Julietta was feeling a little better this morning, and she suggested they walk down to the beach. They did, and while Alex played in the sand Mari brought the subject up. "Nikos says Stavros won't permit Alex to come to the cottage."
Julietta pursed her lips. "I think 'won't permit' is a little strong."
"But he does discourage Alex from going down to see Nikos?"
Julietta scooped up a handful of sand and let it trickle through her fingers. "I think he's afraid that Nikos's resentment will hurt Alex."
"Nikos resents his father, not Alex."
"Yes. And I wouldn't blame him, I guess. Stavros wasn't the father to Nikos that he has been to Alex. He had to work so hard back then," she explained earnestly. "To make the business a success, to justify his marriage."
Mari's brows drew together at this last. "What do you mean, to justify his marriage?''
''Angelika was the daughter of a very wealthy family, and she was supposed to marry someone else. She was promised by her father to someone else. But she loved Stavros, and her father finally gave in." Julietta sighed and shook her head. "I think Stavros always felt he had to be a success so he could prove he was worthy of her."
Mari digested that. She had assumed that the marriage was arranged. She hadn't assumed that Angelika had loved Stavros. Not at first anyway. Later—well, Nikos had agreed she'd loved him then.
When she went back to the cottage, she tried to ask Nikos about it. But he wouldn't discuss his father and mother in the same breath.
"Worthy of her?" He nearly spat. "He wasn't worthy of her!"
And that was that.
The phone rang then.
"Damn it! Doesn't Brian ever sleep?" Nikos muttered.
"I'll get it," Mari said. But it wasn't Brian at all. It was her aunt Em.
"We've missed you, dear. Are you coming this week? Are you bringing little Nikos?"
"It's my day off," Mari protested. And he wasn't little Nikos! Nor was she about to bring him!
"But we love to meet your little charges," Aunt Em said wistfully. "You know how lonely we get out here now that Bett doesn't drive anymore."
"Well, I—"
"We'd watch him," her aunt assured her. "You could have your rest."
"I don't need rest exactly, but—"
"His parents wouldn't approve?"
Mari hesitated. There was no way, of course, that she was taking Nikos out there. But maybe she could take Alex. It would be good for Julietta to have a little time to herself. And it would be equally good for her aunts. And she really didn't need a day off that badly.
"I'll see," she said. "But remember, his name is Alex, not Nikos."
When she hung up, Mari turned back to Nikos. "It was my aunt. Tomorrow's my day off," she explained, "and they'd like me to come. I thought maybe I could take Alex with me..."
A grin quirked his mouth. "Not me?"
Mari shook her head. "Definitely not you."
He managed to look crestfallen. Then he grinned. "Pity. I'd like to meet the women who raised you."
"And I wouldn't like them to meet you."
"You don't think I've behaved myself this week?"
"Of course you have. Sort of," she qualified. "But..."
"I think we've done very well." He grimaced. "And it hasn't been easy."
Mari's eyes widened. She felt a hint of color bloom on her cheeks. He was still interested, then? In spite of not wanting to be?
"Good thing I'm leaving," he said.
"What?" She felt her whole body tense. "When?"
"Tomorrow. I'm getting the cast off in the afternoon."
"Tomorrow?" He'd never said that! Had never even mentioned it!
"The nurse called this morning while you were at the beach. Said they had a cancellation. Wondered if I wanted it. I said yes. Twenty-four more hours and I'll be gone."
And not a moment too soon.
He'd had all he could do these past few days to keep his hands off Mari Lewis. It was all well and good to say he wasn't going to kiss her again, to tell her he was keeping his hands off unless she invited him to do otherwise, of course, to tell himself that he was doing the sane, sensible thing—hell, even honorable—by keeping their relationship on a completely professional footing.
It was something else again to get to sleep at night.
He didn't want to be sleeping at night. He wanted to be in bed with Mari Lewis doing what God intended men and women to do—and enjoying every minute of it.
