by Sun Chara
“Can’t have the help gossiping, now can we?”
“That never worried you before.”
His eyes glittered, his shoulders tensed. “Indeed.”
The early morning sun warmed her back, and she turned, her gaze skimming over the bougainvillea in the garden below, the scarlet blooms a contrast to the whitewashed villa. Lifting her lashes, she looked far out to sea at the sailboats dotting the horizon, and her thoughts went into reverse.
The flight from Paris to Athens had been anything but cordial. Taciturn, Michalis had sat next to her, his gaze glued on the sleeping child in her arms; but when he shifted his eyes to her, his tender look became eclipsed by the hardening of his pupils. A rip of dread pierced her, and she’d clutched Amy closer to her heart.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she’d said between her teeth.
“Like what?”
“Like I’ve committed some great sin.”
He scratched his cheek with the pad of his thumb. “Conscience nipping at you?”
“No,” she hissed. “It’s not my conscience that’s guilty, it’s—”
“You’d better get some rest.” He’d hauled himself up, reached for his laptop from the overhead compartment and settled on the seat across the aisle.
Several hours later, the Leonadis jet taxied to a stop on the runway of Athens International Airport, and Julia still refused to relinquish the child in her arms. Not during the drive to the villa, and not even after the chauffeur had set their suitcases in the foyer, and she and Michalis stood alone in the huge house.
“Let me help you with her.” Michalis had reached for the baby, but she twisted away and climbed the stairs. “The nursery’s on the right, adjacent to our bedroom.”
She faltered in her step, but kept going, shutting her mind to everything and everyone. Especially Michalis, and his ‘our bedroom’ announcement. A maid appeared in the hallway, opening the nursery door and Julia stepped inside, hugging her daughter even tighter.
The nursery was a child’s dream. A rainbow mural decorated one wall, teddy bear mobiles hung from the ceiling and stuffed toys were everywhere. The baby crib made of the finest polished wood and painted with cartoons, had the softest linen, and no doubt the most expensive.
A snicker trickled from her mouth. Michalis had given Amy everything in one day that money could buy…everything Julia hadn’t been able to give her in a year and might never be able to do.
Michalis wouldn’t spare any expense for what, or whom, he considered belonged to him. And he’d laid claim to her and her baby for the next month. Her chest grew tight. Would she have to forfeit her child to Michalis at the month’s end?
The query taunted her mind, sending a ripple of panic through her. She couldn’t compete with the Leonadis’ wealth. An explosion of air from her mouth, and the maid shot her a puzzled look. Julia gave her a brief smile, and swallowing emotion bruising her insides, laid her daughter on the fluffy mattress. Drawing the light blanket over her shoulders, she bent over and pressed her lips to the child’s brow.
“I’ll have your bags unpacked Kyria—”
“Thank you.” Julia bypassed her into the adjoining bedroom. “But that can wait.” As soon as the door closed behind her, she’d crashed out on the king-sized bed, squeezing the pillow in her arms. A tear had oozed between her lashes, then another…
“I’ve hired a nanny,” Michalis announced, his words echoing on the sunlit veranda and rocking Julia from her thoughts.
“What?”
“By tonight, you’ll be fully rested,” he said, his meaning unmistakable. “And to ensure you stay that way, I’ve hired a nanny for our daughter.”
“No way.”
“Yes.” Michalis lifted the demitasse to his mouth and took another sip of the Greek brew, fixing her with a piercing look over the rim. “It’ll ensure we won’t be disturbed—”
“Michalis, I don’t want my daughter looked after by a nanny. I’m perfectly capable—” She tossed him a cool glance over her shoulder, keeping her voice light but beneath her fingers, the steel design of the railing embedded in her palms. “There’s no need.”
“There is.” He slammed the cup down and twisted in his chair, the sunlight glinting on his hair. Even as her mind rejected, another emotion prodded her to reach out, brush back the stray lock from his forehead … craving to touch him.
A seagull squawked, snapping her from her foolishness and reminding her why she was here and what she stood to lose.
“Why?”
