by Sarah Morgan
‘And a good person. You’re starting to like her.’
‘I admit that what I took for a guilty conscience appears to be shyness.’
‘You like her.’
His eyes gleamed. ‘Maybe. A little.’
‘There, you said it and it didn’t kill you. I’ll make a romantic of you yet.’ She finished the pastry, contemplated another and decided she wouldn’t get into the dress she’d brought to wear at the wedding. ‘That was the perfect start to the day.’
‘Worth waking up for?’ His voice was husky and she turned her head, met his sleepy, sexy gaze and felt her tummy tumble.
‘Yes. Of course, it would be easier to wake up if you’d let me sleep at night.’
He lowered his forehead to hers. ‘Do you want to sleep, erota mou?’ He curved his hand behind her head and kissed her with lingering purpose. ‘I could take you back to bed right now if that is what you want.’
Her heart was pounding. She had to keep telling herself that this was about sex and nothing else. ‘What’s the alternative?’
‘There are Minoan remains west of here if you want to extend the trip.’
‘There are Minoan remains all over Crete,’ she said weakly, telling herself that she could spend the rest of her life digging around in Minoan remains, but after this trip was over she’d never again get the chance to spend time with Nik Zervakis. ‘Bed sounds good to me.’
CHAPTER NINE
THE CREAM OF Europe’s great and good turned up to witness the wedding of Kostas Zervakis and Diandra.
‘It’s busier than Paris in fashion week,’ Lily observed as they gathered for the actual wedding.
Nik was looking supremely handsome in a dark suit and whatever reservations he had about witnessing yet another marriage of his parent he managed to hide behind layers of sophisticated charm.
‘You’re doing well,’ Lily murmured, reaching down to rescue the small posy of flowers that Chloe had managed to drop twice already. ‘I’m proud of you. No frowning. All you have to do is keep it up for another few hours and you’re done.’
He curved his arm round her waist. ‘What’s my reward for not frowning?’
‘Angry sex.’
There was laughter in his eyes. ‘Angry sex?’
‘Yes. I like that sort. It’s good to see you out of control.’
‘I’m never out of control.’
‘You were totally out of control, Mr Zervakis, and you hate that.’ She hooked her finger into the front of his shirt and saw his eyes darken. ‘You are used to being in control of everything. The people around you, your work environment, your emotions—angry sex is the only time I’ve ever seen you lose it. It felt good knowing I was the one responsible for breaking down that iron self-control of yours. Now, stop talking and focus. This is Diandra’s moment.’
The wedding went perfectly, Chloe managed to hold onto the posy and after witnessing the ceremony Lily was left in no doubt that the love between Kostas and Diandra was genuine.
‘She’s his favourite person,’ she whispered in a choked voice and Nik turned to her, wry humour in his eyes.
‘Of course she is. She cooks for him, takes care of his child and generally makes his life run smoothly.’
‘That isn’t what makes this special. He could pay someone to do that.’
‘He is paying her.’
‘Don’t start.’ She refused to let him spoil the moment. ‘Have you seen the way he looks at her? He doesn’t see anyone else, Nik. The rest of us could all disappear.’
‘That’s the best idea I’ve heard in a long time. Let’s do it.’
‘No. I don’t go to many weddings and this one is perfect.’ Teasing him, she leaned closer. ‘One day that is going to be you.’
He gave her a warning look. ‘Lily—’
‘I know, I know.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s a wedding. Everyone dreams at weddings. Today, I want everyone to be happy.’
‘Good. Let’s sneak away and make each other happy.’ His eyes dropped to her mouth. ‘Wait here. There’s one thing I have to do before we leave.’ Leaving Lily standing in the shade, he walked across to his new stepmother and took her hands in his.
Lily watched, a lump in her throat, as he drew her to one side.
She couldn’t hear what was said but she saw Diandra visibly relax as they talked and laughed together. And then they were joined by Kostas, who evidently didn’t want to be parted from his new bride.
The whole event left Lily with a warm feeling and a genuine belief that this family really might live happily. Oh, there would be challenges of course, but a strong family weathered those together and she was sure that, no matter what had gone before, Kostas and Diandra were a strong family.
Just one dark cloud hovered on the horizon, shadowing her happiness. Now that the wedding was over, they’d both be returning to the reality of their lives.
And Nik Zervakis had no place in the reality of her life.
Still, they had one more night and she wasn’t going to spoil today by worrying about tomorrow. She was lost in a private and very erotic fantasy about what the night might bring when Kostas drew her to one side.
‘I have an enormous favour to ask of you.’
‘Of course.’ Her mind elsewhere, Lily wondered if it was time to be a bit more bold and inventive in the bedroom. Nik brought a seemingly never-ending source of energy, creativity and sexual expertise to every encounter and she wondered if it was time she took the initiative. Planning ways to give him a night he’d never forget, she remembered Kostas was talking and forced herself to concentrate.
‘Would you take Chloe for us tonight? I am thrilled she is with us, but I want this one night with Diandra. Chloe likes you. You have a way with children.’
Lily’s plans for an erotic night that Nik would remember for ever evaporated.
How could she refuse when her relationship with Nik was a transitory thing and this one was for ever?