Instead he was tossing and turning in his wide empty bed, alone, with visions of ship's tanks and Mari Lewis chasing each other through his brain. It had been like that every night since she'd been here. It was no wonder his damned head ached!
His head wasn't the only thing either.
And watching Mari Lewis nibble on a strand of her hair, watching her tip her head and lick her lips when she was tasting dinner, watching her sashay down the hall wearing that stupid robe that simply accentuated all her curves, was making it worse.
He needed relief. He needed out.
So this morning he'd called the doctor and asked for his earliest appointment. The sooner he was free of the cast, the sooner he would be free of a lot of things that ailed him.
Tomorrow, he promised himself.
Less than twenty-four hours and he would be in Cornwall, sorting out Brian, taking on Carruthers face-to-face, getting his life back.
Mostly he would be free of his father—and Mari Lewis.
Julietta was thrilled at Man's suggestion that she take Alex to visit her aunts. "If you wouldn't mind," she added hesitantly. "I know you're supposed to be with Nikos."
"Nikos has a doctor's appointment," Mari said. "And he arranged for Thomas to take him." He'd informed her of that this morning.
"But I'd—" But she hadn't finished her sentence. If he didn't want her accompanying him, he didn't want her. And that was that. She wasn't going to beg.
Something in her expression must have said that because Nikos grimaced slightly. "It's better this way," he said.
"So we'll say goodbye now," Mari replied after a moment.
"Yes."
Their eyes met. He reached out a hand and took one of hers. It was a touch she'd longed for, but until his fingers wrapped hers, she hadn't realized just how much. She tried to fight the feeling, but it was useless.
"Bye," she said softly. She flicked a glance up at him, but couldn't hold it.
"Bye." But he didn't let her hand go. He squeezed it lightly, his fingers tightening over hers, linking them for just a moment. Then, "Mari?"
She blinked and managed to meet his gaze.
He tipped his head, a comer of his mouth lifted. "How about just one...for the road?"
She should have said no. Of course she should have said no.
She didn't. She couldn't One for the road. One to remember him by. One kiss by the real Nikos Costanides.
She ran her tongue lightly over her lips and gave a quick almost jerky nod of her head. Then she lifted her face, offering her mouth. Bracing herself.
"It won't hurt," he whispered as he loosed her hand and brought his up to cup the back of her neck and hold her. Then he touched his lips to hers.
His kiss was warm, gentle. Tender. It wasn't at all like the first kiss he'd given her. It was everything like the second. It taught her as nothing else could exactly which Nikos Costanides had been kissing her that day. It made her feel alive, eager, hungry. It spoke of longing and desire and passion.
And she answered with longing and desire and passion of her own. She answered with her heart. And she heard a harsh aching sound come from somewhere deep inside him.
Then he stepped back, breathing heavily, raggedly, and just looked at her. Mari looked back. Then he said roughly, "Go on." And she went. But she went knowing he was wrong. He'd said it wouldn't hurt. It did.
Taking Alex to visit her aunts was the best thing she could have done. He was all eyes and ears. Bouncing. Talkative. Eager.
She had once thought there was nothing as distracting as a four-year-old when it came to keeping you from thinking about anything else but him.
That was the case with Alex. And a good thing, too.
If she hadn't had Alex to deal with, she'd have thought too much about Nikos. As it was, she had no time.
"Look! A sailboat!" He pointed one out on the horizon. "Do your aunts got a sailboat?"
"A small one."
Alex looked at her with shining eyes. "Can we go sailing? Please, Mari! Please?"
At the sight of his eager face, she understood all too well how some parents got sucked into promising more than they could deliver. "We'll see."
Aunt Em and Aunt Bett wouldn't be up to going sailing. But maybe she could make time, after she'd paid the bills and finished talking to the bank manager. She'd always loved to sail. Uncle Arthur used to call it "her passion." Once upon a time she'd thought that sailing was all she had a passion for. Before Nikos.
Everything she did that day seemed to come back to Nikos.
