by Amy Ruttan
“That’s his sport model. This yacht, The Bella, is his showpiece. He has an even bigger one.”
“How many yachts does one man need?” Naomi asked.
“For my father—three. Boats are his thing. He is a part of Mopaxeni, after all.”
“Which is how you met your friends who fund the clinic in Mythelios?”
Chris nodded. “When there were business meetings, we played together. I’m the eldest, and Ares is the youngest, but we formed a strong bond, and I think of them more as brothers than friends.”
“And what did they think about you being in the bachelor auction?” Naomi asked, taking a seat on the leather couch.
“Ares was supposed to be taking part—I took his place when he found the love of his life. I suppose he owes me.” Chris laughed and then went to the bar and poured them a glass of champagne. “It’ll be a leisurely ride to Spritos.”
“That’s okay. I’m in no hurry. I think this will be wonderful.”
“It will be.” Chris brought her a flute. “This is champagne now, and not prosecco.”
Naomi took a sip and Chris sat down next to her as the yacht pulled away from the Athens yacht club and headed out onto the calm sea.
They were trapped now.
As she’d realized that the yacht was leaving the dock, she’d become visibly nervous again and had thrown up a wall. He could feel it. Not that he blamed her.
“Come,” he said, setting down his flute on the table and taking her empty one and setting it down too.
“What’re we doing?”
“I’m taking you on a tour.”
“Oh, okay...”
Chris led her away from the living area and down the hall. “On this deck are four bedrooms. Each with its own bath. The deck below is for the crew, when my father goes on an extended vacation, and the galley, for when he has a chef onboard, so we won’t go down there.”
He opened the door at the end of the hall. “This is the master bedroom.”
He ignored the fact that there was a large king-size bed in this berth. A bed that pretty much took up all the space.
“It’s huge! I think it might be bigger than my whole apartment in Athens.”
“My father likes luxury.”
Chris shut the door quickly, because his thoughts had begun to wander to things it shouldn’t. He led her up the stairs to the next deck.
“We have a fitness room and a games room on this deck, and outside there’s a hot tub.”
“Wow!”
“And up here,” he said, leading her to the final deck at the very top, “is the bridge, and here we have the captain and his crew.”
Captain Panos saluted and turned back to his work, and they headed down off the bridge, back to the original deck where they’d started from, and then wandered outside to where there was seating alongside the railing.
They sat down next to each other.
“It’s a bit chilly out here with the sea breeze,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself.
Chris stood and took off his jacket, arranged it around her. “There—that’s better.”
“Thank you,” she said. “It’s a beautiful evening and it looks like we’ll be in for a spectacular sunset.”
“Why did you outbid that woman for a date with me?” Chris asked. “After everything I did to you... Why?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I honestly didn’t expect to do it, but then I saw her, and I know her reputation. I guess I got jealous. Which is foolish, since...” She trailed off and looked away.
“I’m sorry I left you like that,” he said.
“Are you?”
He nodded. “It was the worst mistake of my life.”
“You had an incredible job offer—you had to go.”
“But in retrospect I should’ve taken you with me.” He reached out and touched her face, moving closer to her. “Leaving you like that is something I’ve always regretted. Especially when I heard that you’d found happiness with another man.”
“You never wanted to get married and I understand that.” Then she shook her head. “Happiness with another man? Who? I never seriously dated again after you left.”
Now he was shocked. “I heard that you had taken up with Dr. Robertson after I left and that you two were serious.”
Naomi snorted. “He wished... No, I accepted a general surgery fellowship after you left, but then I had to take a bit of time off when...”
She got up and moved away agitatedly.
“When what?”
She was clearly holding back something of significance. Chris went to her and took her hands, but she wouldn’t look at him.
“What happened? What are you not telling me? You’ve tried to tell me this before, I think, but always stopped yourself.”
There were tears in her eyes. “I was pregnant with your baby when you left. I didn’t realize at the time, but as soon as I did, I tried to contact you, to tell you. But you were gone and you wouldn’t return my calls. Then I saw you in all the gossip papers, living this crazy, fast, jet-setting life. Early in my second trimester I miscarried and lost the baby. It crushed me, and I hated you for it.”
His heart sank to the soles of his feet and he felt horrible.
He was a monster.
He’d been such a stupid fool.
All he could do now was hold her as she cried and whisper how sorry he was for leaving her like that. She’d been all alone.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
“I know,” she said finally, drying her tears. “I hated you for so long, but you were a different person back then. You’ve changed for the better.”
“Have I?” he asked, ashamed of who he’d been back then.
“Of course you have.” She touched his cheek. “I’m glad we’re friends again. I’m glad I was finally able to tell you. It’s a huge relief, to be honest.”
He touched the hand on his cheek. “I’m happy that you did.”