He blotted the corner of his mouth with a napkin, his laser-sharp focus sending a clear signal.
“What’s the rush?” she asked, her words a croak. Behind her, the surf crashed upon the sand, beckoning her back to the spectacular view of sea and sky curving around for miles.
“I want to get my month’s worth of entertainment.” He grinned… his mouth became a devilish slash, and she shifted away, the morning breeze cooling her hot cheeks. “And I want you to be in top form.”
“That is so crass.”
“In whose mind?”
She whipped around, about to hurl a blue streak at him, but at the last second, checked the impulse. Ignoring her twittering nerves, she took a deep breath and delivered him a more provocative response. “You hired me for the month…so…twenty-nine days left now.”
“Keeping tabs already?”
Dismissing his mocking tone, she flicked her head back, flexed her fingers away from the steel bars and imagined she was working the catwalk as she sashayed toward him. “Why wait for tonight?”
“Theos mou!” He vaulted from the chair, a muscle boxing his jaw, a storm brewing in his eyes and the napkin squashed in his fist.
But Julia wouldn’t leave well enough alone. For some perverse reason, she wanted to goad him to his limit, so she reached out, stroking his cheek with the tip of her finger. “I know how to entertain you.”
“Had more practice, have you?”
A stunned silence, and then the crack of her hand across his cheek reverberated around them. She didn’t know who was more shocked out of the two of them.
The stillness between them turned to a deadly calm, broken only by the ocean’s mysterious concerto behind them.
“Get something to eat,” he said, his words smooth steel, icy. Then, the corner of his mouth lifted…a leer if she ever saw one. “Once we get started, babe…” He brushed his cheek with the back of his hand, the imprint of her fingers stark upon his skin.
“I’m—” she began, but his next words jabbed and the apology dissolved on her tongue.
“We may not want to come up for air, let alone food.”
All she could do was gape at him…gape at this remote stranger and wonder where she’d gone wrong. Had she ever known the man she married? She doubted it.
“We set sail at noon.” He hurled the napkin on the table. “Be prompt.”
“What’s happened to you getting to know Amy?” She couldn’t resist a jab of her own nor a lift of her brow.
“I intend to, but first—” He took a step closer and cupped her chin in his palm, his coffee-laced breath tickling her cheek, her mouth, and his thumb stroking her bottom lip. “I want to get reacquainted with you.”
Julia swatted his hand away, and he laughed, the sound frosting her skin.
“I won’t be separated from my baby.”
“Amy will be in good hands.” His suggestive look implied that Julia would also be in good hands—his. “We’ll be back in a couple of days.”
“I won’t leave her with a stranger.”
“Nor would I,” he agreed, surprising her.
“I believe you’ve met the nanny once.” His eyes glinted like ocean agates, drilling into her.
Julia shook her head, crinkling her brow. “I don’t recall—”
“My meeting in Athens should only take a couple of hours.” He nixed her words, glanced at the Omega watch on his wrist and strode toward the exit. “Don’t be late.”
/> “Very well,” she sighed. “Amy and I will be ready.”
He paused in stride. “Maria will take care of Amy.”
A chill darted through her even though sunlight beat down upon her. “Maria?”
“The nanny.”
She brushed her hands over her arms, banishing the unsettling premonition.
“You’ll…like her.” He descended the stairs, his words mingling with the echo of his footsteps, and she couldn’t be sure she’d heard right.
“What can I get for you, Kyria—”
Julia waved the maid away and plunked onto the chair, her heart thudding in her chest. Bypassing the heartier fare of cereal, milk, eggs and bacon, she snatched up a piece of toast.
The front door slammed shut, and she jumped, then the rev of the car motor ripped through the air making her grind her teeth in annoyance until the sound became muted in the distance.
“Grr!” She bit into the dry bread, imagining it was a piece of Michalis’ anatomy she’d sunk her teeth into. Thoughtfully she chewed, choked down the morsel, and knew she’d have to find a way to trump her soon to be ex-husband’s plans.
