“Where did you say you were?”
“Me or the guesthouse?”
“You.”
“At a café in Mytilini.”
“Be more specific.”
I look for a name of the café but the sign is in Greek. “I don’t know. It’s on the harbor, has blue chairs, yellow tablecloths. Why?”
There’s a buzzing in my ear, telling me the call has been disconnected. I try to phone back, but the call goes directly to his voicemail. I set my mobile down and stare out at the harbor, trying to decide who to call next.
Except that I blink and see something I am sure must be a dream. Alander is walking toward me as if I somehow conjured him. I rub my eyes. He’s still there. I stand. “Alander?”
Never before have I seen Alander grin, but he is grinning now. Holding out my hands to him, I am in shock as he joins me at my table. His bodyguards sit down at the tables on either side of us.
“What are you doing here?”
He kisses both cheeks. “Don’t you know? I have been following you.”
I laugh out loud, ecstatic to see a familiar face. “Seriously. Why are you here?”
“When a certain infuriating woman turned down a trip on my yacht, I decided to go away without her.” He lifts his sunglasses to the top of his head. His eyes are as striking as ever, yet I can’t help comparing them to Nicolai’s and finding them wanting. “Truthfully, I had business in Istanbul. We’re here to refuel before going back to Athens.” He leans across the table and takes my hands. “A strange coincidence, wouldn’t you say. Here we are, as we should have been all along. Together.”
“Very strange.”
A mobile rings and one of his bodyguards answers. Then he turns to Alander, speaking quietly in Greek.
“I have something to take care of, but you will meet me for dinner, yes?”
“I’d like that.” It’s true. Having dinner with Alander is about the only thing that puts a smile on my face today. Of course, it will be dinner and nothing else. He is still married and even if he weren’t...well, after everything with Nicolai, I can’t even bear to consider being with anyone else.
Before he leaves, I put a hand on his arm. “What about the guesthouse? Are you interested?”
Dropping his sunglasses back in place, Alander says, “Let’s talk about it at dinner.”
It’s the best offer I’ve had all day, yet I’m not going to count on Alander as a buyer. I suspect in the end his answer will be the same as everyone else’s. No.
I play with the card for the real estate office. So many thoughts are going through my head. Thoughts of Nicolai and his future. Thoughts of Nicolai and our recently shared past. Thoughts of Alander and how serendipitous it is that we should run across one another. Then, out of nowhere, thoughts of another man intrude.
Chase.
I still haven’t phoned him back. I’d meant to and it’s not that I’d forgotten, it’s just that with everything that’s happened, I didn’t have the energy and believe me, it takes energy to talk to Chase. That’s why I rarely do it. For both of our sakes.
Because of the time difference, I don’t call but simply respond to the text he’d sent.
A few minutes after hitting send, my phone rings.
My heart drops.
I don’t even need to look at the caller I.D. to know who it is. I let it ring a couple more times before answering.
“Hi Chase. It’s three in the morning. What are you doing up?”
“You know me.”
“Yes I do.” Unfortunately, I know him too well. He was probably asleep but had his mobile next to the bed. The man’s a light sleeper. My text probably woke him up. Picturing Chase, sitting up in bed, nude—he always sleeps in the buff—is not a good image for me right now.
“I was starting to think you didn’t get my text.” Chase’s rumbling drawl elicits an immediate reaction in the pit of my stomach.
“I got it.”
“So you’ve been avoiding me?”
“No. Just busy.”
“Dare I ask?”
“No.”
He’s silent and I’m suddenly sweating. I clear my throat. “You said you needed to talk to me. What’s up?” I hope my voice sounds neutral, because my body is not feeling neutral at all.
“Mom died.”
I gasp. “Oh, Chase. I’m so sorry.” Chase’s mom had a rare form of kidney cancer and the last time I’d spoken to him—what was it? Four, maybe five months ago?—he’d said it was only a matter of time.
“Well, we knew it was coming. Things were pretty rough for her at the end but she soldiered through. She’s at peace now.” His voice cracks and my eyes instantly tear up at the sound.
“When’s the funeral?” I ask.
“A couple weeks ago.”
I’m stunned. “But—”
“I know. I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d be conflicted about coming back for it. I didn’t want to put you in that situation. She knows you loved her, whether you made it to the funeral or not.”
Tears spill down my cheeks. For so many reasons. The fact I missed the funeral. The fact I never got to say good-bye. The fact Chase didn’t ask for me to be there, even though I would have come, for him. The fact he knows me so well that he knew it would have been a struggle for me.
He fills the silence with words. “The reason I’m calling is that she left us some money. I guess she never got around to changing her will after our divorce.” There’s a pause. Then, quietly he says, “I need to give it to you.”
