The Touch of Aphrodite

by Joanna Mansell

  'In that case, it must be clearly understood that, in future, our relationship must remain on a strictly business level.'

  'I agree with that,' she said with as much bravado as she could muster. 'Is that all you wanted to see me about?'

  Nikolaos paused for only a fraction of a second. 'Yes,' he then said, in an unequivocal tone.

  Emily quickly left the lobby, and headed up to her room. Her shift was over now, and she was so emotionally and physically drained that she simply wanted to tumble into bed and sleep for several hours.

  Halfway up the stairs, though, she suddenly stopped. She had just remembered that lunch date Nikolaos had had with Sofia. Had that had anything to do with that pronouncement from Nikolaos just now? Sofia had seen that hectic flush on Emily's face earlier, and had probably guessed why it was there. Had she then given Nikolaos an ultimatum?

  Probably not, Emily decided. Nikolaos wasn't the kind of man who would react well to an ultimatum of any kind, and since Sofia had known him for a very long time she would certainly appreciate that. But she might have made it very clear that he couldn't have her and his little cousin from England. Emily gave a small sigh. And it looked as if Nikolaos had made his choice. Of course, there had never really been any competition.

  She tried hard to convince herself that it didn't matter, she didn't —couldn't possibly— want Nikolaos for herself.

  Want Nikolaos —the words echoed through her head as she continued much more slowly up the stairs. It was really alarming how hard it was to get rid of that haunting phrase, now that it had lodged itself inside her mind.

  CHAPTER SIX

  FOR the next couple of days, Emily threw herself into her work with almost frantic intensity. She kept telling herself over and over that she had forgotten all about that silly business with Nikolaos; that there were far more important things that should be occupying her mind. If anyone had asked her what those important things were, she might have had a problem telling them, but she conveniently ignored that fact.

  At the end of the week, a message came from Nikolaos's secretary. He was at a business meeting all morning, but would she join him for lunch at a restaurant near the hotel?

  Emily immediately ran up to her room and began frenziedly sorting through her wardrobe. Clothes were tried on and then discarded, and her eyes became a little feverish as she couldn't find anything that was quite right. Then she suddenly stopped and stood quite still. What was she doing? This was a simple lunch, not a date. Calming herself down, she picked out a plain skirt and a short sleeved, cool silk blouse. She left her hair loose —there simply wasn't time for any sophisticated styling —but clipped the unruly gold curls back from her face with wide combs. Then she took a couple of very deep breaths and left the hotel.

  The restaurant was situated on the promenade. The trees opposite swayed softly in the gentle breeze that blew from the calm blue sea, the air was fresh and clean, and the sun was a warm caress. Boats glided

  over the barely ruffled water, either heading for the old harbour or setting off on their different voyages, but Emily barely noticed them. Her eyes were already fixed on Nikolaos, who sat at a table set outside the restaurant, obviously waiting for her.

  She felt horribly tense, although she was already quite sure that nothing personal was going to be discussed during this lunch. He had chosen once again to meet her in a very public place, and she had the feeling that all their future meetings were going to take place in similar circumstances. As she sat down opposite him, he handed her the menu.

  'What would you like to order?' he asked crisply.

  Emily's appetite had disappeared completely, but she forced herself to look at the menu and finally chose avgolemono, a lemon-flavoured chicken broth served with rice. Nikolaos ordered papoutsakia, aubergine stuffed with minced meat and tomatoes, and topped with beaten egg and breadcrumbs. When Emily's food arrived, it looked and smelt delicious, but she could only manage a few mouthfuls. She was still nervously waiting to hear why she had been invited to this lunch.

  She didn't have to wait for long. Nikolaos finished eating, then looked directly at her, his black eyes very cool, as if he had never touched her, never kissed her, never come so very close to losing all control.

  'The main tourist season is now getting under way,' he said without preamble. 'I think that it's time I moved you to Paphos, so that you can take over the running of Dimitri's hotel there.'

