by Marie Kelly
She had been looking forward to the meeting and had moved down the stairs to meet with Maria for some breakfast, not sure if the older woman would have eaten already as she was so late up. As she passed the dining room, a deep voice had stopped her in her tracks.
“Good morning”
Lee had scowled. She had felt sure that given how long she had slept in that he would have left much earlier. She had hoped that given his busy work schedule she could limit the time that they actually spent together, not fully willing to admit to herself the real reason for her need to limit this time with him.
“Good morning” she replied turning to move into the room he was seated
He had looked at her with an almost knowing look in his eyes
“Anybody would think you were trying to avoid me” he said softly
Lee had looked back at him saying nothing
“Shouldn’t you be at work” she finally asked, as he had continued to look at her appraisingly
“How very domesticated of you” he mocked, “but don’t worry Lee, being the boss has got its advantages”
“I bet” she said sarcastically.
“Do anything interesting yesterday” he asked innocently, although she was aware of a strange look in his eyes
“Nothing special” she replied matter of factly
He had nodded absently before continuing
“So what do you have planned today?”
Lee had shrugged her shoulders “This and that” she replied vaguely, as he had raised his eyebrows
“Nice to see you getting into the spirit of it” he said
“Perhaps I could drop you off at your first appointment” he said conversationally.
Frowning slightly she had shaken her head
“I’m just going to visit Mrs Green this morning” she said in a tone designed to discourage any more involvement with her plans.
“No problem, perhaps I could meet with your elderly friend” he replied, his eyes watching her keenly.
Gritting her teeth, she had smiled back sweetly
“No, really that isn’t necessary….and she doesn’t like strangers”
He had grinned once again reminding her of a cat toying with a mouse
“But I’m sure that given the papers interest” he said throwing several papers over the table at her “That she would be upset if you didn’t introduce her to your fiancé”
Lee had lifted several of the papers at the pages he had opened them to, before gasping at the large headlines. Many had shown pictures of her and Yanis as they kissed outside the restaurant, with headlines such as
“The Golden Couple” and “LEE n on me”
With articles which exhaled her virtues with many of the people she had talked with or met describing her as angelic, others as having a heart of gold. One paper had summarised the sentiments of most with the by-line
“Tycoon with golden touch to marry Angel with gold heart”
Lee had groaned reading the papers and looking up at him, she had seen the look on his face
“Care to explain” he asked quietly, although there was a dangerous tone in his voice.
“Explain what “she asked
“Explain why when I leave instructions for you to deal with certain charities, you take it upon yourself to become part of most of their steering groups”
Finally his tone was angry, as he had glared at her
“I told you that I couldn’t sit here idly” she bit back at him
“It seemed like something I could do, but don’t worry” she threw at him “I’m sure that once you throw me out they will drop me quickly enough”
Yanis had glared at her. He couldn’t quite understand his anger at her involvement, other that the fact that things did not seem to be going the way he had planned. He had intended for her to become a shopaholic becoming addicted to the good life he could offer, but instead she seemed to be becoming the golden girl of the press circuit.
Sitting back with one finger stroking his lips he had looked sternly at her
“From now on you are to limit all your activity to polite interest only” he said icily
She had looked back at him
“No, I will not sit back and become some poodle you parade around on your arm” she hissed at him, her eyes now angry a vivid colour of green.
He had cursed in Greek as he had flung his napkin to the side, angry at her continuous mutinous attitude towards him, while finding himself fascinated at the way her eyes seemed to change colour with her mood
“I warn you Lee” he said his face dark
“Well tough” she said with little disregard for his anger. “I am going to do what I can for these organisations as long as I can” she declared, with a finality in her voice which had silenced him.
“Fine” he said after a few seconds “let’s see how long you can keep it up”
For a few moments more they had both continued to glare at each other, both unwilling to give in to the other. Lee had found herself breathing hard as she had felt the excitement that their exchange was having on her, surprising herself with her own body’s response.
Finally pushing her seat away from the table she had risen
“I have to go, I want to see Mrs Green early” she said her whole body still rigid with anger. However, he had risen with her
“I will drive you” he said with a steely edge to his tone and seeing the way she had opened her mouth to argue he had added “and I will join you to introduce myself to Mrs Green, because otherwise Lee, you will not be visiting that lady again”
Lee had closed her mouth sullenly walking out of the room, her fists clenched by her side.
In the car she had not spoken to Yanis, who seemed to be gloating at having won that round with her. As they approached the home of her friend, she had become nervous
“She is an old lady, Yanis…don’t upset her”
He had frowned
“Why must you always assume that I am out to embarrass you Lee” he asked tightly
“Did I not behave well enough with your brother?”
