‘Are you all right?’ His voice sounded gruff in his ears.
‘All right?’
He braced himself for the explosion he was sure would come, but when she held his gaze her eyes were sparkling brighter than he’d ever seen them…
She wanted him.
He kept his face neutral, though right now his mind was in turmoil. He was relieved to know he hadn’t frightened her, but this wasn’t a game to him any more.. or, if it was, the rules had just changed, because he wanted Lisa Bond more than he had ever wanted anything in his life before… and that made him deeply uneasy.
CHAPTER FIVE
FOR a few seconds the air between them crackled with intensity. It wasn’t just Tino who had been carried away, Lisa realized; she had been too. The thought of a physical tussle with a man as strong as Tino ending in something that didn’t involve violence was going to play on her mind for a long time to come. If she could trust a man enough… if she could trust Tino enough… if it could be safe. She’d never been with a man before, had always been so scared. Now, all she felt was aroused and very tempted.
‘I’m going fishing,’ Tino said brusquely, breaking into her thoughts. ‘Are you coming with me, or not?’
Lisa glanced down at her salt-caked self.
‘We can get some things for you down at the port.’
‘Wait,’ she called as he started down the path. ‘What are you talking about? What things?’
He stopped, and turned around. ‘Sun cream, a hat… nothing to get too excited about. Come on, then— we’ve wasted enough time.’
‘Can we talk business on the boat?’
‘You never give up, do you, Lisa?’
‘No.’
He stopped so abruptly she almost bumped into him. ‘Do you need forty hours to convince me?’
‘Of course I don’t.’
‘Then what are you worried about?’ He started off in the direction of the harbour again.
‘I’m not worried,’ she shouted after him.
‘Really?’ He lengthened his stride.
‘Cold-blooded son of a bitch,’ Lisa muttered as she hurried after him.
The local store stocked most essentials, and a straw hat with a wide brim was soon found for her, as well as some high factor sun cream—two bottles.
‘You’re very fair-skinned,’ Tino said as he pressed them into her hands. ‘You must use plenty.’
Lisa bobbed her head, still mutinous. Gazing out to distract herself from Tino’s mannish sweep of the store, she saw his yacht towering over the local boats. At least, she presumed it must be his. It was a sleek white colossus amidst all the tiny fishing vessels. ‘That’s an impressive business perk,’ she said when they left the shop.
‘I’m glad you like it.’
He was right. She didn’t need forty hours to convince him, and when would she get another opportunity to take a cruise on a billionaire’s yacht? Lisa was surprised by how childishly excited she was at the prospect. She was even a little impatient when Tino stopped outside another shop and steered her inside.
At the local bakery and general food store, when greetings had been formally exchanged with the beaming host, a wicker basket, not dissimilar to the one Stella had been carrying, was handed to them over the counter.
‘Our picnic,’ Tino explained, taking charge of it.
‘Our picnic?’ Lisa frowned. Didn’t billionaires carry chefs on their yachts these days?
When Tino walked straight past the gangway to the Stellamaris Odyssey, she halted at the foot of it.
‘What now?’ he grated, turning round.
‘But, I thought—’
‘Oh, dear—your bottom lip is trembling, Lisa.’
She probably did look like a child whose promised treat had just been snatched away—that was how she felt. ‘I didn’t want to go fishing in the first place,’ she pointed out, pretending not to care.
‘Does this look like a fishing boat?’ Tino gazed up the sides of his sleek white yacht.
‘No, of course not, but I thought—’
‘You thought?’
He made it sound like a breakthrough.
‘You insisted we must go out on your boat, Tino—’
‘No one in their right minds would call the Stellamaris Odyssey a boat, Lisa.’
‘Oh, well, excuse me! What am I supposed to know about billionaires’ toys?’
‘This is the woman who owns a jet talking?’
‘I don’t own a jet; my company owns a jet.’
‘Forgive me—I understood you owned Bond Steel?’
‘Most of it,’ she admitted tightly.
‘In my opinion a day out on a luxury yacht is nothing special. I use it for business, and for impressing clients. You don’t need to be impressed, do you, Lisa?’
‘No, of course not.’
‘Excellent, because I’ve got something rather different planned for you.’
Now he was making her nervous… the sexual tension was still crackling. Craning her neck, Lisa tried to see past him. Whatever craft they would be using had to be here somewhere, she reasoned, but the last boat in line after the Stellamaris Odyssey was a modest blue and white fishing boat. ‘Do you mean that?’
‘What’s wrong with it? Or is my poor fishing vessel not good enough for you, Your Royal Highness?’ He gave her a mock bow.
Holding herself firmly in check, Lisa took one last longing look at the Stellamaris Odyssey.
Following her gaze, Tino smiled. ‘Oh, no, Lisa, that would be far too self-indulgent. I’m sure you agree that lean and mean is the best way to do business. You do still want to do business with me?’
‘Of course I do.’
‘In that case, come along—the galley on the fishing boat is rather primitive, and we don’t want our wine getting warm.’