  Emily blinked. 'Run the hotel? You mean —I'd be completely in charge?'

  'Under my supervision, of course.'

  'But I didn't think —well, I thought it would be a long time before I'd be ready for a big step like that.'

  'You're not ready,' Nikolaos told her. 'It takes years, not months, to make a good hotel manager. There are a hundred and one things that you don't yet know, but the best way to learn them is by actually doing the job. I've decided that we'll give it a month's trial. By the end of that time, I'll know whether you'll eventually be capable of dealing on your own with that kind of responsibility.'

  'I will be,' Emily assured him. All the same, it was rather awesome to think of being given so much responsibility. And Nikolaos would be there all the time, watching everything she did. They would be working together, spending long hours in each other's company. . .

  Emily gave a small gulp. 'It must be very inconvenient for you, having to spend so much time away from your own work. You don't usually spend the summer in Paphos, do you?'

  'No,' he agreed, 'but it's no hardship for me to spend the next few weeks there. I've several business interests in the area, and I'm involved in a new hotel and leisure complex that's being built a little further along the coast. I'll easily be able to combine my business affairs with your supervision.'

  Emily tried to comfort herself with the thought that they had already agreed that, in future, they would have a strictly working relationship. That should have made her feel more relaxed —safer —but, for some reason, it didn't.

  'When do we leave for Paphos?' she asked.

  'At the beginning of next week.' A lightly mocking gleam lit his eyes. 'I thought that I should give you plenty of time to pack, considering the amount of luggage that you brought with you.'

  Emily nearly blurted out the reason why she had bought all those clothes: the depression that had swept her into that wild shopping spree. At the last moment, though, she stopped herself. Was there any reason to think that Nikolaos would understand — or even believe her?

  'I think that my clothes are my affair,' she said rather stiffly. His black gaze fixed on her. 'You must be counting the days until you can collect your inheritance. Fill your wardrobe with the latest designer labels.'

  It hurt that he could still have such a low opinion of her; still think that money was the most important thing in her life. She was determined not to let him see how he could get to her, though.

  'Of course,' she said in a bright, brittle voice. 'That's why I'm doing all of this, isn't it? So that I can collect my inheritance?'

  Nikolaos's face darkened. Then he rather abruptly got to his feet. 'I've an appointment to keep.'

  Emily also stood up. 'Then please don't let me keep you. I've also got a lot of work to get on with.'

  He growled something under his breath that she couldn't quite hear, then swung round and strode off.

  Emily immediately sat down again because her knees were definitely knocking. These confrontations with Nikolaos were getting harder and harder to handle. And she had months of them to endure yet, before the year was up!

  On the other hand, she found that she was looking forward to going to Paphos. For one thing, she would see Dimitri's hotel for the first time. She had deliberately not made a special trip to see it before now, because she had wanted to wait until she could walk through the door as the manager. That was going to happen a lot sooner than she had expected. Of course, it would be under Nikolaos's supervision, but she still felt a tremendous sense of achievement.

  She
and Nikolaos left for Paphos the following Monday, in Nikolaos's car. She felt both apprehensive and excited as they drove away from Limassol. Her life had changed so dramatically over the last couple of months: here she was on her way to run a large hotel on Cyprus instead of sitting behind her desk in an accountant's office in London, adding up columns of figures and giving advice to clients. Emily had to admit, though, that this was a lot more exciting, and challenging.

  Nikolaos glanced at her briefly. 'When we reach the hotel, I suggest that you spend the first few days simply getting to know the staff, going through the account books, and getting yourself accustomed to the way the hotel is run. Don't try and do too much, too soon.'

  "But I wanted to get down to some real work straight away,' Emily said at once. 'And I already know how a hotel is run.'

  'Each hotel is slightly different. You have to get the feel of its character, or things will start to go wrong right from the beginning.'

  'I thought that you were going to let me do things my own way?' she said with a small frown. "That I was going to be given a chance to show what I can really do? But you're already giving me orders!'

