. ‘You’re an attractive woman, Peta. I find it hard to believe that you won’t let a man into your life. Have you had any boyfriends since Ben’s father let you down?’
‘Not that it’s any of your business, but, yes, there have been a couple,’ she admitted reluctantly.
‘And?’
‘And nothing. They didn’t work out,’ she retorted.
‘Because you presented the ice-maiden image, the same as you’re trying to do now.’
‘Trying has nothing to do with it,’ she flashed. ‘It’s how I feel. I’ve never yet met a man I can trust.’
She watched as Andreas sucked in a deep breath, straightening his spine, his brown eyes coldly penetrating hers. She had insulted his manhood, but it was true. She would dearly love to meet a man whom she could love deeply and who would never let her down. Andreas wasn’t that man. Andreas was still in love with Maria. He wanted her for her body alone and that she could do without.
‘How do you know whether or not you can trust a man unless you relax your rigid attitude?’ And still those stony brown eyes held hers.
Little did he know it but there had been many times when she’d been prepared to relax where he was concerned; times when she had indeed let down her guard and almost given in to the clamouring needs of her body. But that wasn’t the way to go. And she would be as well to remember it.
‘I think when the right man comes along I will know,’ she told him bravely, and she was saved from having to elaborate further by their first course arriving in the form of several plates heaped with various appetisers. Some she recognised; some she didn’t—baby squid, whitebait, stuffed vine leaves, salads with feta cheese, fresh crusty bread, various dips…so much that it was confusing.
‘We’ll never get through this lot!’ she exclaimed. It was enough to fill her up without the main course.
‘Just eat what you fancy,’ he said with a wry smile. ‘A little of each, perhaps? We can save the salad for later if it’s too much.’
Everything was tasty and succulent and Peta tucked in with an appetite she hadn’t expected. She drank her water, and when Andreas ordered a carafe of wine she obligingly sipped from her glass. She’d be careful, though, she told herself; she’d drink only enough to help her get through the evening.
Not that it was proving too much of an ordeal. Their conversation had turned to ordinary everyday things and this she could handle. As the evening progressed she could feel herself mellowing, and she even laughed out loud at some of Andreas’s anecdotes.
Andreas too had relaxed in his attitude towards her. He was no longer cold and condemning but warm and welcoming. In fact the whole evening was turning into a much more pleasant affair than she’d expected.
‘You have a beautiful smile, do you know that?’ he asked suddenly.
Peta stopped smiling.
So did Andreas. ‘For heaven’s sake, Peta, I’m not trying to come on to you. I’ve already learned that that was a huge mistake.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she said instantly.
‘You’re just so used to closing up when a man pays you compliments.’
‘I guess so.’
‘Then stop it.’ He reached out and put his hand over hers where it rested on the table.
Peta felt an incredible heat run through her and she prayed silently that he couldn’t feel it, too. This was stupid. He was offering the hand of friendship, nothing more, why couldn’t she take it? She’d always used the excuse that it was because Joe had stuffed up on her, but it now occurred to her that it had nothing to do with Joe and everything to do with herself.
She was happy living alone with her son, she didn’t want a man in her life—and who was she trying to kid? Andreas was everything she had ever wanted in a man. He was handsome, he was exciting, he was sexy, and once she’d got through the hard tycoon image she had found out that he could be charming and attentive. He would make a good father if he didn’t work so hard. Nikos adored him, didn’t seem to resent the fact that he didn’t see much of him. He was a well-adjusted child who was obviously used to this kind of lifestyle.
But getting too close to Andreas would be like living with a time bomb. It was wrong to be jealous of Maria but Peta was. Andreas didn’t talk about her, an
d it was this fact that was the problem. His mother said he still loved her, and for some reason Peta couldn’t even explain to herself she believed the woman.
A ménage à trois wouldn’t work. He would pay her attention, he would flatter her, he would take her body and use her—and she like a fool would let him—but he would offer her nothing at the end of it all. His heart was too deeply entrenched in the mother of his child.
All of these thoughts flashed through her mind as his hand held hers and she would have dearly loved to snatch it away, but that would only confirm what he had just said. So she let it lie there, she let the heat course through veins and arteries, she let her pulses and heartbeat quicken, and an incredible need stole over her.