I take a drink of water because my throat is so dry. “I don’t need money,” I finally manage to say.
“Well, it’s not a matter of needing it or not. It’s yours and I mean to give it to you.”
***
The conversation with Chase sucks all remaining energy out of me and I return to the hotel for a much needed nap. I wake late in the afternoon, feeling headachy and heartbroken. I don’t feel like going out for dinner with Alander right now, but I know it’ll help take my mind off of things, so I meet him, as requested, at eight o’clock at Kalamies Taverna. In typical Alander-style, he is seated at the back of the small restaurant with his body guards situated a table away. For not the first time, I wonder what Alander is involved in. He has never suggested his involvement in anything illegal, but neither has he ever taken me up on my offer to look at his books.
I decided long ago it was best not to know the intricacies of his business life.
He kisses my cheeks and then holds my chair out for me to sit.
Possible crime boss? Maybe.
Sex demon? Oh yes.
Gentleman? When he wants to be.
“So,” I say, spreading my napkin on my lap. “How’s your wife?” There is no point skirting the issue. I don’t want him to think this is anything more than dinner.
“Helena?” he asks as if he has a wife by another name. “I believe she is well.”
“You believe? Where is she?”
“The South of France.” He chuckles. “Fucking her French lover.”
“Oh,” I say.
He twirls the stem of his wine glass, smiling with one side of his mouth. “After your hasty departure in Athens, I decided to take your advice and try to make my marriage work. So, I invited Helena to join me on the yacht. Do you know what she said?”
Based on the fact she’s in France right now, I’ve got a pretty good idea what she said, but I shake my head because I know Alander wants to tell the story in his own words.
“She said she would fuck me when she was ready for children. In the meantime, she doesn’t want me to touch her. Then she told me about her lover and that she doesn’t care if I have lovers too. As long as I am discreet.”
“I see.”
He sets his glass down and rubs a thumb across my knuckles. “It’s as I told you. Apart from financial, there is no commitment between us.”
“I’m sorr
y that’s the way it is.”
“Are you? Are you really?”
I pull my hand out from under his.
“Do you know what is strange, Tessa Savage?”
I shake my head.
“When she told me she had a lover, I didn’t care.” He meets my eyes. “In fact, I am glad. As long as our children are mine, I don’t care what she does.”
“It’s as you wanted, then. You are free to do as you like.”
The server appears at Alander’s elbow to take our order. As is his custom, he orders for both of us. I don’t mind because he has excellent taste and there is always more than enough food that I like.
When the server departs, Alander reaches for my hand again. “Come with me. Let me take you back to Athens on my yacht.”
“Alander...”
“You have no excuse now.” He lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses my knuckles. “I don’t believe in coincidences, Tessa. The fact we are both here means something.”
“Oh? And what do you think it means?” I try to make light of the situation, but Alander’s dark gaze tells me he’s taking the coincidence seriously. Very seriously.
“It is the gods. The old ones. The Fates have thrown us together.” He caresses the tender skin on the inside of my wrist. “It would be sacrilege to ignore them.”
I laugh. Sacrilege? Now that’s dramatic, even for Alander.
“Don’t laugh.” He leans forward. “We are connected, you and I. Do not deny it.”
“I don’t wish to deny it,” I say softly. There is a connection between us. Even after all that’s happened this week with Nicolai, I feel the connection with Alander. And, though I laugh, I too don’t believe in coincidences. But seriously? Nicolai and now Alander? It’s too much.
“We are cast from the same mold, you and I. We understand one another.”
The server returns with appetizers but Alander ignores him completely. He acts as if I am the only person in the room.
“Do you know,” he says softly as the server attempts to find space on the table around us. “I feel more possessive of you than I do of my own wife? Helena is in France with her lover.” He shrugs. “I don’t care.” He reaches for my cheek. “You have been here with a lover. That pains me.”
“Alander...”
“I know you were with someone.”
“How do you know?” I have a hard time swallowing. “Were you serious about following me?” I wouldn’t put it past him.
“No.” He strokes my temple. “There is sadness in your eyes. Whoever he is, he has hurt you.”
I try to look away but he gently holds my chin, stopping me. “People like us are not meant to be tied to one person, but sometimes...sometimes we come across a lover who makes us want this thing, this impossibility. We long for it even though it goes against our very nature.”
I gasp because Alander is putting into words the feelings I have been unwilling to admit to myself. Home. Love. Stability. These are all things Nicolai represents and obviously there’s a part of me that longs for it...again.
“It’s no good, Tessa. You know it. I know it. We are not meant to settle down. That’s why we are best when we are together—you and me—because we understand this need and we don’t ask for more.”
The man speaks the truth, dammit.