‘Of course.’ She hid her disappointment beneath a smile, and decided that the news that they were sharing Camomile Villa with a toddler was probably best broken when it was too late for Nik to do anything about it, so instead of enlisting his help to transport Chloe’s gear across to the villa, she did it herself, sending a message via Diandra to tell him she was tired and to meet her back there when he was ready.
She’d settled a sleepy Chloe into her bed at the villa when she heard his footsteps on the terrace.
‘You should have waited for me.’ Nik stopped in the doorway as she put her finger to her lips.
‘Shh—she’s sleeping.’
‘Who is sleeping?’
‘Chloe.’ She pointed to where Chloe lay, splayed like a starfish in the middle of the bed. ‘It’s their wedding night, Nik. They don’t want to have to think about getting up to a toddler. And in case you’re thinking you don’t want to get up to a toddler either, you don’t have to. I’ll do it.’
He removed his tie and disposed of his jacket. ‘She is going to sleep in the bed?’
‘Yes. I thought we could babysit her together.’ She eyed him, unsure how he’d react. ‘I know this is going to ruin our last night. Are you angry?’
‘No.’ He undid the buttons on his shirt and sighed. ‘It was the right thing to do. I should have thought of it.’
‘She might keep us awake all night.’
His eyes gleamed with faint mockery. ‘We’ve had plenty of practice.’ He looked at the child on the bed. ‘Tell me what you want me to do. This should be my responsibility, not yours. And I want to do the right thing. It’s important to me that she feels secure and loved.’
Her insides melted. ‘You don’t have to “do” anything. And if you’d rather go to bed, that’s fine.’
‘I have a better idea. We have
a drink on the terrace. Open the doors. That way we’ll hear her if she wakes up and she won’t be able to escape without us seeing.’
‘She’s a child, not a wild animal.’ But his determination to give his half-sister the security she deserved touched her, and Lily stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. ‘And a drink is a good idea. I didn’t drink anything at the wedding because I was so nervous that something might go wrong.’
‘I know the feeling.’ He slid his hand behind her head and tilted her face to his. ‘Thank you for coming with me. I have no doubt at all that the wedding was a happier experience for everyone involved because you were there.’ His gaze dropped to her mouth and lingered there and her heart started to pound.
All day, she’d been aware of him. Of the leashed power concealed beneath the perfect cut of his suit, of the raw sexuality framed by spectacular good looks.
A cry from the bedroom shattered the moment and she eased away regretfully. ‘Could you pick her up while I fetch her a drink? Diandra says she usually has a drink of warm milk before she goes to sleep and I’m sure today was unsettling for her.’
‘It was unsettling for all of us,’ he drawled and she smiled.
‘Do you want warm milk, too? Because I could fix that.’
‘I was thinking more of chilled champagne.’ He glanced towards the bedroom and gave a resigned sigh. ‘I will go to her, but don’t blame me when I make it a thousand times worse.’
Perhaps because he was so blisteringly self-assured in every other aspect of his life, she found his lack of confidence strangely endearing. ‘You won’t make it worse.’
She walked quickly through to the kitchen and warmed milk, tension spreading across her shoulders as she heard Chloe’s cries. Knowing that all that howling would simply ensure that Nik didn’t offer to help a second time, she moved as quickly as she could. As she left the kitchen, the cries ceased and she paused in the doorway of the bedroom, transfixed by the sight of Nik holding his little sister against his shoulder, one strong, bronzed hand against her back as he supported her on his arm. As she watched, she saw the little girl lift her hand and rub the roughness of his jaw.
He caught that hand in his fingers, speaking to her in Greek, his voice deep and soothing.
Lily had no idea what he was saying, but whatever it was seemed to be working because Chloe’s eyes drifted shut and her head thudded onto his broad shoulder as she fell asleep, her blonde curls a livid contrast to the dark shadow of his strong jaw.
Nik stood still, as if he wasn’t sure what to do now, and then caught sight of Lily in the doorway. He gave her a rueful smile at his own expense and she smiled.
‘Try putting her back down on the bed.’
As careful as if he’d been handling delicate Venetian glass, Nik lowered the child to the bed but instantly she whimpered and tightened her grip around his neck like a barnacle refusing to be chipped away from a rock.
He kept his hand securely on her back and cast Lily a questioning look. ‘Now what?’
‘Er—sit down in the chair with her in your lap and give her some milk,’ Lily suggested, and he strolled onto the terrace, sat on one of the comfortable sunloungers and let the toddler snuggle against him.
‘When I said I wanted to spend the evening on the terrace with a woman this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.’
‘Two women.’ Laughing, she sat down next to him and offered Chloe the milk. ‘Here you go, sweetheart. Cow juice.’
Nik raised his eyebrows. ‘Cow juice?’
‘One of my friends used to call it that because whenever she said “milk” her child used to go demented.’ Seeing that the child was sleepy, Lily tried to keep her hold on the cup but small fingers grabbed it, sloshing a fair proportion of the contents over Nik’s trousers.
To give him his due, he didn’t shift. Simply looked at her with an expression that told her she was going to pay later.