Whether her features softened, whether something happened to alert Andreas to the way she felt, Peta didn’t know, but his eyes darkened as though he had picked up on an unspoken message and, lifting her hand to his mouth, he kissed it.
He kissed the back first, trailing feather-light kisses all over, and then her fingers, each one separately, until finally he turned her hand and pressed a kiss into her palm before curling her fingers over it. It was as though he was saying, Hold that kiss. Keep it and think of me.
Unable to help herself, she looked deeply into his eyes, saw a need that reflected her own, held that gaze, and was stupidly disappointed when he was the first to look away.
‘More wine?’ he asked pleasantly.
Peta shook her head. ‘No, thanks.’ She hadn’t even finished the glass he’d poured her and she didn’t intend to. There were going to be no repeats of that fateful night when she’d conceived Ben.
During the rest of the meal, between visits by the attentive, always smiling Stellios—who, she was sure, had already in his own mind got them married—their conversation skirted around everything except the way they felt. But it was there nevertheless, hovering over them like a bad smell, making sure its presence never went away.
The room had filled but neither of them was aware of it, not until Andreas suggested they leave and she looked around. What had happened to her? How had she become so immersed in Andreas that she’d been oblivious to what was going on around her?
He paid the bill and they went out to the car, to a jewelled sky and a crescent moon that promised a new beginning. He opened her door but before she could slide in she found herself enveloped in arms so strong they almost hurt.
‘I can’t do this,’ he growled. ‘I can’t ignore you. You’re driving me crazy, woman, do you know that?’ His mouth claimed hers with a suddenness that allowed no retreat. ‘I want you; I need you, you have to let me in, Peta. Forget that bastard who screwed you up; let me show you that there’s more to life than you’re currently experiencing.’
He had been driving her crazy all evening, too. She hadn’t been looking forward to crawling into bed without her needs satisfied. So when his mouth swooped on hers Peta made no attempt to stop him.
The kiss sent her senses spinning into orbit and without even a second thought she parted her lips. He seemed to pause, to wonder at her change of heart, and then with a groan his tongue plunged deep inside. He tasted, he explored, he tormented. Peta whimpered.
This was heaven; this was the stuff of dreams. A tall, dark, handsome stranger sweeping her off her feet. Except that he wasn’t a stranger, he was her boss. But it made no difference. She wanted him, he wanted her; it was simple.
There was nothing simple about the kiss, though. It didn’t stop at a kiss for long. His hands touched and stroked, sometimes gently, evoking the sweetest, headiest response, sometimes hard and purposeful, pressing her to him so that she couldn’t help but feel his throbbing arousal.
Her excitement increased and her arms snaked around him without her being aware of it. She was suddenly full of desperate hunger, didn’t care that at the end of the day it would be goodbye and thanks. This was now, this was her deepest desires being satisfied. This was something she had never before experienced, not with this intensity, not with this ferocity.
‘This isn’t the right place,’ he declared gruffly as another car full of diners pulled up, headlights catching their embrace full-beam. ‘Let’s go home.’
During the drive Peta couldn’t help but wonder whether she was doing the right thing. Was this something she would regret come morning? Or was this the beginning of a new and wonderful relationship? He excited her so much, this man. Sitting close to him now kept her senses inflamed, helped by the way he kept darting warm, intimate glances at her, by the way his hand reached across and touched her thigh or her hand.
When they reached the house he moved around the car to open her door, reaching down to help her out, crushing her against him, sending another mindless storm of sensation and need chasing wantonly through her body. But for only a brief moment.
She’d had time to reflect, to decide that this wasn’t the way she wanted things to go. It was too soon; he was rushing her. One day, maybe, perhaps in the not too distant future even. But first she needed to come to terms with the new feelings her body was experiencing.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked as she pulled away from him.
‘I can’t do this, not yet.’
‘Lord,’ he exploded. ‘I thought you’d got over that. Earlier you—’
‘I was intoxicated by the wine and the food and the general ambience. I let myself get carried away,’ she answered swiftly. ‘But it’s not what I want.’
