by Lucy Leroux
Now he was expecting her for brunch at his new rental on Sunday. In typical Alexandros Hanas fashion, he hadn’t asked her to join him. He had simply texted her the time and address and said he was expecting her. Their parents were tied up with a charity event that day so they wouldn’t be there.
Except for the dinner party at her place, she couldn’t remember a time when she had been completely alone with her stepbrother for longer than a few minutes.
Just go and stop worrying about it. Alex was her friend, and he wouldn’t hold her silly behavior against her.
****
When Elynn finally arrived at Alex’s ‘rental,’ she slammed on the brakes of her VW Beetle. In front of her was a pair of imposing wrought iron gates. Apparently there were hidden video cameras monitoring the entrance, because when she leaned out to press the intercom button, a voice greeted her by name and buzzed her in.
Shaking her head, she drove up an impossibly long driveway that ended at an equally massive and elegant Georgian mansion. She let out a bark of laughter. Did Alex ever do anything low-key? This place was like something out of the movies, an estate that eclipsed his father’s more modest country home.
The interior of the house matched the exterior in its imposing elegance. The foyer led to a huge central staircase and a long gallery was located on the ground floor. Elynn would not have been surprised if there were a ballroom as well.
She was directed by an unfamiliar maid out onto a terrace with a gorgeous view of green hills leading to an extensive wooded area to the right and a small lake to the left.
Alex was waiting for her at a table shaded by a big umbrella. He smiled at her and brushed his lips over her cheek in greeting, another change. Feeling warm, she sat down in the chair he offered her on his right.
“Well, you sure know how to downplay your real estate choices. Is this really a rental?” she asked.
“Yes, with the option to buy,” he said, helping himself to the freshly baked croissants and preserves.
“You can’t possibly be thinking of buying this place,” Elynn said with a frown as she laid her napkin on her lap.
“Why wouldn’t I? It’s a superb estate. I like the views. It has a full gym, spa, and a movie theatre. If I put in a helipad, it would be perfect,” he said as he poured her a glass of orange juice. “I find it relaxing. I may buy it.”
Elynn laughed. “You can’t be serious. You won’t be happy living so far from London. You once said you’d rather watch all of Gossip Girl than spend more than a week in the country.”
“Things change,” he said before proceeding to distract her from his strange and sudden desire for domesticity with a steady stream of conversation.
“How goes the dissertation writing?” he asked near the end of the meal.
“It’s not bad, actually. I’m a little ahead of schedule,” she admitted as she sat back and closed her eyes.
The sun felt good on her face. With a contented sigh, she curled up in the oversized wicker chair and basked in the warmth.
“Well, it’s good that you’re ahead,” Alex said. “That means that you don’t have to rush home. You can help me check out the grounds.”
“Yeah, why not?” she said, smiling lazily as she opened her eyes. “How is the car progressing?”
“Slow, actually. Finding certain replacement parts is proving to be a challenge. But not one I mind,” he assured her.
“I’m still not sure why you aren’t having the car restored for you. You have so many other demands on your time,” she said sympathetically.
Alex worked like a dog. He lived by the ‘work hard, play hard’ mantra, but she didn’t think he took enough time to relax and decompress.
“There are some things a man wants to do with his own two hands,” he replied with a strangely arresting look.
Elynn felt another blush creep up her face. His gaze had barely deviated from her throughout the entire meal, and she was beginning to feel strange under his focused single-minded attention. Her chest felt tight, and she wondered if she resembled a tomato.
“Do you want to check out the woods now?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said, a tad too eagerly.
A little time away from his intense gaze was just what she needed.
“Good, let’s go,” he said, getting up and slipping on a pair of sunglasses.
Startled, she looked at him blankly. “Oh, you don’t have more calls to make?”
“No, I’m all yours. Come on,” he said, holding out his hand.
She was a little slow to get up and take it, and he put it down as he patiently waited for her to get up and stretch. He led her down the stairs to the edge of the woods. They walked in companionable silence under the canopy of leaves for a few minutes before he spoke again.
“I was assured by the estate agent that these mixed woods would be productive for a variety of mushrooms. If I choose to stay here, you should take advantage of the new hunting grounds,” he said offhand as they picked their way through a litter of dead leaves.
“You’re not going to stay here,” Elynn said with a laugh. “You’ll run screaming back to the jet-set life in London before—”
“Before what?” he asked, making her jump when his voice came from directly behind her. She hadn’t realized he was standing so close to her. “Sorry,” he said, steadying her with a large hand before stepping to her side.
Elynn swallowed and kept walking. “Before the leaves turn,” she finally said.
“Maybe I’ll surprise you,” he replied. “Would you care to wager on it?”
This time her laugh was distinctly nervous. “What do I get if I win?”
“Whatever you want.”
“And if you win?”
“Whatever I want,” he said.
“That sounds ominous.”
“It is,” he assured her.
Elynn stopped short and looked up at Alex’s chiseled face with its sculpted cheekbones and strong, straight nose.
He doesn’t know how suggestive that sounds.
“Okay, deal,” she agreed, putting out her hand to shake on it.