“I think I ruined our evening.” Her voice wobbled with more unshed tears.
“No, you didn’t. Now I know and there are no more secrets between us. Let’s just enjoy the rest of the date.”
She nodded, and when the yacht docked at his father’s beach house on Spritos, Chris led her down the dock and past the house, and then down some winding stairs that led to the other side of the private cove to a hidden white sandy beach.
Staff had set up a table and chairs, but other than a couple of waiters they were alone on the beach, surrounded by high cliffs and the sheltered cove of calm turquoise sea—even though it was getting hard to see the exact color of the water as the sun had started to set in spectacular fashion.
He held out a seat for her and then sat down opposite.
They had a scrumptious dinner and chatted about work, but it was when the waitstaff had left and returned to the yacht and they were alone that Chris started to feel that nervous energy again.
He felt so terrible for leaving her. If he’d known that she was pregnant, he would never have left—but, being the person he had been back then, he probably would have resented her for holding him back, and he hated himself for that.
Except the difference was that Naomi wasn’t like Evan’s mother. She wouldn’t have tried to blackmail him. He would have had a true partner to parent his child with.
“This has been the perfect night—except for when I almost ruined it,” she said. “I just couldn’t hide it from you anymore.”
“I told you—you didn’t ruin the night, and thank you for telling me. I needed to know the truth and I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
“You’re forgiven.”
She smiled at him, and in the flickering torchlight she glowed. Why had he ever left her behind? What an utter fool he was.
�
��I was offered a new position today,” she said, looking away.
His heart sank. “Oh?”
“A position in Houston, and I think I’m going to take it. It’s my dream job. I would be the head of general surgery.”
“Then you should take it,” he said immediately. “You can’t pass that up.”
He couldn’t hold her back. Not this time. He was truly happy for her, even though part of him didn’t want to let her go.
She nodded.
“Would you like to dance?” he asked.
“There’s no music,” she said, laughing.
“Come on.” He stood up and held out his hand.
She kicked off her heels and took his hand and he pulled her close, leading her in a silent dance in the moonlight. He was going to miss her so badly when she left, but he had to let her go. She deserved happiness and a chance at her dreams.
“What’re you thinking about?” she asked, her eyes glittering in the darkness.
“How much I would like to kiss you, but that I don’t deserve to.”
* * *
Her heart skipped a beat and her blood heated. She was so close to him, her arms around him, and she couldn’t believe that he was saying these things to her. He’d changed so much, and all evening she’d been fighting the urge to kiss him herself.
She didn’t know what she’d been thinking when she’d outbid that woman last night, but now that she was here with him something had changed, and she knew she was falling in love again. She was falling in love with the new Chris even more deeply than she had with the man she’d used to know.
“Pardon?” she asked, finding her voice. Her hand trembled in his as they stopped dancing to the silent music he had been leading her in and took a small step back from one another.
“I said I would like to kiss you, but that I don’t deserve such an honor. Not after the way I hurt you.”
“That’s in the past now,” she said shakily.
“Is it?”
She nodded. “You do deserve it and I would like it very much if you kissed me again.”
“Even though it can only be just this one night?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
And as he leaned in she closed her eyes, his hands on her face as he finally kissed her again. It all came flooding back like a dream—how he fired her senses, her blood, and how she melted when she was in his arms.
The kiss deepened and her arms wrapped around his neck to hold him close once more as his hands slipped into her hair. She pressed her body closer, wanting nothing separating them. All she wanted was to be with him again. To give all of herself to him again, even if just for one night.
He scooped her up in his arms and she laughed as he carried her up the steps to the beach house.
“What will the staff say on the yacht?” she teased as he hurriedly pulled off his jacket and tossed it on the beach house floor.
“They won’t pay any attention. They know the yacht is docked here for the evening. Besides, I’m giving you a tour of the beach house.”
There was a twinkle of mischievousness in his eyes as he took her hand and led her upstairs, straight to the bedroom that faced the opposite side of the island, away from the yacht.
He kissed her again, urgently, and she melted into him.
Even though she’d sworn that she would never be with him again, she couldn’t help herself. Other than a few odd dates now and then, there had never been a man in her life like Chris. And even though she loved him and couldn’t have him, he was the only man she wanted.
She was a fool, but she didn’t care at this moment of being in his arms. Her heart raced, adrenaline and passion coursing through her. She wanted to be with Chris again. Even if it was only for this one night. If she didn’t take this chance, she’d always wonder what if?
She’d never be able to lay the ghost of Christos Moustakas to rest. He’d always be there, haunting her life.
“Are you sure, zoi mou?” he asked, resting his forehead against hers, his breath hot on her neck.
“I’m sure.”
