At one point the heat was beginning to get to her and as they were walking beneath the arched columns on the veranda, she said to them, “I’ll wait for you both here if you don’t mind. It’s in the shade and I’ll be cooler here.”
“Poor Beth. Are you burning and looking like a lobster? With that dark auburn hair and fair skin of yours you ought to take care.”
Jason sounded sympathetic, but you could never quite tell if it was consideration or subtle sarcasm.
“I’ll survive,” she told him calmly. “Now if you two could get a move on please, because I haven’t had a meal yet and I’m starving, even if you’re not.”
“We won’t be too long. I just want to get the lay of the land from Stephan before I make any decisions.”
Stephan threw an arm about Jason’s shoulder and said, “Decisions. What decisions? I thought everything’s been settled.” Then the two friends moved off together leaving Beth to listen to the sound of banging hammers from the roof above.
Sat in the cool of the veranda she looked about her and liked what she saw.
From where she was, she could see most of the rooms were nearly finished.
The second fix had been done and all that was needed was a few adjustments and a second coat of paint.
She thought Jason ought to be very pleased with his project. The villa was practically finished and he could almost move into the villa tomorrow. But the garden and surrounding acreage was another matter.
Nothing had been done.
Except for a large blue tiled crater, looking out to sea, where the infinity pool was supposed to be, the garden hadn’t been touched.
The landscaping . . . her landscaping had yet to begin.
Sat in the shade and leaning against one of the large round supporting columns of the veranda, she heard voices approaching.
She was out of sight, but she wasn’t hiding.
The foot falls of Jason and Stephan were drawing nearer.
“So . . . what happened to Trudy?” she heard Stephan ask Jason.
“To put it simply, Trudy dumped me when I was lying in the hospital bed unconscious. A nurse told me she had been on the ward. Obviously she took one look at the scars and ran. The only thing that got to me was she didn’t have the guts to face me and break it off. And I haven’t seen or heard from her since.”
Beth had to cover her mouth with her hands.
Somehow she had to stop a gasp of shock from escaping her lungs.
She remained where she was. Frozen and afraid.
She was petrified they would hear her and know that she could hear them talking.
“Was it serious? I mean, were you two serious about each other?” Stephan asked his friend.
“Only serious in the sense we’d been dating on and off for about six months.”
“Six months? Sounds pretty serious. Your women don’t usually last six weeks with you. Sorry to hear about . . .”
“It’s alright. Now shall we move on?”
And from Jason’s tone Stephan knew the subject was closed.
As the sound of their footsteps on the wooden boards of the verandas faded, it told her the men were continuing to inspect the site.
She let out a deep sigh of relief.
She wondered what they would have done if they had seen her, or if they had discovered she was in earshot and had heard what they had been talking about.
About half an hour later she went in search of them and she found them talking together on the porch.
Jason seemed none the worse for wear after climbing his way up and down ladders. He had been inspecting walls and surfaces with his bare hands and although it had been an ordeal for him, it had been well worth the effort.
“Again, thanks for the tour Stephan.”
The two friends shook hands.
“Things seem to be on schedule and you know where Beth and I are if you have any problems.”
Stephan came to stand next to her.
“Jason’s been telling me how much you’ve helped him this month. It seems without you he wouldn’t have made it to Greece.”
Beth didn’t know what Stephan was getting at.
Of course Jason would have made it to Greece. Jason could do anything he set his mind to and if anyone had determination to overcome and succeed the impossible, it was Jason.
“So as a thank you for bringing my friend to Greece, I’d like to take you out to dinner sometime.”
“What?” Jason barked. “Now what’s your game Stephan? If you’re thinking of making a move on Beth, think again. Beth has a guy back in England.”
Jason was about to say it was Charles, his brother-in-law, but he stopped himself just in time.
“Slow down Jason,” Stephen cautioned his friend, “I was only offering to take Beth out for a meal . . . I’m not moving in on anyone territory. And the offer was to have included you. But now I’m having second thoughts about asking you along. In fact I think I’ll ask Beth if she’d like a night out with me . . . alone.”
Beth looked perplexed from one man to the next.
This was bordering on the ridiculous.
The bickering between the two of them was juvenile and childlike.
Grown men didn’t behave like this.
“Thank you for the offer Stephan but . . .” before she could finish she was cut short.