Chapter 5
“Hey lighten up, you might enjoy spending the weekend with me.” Michalis peered at her over his sunglasses and swerved the red coupé into his reserved parking space at Piraeus Harbor.
“I won’t.”
He tapped the steering wheel with his open palm and about to say something more, changed his mind and switched off the ignition. Jumping out, he swung around to her side, but she preempted him by opening the door and hopping out.
“Okay.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, twisted around and swatted the fender with his hand. The tug-o-war between Julia and him had been percolating since this morning, and detonate it would. Until then, he intended to enjoy the thrill of battling and conquering the beauty queen standing before him with such icy disdain. “But I will enjoy the weekend.”
Her sharp intake of breath nicked the silence between them. He studied her stiff back, her shapely derrière encapsulated in her short shorts, her tanned legs, trim ankles and feet strapped in flimsy sandals.
A sigh pulled its way from deep in his throat, and sounding more like a growl, he ground it down. Like the mythical Menelaus had launched a thousand ships to reclaim Helen of Troy, he’d been prepared to do the same to find Julia. His Adam’s apple bounced, and the low rumble began building in his chest. Since then, the playing field had changed. He tightened his abs and the growl blasted from him in a cruel hush. Julia had not only deceived him by hiding his daughter, but had also spurned him. Her brittle words had raked across the iron shield he’d erected around his heart, but he’d felt the shockwaves of her contempt nonetheless.
“I’ll…uh…get our bags.” He back-stepped a few paces, tossed the car keys in the air and caught them smack in his palm.
“Whatever.” She flicked a wisp of hair flirting on her mouth and stared out to sea.
He scrubbed a hand over his face, asphyxiating the words between his fingers. “This is not going well.”
Julia remained a mystery, but the unveiling might prove an adventure, and thawing the ice-model an unexpected delight. His mouth twitched. Exactly what he’d thought when he first caught sight of her strolling the oceanfront boardwalk market nearly a year and a half ago after her photo shoot at the Acropolis. He stroked his chin with the car key. He’d gone further than a mere conquest then, and bound her to him in matrimony. She’d pulled a major stunt by ditching him—especially before he’d had a chance to explain—and definitely, it was time for a payoff.
“What’d you say?” She spun around, miffed.
“You got another pair of shoes?” He unlocked the hood, hauled out their duffle bags, and then banged it shut.
“Do I need them?”
“You might.” Pocketing the car keys, he adjusted his sunglasses, and set his mouth in a straight line. He’d caught her, but look what it had gotten him…cost him. She’d snared him with her beauty, her virtue, her wiles, and then disappeared, taking with her a bigger prize than the Leonadis fortune.
His child.
His gut coiled, and his chest tightened. Never again would he fall for her seductive spell, her coquettish ways, and her velvet tongue. A grunt staggered upward from his belly and near exploded from his mouth.
She snapped her head up from tying the laces at her cleavage, and lifted a shapely brow.
“Need help with the tie?” He challenged her query with his raised eyebrow, and then slammed it level over his eye.
“No thank you.” She stepped back, her mouth half open like she was about to spit venom his way, then sealed her lips.
“Anything breakable in here?” He indicated her bag, his tone rougher than he intended.
“No.”
Against the backdrop of sea and sky, she stood tall and leggy in her white shorts, her skimpy top playing peek-a-boo with her midriff, the laced neckline dipping to the swell of her breasts. Red-hot memories taunted him, and he crushed them beneath his savage thoughts. Having to bargain for his child soured his tongue, scoured his belly, and blew his mind. His body though never missed a beat, primed and ready for her.
He tossed one bag over his shoulder and gripped the other in his fist, squashing the erotic kick in his gut.
Sunglasses shielded her eyes and a visor-cap shadowed her features, keeping her ponytail in place. The sea breeze tossed loose tendrils across her face, and he wanted to wrap the fickle curls around his index finger, cup her cheek and feel the silky smoothness of her skin.
His lungs inflated with air, and he clamped his teeth tight, exhaling through his nose.