It was fun. She hadn’t expected that. The day she’d moved in with her father, five-star luxury had become the norm— and even a five-star norm could become boring after a while. Not like this… This was special. The sun was warm on her face, and the breeze tasted salty and fresh…
While Tino took the helm, Lisa stored their provisions in the simple galley before joining him on deck.
‘I hope you found the ice. I had someone from the yacht bring it over in a bucket.’
‘Don’t worry—our wine is now in that bucket.’ She wasn’t going to let him run away with the idea that she was still disappointed. ‘Are you going to tell me where we’re heading, or is that still a secret?’
‘No secret—somewhere special… somewhere private.’
Private? How well did he intend them to get to know each other? Lisa’s heart started pumping. ‘How much more private does it get? This is your island, isn’t it?’
‘Why don’t you wait and see?’
Tino was right. The tiny cove they sailed into was completely secluded, and the only sound apart from the rolling surf was the beat of a thousand wings as birds rose in a cloud as they approached. The boat puttered in with its engine idling, and when she leaned over the side Lisa could see tiny fish swooping in vast shoals beneath them. ‘Come and see this,’ she called excitedly, forgetting the state of their relationship.
Cutting the engine, Tino joined her at the rail. ‘We’ll have to swim ashore. I can’t take her in any closer.’
‘What about our food?’
‘I’ll just drop anchor.’
Lisa turned to watch Tino pad across the deck. He looked like no businessman she’d ever seen before. The ones she was used to dealing with were somewhat lacking on the strong-tanned-leg front… and on the muscular-torso front too.
‘Food?’ he reminded her when he came back.
‘What? Oh, yes, the food.’
‘Well? Where is it?’
‘In the galley.’
‘So, go and get it.’ He folded his arms.
It seemed compliance was her lot—for now, Lisa accepted grimly.
‘There’s a waterproof ice-box in the galley,�
�� Tino called after her as she hurried off. ‘Fill it up with our provisions, and then attach the rope you’ll find on the shelf. When you’ve done that, give me a shout, and I’ll carry it up.’
‘I can manage.’
‘I’ll carry it up.’
She turned and they stared at each other unblinking.
‘I’m just going to check the lobster pots to see if I have a treat to take home for Stella,’ he told her steadily, ‘and then I’ll come down and get the ice-box and carry it up for you.’
When Tino returned he was as good as his word. Leaning over the rail, he carefully lowered the ice-box as close to the sea as the rope would allow. He let it drop the last couple of feet and then sprang onto the side-rail. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll help you up.’ Crouching down, he reached out to her.
Take his hand? Not in a million years.
‘Have it your way.’ He straightened up, balancing easily on the narrow rail as the boat rocked to and fro.
‘You mean I’ve got to dive in… from up there?’
‘Unless you’d rather go to the stern and climb down the steps.’
‘No. This is fine for me.’ Thrusting her hand into Tino’s, she let him help her up.
‘You’d better take this off before you try to dive in.’
Lisa gasped as he tugged off her wrap. ‘That’s pretty slick. How many times have you done that before?’
‘Do you care?’
‘No, of course not.’
Arcing away from her with a grin, he dived backwards into the sea. Breaking the surface, he shook his hair out of his eyes. ‘It’s your turn now, Lisa. Don’t worry, I’m here to save you.’
‘Why doesn’t that fill me with confidence?’ Lisa muttered. Closing her eyes, she didn’t hesitate. If she had, she would have been forced to trudge to the stern with her tail between her legs to find the steps.
‘That was quite a dive,’ Tino said, steadying her as the waves buffeted them against each other.
‘Well, I could hardly let you get the better of me.’
‘No, indeed.’
He had already slipped the rope from the ice-box over his shoulder, she noticed, trying to avoid brushing against him.
‘Are you going to make it to shore all right without me?’
‘I should think I can manage.’ The sooner she left him, the safer she would be!
‘In that case, after you.’ Pulling away a couple of strokes, he gave her room to kick out.
This was not what she had imagined when she’d left home, Lisa realised, striking out for the shore. This was the first deal she had negotiated in an aquamarine sea beneath a blazing hot sun with a man like Tino Zagorakis. All the more reason to keep her wits about her.
‘You’re full of surprises.’
And he did look surprised when she opened the ice-box on the beach. She had just pulled out the sun cream and now her rather squashed hat. ‘I’m not a complete numbskull, you know.’ She rammed the battered hat onto her head. But as she dipped inside again to find the sun cream so did Tino, putting their faces millimetres apart.
‘Would you like me to rub some cream onto your back?’
‘No.’ Her voice was sharper than she intended as she pulled back abruptly. ‘Thank you,’ she managed belatedly.
Why had it never occurred to her that they would land up on a beach together practically naked? She should at least have tied her wrap around her waist. As it was they might as well have been two castaways on their own desert island… And now she was blessed with Tino for the whole day, Tino in his customary mocking mood…
Lisa looked away to distract herself. There was an apron of pristine ivory sand, beyond which the land broke up into scrub with a shading of feathery tamarisk trees, and beneath those some gnarled, and not half so friendly, prickly juniper bushes. Wild flowers were scattered about the sand dunes where they were sitting—pink campions, violet sea- lavender…
‘Do you like it here?’
