by Kristi Gold
Athena looked as if she’d swallowed something sour. “Since the two of you appear to be on a first-name basis, exactly how are you assisting him?”
Kira suddenly understood the reason behind Athena’s attitude. Jealousy, pure and simple. “Look, Tarek and I have socialized before and have become friends. If you’re suggesting more exists between us, you’re wrong.” Aside from a baby, a fact that would remain hidden from this woman, and the rest of the world, for the time being. “If you have a problem working with me, then I suggest you take it up with him.”
Athena’s features seemed to soften somewhat. “I apologize for my suspicious nature, but I have worked alongside Tarek for many years and I know him better than most. He has an affinity for attractive women such as you.”
Kira wagered Athena’s and Tarek’s relationship went beyond the boardroom and into the bedroom. “How long have you been with him?”
“Eight years,” she said proudly. “We have traveled the globe together, and since I am a Cypriot, I encouraged him to build this resort. Because he values and trusts my judgment, he agreed the venture would be a good investment.”
Clearly Ms. Clerides had quite a bit of clout, and a very close relationship with her boss. Kira found that troubling on several levels that she would take out and analyze later. “Interesting. I’m sure you’ll both be very successful in this and all your future endeavors. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?”
Athena paused as if mulling over her response. “Yes. When did you meet Tarek?”
That Kira hadn’t expected. “A little over three months ago. Why?”
Athena strolled around the table, her arms folded beneath her breasts. “That does explain his recent behavior.”
“I don’t understand.”
She paused and leveled her gaze on Kira. “I suspected he had found another woman who had captured his interest. I do believe that woman is you.”
Denial seemed the best course in this case. “I’m sure you’re mistaken.”
“I can assure you I am not.” Athena hesitated a moment, as if again carefully considering her words. “I began to notice a change in him on his return trips from Bajul over the past few months. He seemed distant and distracted, when he has always been very attentive to me.”
The truth about their relationship had now been officially confirmed, as far as Kira was concerned. “Excuse my intrusiveness, but I assume you and Tarek are lovers.”
Athena appeared somewhat chagrined. “We were lovers until three months ago. He told me that our relationship had run its course and he was freeing me to pursue other options.”
Unmistakable hurt filtered out in Athena’s tone, leaving Kira in a quandary over what to say next. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out since you obviously care about him.”
Athena lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “Tarek is not the type of man who embraces a serious relationship. However, he is magnetic and very seductive, which affords him the ability to make a woman discard her convictions, along with her clothes. I caution you to keep that in mind.”
Too late for that. “As I’ve said, Tarek and I are only friends.”
“The heightened color on your face says otherwise.”
Kira hated that her annoying blush gave away her feelings like a digital billboard. “Necessary or not, I will certainly take your caution to heart.”
“And that will better enable you to protect your heart.” She hesitated before adding, “Have you asked him about the phone calls?”
“Phone calls?”
“The one he makes every afternoon at the same time.”
She hadn’t been around him long enough to notice. “No, I haven’t.”
“Then pay attention and you will soon see it is part of his routine, and a mystery.”
“Are you inferring he’s speaking with a woman?”
“I suspected he is, but he has never been forthcoming. In all the years I’ve been with him, the identity of the party on the other end of the line remains a mystery. Perhaps you will be the one to solve it.”
She had a few qualms about that. Tarek Azzmar might forever be an enigma. And if only she’d received Athena’s counsel before that night six weeks ago. If Tarek rejected their baby, she would be heartbroken. “I suppose you should point me in the direction of Tarek now.”
“You will most likely find him in the courtyard.”
* * *
“That was certainly awkward, Tarek.” And so was seeing him dressed in white painter’s pants, sans shirt, displaying smooth warm skin on his remarkably strong back. He continued to carefully lay gray stone into the beginnings of a feature wall near the unfilled swimming pool, apparently too engrossed to respond to her comment.
Please don’t turn around, she thought as he continued to go about his task, while she continued to shamelessly study his amazing physique. Much to her dismay, he failed to heed her silent request and faced her, showing to full advantage his ruffled hair, unshaven jaw, the slight shading on his newsworthy chest, the flat plane of his abdomen. Her gaze immediately came to rest on his navel, which was exposed by the low-slung waistband on the pants, before returning to his face. Of course, she immediately focused on his mouth.
After grabbing a rag from the nearby work table, he wiped his hands, then whipped out a scowl. “What is this awkwardness you speak of?”
For a moment, Kira couldn’t remember what she had said when she’d come upon him looking like one hundred percent prime male. Fortunately, she recovered quickly when she recalled her tense conversation with his ex-girlfriend. “I don’t appreciate you sending me into the lion’s den with the lioness.”
“Please explain.”
Oh, she would. Gladly. “You should have informed me that you and Athena were lovers.”