‘Thanks to you I now have “cow juice” on my suit.’
‘Sorry.’ She was trying not to laugh because she didn’t want to rouse the sleepy, milk-guzzling toddler. ‘I’ll have it cleaned.’
‘Let me.’ He covered Chloe’s small fingers with his large hand, holding the cup while she drank.
Lily swallowed. ‘You see? You have a natural talent.’
His gaze flickered to hers. ‘Take that look off your face. This is a one-time crisis-management situation, never to be repeated.’
‘Right. Because she isn’t the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen.’
Nik glanced down at the blonde curls rioting against the crisp white of his shirt. ‘I have a fair amount of experience with women and I can tell you that this one is going to be high maintenance.’
‘What gave you that idea? The fact that she wouldn’t stay in her bed or the fact that she spilled her drink over you?’
‘For my father’s sake I hope that isn’t a foreshadowing of her teenage years.’ Gently, he removed the empty cup from Chloe’s limp fingers and handed it back to Lily. ‘She’s fast asleep. Now it’s my turn. Champagne. Ice. You.’ His gaze met hers and she saw humour and promise under layers of potent sex appeal.
Her stomach dropped and she reached and took Chloe from him. ‘I’ll tuck her in.’
He rose to his feet, dwarfing her. ‘I’ll get the champagne.’
Wondering if the intense sexual charge ever diminished when you were with a man like him, Lily tiptoed through to the bedroom and tucked Chloe carefully into the middle of the enormous bed.
This time the child didn’t stir.
Lily brushed her hand lightly over those blonde curls and stared down at her for a long moment, a lump in her throat. When she grew up was she going to wonder about her mother? Did Callie intend to be in her life or had she moved on to the next thing?
Closing the doors of the bedroom, Lily took the cup back to the kitchen. By the time she returned Nik was standing on the terrace wearing casual trousers and a shirt.
‘You changed.’
‘It didn’t feel right to be drinking champagne in wet trousers.’ He handed her a glass. ‘She’s asleep?’
‘For now. I don’t think she’ll wake up. She’s exhausted.’ She sipped the champagne. ‘It was a lovely wedding. For what it’s worth, I like Diandra a lot.’
‘So do I.’
She lowered the glass. ‘Do you believe she loves him?’
‘I’m not qualified to judge emotions, but they seem happy together. And I’m impressed by how willingly she has welcomed Chloe.’
She slipped off her shoes and sat on the sunlounger. ‘I think Chloe will have a loving and stable home.’
He sat down next to her, his thigh brushing against hers. ‘You didn’t have that.’
She stared at the floodlit pool. ‘No. I was a really sickly child. Trust me, you don’t want the details, but as a result of that I moved from foster home to foster home because I was a lot of trouble to take care of. When you face the possibility of having to spend half the night in a hospital with a sick kid when you already have others at home, you take the easier option. I was never the easy option.’
He covered her hand with his. ‘Was adoption never considered?’
‘Older children aren’t easy to place. Especially not sickly older children. Every time I arrived somewhere new I used to hope this might be permanent, but it never was. Anyway, enough of that. I’ve already told you far more than you ever wanted to know about me. You hate talking about family and personal things.’
‘With you I do things I don’t do with other people. Like attend weddings.’ He turned her face to his and kissed her. ‘You had a very unstable, unpredictable childhood and yet still you believe that something else is possible.’
‘Because you haven’t experienced something personally, doesn’t mean it doesn’t e
xist. I’ve never been to the moon but I know it’s there.’
‘So despite your disastrous relationships you still believe there is an elusive happy ending waiting for you somewhere.’
‘Being happy doesn’t have to be about relationships. I’m happy now. I’ve had a great time.’ She gave a faint smile. ‘Have I scared you?’
He didn’t answer. Instead he lowered his head to hers again and she melted under the heat of his kiss, wishing she could freeze time and make this moment last for ever.
When she finally pulled away, she felt shaky. ‘I’ve never met anyone like you before.’
‘Cold and ruthlessly detached? Wasn’t that what you said to me on that first night?’
‘I was wrong.’
‘You weren’t wrong.’
‘You reserve that side of you for the people you don’t know very well and people who are trying to take advantage. I wish I were more like you. You’re very analytical. There’s another side of you that you don’t often show to the world, but don’t worry—it’s our secret.’
His expression shifted from amused to guarded. ‘Lily—’
‘Don’t panic. I still don’t love you or anything. But I don’t think you’re quite the cold-hearted machine I did a week ago.’
I still don’t love you.
She’d said the words so many times during their short relationship and they’d always been a joke. It was a code that acted as a reminder that this relationship was all about fun and sex and nothing deeper. Until now. She realised with a lurch of horror that it was no longer true.
She wasn’t sure at what point her feelings had changed, but she knew they had and the irony of it was painful.
She’d conducted all her relationships with the same careful, studied approach to compatibility. David Ashurst had seemed perfect on the surface but had proved to be disturbingly imperfect on closer inspection whereas Nik, who had failed to score a single point on her checklist at first glance, had turned out to be perfect in every way when she’d got to know him better.
He’d proved himself to be both honest and unwaveringly loyal to his family.
