He removed his hand after a long moment. ‘We should discuss names at some point. And if we want to know the sex of the baby before it’s born. Would you like to know?’
‘Would you?’
‘You can make the decision, Emily. You’re the one doing all the hard work, so surely you deserve that privilege.’
She gave him a rueful look. ‘I used to think I’d want to be surprised when it’s born, but I figure you’re a little over surprises, right?’
One corner of his mouth twitched. ‘You can say that again.’
* * *
The lawyer arrived a short time later and the business of the pre-nuptial agreement was over soon after. As if to soften the blow, Loukas took Emily for a short walk through an olive grove to have a picnic in a secluded cove not far from his villa. The fringe of cypress pines provided some much-needed shade from the intensely hot sun, and she sat on the rug he’d laid down on the sand and looked longingly at the view of the sparkling ocean just metres away.
‘I wish I’d brought bathers,’ Emily said when he came down beside her on the rug. ‘I was in such a mad dash to pack the other night, I didn’t think to put some in.’
‘You won’t need them here,’ Loukas said. ‘I own this cove and it’s completely hidden from the top of the cliff. The nearest road is at least three kilometres away.’
She turned to peer over her shoulder at the cliff path they’d come down, as if expecting to see a cluster of paparazzi with long-range lenses. ‘Are you sure?’
He slid a warm hand down from the middle of her shoulder blades to the dip in her spine, making every muscle in her body sigh with pleasure. ‘I’ve swum down here heaps of times.’
‘Naked?’
‘Yes.’
‘Alone or with someone?’
He picked up a small twig off the rug and tossed it onto the sand near his crossed ankles. ‘Alone. I haven’t brought anyone down here with me before you.’
Emily glanced at him but he was staring at the twig he’d tossed with a part-frown on his face. ‘Why did you bring me?’
He turned his head to look at her, his expression difficult to read. ‘How about that swim? Do you want to have lunch or cool off first?’
Emily chewed at her lip. ‘I’ve never swum naked before. What if something bites me? And I have to take my contacts out, unless you happen to have a pair of swimming goggles handy.’
He rummaged in the bag where he’d packed towels and sunscreen and handed her a pair of blue goggles. ‘Voilà.’
* * *
Loukas walked hand in hand with Emily to the water, making sure she didn’t lose her footing on the hot sand. She kept grinning up at him like a kid who had been given permission to do something that was decidedly wicked. ‘Are you absolutely sure no one can see me? Scout’s honour?’
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. ‘You’re perfectly safe with me.’ As soon as he said the words, his gut clenched. Was she safe? He had made sure she stayed in bed and rested that morning because he’d read on that website how pregnancy nausea hit hard first thing on an empty stomach. That wretched website was giving him nightmares. So much could go wrong when a woman was pregnant. He had gone online out of curiosity about the process of pregnancy...or so he’d told himself. It was only after he realised how obsessed he was becoming that he understood it had more to do with Emily than with the baby. The baby was important to him in a distant sense, but Emily was present, and had such a potent effect on his senses. Not just his senses. That was the scary part. He was developing a thing about her.
What the hell was a thing?
He had never felt this way before. He kept putting it down to the fact she was pregnant but he couldn’t help feeling it was more than that. He genuinely liked her. She made him smile. Who had ever done that to him before? She was fresh and honest and didn’t live on the surface of life, like some of the women he’d dated. She dug deeper. A little too deep for his liking, but in a way it had been a relief to tell her about the accident. Telling her hadn’t eased his guilt but it had eased his burden. Someone else knew what he felt. Empathised with him.
He had been careful how he’d broached the subject of the pre-nup because he hadn’t wanted to upset her. He had never brought anyone down to his cove before because it was his private sanctuary, but it seemed fitting to share it with Emily and their developing child. He’d had some qualms about her walking down the cliff path but she had done it without even drawing breath. The sun was scorching, and her skin was a lot lighter than his, but he’d lathered her with sunscreen and only just stopped himself from making love to her on the rug because she was feeling so hot.