He tossed the rag aside and put on a somber expression. “She informed you of this?”
“Yes, because she assumes I’m her replacement.”
He went back to cutting another stone. “And you said?”
“She was mistaken. She also warned me that you are the consummate heartbreaker.”
That earned her another frown. “I prefer not to discuss this here.”
Maybe not here. Maybe not now. But they would discuss it tonight.
Kira brought her attention to the intricacy of the wall and realized Tarek had talents she hadn’t known about until then. In reality, she still knew very little about him from a personal standpoint, even if she did know what he looked like naked.
“Where did you learn to do this?”
He placed another tile—this one rust-colored—into the pattern. “I was schooled by the man who raised me.”
“You mean your father?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you say that?”
He glanced at her over one shoulder. “He is the man who raised me, is he not?”
“Yes, but...” No need to argue a point she wouldn’t win. “Was this a hobby, or did he make a living as a stone mason?”
“A meager living,” he said as he faced her again. “His craft sent him to an early grave.”
She could imagine the poor man being trapped under a stone wall. “Did he suffer a work-related injury?”
“He suffered from a weak heart that claimed him before his fiftieth birthday, as it was with his own father.”
Kira’s palm automatically went to her belly, an unexpected maternal gesture. “That probably causes you quite a bit of concern in regard to your own health.”
“It does not.”
In her opinion, he should be worried, yet Tarek would forever be a tough guy in her eyes. When it came to their child, she couldn’t help but be troubled by genetic predisposition to disease. “What happened to your mother?”
His expression turn
ed somber, as if he had been plagued by sudden and unwelcome memories. “She contracted pneumonia the year I turned ten and never recovered. She suffered from a weak will.”
Kira swallowed around her shock. “That’s a crass thing to say about the woman who gave birth to you.”
“It is the truth, according to her husband. I barely remember her beyond a few select memories.”
Odd that he couldn’t seem to say “father.” A very telling omission, and perhaps the reason behind his inability to commit. Maybe his father cheated on his mother. Maybe the man had been cold and distant. She could only hope that someday she would find out.
“I’m sure it’s difficult to get past the grief over losing both parents so soon in life. I don’t know what I would do without mine.”
Tarek swept the back of one arm over his forehead now beaded with perspiration. “I am glad you enjoyed a stable childhood. Now if you will excuse me, I will finish here and see you at the villa later.”
Talk about being dismissed in short order. She refused to let him get away with it the next time they conversed. “Fine. Hopefully you’ll be back by lunchtime.”
Five
The sun had long since set before Tarek returned home. The troubling conversation with Kira had prompted him to remain longer in an effort to discard the bitter memories. In an effort to avoid her questions.
He had loved his mother greatly and had mourned her loss as any other devoted son would. He had respected her without fail...until he had learned of her deception and indiscretions. Since gaining that knowledge, he had concentrated on rising above his upbringing, and avoiding interpersonal relationships. He had built a financial empire that rivaled most. He had achieved this virtually alone.
Tonight, he would push those recollections away and concentrate on the one woman who could help him forget, if she would be willing to do that. To attain his goal, he would endeavor to answer her questions, at least those that he could answer. And perhaps he would ask a few questions of her.
After he entered the foyer, a person walking toward the end of the pool, cast in blue shadows, caught his attention. The curve of her hips and the grace of her movements left no question as to her gender. He had explored those curves before, and he wished to do so again. First, he must find out if she was still speaking to him.
After she executed a perfect dive and began to swim the length of the pool, Tarek strode through the open glass doors, claimed a nearby chair and waited for her to take notice of his appearance. He continued to wait an interminable amount of time until his patience began to wane. Before he could call Kira’s name, she finally paused, climbed up the steps on the opposite end of the pool, grabbed a towel from a table and began drying off...slowly.
The swimsuit she wore barely covered her breasts and bottom, revealing a body designed to drive a man to the brink of insanity. He could not determine if she had yet to detect his presence, or if she was simply ignoring him. Regardless, he continued to watch her slide the towel down her thighs, well aware of what his perusal was doing to his libido. The pressure began to build until a painful erection strained behind his fly.
“I see you finally decided to come home.”
Her comment thrust him out of his sexual trance, yet did nothing to remedy his current predicament. “My apologies for my tardiness. The time got away from me and then I had to shower and change before returning.” He could use another shower now, if only to quell his lust.
After securing the towel low on her hips, Kira joined him and took the chair next to his. “Did you have dinner?”
“I did.”
“With Athena?”
And so began the interrogation. “No. I dined alone at a small bistro near the resort. I assume you have eaten.”
She rested against the back of the chair, revealing a clear view of her bare flesh, from her breasts to where the towel split at her thighs, adding fuel to the fire burning in his groin. “Yes, I did. A nice seafood salad, which I ate alone, too.”