One eyebrow rose. ‘No? I think you’re kidding yourself, lady. I think you want it very much indeed. Some mistaken sense of reproach for what you did nine years ago is blinding your judgement.’
‘Maybe you’re right,’ she admitted, seizing the excuse. ‘But I can’t help it.’ Adding as they walked into the house, ‘I’m going to my room. Alone.’
At that precise moment his mother called out. ‘Is that you, Andreas? I’d like a word.’
He swore beneath his breath. ‘Your reprieve,’ he snarled.
But for how long? she wondered. Andreas wasn’t known for his patience. She’d given herself away, shown him that she wasn’t exactly resistant to his advances. There’d be no peace now.
And she didn’t have to wait long. She’d just come out of the shower and was wearing nothing more than a towel, when, with a mere cursory knock, he burst into her room.
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘GET out!’ shot a startled Peta. ‘Didn’t I make myself clear, Andreas? I’m not yet ready to start up a relationship with you. And I certainly don’t intend to—’
‘Shut up,’ he instructed. ‘This isn’t about you and me, it’s about Nikos.’
Peta’s hands shot to her mouth. What had happened? She ought never to have gone out and left the boys. Why had she let Andreas persuade her? Why had she put pleasure before duty? Pleasure with a capital P as well, because that was certainly what the kiss had been all about.
Looking at him more closely, she could see that all hunger and desire had gone from his face. It was strained now and pale; she ought to have noticed straight away. Something tragic had happened, and it was all her fault.
‘Tell me,’ she said quickly.
‘The would-be kidnapper—or kidnappers, whatever the case may be—has traced us here.’
‘What?’ She almost screamed the word and her heart beat a rapid tattoo within her breast. The towel slipped and she strove frantically to save it but failed. Not that Andreas seemed to notice her nakedness. His eyes didn’t even flicker. She re-wrapped the towel, tucking the end in firmly, but holding it as well just in case.
‘Another threatening letter’s arrived,’ he informed her. ‘My mother’s furious that I didn’t tell her the real reason we were here.’
‘We could move the boys’ beds into my room if that would help,’ she suggested. ‘There’s plenty of space. And you can rest assured I’ll keep my eye on Nikos every second of the day.’
‘No need,’ he said, shaking his head brusquely. ‘We’re leaving.’
‘Again?’ she queried, her eyes wide with shock. ‘You can’t keep running, Andreas, you have to do something. These people must be caught. Have you informed the police?’ It didn’t seem long since she’d asked him the same question, and yet it must be all of three weeks. Three weeks it had taken whoever it was to find them. Not long. There would be no escape. Wherever they ended up they would be found. Her heart felt as heavy as lead.
‘The police suggested it,’ he told her shortly. ‘At least they’re taking this whole thing a lot more seriously than they did in England. Unfortunately they don’t have sufficient manpower to protect us while they investigate. So—I’m going to take you and the boys to a mountain hideaway tonight under cover of darkness. We won’t be found there.’
An icy shiver raced down Peta’s spine. She didn’t like the sound of this one little bit. But Andreas wasn’t a man you could argue with, especially in this mood.
‘If it was myself in danger,’ he added, ‘I’d stay and face whoever it is that’s doing this to me. But where Nikos is concerned I cannot take the risk. So get packing,’ he ordered brusquely. ‘I’ll wake the boys.’
He left the room as quickly as he’d entered. Peta threw on some clothes and heaved out a suitcase. In less than half an hour they were on their way.
Andreas was grim-faced as he drove, and they’d been going well over an hour and a half before he headed up into the blackness of the mountains. The boys had fallen asleep again but he didn’t speak, and Peta didn’t dare ask any questions.
Eventually they left the mountain road, following what felt like a bumpy cart track going nowhere, and after much twisting and turning the Range Rover’s headlights picked out a small stone cabin tucked well into the trees.
‘This is it,’ he announced tersely. ‘Boys, wake up, we’re here.’
Ben and Nikos helped carry everything in while Andreas got the generator going. They loved the thought of charging around in the middle of the night, especially when they discovered that they were going to share a bedroom. The trouble was there were only two bedrooms, tiny rooms with a double bed in each, and a dresser and a wardrobe, and not much room to walk around.
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