Julia Armstrong Leonadis. Her name linked with his, booted up his temperature and sexual drive for this woman he’d made his wife for a brief time. This fashion model that was a combination of contrasts…mystery and innocence…fire and ice.
A scowl bit into his features.
Tonight he’d turn up the heat and melt the icecap sheathing her, and ensure an inferno blazed between them. A cruel twist marred his mouth. He’d take his due, secure what belonged to him and cast this hot deceptive babe adrift by the month’s end.
“This way.” He inclined his head toward the luxury yacht with the Leonadis Cruise Line logo and Lady One emblazoned across the bow. “The weekend will zip by soon enough.”
“Not quickly enough for me.” She marched past him across the dock, paused at the ramp and tapped her foot, her scarlet polished nails peeking from her roped sandals.
Chuckling, he stepped up behind her, so near his hips brushed her buttocks, and bending his head, he skimmed his mouth across her ear. “You might change your mind.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” she snapped, jumping aside. She pushed her hands in the back pockets of her shorts, and stretched the cotton material of her cropped top across her breasts, unknowingly belting him with an erotic jolt smack center.
“Too bad.” He walked the gangplank, tossed the bags on deck and hopped aboard the cruiser. “Come.” She stepped onto the gangway, and when she drew closer, he extended a hand to help her onboard. “Watch your step.”
“I’m fine.” She twisted away, but the momentum bumped her off balance and clutching air, she headed for a dive in the ocean. “Oh noooo!”
An expletive exploded from Michalis’ mouth, and he vaulted for her; the impact knocked him off axis, and he leaned backward boatside, landing on coils of rope and safety gear, his body cushioning her against the brunt of impact.
“Oomph!” he said, his aviators shooting off his nose.
“Oomph!” she said, her sunglasses flying into the air.
“I got you.” He tightened his arms around her, and she jostled against him, her cheek pressed to his, her lips brushing the corner of his mouth.
Instantly she pulled back, her eyes colliding with his, her mouth parted, her breath grazing his lips. Her perfume, moist sunshine and roses stimulated, and he yanked her back into his embrace; her brea
sts crushing against his chest, her pelvis chaffing his hips, spiking his male counterparts on full alert.
A kick of emotion…er lust speared his gut, and he saw it reflected in her gaze.
“Julia …”
“Michalis…”
An ocean liner far out at sea blew its horn, the hollow sound penetrating through the haze of passion.
Julia fluttered her eyelashes, and seeming to come to her senses, struggled in his arms. “Let go.”
A fueled moment, his libido warring with common sense, and then abruptly, he opened his arms. “Okay.”
Just for a split second, confusion glazed her face, and tottering on his chest, she rolled over onto the deck. He leaped up, reached down and grabbing her elbow, hauled her to her feet. “Anything else?”
“No…yes…plenty.” She shoved him back, the strap of her top sliding off her shoulder and revealing a vision of cleavage.
“Go for it,” he muttered, the subtle innuendo flaring between them. Tensing his abs, his gaze bumped from her breasts to her posterior then glided down the length of her tanned legs, to her roped feet. A toe-ring gleamed on one of her toes, and he shook his head, amazed.
“I intend to.” She adjusted her strap and swept past him, glancing around for her shades.
“Missed your chance,” he said, a gust of wind whipping his hair. “It’ll have to wait ’til we get to the hotel.” What else would he find when he undressed her? A pierced belly button? A tattoo? Sweet sensation whacked his gut at the thought of suckling that part of her anatomy before nibbling his way lower to—
“Where might that be?”
He swept up her sunglasses, sauntered closer and hooked them on the neckline of her top, his fingers brushing the swell of her breast. She sucked in a whoosh of air. Pleased, he grinned and propped his shades on his nose.
“The Mermaid’s—”
She paled, batting her lashes.
Was that a sheen of moisture or a glint of sunlight in her eye? He shrugged and chose the latter, easing the nick to his conscience.
“You wouldn’t…”
“I did.”
She hooked a stray curl behind her ear and set her sunglasses on her nose. “You have a bizarre sense of humor.” Was her voice just a little strained?