Alex glanced down and took her hand in his with a small secretive smile on his face. Elynn left shortly after that, but not before being told that she was returning for brunch in two weeks’ time.
****
Alex was in Rome between back-to-back meetings, and he was in a bad mood. His father had called to cheerfully inform him that he and Mary would be able to meet for brunch at his Oxford home the following Sunday.
He had thanked his father in a slightly flat tone. Costas was obviously suspicious. The move to Oxford had been too out of character. Clearly he had tipped his hand with the recent move to the country. And now Costas was going to interfere with his plans. But as much as he loved his father, that wasn’t going to stop him. Once he committed to a course of action, there was no going back.
On impulse, Alex decided to sell his penthouse apartment in the city. It wasn’t right, Elynn visiting that place where he had entertained other women he hadn’t particularly liked or respected. But he hadn’t been able to live like a monk while he waited for Elynn to grow up. He still needed a place in the city, close to the office, but he would look for a house instead.
Frustrated, Alex raked a hand through his hair. He had honestly believed it would take years before Elynn would be ready for a relationship. Just last year, she’d been rattled by an uncomfortable situation with a male guest at one of their parent’s dinner parties. Her reaction to the handsome, but decidedly pushy blond young man, Samuel somebody, had convinced him she wasn’t near where he wanted her to be.
It had been obvious during the meal that young Samuel admired Elynn. The little shit didn’t try to hide it, but he wasn’t the first dinner party guest to get ideas, so Alex shrugged it off. He did, however, keep a close eye on the guy. He always did whenever his parent’s guests included young men…or any men actually.
In the case of Samuel, though, Alex�
�s overprotectiveness had been justified. After dinner, Samuel cornered Elynn in the alcove off the dining room. She refused Samuel’s dinner invitation, but the guy was persistent. Too persistent. Elynn was obviously agitated by the time Alex had interrupted them.
Alex had told her to return to the dining room. Tellingly, she hadn’t looked back at him or Samuel. If she had, she would have seen him throwing their guest against the wall and threatening to rearrange his face. The younger man had practically run out of the room and was off the estate in a matter of minutes. He left in such a hurry that Alex had to make up a fake emergency for him when he got back to the dining room because he hadn’t stopped to tell his parents goodbye.
That was a while ago, Alex reassured himself. And he wasn’t some jackass off the streets. Elynn trusted him, and for good reason. Pushing his misgivings away, he refocused on his work. But later that night, after a dinner meeting, Alex’s patience took another hit. He was leaving the restaurant when a scantily clad Sonia Steele sidled up to him.
Ugh, not now, he thought as she took his arm and gave him a peck on the cheek.
“Darling. How are you?” Sonia said in an affected sultry tone.
Out of the corner of his eye, a flashbulb went off. Oh, perfect.
Alex swiftly extracted himself. “Hello Sonia,” he said with a hint of annoyance as he took out a handkerchief to wipe away her lipstick.
“Join us for a drink,” she invited, pursing her pouty full lips.
Angling her cleavage in a pose that was probably supposed to be seductive, she tried to take his arm again. Waiting a few feet away was an extremely pissed-off-looking man in a suit. Sonia hadn’t waited long to find his replacement, but Alex didn’t care.
“Sorry, I have another meeting. Have a good evening,” he said politely before escaping.
Slipping into the car, he pulled out his cell to call his publishing contact. If there was a way to stop the publication of that photo, his man would find it. But knowing Sonia, it was already too late. That photo had probably hit TMZ or Gawker seconds after it had been taken.
Brunch the following weekend was uneventful. Elynn was distracted by her dissertation, and Costas watched him like a hawk. There had been no opportunity to be alone with Elynn. Resigned, he let the moment pass and decided to pick her up for dinner on Saturday night instead.
Maybe I should ask her first.
No. Giving her the chance to say no was not the way to do this.
Because she might actually say no?
Alex crushed that thought. It was time to start working on his car. At brunch Elynn asked how far he’d gotten on the restoration again, and before he could stop himself, he’d lied.
“Oh, it’s looking good,” he mimicked himself.
What had possessed him to say such a thing? He had never lied to a woman before. There had never been a need, but now he was trying to show off to impress Elynn. And he hadn’t touched the Jag once since he’d moved it to the Oxford estate.
Alex studied the wreck of a car in his garage. Despite his boast to Elynn, he didn’t know the first thing about car repair. He knew makes and models and what kind of engines he preferred. But he was a connoisseur of fine cars, not a mechanic.
For a minute, Alex seriously contemplated having a specialty mechanic come in to work in stages. He could easily bluff Elynn into believing that he was doing the work himself. Then he pictured her, those big green-gray eyes on him, while he demonstrated his progress.
No, he better make the effort himself. He had never taken credit for another’s work in his life, and there was no way he was going to start now.
Maybe the For Dummies series has something on restoring classic cars.
With a self-mocking roll of the eyes, he decided to start by removing the seats. At least he wouldn’t need a how-to manual for that.
****
Elynn was working late in the lab when Alex texted her that he was waiting outside to take her to dinner. She called him back immediately.
