After the Greek Affair

by Chantelle Shaw

‘I can’t wait.’ Larissa could not hide her excitement. Tall and slender, she had a dream figure to design for, and her light olive complexion and mass of black curls would suit a pure white dress, Belle mused. ‘But Loukas says you are tired after travelling today, and that we should wait until tomorrow to start work.’

  Loukas wasn’t under pressure to make three dresses in five weeks. Belle stifled her irritation and queried lightly, ‘Does everyone always do everything Loukas says?’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ Larissa replied cheerfully. ‘Loukas takes charge of everything. I don’t know what I’d do without him. He’s been brilliant organising the wedding.’ She smiled softly. ‘My brother is the best person in the world—apart from Georgios, of course. Our parents died when I was a kid, and Loukas brought me up. He made a lot of sacrifices so that he could take care of me.’ Her smile became rueful. ‘I’m just glad that when he needed help a few years ago I was able to care for him.’

  ‘Why? What happened?’ Belle asked curiously. ‘Was he ill?’ She couldn’t imagine why a strong, powerful man like Loukas would need to be cared for.

  Larissa looked awkward, as if regretting that she had spoken. ‘There was a woman who broke his heart. It took him a long time to get over her, and for a while he turned to drink to dull the pain she caused him.’

  Shock jolted through Belle. It was almost impossible to think of arrogant, self-assured Loukas being heartbroken. ‘Did he love her?’ she asked, unable to disguise her curiosity.

  Larissa nodded sombrely. ‘Yes, he wanted to marry her.’ She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. ‘But, as I said, it was a few years ago. Dinner is at eight,’ she went on, clearly determined to change the subject. ‘Georgios’s father’s condition has stabilised, so Georgios and his sisters, Cassia and Acantha, who are to be my bridesmaids, have come to Aura to meet you.’

  ‘Great.’ Belle forced herself to concentrate on the reason she had come to Aura. ‘I’m looking forward to discussing my ideas for your dress and showing you the material samples.’

  ‘Well, if you’re sure you want to start now, there’s an empty room up on the top floor that Loukas says we can use.’

  ‘What a fantastic view,’ Belle commented ten minutes later as she crossed the large room Larissa had ushered her into and stared out of the window at the panoramic view of the sea.

  ‘It’s wonderful from this high up, isn’t it? The view from the roof terrace is even better,’ Larissa told her. ‘You reach it by the spiral staircase we passed in the hall. Loukas says that at night it feels as though you could reach up and touch the stars.’

  She opened the suitcase Belle had carried up and lifted out a swatch of ivory silk tulle. ‘Oh, this is beautiful. I must go and call Cassia and Acantha—they’re almost as excited as I am.’

  The following hours flew past, as Belle discussed with Larissa and her bridesmaids numerous choices of material for their dresses, and began to sketch some ideas.

  ‘Help—we’re eating in twenty minutes,’ Larissa suddenly said, glancing at her watch. ‘I’d better go and change. Loukas hates people to wear jeans to dinner.’

  Belle had been so absorbed in her ideas for the dresses that she had almost forgotten about him, but now an image of his handsome face flooded her mind, a memory of that near kiss by the pool, and she was annoyed to feel her heart flip at the prospect of seeing him again.

  Back in her room, she changed into a silvery grey silk halter-neck dress which was one of her own designs. The only reason she had decided to wear it was to prove to Loukas that she was a skilled designer, she assured herself—not because she looked good in it. She was proud of her work, and of this dress in particular. Its deceptively simple lines flattered her slender figure and she loved the fluidity of the material, the way it gently swished around her ankles when she walked.

  There was no time to do anything fancy with her hair, so she left it loose, fixed tiny diamond stud earrings to her lobes and a delicate silver chain around her neck, sprayed her pulse-points with perfume, and took a deep breath before stepping out of her room.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ‘I LOVE your dress,’ Larissa said admiringly, when Belle crossed the huge open-plan living room to the dining area. The long glass table had been decorated with white roses and candles which flickered in the soft breeze drifting in through the open French doors, while outside the terrace was lit by lamps which dappled the pool with their shimmering reflection.