“She’ll consider it,” Jason said abruptly, “We’ll see what we’re doing this week. Our schedule’s tight. We’ll let you know.”
And just as abruptly he turned on his heels and headed for the waiting motor boat. Blindly and instinctively he was heading in the direction they had walked earlier.
She didn’t dare linger to talk with Stephan. She could see Jason following the hand rail to the top of the steep steps and the deep decent to the beach.
Rocks were below, and if he should stumble and fall . . . it didn’t bear thinking about.
“I’ll call you Beth,” Stephan shouted after her retreating back and it was loud enough for Jason to hear.
* * * * *
Once back at the small crofter’s house where they were staying, she set about preparing their evening meal and Jason went into the office to make a few phone calls.
She didn’t know why he was on the phone, but she could hear him snarling instructions and she felt sorry for the person on the receiving end of the line.
It had been a long and tiring, but adventurous day.
First there had been the plane flight, then the awful trip on the choppy ferry; but the journey had been worth it.
As she stood rinsing the makings of a salad and looking out of the kitchen window, she thought she had never seen such a glorious sunset.
The shades of blue, yellow and red were breath taking.
And then it suddenly struck her.
Jason was unable to share the glorious sight of the bright evening sun sinking below the horizon.
He was here in paradise and he couldn’t see the beauty about him.
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard him calling out to her.
“Bring a bottle of retsina from the fridge will you?”
Tonight she had decided they were dinning alfresco and she had laid the patio table earlier with plates and glasses ready for their meal.
Collecting the tray she had prepared with their food, she went outside and found Jason sat waiting for her to join him.
Beth poured some of the wine he had wanted and as she did so he said, “Don’t get to settled here Beth. We’re leaving the island at the end of the week.”
“What? . . . Why? . . . Why are we going home?”
They hadn’t been here twenty-four hours and already he was talking about leaving.
“We are not going home. We’re off to Athens. I’ve been making a few phone calls and decided it would be better if we went to Athens. We can get what we need for the villa there. You’ve seen what needs doing and Stephan’s going to fax me a list of things he needs on site. We’ll shop for them in
Athens. Everything can be shipped over to the island. It shouldn’t be too hard to organise.”
“But surely you can phone or place an order on line for the things you need? We don’t need to travel to Athens itself. Do we?”
She was thinking of the disastrous ferry journey and the paper bags she would have to use.
“Of course we could order on line . . . but I’d like you to check things over first and see if everything’s suitable. You can see if it’s the right the size or the correct colour. You would know more about what a woman needs to make a house her home. I believe it’s called the feminine touch. And that’s not my department.”
“Nor is it mine. I’m the gardener. Remember?”
She was amazed he should even consider her for such an assignment.
“Jason . . . picking and choosing furniture for a home is something personal. It should be something you do for yourself . . . or, uum . . . something you do with your wife.”
She was desperately trying to think of someone other than herself to do the job.
“I don’t have a wife yet,” he told her, “So you’ll have to make the decisions for me. I’ll have to make do with you.”
Have to make do . . . The nerve of the man. She felt insulted.
The Jason Andre she knew would never let anyone make decisions for him.
He was always the man in command of his own destiny.
But he was offering her a chance to do something that would affect him on such a personal level. He wanted her to go with him and choose the furnishing of the house. It was extraordinary.
Beth was silent as she thought over the consequences.
“But supposing when you get your sight back you don’t like the things I’ve picked for you?”
“Thank-you Beth . . . I like how you say when and not if I get my sight back.”
“Of course you’ll get your sight back.”
“You give me hope. So it’s settled then. You get to choose if you’re staying here on the island or if you’re coming to Athens with me? It will mean you won’t be able to have a night out with Stephan.”
“Stephan? . . . What’s Stephan got to do with this?”
Jason didn’t answer. He just raised one of his eyebrows ambiguously at her and then he leant forward and felt for his knife and fork and he start to eat the meal she had prepared for them.
The evening sun had set over the horizon and the heat of the day had gone.
Suddenly as the evening progressed Beth began to shiver uncontrollably. She was shivering so much that even Jason without being able to see, could sense something was very wrong.
She didn’t know what was causing her to shake, but she couldn’t stop.
He stood up from the table.
“What is it?” he asked with concern in his voice.