That was another thing he’d read about pregnancy—the mother shouldn’t let her core body temperature get too high because it could harm the baby.
The baby.
Every time he thought of those two words he would start to imagine their child. Would it look like him? Would it be a girl or boy? Emily wouldn’t show for weeks, if not months, but he couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to see their baby on an ultrasound. Would that make it seem more real to see those tiny developing limbs and body? That tiny heartbeat? He wondered what it would be like to see his child born. To hear that first cry. To hold it in his arms for the first time.
What sort of father would he be?
Loukas hadn’t expected to feel anything for the baby at this stage and yet, the more he thought about that tiny developing body, the more he got a warm feeling in his chest.
Almost as warm as the feeling he got when he thought of Emily...
Emily smiled up at him once they were waist-deep in the water. ‘You can let me go now. I won’t fall over.’
‘In a minute.’ He brought her closer so her body was slick and cool and wet as a seal’s against his. ‘There’s something I want to do first.’ He pressed his mouth to hers and she gave a soft whimper of pleasure—the same little whimper that had wreaked such havoc on his control the night of the wedding. Her mouth was like a flower opening, soft and fragrant, and sweet as nectar. Her tongue shyly met his and then became bolder as he deepened the kiss. He held her by the hips, holding against the pounding heat of his body, wanting her so badly it was an ache that dragged at his flesh. She pushed herself even closer, her arms going around his neck, her fingers tugging and releasing his hair as her mouth stayed fused to his.
After a long, blissful moment, he moved his mouth from hers to kiss a pathway down the side of her neck, to the spot below her earlobe that never failed to get a breathless gasp out of her. He used the tip of his tongue around the shell of her ear, tracing the delicate whorls, until she turned her head to press her mouth back to his in a hungry ‘I want you’ kiss that made the blood roar through his veins like a freight train. She reached for him, her soft little hands massaging and stroking him before she brought him to her entrance, raising herself on tiptoes to give him access.
He needed no other invitation.
Loukas was inside her with a thrust that made every hair on his head tingle, her body clutching at him, rippling around him as tight as a fist. She moved with him, her little moans and gasps spurring him on, ramping up his desire until he was fighting not to lose control before he made sure she was satisfied. He slipped one of his hands beneath the water to find the heart of her, taking her over the edge with a few strokes of his fingers. She came apart around him, her body convulsing with pleasure that triggered his own.
The sun beating down on his back, the cool water lapping at their bodies and Emily’s gasping cries of ecstasy brought to the experience an earthy, elemental quality he had never experienced before.
She gave a long, shuddering sigh and met his gaze with a sparkling look. ‘Wow. Swimming has never been so much fun before.’
Loukas gave a soft laugh and brushed a droplet of seawater away from her che
ek. ‘Likewise.’
She planted her hands on his chest, her lower body snug against his, her toffee-brown eyes luminous. ‘Do you know, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you laugh?’
He had never felt like laughing before he met her. She was a fun person to be around with her sunny, optimistic disposition. When he was around her, he felt alive in a way he hadn’t in years. He looked forward to being with her. Wasn’t that why he’d sought her out in London? He’d wanted to feel that kick in his blood, that spring in his step, and that fire in his belly that he only got when she was near. He looked down at the soft bow of her mouth and gave a crooked smile. ‘Maybe there’s some hope for me after all.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
EMILY SPENT THE next few days with Loukas, looking at some of the sites on Corfu. At first he wasn’t keen on the idea of going to the most popular tourist places, in case they were spotted by members of the press or public, but Emily was keen to see more of the beautiful island he called home. They had lunch each day in quaint little restaurants or cafés and wandered around the ancient streets, archaeological museums, art galleries and churches, such as the spectacular Church of St Sypridion. There was a visit to the magnificent Mount Pantokrator, the highest mountain on the island.