  The setting was beautiful and relaxing, but Belle had been fiercely conscious of Loukas’s enigmatic gaze as he had watched her approach, and her heart-rate had quickened with every step that had brought her closer to him.

  ‘Is it one of your own creations?’ Larissa’s voice helped distract her from her intense awareness of him, and when she nodded in affirmation the Greek girl gave a triumphant smile. ‘Didn’t I tell you Belle is a brilliant designer?’ she demanded of her brother.

  ‘Indeed you did,’ Loukas drawled. His bland tone gave away nothing of his private thoughts. It was a pity his sister had not warned him that Belle was a gorgeous blonde sex-kitten who would have a profound effect on his libido, he thought sardonically. She looked stunning in her silvery dress—but she would look good in anything she wore, and even better wearing nothing at all, taunted a little voice in his head. Desire corkscrewed in his gut, and he was grateful for Larissa’s bright chatter to cover his silence while he fought to bring his hormones under control.

  ‘Belle, this is Georgios.’

  Belle smiled at the young man at Larissa’s side. ‘I’m pleased to meet you. I’m sorry to hear of your father’s health problems.’

  ‘Thank you. The heart specialist is talking about bringing the date of his operation forward. It is a worrying time for all of us, especially my mother, but my father is insistent that we should continue with the wedding arrangements as planned.’

  They took their places at the table, and Belle quickly slid into the seat furthest away from Loukas. Chip, resplendent in a dark suit, winked at her as he served the first course. ‘Thought I’d better change out of my Bermudas, as the boss has guests for dinner,’ he said conspiratorially.

  Beneath Chip’s gruff exterior it was evident that he felt a deep affection for ‘the boss,’ Belle noted, recalling how Loukas had said they had been friends since they were teenagers living in a rough part of New York. She darted a glance along the table and stiffened when her eyes clashed with Loukas’s brooding stare. Something about the way he was looking at her caused her heart to race. Her face grew warm and she wanted to drag her gaze from him, but she was trapped by the sultry gleam in grey eyes that were no longer cold and hard, but blazing with sensual heat.

  Her breath seemed to be trapped in her lungs and her eyes widened with a mixture of panic and fierce sexual awareness. Her mind flew back to those moments by the pool when he had smoothed suncream onto her shoulders. She had denied that she was attracted to him, but she knew she had been lying—and from the predatory expression on Loukas’s face, he knew it too.

  This was crazy, she thought desperately, as she finally summoned the willpower to break free from his magnetic hold and stared down at the warm goat’s cheese salad starter in front of her. Never in her life had she felt so intensely aware of a man.

  Having witnessed her mother’s unhappy marriage to John Townsend, she had always been wary of relationships, and more importantly of making a mistake as Gudrun had done. She had never experienced an overwhelming attraction such as she felt for Loukas, and her every instinct warned her to fight it—but that was easier said than done, she thought ruefully, when her eyes were once more drawn to his sculpted profile and molten heat flooded through her.

  ‘So, Belle, what made you decide to specialise in designing wedding dresses?’ Georgios’s voice caused her to jerk her gaze guiltily from Loukas. ‘Are you a romantic at heart?’

  About to deny it, Belle looked across the table and hesitated when she saw the adoring glance that passed between
Larissa and her fiancé.

  ‘I think it is a wonderful thing if two people fall in love and feel certain that they are right for each other and want to spend their lives together,’ she said slowly. ‘Weddings are joyful occasions and I love the fact that I help to make the day special by designing the bride’s dress.’

  But all too often that feeling of certainty turned out to be a mistake, she thought to herself. Her mother’s marriage to John had been a disaster. How could anyone really be sure they would be happy with another person for ever? she wondered. As for bringing children into a relationship—it seemed such an enormous concept. You would have to have absolute faith in a person before you had a child with them. She knew from her own difficult childhood that if the parents’ relationship failed, their child was likely to suffer the consequences.