  Nikolaos's own gaze briefly darkened. 'This hotel meant a great deal to Dimitri. I don't intend to see it ruined through your inexperience or incompetence.'

  Emily took a deep breath, ready to argue with him, but then stopped. She supposed that, annoyingly, he was right. She was inexperienced; it made sense to take this one step at a time and accept whatever advice was given her. There was so much she still had to learn, and she really did want to make a success of this.

  They reached Paphos just before lunchtime, and she was enchanted by her first impressions. Brightly coloured boats ringed Paphos's harbour, which was still guarded at the far end by a medieval fortress. The water in the sheltered harbour glittered as tiny waves ruffled its surface, and the boats bobbed very gently, as if quite content to stay at their moorings instead of facing the open sea. Tourists chatted and ate in the warm sun at the tables set out on the quayside, a white pelican waddled around looking completely at home, and the atmosphere seemed very relaxed and cheerful. Shortly afterwards, Nikolaos brought the car to a halt outside a large and very imposing hotel.

  'Is this it?' Emily asked, looking up at it slightly awestruck. 'Dimitri's hotel?'

  'The Hotel Konstantin. It has a five-star rating, which I intend it should keep, so don't even think about making any major changes without first referring to me.'

  His attitude made Emily bristle again. 'When the year is up, this hotel will belong to me,' she reminded him indignantly. 'Then I can do whatever I like with it!'

  'But, in the meantime, you will do what I tell you,' Nikolaos said, his dark gaze locking on to hers and holding it.

  Emily was the first one to look away. It was amazing how intimidating this man's gaze could be.

  She was too excited to feel intimidated for long, though. She jumped out of the car and headed towards the hotel entrance, wanting to explore every room and every corner of the extensive grounds. Her eyes opened wide as she went into the large and rather grand lobby, with its high ceiling, beautifully tiled floor, and long windows that opened on to panoramic views of the sea.

  Nikolaos followed more slowly. He spoke briefly to several people as he passed through the lobby, and Emily realised that the staff were beginning to look at her with a mixture of interest and wariness. Nikolaos must have warned them that she would be coming, and they must have been wondering what to expect. She knew that her youth and inexperience would count against her, and that she would have to work hard to win their respect. On the other hand, she was full of enthusiasm, and already had half a dozen half-formed plans for the future whirling round inside her head. Too excited to eat, she spent the rest of the day wandering around the hotel, familiarising herself with the layout. And there was a lot of it to see! The hotel had two restaurants, a cocktail bar, a small shopping arcade, an outdoor and indoor swimming-pool, a gymnasium, squash and tennis courts, a sauna and a jacuzzi. There was a hairdressing salon and beauty parlour for guests who needed instant glamour, a coffee shop for mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks, sun terraces that were set among tumbling cascades of flowers that scented the air and small trees that offered welcome patches of shade. Gardens led down to the beach, where the blue waters of the Mediterranean gently lapped against the sand. Emily was thrilled by everything that she saw; she knew that managing a hotel like this would be the biggest challenge she was every likely to tackle. By the end of the day, though, she was rather overwhelmed by it all, and knew that she needed to get away for just a short while; needed a little time to get used to the idea that, in less than a year, she would be in sole charge of this beautiful hotel.

  With a small sense of shock, Emily realised that she had completely abandoned the plans she had once had for going back to England at the end of the year, and continuing her training as an accountant. Even though the past couple of months had had some highly uncomfortable moments — and most of them had been connected in some way with Nikolaos! — she adored it here on Cyprus; every day she felt more at home on this beautiful island. The people were so friendly, everyone seemed very relaxed —except, again, for Nikolaos. And the sun, the warmth, the fresh tang of the sea air, all seemed to suit her down to the ground. She had started to come alive again since arriving here. When she looked in the mirror now, she could see a new glow to her skin, an extra brightness in her vivid blue eyes, her hair seemed to curl more riotously than ever and it shone like spun gold in the bright sunlight.