Lee has closed her mouth, fully aware of how charming he had been towards Peter, which had surprised her, as she had mainly seen the arrogant side of his nature up to that point
As they parked outside one of the old sandstone flats, the same ones which he had already visited the night he first met Lee, she had led him into the building starting to nervously wring her hands as she had knocked on the lower flat, her eyes darting to Yanis
“This might be a shock to her” she said biting her lip “Please she is the closest thing that I have to family other than Peter” she looked at him her eyes pleading and full of concern
“You know something, cara,” he said his voice sensual “It is not me that will give this away. You are supposed to be the happy newly engaged woman…if you want to pull this off, then perhaps we need to fix something”
As she opened her mouth to ask what he had pulled her into his arms and kissed her, his hands cupping her face. Lee had been shocked by the intensity of his kiss and even more shocked at the way she had responded just as passionately the instant his lips had touched hers. Just as quickly he released her causing her to fall against him, as the door had opened.
“Lee” the small white haired old lady exclaimed seeing her standing at the doorstep, taking in the way the young woman held on to the handsome man before her, her eyes bright and cheeks flushed. Yanis had smiled at the woman, a frail looking lady in her seventies, who moved slowly. However, her bright sparkling eyes had taken in the whole scene in front of her, and with a wide smile she had beckoned both of them in.
“Now, I hope” she said as she turned to shuffle slowly back into the living room “That you are Yanis”
He had laughed confirming that he was indeed.
As they moved into the living room, he had sat in the old but comfortable couch, as she had taken the arm chair closest. Beside her lay a newspaper, opened to the page in whic
h the headlines screamed of the engagement of the two.
“Mrs Green” Lee had said softly, “I would like you to meet Yanis Demitri”
The older woman had smiled at him
“It is lovely to meet you” she said in a sing song voice “and so nice that you wanted to bring your fiancée to meet me” she said sincerely as she looked at Lee.
“I imagine that you are a very busy man” she continued looking at Yanis “So it is all the more appreciated”
Yanis gave her one of his dazzling smiles
“I wanted very much to meet with you Mrs Green” he said “Lee speaks of you very often”
The older woman had looked pleased
“Lee is an angel” she said laughing gently “so strange for the press to get something right for a change” she chuckled
Lee who had been hovering nervously finally moved towards the kitchen
“Will I put the kettle on then” she managed as the other two had nodded before she had disappeared from the room
Finally alone Mrs Green had looked at Yanis with piercing eyes.
“You are a very lucky man Mr Demitri” she said her voice firm “Lee is a very special girl and I would hate to see her getting hurt”
Yanis had looked back at the woman “Well I hope very much not to be the one to hurt her” he finally managed an uneasy feeling filling him at the insincerity of his words
“You have known each other for a while” he asked, suddenly wanting to change the direction of the conversation
The woman had smiled “Yes, almost 3 years, I had fallen outside and Lee came to help me. Since then that girl has looked in on me nearly every day. Makes sure that I have all my shopping and dinner” the woman had smiled softly “She has kept me going, I look forward to her visits”
Then she had looked back at Yanis
“But now she has somebody else, and I have to say that I don’t blame her in the least. You are a very handsome man Mr Demitri” she said appreciatively
Yanis had laughed out loud
“Lee did say that you spoke your mind Mrs Green” he chuckled as she had laughed back with him.
“At my age young man she said you are allowed to”
He had nodded back
“Look after her Mr Demitri” she said suddenly very serious “If there was ever anybody who deserved good things it’s Lee, although I can see from the way you two look at each other…” her eyes seemed to move to a far away place as she looked over at a picture on the fireplace
“My husband” she pointed to the picture. Yanis had looked over at the smiling man wearing an army uniform
“We met during the war, fell in love and got married as soon as we could” she had sighed softly
“but he was killed during the last year of the war, and I never met anybody else who could match up to him…now that’s the kind of love that lasts Mr Demitri” she said her shrewd eyes passing on the message she knew he understood
At that point Lee had reappeared carrying a tray with tea, biscuits and a large sandwich.
“OK, Mrs Green” she said softly “I’ve put your dinner on a plate, so it just needs to go in the microwave for a few minutes….and I thought you might want a sandwich soon, so just to save you having to make it”
Yanis had watched Lee, with a small frown on his face. Once more her actions showed a different person than the one he knew her to be.
“Lee, stop fretting” the older woman giggled, looking at Yanis
“A lovely girl, but what a worrier” she smiled her eyes full of devotion for the younger woman before her.
They had all sat for an hour drinking tea, while Mrs Green had told stories of her engagement to her husband and they had had to be vague, as she had tried to find out the details of the wedding
“We have to work out dates and things still” Lee had said her eyes lowered to hide her discomfort at lying “the engagement was a spur of the moment thing” she had said looking over at Yanis, who’s lips had curled in an involuntary smile at her slant on his blackmail.