‘I love it. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen—but then I thought that when I first saw Villa Aphrodite. You’re a very lucky man.’
‘Luck played no part in it.’
Lisa tensed. Tino’s voice had changed. He reminded her of Jack Bond. That was exactly the sort of comment her father would have made.
They ate in silence after that, drinking sharp green wine out of pottery beakers. The olives, soaked in oil, were plump and delicious, and the shopkeeper had included some sweet fat raisins to eat with the crusty bread and goat’s cheese. There was even a drawstring muslin bag containing some sugared almonds for their pudding. They reminded Lisa of other people’s weddings.
‘Almonds and raisins.’ Loosening the string on the muslin pack, Tino tipped some of them into his hand, and then added some raisins to the mix. ‘The bitter and the sweet, just like life.’
Lisa seized the opportunity. ‘About Arianna…’
Lisa noticed how closed Tino’s expression had become. There was definitely more to his relationship with Arianna than he was letting on. She was right to probe.
‘I’ve told you all you need to know about Arianna.’
‘You told me that she was Stella’s daughter, but—’
‘But what? What more do you want to know about her, Lisa?’
Not just Arianna.. you and Arianna. ‘I’m not sure yet.’
‘Yet?’ He stared at her thoughtfully for a moment, and then his eyes brightened with understanding. At the same time one corner of his mouth tugged up in his trademark annoying half-smile. ‘Do you think I’ve brought you here to pounce on you?’
‘I think you’ve got marginally more style than that.’
‘That’s very kind of you—and for your information, I have known Arianna since the day she was born. If you think of her as my sister you will have the true picture.’
‘That’s it?’ It was actually a lot more than she had expected him to tell her, and enough to set her pulse rate racing.
‘That’s all you’re getting. Would you like some?’
‘Some what?’ Lisa froze, still debating the implications of a single and unattached Tino as he leaned towards her.
‘Almonds and raisins.’
‘Oh, yes… thank you.’
He filled their beakers with more wine.
The little she had learned about him had fuelled her curiosity, as well as her determination to keep his revelations on a roll. ‘Tell me about that beautiful piano you have at Villa Aphrodite.’
On the point of handing her the beaker, he drew back. ‘What do you want to know about it?’
‘Do you play?’
‘Yes.’
‘Just ‘‘yes’’?’
He shrugged. ‘What more is there to know?’
She guessed he had already given her more information than he had ever given to anyone outside his inner circle, but that wasn’t going to deter her from discovering more. Taking the beaker of wine from him, she said casually, ‘I don’t mean to probe, but—’
‘If I need a private investigator,’ Tino cut across her, ‘I’ll know who to call.’
‘So you do enjoy playing the piano.’
Throwing back his head, he made a throaty, frustrated sound. ‘Yes. Is that all?’
‘If you’d rather not talk about it…’
‘Oh, no,’ he assured her sarcastically. ‘I love to chat.’
‘I gathered.’
‘I learned to play the piano as an adult.’
Lisa went very still. ‘You must be very good,’ she said carefully, not wanting to push him too hard. ‘Those are difficult, demanding pieces.’
‘I play well enough.’
‘I guess you needed a hobby.’
‘You guess? Are you waiting for me to confirm or deny your guess, Lisa?’
‘No, of course not—I’m sorry.’
‘I always wanted to play the piano, that is all.’
‘And you couldn’t have lessons as a child?’
‘No.’
Impatience was pinging off him now. ‘I couldn’t have piano lessons until I paid for them myself.’
Lisa knew she was by no means the only child who had yearned for things she couldn’t have until the day she took charge of her own destiny, but something about Tino’s stilted confession suggested he had wounds that ran deep. His lack of history intrigued her. Had he erased the past to hide something so terrible that even she could not imagine what it was? The thought that they might share something so intrinsic to their make-up was deeply unwelcome. It gave them a bond—a bond she didn’t want to share with a man who held her company’s fate in his hands; no one knew better than she how ruthless the past could make you.
‘I first met Stella when I was a very small boy. She had an old piano and I loved the sound of it.’
Lifting up her head, Lisa hid her amazement. Tino had started talking about the past again, and without any prompting this time.
‘Arianna was born when I was seven.’
‘So, you grew up in the same neighbourhood?’ Damn, damn, damn! Why couldn’t she just learn to keep her mouth shut?
‘Something like that. Shall we pack up?’
He had changed like quicksilver, and she knew that was the end of his revelations. She knew it because she recognised the same technique she always used to put up a smokescreen to hide the past. She would get nowhere pushing him now.
They travelled back with only the rhythm of the engine and the sibilance of the water streaming past the wooden boat breaking the stillness of late afternoon. Lisa could understand why Tino loved island life, and why he worked so hard to preserve his anonymity. To be able to exchange the feverish pace of the business world for the solitude of Stellamaris had to be the most precious thing he had… But still his past intrigued her. Why was it all such a secret? He had told her a little about the piano, and something about Stella and Arianna, but what else was he hiding? Would she find out more on Stellamaris? Or would she leave the island knowing as little about Tino Zagorakis as she did now?
The Millionaire's Virgin (Mills & Boon By Request) Page 7