“Come with me. Let me help you forget this man.” He strokes my brow. “This sadness.”
“How about we eat first and discuss this later.”
As if he just notices the food, he breaks a fresh piece of pita, dips it in an eggplant dip and feeds me from across the table. “Let me take care of you.”
I take a bite and chew. How does he know what I need right now? How does he know I only want to be taken care of and to forget the man I’ve left behind? I don’t know what to say or what to do. I’m so overwhelmed, so conflicted, my eyes start to fill and I quickly blink away tears.
“Oh, my darling.” He wipes an errant tear off my cheek. “Say yes. Say you’ll come with me. Let’s make love. Tonight. Tomorrow. Just like we should have been doing all along.”
I shake my head because it is the only gesture I am able to make.
Alander puts a finger to my lips. “Shh. Don’t answer now. Think about it. In the meantime, tell me about this property you want me to buy.”
I totally did not expect him to remember the guesthouse and, after blotting my eyes, I eagerly tell him about it.
“It sounds...quaint.” He says quaint as if quaint is unappealing.
“It’s got great bones. Four stories, two terraces. You can rent it out as is and earn an income or you could gut it and remodel it to your tastes.”
“You like this place.”
“I do.”
“Hmm. Now we both have something to think about.”
The server returns with more platters of food. When he leaves, Alander says, “Let’s eat and enjoy. We’ll make important decisions later.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Much to Alander’s chagrin, I don’t come to a decision that night. I’m too mixed-up. Everything is too crazy, his offer, my emotions, the heartache. It doesn’t help that I get a text message in the middle of dinner from Nicolai.
I shouldn’t answer. I should just turn my mobile off. But I don’t. I go to the ladies room with the intent to reply, telling myself I need to update him on my progress with the property.
It takes a few minutes for him to text back.
Oh God. What does that mean? Properly? His words immediately make my heart pound and my tummy tighten.
His response makes me smile.
< Don’t wait if I’m not there.> It’s only after I’ve sent the message that I realize I meant to write ‘when I’m not there’ not ‘if I’m not there’.
I wait for a few minutes but he doesn’t reply so I turn off my phone and go back to the table.
Alander’s face is flushed with anger. “Was that him?”
“Who?” I innocently tuck my phone away.
“You know who, dammit.” He pounds the table. “I should like to meet this man so I can strangle him.”
I grab Alander’s hands before he does any more damage to the table. “Don’t be like this.”
He shakes his head but holds onto me. Tight. “He isn’t good for you, Tessa.”
“Oh, and I suppose you are?”
A small smile touches one corner of his mouth but his eyes remain angry. “Of course I am.”
The craziest part of this conversation is that a part of me believes him. A part of me knows that the only thing that will save me from this botched holiday is the man sitting across the table from me. Alander and I are cut from the same cloth. We both know how to love without falling in love. We both want the same things from relationships; intimacy without commitment. Perhaps Alander is as close to a soul mate as I’m going to ge
t.
Yet, I can’t stop thinking about Nicolai. Even though unbearable pain lances my heart each and every time I hear his name in my head, I still want him. Desperately.
I don’t know what to do.
Leaning over, I kiss Alander’s cheek. “I’ve got to go.”
“Tessa, wait.”
“What?”
“I sail tomorrow at ten o’clock. I want you there.”
“I don’t think so.”
He balls his napkin and throws it on the table. “How badly do you want to sell this property you are so in love with?”
I pause before slinging my purse over my shoulder. “Very.”
“Come with me and perhaps I’ll buy it after all.”
I am stunned by this offer. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
If he expects me to capitulate right then, I disappoint him. But his offer adds a whole new dimension to my situation that I need to think seriously about. “If I’m not at the dock by nine, you’ll know my answer.”
***
I return to my hotel room but it’s too small and claustrophobic. So, after changing into more comfortable shoes, I take a walk down to the harbor. Though it’s late, there is still plenty of action but I’m not interested in food or nightlife, I’m in need of quiet and meditation. I follow the road past the museum and customs house near where the ferries dock and continue to the public beach. Except for a small group of teens sitting around a fire in the middle of the beach, it’s deserted.
I keep walking, being pulled along by the ancient fortress looming from the hill above me. As I walk, I replay conversations over in my mind. I replay the conversation I had with Nicolai, about the fact that he never thought he’d see me again and that he believes The Fates brought me to the island and back into his life. But, Alander also believes The Fates brought us together.
Me? I don’t know what to believe. I don’t even know if I believe in fate.
However, in both cases the coincidence of our meeting is too great to ignore. What am I to do? I can’t have both. Not this time.
Seduction in the Sun: Adult Romance Box Set (9 Sizzling Tales with BBW, Billionaires, Bad Boys, and Alpha Males) Page 56