“Hi, I didn’t know you were in town this weekend. I’m afraid I can’t go to dinner just now. I have to passage some cultures.”
“I’ll be right up,” he replied and cut the call before she could say anything else.
Elynn stared at her phone. “Okay then,” she murmured to herself before going downstairs to let him in.
Alex was still waiting outside, not having realized he needed an electronic pass to enter the building. Even though he was casually dressed in a black sweater and designer slacks, he was out of place among the passersby in the street.
He looks incredible. Oh, hell. Where did that thought come from?
Worried, she opened the door and let him in. He swept past her, all six foot three inches of him dwarfing the people around them. He was even taller than his bodyguard.
He stopped in front of her, frowning. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I just can’t get away right now,” she said apologetically. “Thanks for stopping by, though.”
Alex’s lips twisted as his gaze lingered on her face. “You still need to eat. You haven’t had anything yet. I can tell. Go finish up, and I’ll call for something to be brought around.”
Elynn flushed. “You don’t have to do that. I have a microwave meal in the lab fridge, and I’m sure you have more important things to do. It’s Saturday night. Don’t you have a date or something?”
“Microwave meals aren’t good for you. Why don’t you do whatever you need to do, and I’ll wait.”
“Okay. If you’re sure,” Elynn said, nervously tucking her hair behind her ears.
She led him up into the lab and directed him to her desk—at least to the part of it that was visible. It was covered in piles of scientific papers, as well as her laptop and some racks of test tubes growing fuzzy bits of fungi inside. She slipped on a lab coat and took the racks before walking over to the laminar flow hood a few feet away.
“One of the other students is on vacation, and she asked me to propagate her cultures,” she said, switching on the hood and turning on the interior light.
“Sounds…suggestive.”
Elynn snorted. “All I mean by propagation is taking a small bit of this culture and placing it into fresh slants so the cultures will keep growing. These particular samples grow very slowly, so this only has to be done once a month at most.”
She explained how the slants were made by pouring a hot sterilized mix of nutrients and agarose into the tubes as she worked, using a Bunsen burner to sterilize her tools between sample transfers by dipping them into a little flask of ethanol and lighting them on fire. “You lean them to one side while the agarose is still hot to make a slant. For more surface area,” she said, before lapsing into a slightly awkward silence as she tried to concentrate on making the transfers.
She was very conscious of Alex’s dark eyes following her every move. She dipped her inoculation loop into the ethanol and then into the flame while keeping one eye on Alex.
“Damn,” she muttered as a stray drop of burning alcohol landed in her flask of ethanol, setting it on fire.
“What’s wrong?” he asked from his seat at her desk.
“Nothing,” she hastily assured him as she smothered the nearly invisible flame with a thick piece of foil, singeing her gloves in the process.
Elynn swallowed hard. Having Alex there was distracting. Shoving his too-imposing presence to the back of her mind she refocused on her task, trying her hardest to avoid setting anything else on fire.
Chapter 5
Alex didn’t mind waiting for Elynn to finish up. He had never actually seen her at work before. She was so focused on her transfers that it gave him the opportunity to study her without her awareness.
Under the open lab coat she wore, her clothes were fashionable but simple. Mary had clearly bought the outfit, a pair of pants and simple cuffed shirt. Elynn wouldn’t have bought something that fitted her body so well. She didn’t hide behind oversized sweatshirts anymore, but she still in
stinctively bought loose clothing that didn’t show off her figure. And her glasses suited her small face now.
Elynn had stopped explaining what she was doing and was completely focused on her task.
“What kind of fungus is that?” Alex asked. She didn’t answer. “Elynn?”
She remained completely fixated on her work. Annoyed, Alex silently asked himself if another woman would forget his presence to the extent that Elynn had. It had never happened before.
Well, that’s why you want her isn’t it? She’s not like anyone else you know.
Irked, he swallowed his impatience and decided to take Elynn home with him. Images of dramatically sweeping her up and carrying her to his car filled his head, making him smile. He was still smiling when she turned back around to him.
“I’m all done now. I just need to put these away.” She put the test tubes in a nearby incubator and turned back to him. “I need the laptop,” she said gesturing to the one in front of him.
The sleek little computer was secured to the desk with a cable lock. She took out the keys and was about to hand them to him when he pushed the chair back and gestured for her to unlock it herself.
Smiling awkwardly, she moved in front of him, the backs of her legs brushing his knees because he hadn’t moved back far enough. She quickly packed her computer and they walked down through the darkened building. One of his men was waiting at the entrance with several takeout containers in hand.
“This way,” he said when she turned in the direction of her apartment.
He put a hand on the small of her back and guided her to his town car. Pavlos, his driver, greeted Elynn warmly as he opened the door. Happy to see him, she chatted for a few minutes before Alex managed to get her in the car.
Elynn’s sweet and considerate manner ensured she was a great favorite with his staff, but if he let her, she would spend an hour talking to his driver. Suppressing a smile, Alex, speaking in rapid Greek, instructed Pavlos to take them to his estate.
Elynn stared out the window for a few minutes, then turned suddenly back to Alex. “Hey, aren’t we going to eat at my place?”