  She suddenly realised that everyone around the table was waiting for her to continue. ‘To be honest I can’t afford to have my head full of romantic ideals when I’m running my own business,’ she explained. ‘I’m determined to make Wedding Belle a success, so my dresses are romantic, but I have to be practical and focused.’

  ‘You would describe yourself as a hard-headed career woman, then, would you?’

  Belle was puzzled by the hard edge to Loukas’s tone and infuriated by the mockery in his smile. She had pleaded with him to give her the chance to design Larissa’s dress, but if he believed he could walk all over her he’d better think again. ‘Yes,’ she replied coolly. ‘As a businessman yourself, I’m sure you appreciate why I give single-minded dedication to my company.’

  His dark brows arched quizzically. ‘As your career is so important to you, does that mean you won’t be designing your own wedding dress any time soon?’

  Now there was something else in his hard-as-flint gaze—a gleam that sent a quiver down her spine. ‘I have no plans in that direction,’ she informed him crisply, relief surging through her when Cassia reopened the debate that had begun earlier about the colour of the bridesmaids’ dresses.

  ‘How long do you think it will take you to complete the designs for Larissa’s wedding gown?’ Loukas enquired at the end of the meal.

  Belle savoured her last spoonful of decadently rich chocolate mousse before turning her head towards him, and once again her heart gave an annoying little flip. She wondered if he always dressed formally for dinner. He looked breathtakingly sexy in his black tuxedo and white silk shirt, and the piercing intensity of his stare decimated her fragile composure.

  Somehow she forced a breezy smile. ‘We made a start before dinner. I should easily have the final sketches completed by the end of the week, and once Larissa has chosen the materials she wants I can place the order with my suppliers. Then I’ll go back to my studio to begin making the dresses.’

  Loukas frowned. ‘Does that mean that Larissa and her bridesmaids will have to travel to London for fittings?’

  ‘Well, yes—but that will only be necessary two or at the most three times.’ Belle wondered where this conversation was leading.

  ‘Three trips to England over the next five weeks could be difficult when the wedding is so close and there are so many other arrangements to be made—don’t you agree, Lissa?’ Loukas glanced at his sister. ‘And I’m sure you would prefer to remain in Greece now that Constantine’s health is a concern.’

  Larissa nodded slowly. ‘Of course it would make life easier if I didn’t have to fit in trips to London.’ She voiced the question on the tip of Belle’s own tongue. ‘But what do you suggest? Belle can’t move her studio to Greece.’

  ‘Why not?’

  It was Belle’s turn to frown. ‘It would be impossible. ‘I have all the equipment I need at my studio—cutting tables, tailor’s dummies, sewing machines.’

  ‘But if I could provide you with everything you require, why couldn’t you stay here on Aura to make the dresses?’ Loukas asked smoothly. ‘The room you were using earlier is a suitable size for a workroom, isn’t it?

  ‘Well—yes, but…’ Belle was flummoxed by Loukas’s suggestion. ‘It would be an unnecessary expense for you to buy or even hire everything. A good sewing machine can cost several thousand pounds. Because Wedding Belle is only a small company I do a lot of the actual sewing myself, but I also employ two seamstresses, and I’m sure neither Doreen or Joan would be prepared to leave their families and come to Aura.’

  He shrugged. ‘The cost is immaterial. And if necessary I’m sure I could find a seamstress in Athens to help out. All I care about is ensuring that the run-up to the wedding is as stress-free as possible for Larissa, and one way to do that is for you make her dress here on Aura.’

  Where he could keep a check on her progress, Belle thought furiously. He hadn’t said the words out loud, but she knew what he was thinking and anger surged through her. Here again was another example of how Loukas liked to be in total control. But how could she argue with his desire to help his sister? She hadn’t missed the hopeful look on Larissa’s face when Loukas had made his suggestion.

  ‘You seem to forget that I have a business to run in London,’ she murmured, trying to keep her tone light for Larissa’s benefit.

  ‘Do you have many other commissions at present?’ Loukas gave her a bland smile, but beneath his polite tone she detected a steely determination to have his own way. ‘Perhaps one of your staff could be left in charge of your company while you stay here? There will, of course, be a financial reward for your co-operation. And let’s not forget the valuable media exposure Wedding Belle will gain from this commission.’