After they came back from the mountain, Emily spied an antique shop in the Old Town. ‘Can I have a look in there?’
‘Sure.’
She walked in and smelt the passage of time. Lots of time. Whole centuries of it. She browsed through the shop, stopping to pick up pieces that snared her interest. While Loukas was occupied with a phone call, she caught sight of a faded blue velvet jewellery box sitting on a shelf next to a collection of early Greek coins. The box was probably more trash than treasure, but Emily couldn’t help thinking of the woman or women who had stored their jewellery in it. It had a lock but no key, and when she opened the lid she felt sure she could smell history. She closed the lid and put it back on the shelf. It wasn’t expensive at all but she didn’t have her purse with her and she couldn’t imagine Loukas buying something so unsophisticated.
‘So why did you choose to live on Corfu?’ Emily asked over coffee a little while later. ‘You’re not originally from here, are you?’
Loukas stirred his coffee even though she knew he didn’t take sugar. ‘No, but I liked it from the first time I came here as a kid on a holiday with my parents before they divorced.’
‘Were they ever happy together?’
His mouth turned down at the corners. ‘No. My father wasn’t ready for marriage—he still isn’t, to be frank. But it’s a long-held custom in Greece that gaining parental blessing of your marriage partner is essential to a happy union. My father’s parents knew my mother and stated their approval.’
‘So it was an arranged marriage?’
‘Strictly speaking, no. He let my mother think he was in love and then, once he had a wedding ring on her finger and got his parents off his back, he had affair after affair with other women.’
Emily frowned. ‘But she loved him?’
He gave her a grim look. ‘Not for long. But it took years for her to convince him to give her a divorce. He didn’t want his parents to think it was his fault, of course, so he cooked up a whole lot of lies and made her life a miserable hell.’
‘And yours too, by the sound of it,’ Emily said. ‘Do you see much of him these days?’
He pushed his coffee away. ‘No. I limit my contact to cards at Christmas and for his birthday.’
‘What about Father’s Day?’
He gave her a speaking look. ‘I never seem to be able to find one that has the most fitting message. “You’re a terrible father” isn’t usually available.’
Emily couldn’t help a giggle escaping. ‘And here I was thinking my mother was bad. She’s not, by the way. Annoying at times, but definitely not bad.’ She frowned and went on. ‘I hope she doesn’t embarrass you at the wedding. You don’t mind if she comes, do you? I know you said it’s a quiet ceremony, and to be perfectly honest there is nothing about my mother that’s quiet, but I’d like her to be there.’
His mouth slanted in one of his rare smiles. ‘Of course she must come.’
Emily played with her teaspoon for a moment. ‘Thing is...my mum is a bit of a detective when it comes to relationships. She reckons she can tell at twenty paces if a couple are well suited or not. Apparently, it’s all in their body language or something.’
His long, tanned fingers reached for hers, sending a warm tide of longing straight to her core when he stroked the fleshy part of her palm in slow, tantalising circles. ‘It kind of makes sense when you think about it.’
She looked at his hand and a frisson went through her at the thought of what magic those fingers could make her feel. ‘I told her we’re in love. I had to, otherwise she would’ve gone ballistic about throwing my life away on another dead-end relationship.’
His fingers stalled their movement for a brief second. ‘Are you worried about lying to her?’
‘Yes. No. Maybe.’
I’m more worried about lying to myself.
He gave her hand a light pat and then sat back in his chair, signalling to the waitress for the bill. ‘Come on. It’s time we got you out of this sun before you melt.’
I melted a month ago, when you first kissed me.
* * *
Emily was waking from a rest a couple of days later when Loukas came in with a silver-wrapped rectangular package tied with a black ribbon in his hand. He sat on the edge of the bed next to her and handed it to her. ‘Remember that antique shop we visited the other day?’ he asked. ‘I went back to get this for you.’