“I don’t know. I can’t stop trembling.” Her teeth were chattering ferociously against each other.
Feeling his way towards her, Jason placed a hand on her brow touching the dryness and the heat of her skin.
“Sunstroke,” he said without any hesitation.
He lost no time in getting the reluctant Beth to her feet and up the stairs. He was pulling and dragged her behind him and she was complaining all the way. In her weakened state she was no match for his strength.
Once on the landing, Jason opened the door to the wet room.
“Strip,” was all he said.
She had no idea what he meant and she had no idea what he was going to do to her.
“I’m not stripping for your pleasure,” she protested, “Who do you think you are, ordering me about like this?”
For some unknown reason she was quivering from head to toe and it seemed to be getting worse.
She thought he could be right. It might be sunstroke.
She could be shivering because of the heat or it could be simply the nearness of Jason that was making her shiver.
She wasn’t sure.
“Take your clothes off. We’ve got to get your temperature down. Stand beneath the shower,” he barked.
He was shouting out his orders but she wasn’t moving.
“We have to cool you. Your body temperature is too high. Beth. Are you doing what I’ve told you to do?”
He couldn’t see her and he couldn’t hear the sound of her moving or making any attempt to undress.
“If you don’t get out of those clothes I’ll rip them from your body,” he threatened, “Now’s not the time for modesty. You’ll die if we don’t get your temperature down. Damn it Beth, I can’t see you. Get your clothes off . . . Now.”
With trembling fingers she slipped out of her dress and she stood beneath the shower.
Jason turned on the taps and the water hit her burning skin.
She felt the sting of the cool spray.
“You can’t stay under too long. It’s better if you’re cooled slowly with a damp cloth. That’s enough for now. Now bed. Here. Wrap this towel about you and climb onto my bed.”
“No . . .” she gasped. Shocked he would even suggest such a thing.
“I have to bathe you with wet flannels until your temperature drops. It’s the only way Beth.”
Still shivering, she reluctantly obeyed Jason’s orders and for the rest of the long night she lay on his bed delirious with heat exhaustion whilst he cooled her naked body with damp towels.
Slowly the trembling and shaking began to stop.
The burning heat of her body had cooled and her temperature had come down. Gradually she slipped into a calm restful sleep.
The danger had passed.
Somehow he’d managed to bring her temperature down to a safe level.
It had been a long day and an even longer night.
Now it was Jason’s turn to strip down before joining the sleeping Beth on the soft comfort of his king size bed.
Exhausted from his vigil, Jason pulled the satin sheet over them both and fell into a deep heavy sleep beside her.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Beth woke feeling dry and thirsty. Slowly she opened her sleepy eyes to get her bearings. She was in a strange bedroom and in a strange bed.
From where she was lying she only had a view of a dresser on the other side of the room. It was the dresser on which she’d placed Jason’s toilet things . . . yesterday.
Then it suddenly hit her.
She was in Jason’s bed and the weight pinning her down was Jason.
He was asleep and the heavy weight of his leg lying across hers and his strong arm draped over her was holding her captive. His body was pressing her into the softness of the mattress beneath them.
She couldn’t move.
Gradually twisting her body and turning her head towards him, she could see the fine laughter lines around his eyes. There was also a faint growth of dark stubble along his strong jaw.
“Jason . . . Jason, wake-up,” she whispered.
She began shaking him. Trying to rouse him from his deep sleep.
He lifted his head slowly from his pillow and started to stir.
Instead of releasing her he pulled her closer into him and dropped his head to rest between her breasts before falling instantly back to sleep.
There was only a thin satin sheet covering them.
It was her only protection, her only shield against him.
Lying ridged with shock she didn’t know which was worse; Jason lying on top of her or having him wake to finding her naked in his bed.
There was no escape. She was trapped beneath him.
At that moment he let out a soft sleepy groan and he nestled even closer.
She froze ridged with terror and embracement at the predicament she was in.
He stirred again, moving his head instinctively towards her.
He was seeking the hollow at the base of her neck.
His tongue was licking its way wetly to her ear and when he found what he sought he gently started to nibble her lobe.
“Um . . . you smell good,” he said and he buried his
face into the softness of her hair. He was still clinging to the warmth of her body.
She felt the hardness between his legs touch her. He was pressing . . . rubbing roughly against her.
He was fully aroused.
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