Touché. “Again, I apologize for not being here to share the meal with you.”
“I’ll accept your apology only if you’re willing to explain a few things to me.”
“I will try.” That explanation could require several half-truths.
“What exactly is your relationship with Athena?”
“We have a business relationship. That is all.”
“But it hasn’t always been that way, Tarek. How serious were you?”
“Our liaison was solely for convenience. We spent quite a bit of time together and made the most of our proximity. Aside from that, there was no talk of permanency.”
She swept a hand through her hair. “You might want to inform her of that.”
“Athena has always known my expectations.”
“Maybe, but did you know she’s in love with you?”
He had suspected as much, though she had never said. “Athena loves the challenge and the chase. If I have wounded her, it would be limited to her pride.”
She released a cynical laugh. “For such a smart man, you know very little about women.”
“I admit women are enigmas, yet I do know Athena well.”
“Apparently not if you haven’t noticed all the signs leading to the aforementioned love aspect.”
He was growing increasingly uncomfortable over the course of the conversation. “If you are referring to emotional entanglement, we agreed that would not be included when we became intimate.”
“Tarek, most women are not wired like men. At times we’re slaves to our emotions. That can lead to that most dreaded emotion, love.”
“Love defies logic.”
She sighed. “Love isn’t supposed to be logical. It’s about caring so much for someone you can’t envision your life without them. Of course, a logical man like yourself probably has no clue what I’m talking about.”
If she only knew the effort it required to reject those emotions, and how long it had taken to banish them from his life. “I am not without compassion, Kira, yet I am determined to keep grounded in order to succeed in life.”
She appeared to be growing impatient with him. “You mean succeed at business, don’t you, Tarek? Here’s a headline. Life isn’t only about building fabulous resorts, one larger than the other, to pay homage to the money gods. If you can’t enjoy the fruits of your labor with someone you care about, what good is all the money in the world?”
“It is not only about the monetary gains. It involves the challenge of achieving a goal.”
She came to her feet and released the towel again. “Speaking of challenges, I have a few more laps to swim.”
“I will join you,” he said as he stood.
“Knock yourself out, although I might be finished with my swim by the time you change.” With that, she strode to the end of the pool and dove in.
He saw a way to remedy the lack of time, though it could cost him if Kira did not approve. He believed it to be worth the risk, and possibly rewarding.
After he toed out of his shoes and removed his socks, he quickly took off his shirt, slacks and boxer briefs. Kira continued to swim laps, presumably unaware he was completely nude when he dove into the pool. He swam to the shallow end near the steps to wait for her to reach him. Once she did, he clasped her wrist and brought her into his arms.
“What are you doing?” she asked as she pushed her hair away from her face.
“I am concerned you are exerting yourself too much.”
“I’ll be the judge of that, and how did you change so fast? Were you wearing your trunks under your pants?”
“I preferred not to waste time changing.”
Awareness dawned in her expression. “You’re naked.”
He could not contain a smile. “Perhaps.”
She reached a
round him and ran her palm over his bare buttock. “You really enjoy being the bad boy, don’t you?”
“Perhaps,” he repeated. “I am good at it.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, you are. Do you mind if I get back to swimming now?”
He brushed a kiss across her cheek. “I can think of a more enjoyable way to exert ourselves.”
When he kissed her neck, she murmured, “This isn’t fair.”
He suspected she would bring out the friendship-only argument. “It is fair because this is what we both want. I can tell by the way you are trembling.”
“It’s not fair because you’re seducing a hormone-ridden woman.”
Far be it for him to question that. He was simply thankful his theory had been wrong, encouraging him to proceed. He rimmed his tongue around the shell of her ear and whispered, “And I am a hormone-ridden man.” He then took a major chance, took her hand and pressed her palm against his erection. “I want you desperately.”
“I see your point,” she said in a breathy tone. “Or maybe I should say I feel your point.”
When Kira began to stroke him, Tarek realized he could not retain control if he did not stop her. He mustered all his strength, swept her into his arms and set her on the pool’s edge. He kissed her then, slowly yet insistently, as he untied the string around her neck and unclasped the strap at her back. He waited for her protest and when she did not, he tossed the bikini top behind him and moved his mouth to her breast. As he circled his tongue around her nipple, she clasped his head and released a soft moan. As he moved his attention to her other breasts, she uttered, “I’m going to hate myself for this in the morning.”
The comment proved as effective as frigid water on Tarek’s libido. He refused to continue foreplay with an unwilling woman.
On that thought, he stood and ascended the steps, leaving her sitting there, her mouth agape. “What are you doing?”
He grabbed the towel and tossed it to her, then began gathering his clothes. “I am retiring to bed.”