She took the package and unwrapped it to find the faded antique jewellery box she had admired. She hadn’t realised Loukas had even seen her looking at it, as he’d been on the phone to one of his clients while she’d been browsing the shop. It touched her he’d not only noticed but gone back to purchase it for her. Not that it was expensive. It was probably worth less than the price tag stated, but the fact he’d noticed she’d been taken with it moved her deeply. ‘Oh, how sweet of you,’ she said, stroking the velvet.
‘Open it.’
Emily lifted the lid to find two sets of earrings inside: a set of creamy pearl droplets and two winking diamond studs. She didn’t need to see any price tags to know they were hideously expensive. ‘Oh, they’re so beautiful!’ She picked up the droplet earrings and draped them over her fingers. Then she picked up the diamond studs and turned them to allow the light to catch their brilliance. She glanced at Loukas, suddenly feeling shy. ‘You’re too generous. They look terribly expensive.’
‘You said you kept losing your jewellery, so I figured the box will help you keep it safe,’ he said. ‘It has a lock and a tiny key. See?’ He pointed to the miniature lock on the base of the box. ‘The original key was missing but I’ve had another one made up.’ He fished in his shirt pocket and, taking out a miniscule key, placed it in the centre of her palm and closed her fingers over it to keep it secure.
Emily met his gaze, wondering if he would ever hand her the key to his heart for safekeeping. ‘I don’t know what to say, other than thank you. No one has ever given me such gorgeous things before.’
‘Then it’s time someone did.’ He brought her hand up to his mouth and pressed a soft kiss to it, holding her eyes with the dark intensity of his.
Emily placed the key next to the jewellery box and then tiptoed her fingers along his lean jaw. ‘I’ve never met anyone like you before.’
Argh! Don’t do this!
I have to. I can’t deny it any longer. I love him.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Something flickered through his eyes, like a lightning flash of regret. Then he gave a slow blink, as if preparing to deliver an unpleasant lecture. ‘Emily...’<
br />
She put a finger over his mouth as if she were pressing a pause button. ‘No. Please don’t say it. I can’t help feeling the way I feel. I love you.’
Loukas let out a long sigh and took her hand away from his face. ‘Look, the gifts are just gifts, okay? They don’t mean anything.’
Emily refused to believe it. The jewellery box might be worth nothing but the earrings, as well as the engagement ring, were worth more than she earned in a year. Two years. How could he say they didn’t mean anything? ‘Do you buy everyone you sleep with gifts?’
He got up from the bed to stand a few feet away, his eyes so masked they were like the boarded-up windows of a deserted building. ‘Yes.’
Her heart shrank away from her chest wall as if it had been punched. ‘So...you’re saying I’m nothing special?’
He closed his eyes and leaned his head right back, as if searching the heavens for guidance. Then he let out a long breath and returned his gaze to hers. ‘No. I’m not saying that. You’re incredibly special.’
‘But you don’t love me.’
He came back to the bed and sat beside her again. He took her nearest hand and held it in his. Her cut finger had recently healed but now a new wound was opening up inside her heart and it was a thousand times more painful. ‘I’m not sure I’m capable of feeling that way about anyone.’ He gave her hand a gentle press, the set of his mouth rueful. ‘I know it’s a cliché, but it’s not you, it’s me.’
Emily looked down at their joined hands. Why had she blurted out her feelings like that? What had it achieved? A big, fat nothing. She’d made a fool of herself yet again. When would she ever learn?
Told you so.
What was she doing, settling for a relationship that was less than perfect? How could she marry him, in the vain hope he might change at some point in the future? He was only marrying her out of duty, not because he loved her. He desired her, but how long would that last? How long before he called time on their marriage? She would have to live with the threat of it ending instead of the joy of building up a long and lasting relationship together. That wasn’t what she’d planned for her life. She wanted to be loved for who she was, treasured and adored the way she had dreamed of for so long. Having a family was supposed to be born out of enduring love. How could she bring a child into a relationship that wasn’t based on mutual love?
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