  Emily left the hotel and slowly walked down towards the harbour. The sun was slowly setting, turning the sky a brilliant scorched orange. The squat shape of the medieval castle stood out as a dark silhouette against the dazzling display of the sunset, and the colours of the boats became more muted, drowned by the great glow that lit the sky. Emily gave a wry and slightly sad smile. This was the stuff that romance was made of; there should have been lovers walking off into that sunset. Then her heart seemed to turn right over as she realised that Nikolaos had just fallen into step beside her.

  'What —what are you doing here?' she stammered.

  'I haven't had dinner yet, and I don't like to eat alone,' he said casually. 'You don't mind if I join you, do you?'

  'N-no,' she said, wishing fervently that her nervously stuttering tongue would behave itself.

  They walked on in silence until they reached a taverna on the waterfront, and Emily gradually forced herself to relax a little. She knew that she was going to have to relax if she was ever going to get through these last few months working with Nikolaos. She couldn't go through them in a permanent state of nervous tension!

  At the taverna, they had a simple meal of souvlakia, pieces of lamb marinated in lemon juice, cooked on a spit with chunks of tomatoes, onions and green peppers, and served with pitta bread. By the time they had finished eating, night had fallen, stars were shining in the dark velvet sky, and the sea was flecked with small sparks of silver where it reflected the moonlight.

  Nikolaos ordered coffee, to finish their meal, and then sat back and looked at her.

  'Now that you've seen the hotel, are you intimidated by the sheer size of it?" he challenged her softly.

  'Certainly not,' she said at once, although not altogether truthfully.

  'You do understand what you're taking on? You'll be working practically every hour of the day and night, you'll be expected to make endless decisions, you'll have to tackle problems that will range from a small query over a bill to a major crisis. You'll be responsible for every single thing that happens in that hotel, and if anything goes wrong the blame will immediately be put on to you. You'll be expected to maintain the very high standards that give the hotel its five-star rating, and also ensure that the hotel stays profitable. That isn't always as easy as it sounds; tourists come and go, anda resort that's fashionable one year can be out of favour the next.'

  'I bet that you think I can't do any of those th
ings,' Emily said, her blue eyes flashing indignantly.

  'To the contrary,' he replied, to her astonishment. 'I'm beginning to think that, perhaps, you can.'

  She blinked in pure disbelief. 'What did you just say?' she demanded, sure that she must have misheard him.

  Nikolaos was silent for a while before finally replying. 'You've turned out to be very different from what I expected. You've a lot more character and determination, you're not afraid of hard work, and you're ready to learn whatever needs to be learnt. And people like you. I watched you working with the staff at my hotel; you got on well with all of them. Your only problem might be that you're sometimes too soft. You can be hurt if people are rude to you, or abuse you. And that will happen,' he warned. 'Remember the problem that you had with Ron Carson, the drunken guest in Limassol. Every hotel has its quota of difficult or downright unpleasant guests. They're a very small minority, but they are something that you'll have to cope with.'

  'I'll deal with them,' Emily said staunchly. 'Just watch me!'

  'Yes, I think that I will,' Nikolaos said in an unexpectedly soft voice. 'I think that watching you over the next few weeks is going to be very interesting.'

  With that, he paid the bill then got up. He turned to go, then swung back and shot her a quick, dark, intense look that made Emily's skin abruptly prickle, despite the gentle warmth of the evening. Then he strode away, and she found that she was biting her lip painfully hard as she watched him disappear from sight.

  Slowly, she let her gaze return to the tables that were set outside the taverna. It was only then she realised that someone else seemed to have been watching Nikolaos walk away. A dark figure, almost hidden in the shadows, sitting just outside the pool of light that spilled out from the taverna. Emily could just make out the pale shape of a face that appeared to be staring intently after Nikolaos. Then the pale face turned in her direction, and Emily felt herself come under the same keen scrutiny.

  She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Why was this person so interested in her and Nikolaos?