  Belle knew she was beaten, and her fears were confirmed when Larissa said excitedly, ‘Oh, Belle, it would be wonderful if you could stay. It will mean I can be involved with my dress at every stage. And you’ll be an honoured guest at the wedding.’

  How on earth could she disappoint Larissa, who had already suffered one disappointment when the first designer she had commissioned had let her down, and who was now clearly worried about her fiancé’s father? ‘I suppose it’s possible,’ she said slowly.

  ‘Excellent. That’s settled, then.’ Loukas’s smile revealed his white teeth and reminded Belle of a predatory wolf. He was certainly as cunning, she thought grimly. ‘Give me a list of the things you’ll need for your workroom and I’ll arrange for them to be delivered.’

  His satisfied tone infuriated her. Loukas was king of his island and clearly used to always having his own way. She threw him a fulminating glance, which he returned with a mocking smile, but it was the gleam in his eyes, a silent reminder of the sexual attraction between them, that sent a frisson of unease down her spine. She had expected to stay on Aura for five days, but now she was committed to stay until the wedding. That meant five weeks of trying to fight her overpowering awareness of Loukas. It was no wonder her hand shook slightly as she picked up her glass of champagne and took a long sip.

  The rest of the evening was torture for Belle as she struggled to hide her intense awareness of Loukas. She tried to relax and chat to Larissa, Georgios and his sisters, but all the time she was conscious of Loukas’s speculative gaze, and she could not prevent herself from constantly glancing at him. She blushed when their eyes met, and hastily looked away, but even when she was not looking at him her body sensed when he was near and each of her nerve-endings quivered when she inhaled the spicy scent of his aftershave.

  She did not know what to do—how to deal with her unexpected and utterly overwhelming attraction to him. It was terrifying and yet exciting. She had never felt this alive before. But her instincts were screaming danger. Loukas was too powerful, too strong-willed, and so out of her league. Maybe she should turn down the commission and go home? she thought wildly. Flee back to London and try to forget she had ever met Loukas Christakis.

  She looked across the room to where Larissa was standing with Georgios, laughing at something he had said. She looked so happy, and was so excited about her wedding. How could she let her down? Belle thought heavily. And how could she consider givin
g up the most important commission of her career just because she was attracted to Larissa’s brother? If only she could avoid him for the next few weeks, everything would be fine.

  Larissa detached herself from her fiancé and crossed the room to speak to Belle. ‘I’m returning to Athens with Georgios tonight. He’s much more worried about Constantine than he lets on, and I know he won’t sleep in case there’s a call from the hospital. If I promise to sit by the phone I may be able to persuade him to get a few hours’ rest, and I’ll come back first thing in the morning.’ She looked anxiously at Belle. ‘I’m sorry to leave you alone on Aura. Although of course you’re not alone—Loukas is here,’ she added, her face brightening. ‘If you need anything, or have any problems, he’ll be pleased to help.’

  ‘I’m sure I’ll be fine,’ Belle murmured, refraining from mentioning that Loukas was the problem. She wished she could go to Athens too. The prospect of spending the night alone at the villa with him filled her with panic, but she managed to hide her inner turmoil and smiled reassuringly at Larissa.

  After bidding everyone goodnight she returned to her room, and a few minutes later she heard the sound of the helicopter taking off. It seemed days rather than hours ago since she had left England. Now it was almost midnight, but she felt too keyed-up to go to bed, her mind returning inevitably to Loukas and how he had manipulated her to stay on Aura.

  He was as domineering and forceful as her stepfather, she thought darkly. But that was not really true, her mind pointed out. It was obvious that he adored his sister, and she could not blame him for wanting to ensure that Larissa’s wedding would be perfect. John Townsend had been a bully, but although Loukas was a powerful man he had a softer side to him, she acknowledged reluctantly. The tragic events in his life had made him hard and uncompromising, but he was fiercely protective of his sister, and beneath his tough exterior he must have a heart—a heart which, according to Larissa, had once been broken by the woman he had hoped to marry.