She kissed him passionately, letting him know how much she wanted him. She wanted to be lost in his arms one more time. His arms went around her, lifting her up on tiptoe as their tongues entwined in a deep kiss. His hands were like fire on her bare back.
This intense passion was something she’d only experienced with Chris. There had been no other man who had made her feel this way, and she knew there never would be.
The kiss ended and she could barely catch her breath. Her body was quivering with desire.
He stroked her face again. He wanted her just as much as she wanted him. He pushed her toward the bed and then he was behind her, undoing the clasp of her dress and pulling down the zipper at the back of it. Once the dress was undone, he ran his strong hands slowly over her shoulders, pushing it down and off. It pooled at her feet.
“Zoi mou,” he murmured again, pressing a kiss on the sensitive nape of her neck, pushing back her hair to do so.
He ran his hand down the side of her body, his hand resting on her hip as she looked over her shoulder at him. Their gazes locked and emotion overcame her. A tear slipped down her cheek and he turned her around, cupping her face.
“Don’t cry, zoi mou.” He wiped the tears away with his thumb.
“Kiss me again, then,” she whispered.
Chris obeyed, his mouth urgent against hers as he drew her body flush with his. She began to undress him, wanting nothing between them. There was no turning back and she didn’t want to.
She slowly undid his bow tie and then his shirt buttons so she could run her hands over his bare chest. He moaned as she touched him.
His arms wrapped around her and he undid her bustier. When it dropped away, his kisses trailed down from her mouth over her body to her breasts. She gasped at the feeling of his tongue on one of her nipples. It ignited her blood like fire.
“Wait...” she murmured through the fog of pleasure. “Protection?”
“Don’t worry. I have it.” And he grinned in that cheeky way she so loved.
“Thank the Lord,” she whispered, and pulled him down to the bed.
He pulled off his shirt and then his trousers. Then he came back and slipped off her underwear. She trembled at the touch of his hands against her thighs.
“Don’t be nervous,” he whispered in her ear. “It’s only me.”
“That’s why I am nervous—because it’s you.”
He stroked her cheek and kissed her again, his hand moving between her legs. Her body burned with desire. She arched against his fingers, wanting more. Wanting him buried inside her.
Their gazes locked and he shifted. He entered her and she cried out at the sensation of him filling her. He kissed her and began to move gently, slowly, taking his time when all she wanted was for him to possess her. To take her hard and fast. Her body had woken up after a long sleep. She wanted all of him and she wanted him again and again.
He quickened his pace in response to her pleading. It was primal and urgent. She came, a heady pleasure flooding through her body, and she dug her nails into his shoulders, holding him tight, her legs wrapped around his waist. Chris followed soon after, his head resting on her shoulder as he caught his breath.
He rolled away but pulled her with him. She clung to him, felt his hand stroking her back as she listened to his heart beating.
She was awake again, and all she could do was try to hold back the tears that were threatening to come. She wanted more time with him, but that could never be. She couldn’t risk her heart again.
But you already did.
She shook away that thought and held tight to what was left of the night and these stolen hours with the only man she would ever love.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHRIS DIDN’T WANT to let her go.
For a few brief, glorious hours he’d been just himself again. He wasn’t a tired single father but the passionate man he’d once been. Only slightly different—because the old him would have walked away and not have felt as horrible as he felt right now.
She’d been pregnant and he hadn’t been there for her when she’d lost the baby.
His baby.
He was a monster for sending her away. For not answering her calls when she’d phoned him a month after they’d parted. Now he knew why she had been trying to reach him and he loathed himself for freezing her out like that. He’d felt that a clean break would be kinder for them both, but he’d been so wrong. He’d never been the same man after he’d left her.
This crushing sense of guilt was something he deserved, and he only wished he could make it up to her. He wanted more time with her to do that, but she’d be leaving for Houston soon and she hadn’t invited him to go with her.
He couldn’t get involved with her and he couldn’t hold her back. Not after he’d brought her so much pain in the past. She’d been offered her dream job and she had to take it. He would make sure she did—even if it broke his heart to let her go.
He propped himself up on one shoulder and looked down at her. She was gazing up at him, her glorious hair fanned out on the pillow.
“What?” she asked.
“I was thinking we should probably get back to Athens, though I really don’t want to go.”
She sighed. “You’re right.”
“I have to prep for Stavros’s surgery. He’s at the hospital now. He was admitted around dinnertime and the surgery is in the afternoon.”
“Do you still want me to assist?”
“Of course.” He got up and hunted down his trousers, pulling them on.
Naomi was chuckling and he turned to look back at her as he picked up his shirt.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“What is your father’s maid going to say when she sees what’s happened to this bed?”
He grinned at her. “Not much. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
She made a face. “I don’t want to think of your father bringing women here.”
He laughed. “Then you shouldn’t have asked. This is his private getaway from Athens, after all.”