As they left Mrs Green had given Yanis a small kiss on the cheek and hugged Lee, wishing them all the best and they had moved back into the car.
Lee had given an involuntary sigh of relief as Yanis had quickly looked over at her his face thoughtful. As he started to drive the car he had looked over at her once more
“Lunch?”
Lee had looked at the time, suddenly realising that she was hungry and nodded
He had taken them to an expensive restaurant, where they had instantly been seated at the nicest table in the room.
“Your Mrs Green is a lovely lady” he had said as the waiter had left with their orders
“Yes she is” Lee had said gently “Thank you for being so…” Lee had searched for the right word “gracious”
Yanis had laughed, his eyes twinkling at her
“Now that must have hurt you” he said with the laughter in his voice, as she had involuntarily laughed back with him, nodding.
They had both relaxed, and laughed together, as they had eaten their lunch. Lee had been surprised, just as the previous time they had spent alone together, to realise just how much she was enjoying being with him. However, her mind had still gone back to the kiss, each time the memory causing her to shiver a little with pleasure
As they had finished their coffee, his mobile phone had rung and he had become very business like as he held a conversation with an unknown man in what sounded like French. Lee could only speak a spattering learnt from school, and was impressed with his apparent fluency. Whatever was being discussed was annoying Yanis, as he had frowned his mouth tight as he bit out short commands. When he had finished the call, he had looked over at her with an apologetic look
“I’m sorry Lee, I have to go away for a while” he said frowning down at his cup, as though he had just had plans ruined
“That’s OK” she smiled back “I’m sure I’ll survive” adding with a wicked note in her voice
“So long as I have my mansion, chauffeur and unlimited credit cards”
He had grinned back at her
“Yes… about that, don’t you think you should spend something on those credit cards” he asked
Lee had sighed “so many shops, so little time” she giggled
He had looked at her with a strange expression on his face
“Will you be OK…with the press I mean?”
Lee was surprised at his concern, and had smiled warmly back at him
Yanis had once more admired the way that smile could light up her whole face, cursing the problem in France. Given the way she had kissed him back at her friend’s house, he had planned that night to make sure that there would be no disturbances when he next took her in his arms. He had felt the stirring within him at the way she was making his body yearn to hold her. Again wondering why she moved him so much, with an almost raw desire to possess her.
With a sigh, he had pushed back his chair
“I have to go now, my plane is waiting for me and your car should be outside, I’ll walk you out” he said softly
Lee had allowed him to walk her out, his hand resting gently on the base of her back, as they talked. Standing on the street he had taken her two hands in his as he looked down at her face
“I hope to be gone only a few days…but from past experience, it may be longer” he said gently, before in an almost automatic movement he had dropped his head to kiss her lips gently. Lee had found herself standing on her tip toes to take the kiss as though it was the most natural thing in the world for them to do. With a quick step back, he had opened the door for her before helping her in and waving goodbye.
Safe in the car, Lee had sat in stunned surprise at the way she had behaved, more surprised at the pleasure that the simple action of kissing him good bye had brought to her. She had found herself sitting with a gentle smile on her face as she thought back to the morning, both at Mrs Greens house and then at lunch. With a small gasp of shock, she
realised that she had enjoyed the time with Yanis especially the kisses one such a surprise and the other anticipated. With a shock realisation she finally admitted to herself that she had wanted to feel his lips on hers, and more importantly she wanted so much more.
As they drove along she had moved to give new instructions to the driver, suddenly remembering that she had a meeting with the orphanage that afternoon.
CHAPTER FIVE
It had been strange having the house to herself for the first few days, although Marias presence was comforting, however, Yanis’s phone calls at the evening had become a regular thing, as he would ask how Jim was doing, although she could only report that there was no change in his condition.
After the second day he had taken her email address and began to send her instructions that she had to follow, with regards to who to talk to and when to meet with them. His tone had annoyed Lee to the extent that she had asked him what his last slave had died from. His response had been a series of cartoons which had made her laugh and she had returned her own versions of the cartoons. Soon they were emailing each other with links to cartoons, news clippings and video clips which made each other laugh.
For 6 days he was away, and Lee was only just starting to get into a routine. She had become friendly with the boutique owner, Claire, who would send her suitable dresses and outfits for different events and meetings she was required to attend without her having to actually go to the boutique, a situation which suited both to perfection.
She had become particularly involved with the orphanage, having managed to talk the committee into a charity event to raise funds for the orphanage, something which had not previously been allowed to happen. She had quickly become friendly with the children offering to teach them how to perform dance routines which she hoped they could perform at the charity event later that month. To achieve this she had tried to organise to meet up with them at least every second day to practice, prior to her visits with Jim.