She was almost grateful for the bills to pay, and the nagging credit manager to placate, and the books to go over. Except the rows of figures reminded her of Nikos. And the little boy following her aunts around and chattering reminded her of Nikos. And the sight of the sea reminded her of Nikos. And—
There was no end to her thoughts of Nikos.
It was almost a relief to finish the bills and have Alex come into the dining room with a plate of the cookies he and the aunts had made, begging her, "Can we go sailing now?"
"Yes," Mari said. "Let's." She could use the exercise. Perhaps it would exorcise the man in her mind. At least she and Nikos had never gone sailing.
"Nikos has a sailboat," Alex told her as he skipped alongside her down to the dock. "He's a good sailor. My daddy says so. They used to go sailing when Nikos was little."
That was interesting. He'd never mentioned sailing with his father at all. "Do you sail with your daddy?"
Alex shook his head. "Nope. He only goed with Nikos. But maybe if I knew something, he'd take me," he added, brightening just a bit.
So Mari taught him how to cast off, how to put up the sail. She took him out on the water and, catching a cross wind, pointed the boat toward the house, then put Alex's hand on the tiller.
"Here," she said, "aim for Aunt Em on the dock."
"M-me aim? Me sail." His eyes went round and wide as he looked at Mari. He held the tiller in a death grip.
"You. Easy there," Mari said. "Yes, like that." She kept her hand near his as they moved quickly toward where Aunt Em stood, watching. Alex, his arm almost rigid with his determination to do it right, reminded her of Nikos when he was hunched over his figures, trying to get them perfect.
Don't, she admonished herself. Don't think about him.
She tried not to. When they got close to the dock, she said, ' 'All right. My turn,'' and she tacked and brought the boat around so they were headed toward the point. "Your torn again."
Eagerly Alex took hold once more and, catching his tongue between his lips, he pointed the boat in the direction she indicated. This time he relaxed a little, eased up on his grip, actually breathed a couple of times. The first time she thought he hadn't!
"Good job," she said. "Wonderful. I think you're a born sailor, Alex."
"Do you?" he asked eagerly, and the grin he gave her was Nikos when all his figures were perfect.
They didn't stay out long. Short and sweet, Mari believed, was the best way to teach anybody anything. "Leave 'em wanting more," Aunt Bett had always said. It was clear that Alex still wanted more when she tacked once more and said, "Enough for now. Back to Aunt Em."
"Awwww," Alex moaned. Then, "I can come again, can't I?" he pleaded.
"I hope so," Mari said. Though exactly where she would be standing with regard to the Costanides family after Nikos left today remained to be seen.
Maybe, she thought, Stavros would keep her on to help with Alex while Julietta took care of their new baby. Certainly Julietta's desire to take care of her own children was admirable, but where was the harm in having a little help?
And if she stayed on to help care for Alex, perhaps she would see Nikos.
Ah, Mari, don't even think about it.
"Didja see us?" Alex asked, almost leaping out of the boat when they reached the dock where Aunt Em and Aunt Bett waited. "Didja see me sailing?"
"Indeed we did. You did very well." Aunt Em gave him a hug.
"My, yes. You're a natural sailor, I would say," Aunt Bett concurred.
Alex beamed. "That's what Mari said."
"Well, Man's right. Now come along and let's see what a natural you are in the kitchen. You can help me peel potatoes for supper."
Alex looked at her wide-eyed. "Me?"
"Of course, dear." Aunt Bett held out a hand to him. "All good sailors peel potatoes."
Alex went off with them, an aunt on either hand, and left Mari to finish with the boat. She lowered the sail and took it off, then began to fold it, trying not to dream about staying on with Alex, about maybe seeing Nikos again.
It would be far better, she knew, if she never saw him again!
"Mari!"
She jerked and spun around, startled. "Nikos?" Here?
Indeed he was.
As if her foolish longing had conjured him up, he was limping down the steps toward her. He no longer had a cast on. He no longer used crutches. But he probably should have, because he was moving so fast and so precariously that he looked as if he might fall over.
Mari hurried toward him. "I thought you'd left!"
"I was leaving. But Julietta was having contractions. I've taken her to the hospital!"
CHAPTER SEVEN
He should never have stopped at the house.
If he hadn't, he wouldn't have known. He wouldn't have seen Julietta's white face, wouldn't have heard the panicky quaver in her voice when she told him she was having contractions, that she thought she was having the baby.
"You can't be!" he'd said, as if he could somehow stop it just by command. As if he'd been able to command anything to do his bidding of late.
"I am," Julietta said miserably. "They've been getting worse all day."
"Did you call the doctor?"
She shook her head. "I didn't think it was going to happen. I'm not due for two months."
"Tell that to the kid," Nikos said harshly. "Come on Get on the couch. Lie down."
He took her arm and steered her in that direction. It wasn't easy. He didn't have good balance since they'd taken the cast off. He had an orthopedic shoe contraption that made him feel like he was stumbling every time he took a step. He really felt like he was stumbling now.
What the hell was he supposed to do with his pregnant stepmother, for heaven's sake? Getting involved with his father's new family was the last thing he wanted to do.
"Where's the old man?" he'd asked harshly.
"Stavros is in Athens," Julietta said faintly. She put her feet up on the couch and looked up at him as if he could somehow conjure up her husband.
"Figures," Nikos snapped. Stavros was never around when he was needed. That, at least, hadn't changed. "Have you called him?" "I can't...f-find him." "What do you mean, you can't find him?" "He was having some sort of top-flight meeting with a company he's thinking of buying. He said it was all hush-hush. He didn't tell me where he was going to be." "Of all the idiotic—" Words failed him. "Oh, Nikos!" She wrapped her arms around her middle. "Here it comes again."
Nikos swore. Then he called the doctor. Then he called the hospital. The doctor said he'd meet her there. The hospital said to bring her right in. "Me?" Nikos said. Who else?
It wasn't his job. It was Stavros's job! But Stavros was halfway around the world.
"Poor Stavros," Julietta murmured as he bundled her into his car. "It'll be just like last time."
Nikos didn't know what the hell she meant by that. Had the old man been on the other side of the earth when Alex was bo
rn, too?
He got her to the hospital in record time. He handed her over to the nurses and turned to go. "I'll call Adrianos and see if he can find the old man,'' he said. She nodded weakly. "And Alex. You have to tell Alex." Nikos gaped at her. "Me?" "You're his brother."
Nice of someone to remember that. Nikos scowled. "Where is he?" he asked at the very moment he remembered. "Is he still with Mari Lewis?" he asked, knowing what the answer would be.
Juliette nodded. She gave him the aunts' address.
He shook his head. "I'll leave a note at the house. I've got a plane to catch."
Juliette caught his hand. She looked up at him with eyes as big as the moon. "Don't let it be for him like it was for you, Nikos," she begged. "Please!"
Like it was for him? He didn't know what she was talking about.
"Go to him. Bring him to me!" Her nails were digging into his wrist.
"The old man—"
"I'm not your father, Nikos! And I'm not asking you for him! I'm asking for me. And for Alex. Please."
The doctor appeared just then, his competent, soothing professional smile in place. "Well, let's see if this little one is serious, Juliette," he said.
Juliette didn't even look at him. She only looked at Nikos. "Please."
So he went to Mari's aunts'.
He saw Mari down at the dock before he made it to the house. The minute he saw her, he felt better, as if he wasn't carrying the world on his shoulders anymore. Or if he was, at least he wasn't carrying it alone.
Mari was here. She would share it with him.
"Juliette?" she said now, her own flushed cheeks paling at his news.
"She wants Alex."
"Of course. I'll get him." She started to run toward the house. "We'll be right with you."
"I can't stay. I've got a plane to catch. I just came to tell you."
She turned. "To tell me?" she echoed. "And that's all?"
He didn't like the look on her face. It asked for things he didn't want to give. He shrugged irritably. "She's not my wife."
"Alex is your brother."
"Interesting how everybody's remembering that now," Nikos said bitterly.
"What?" Mari looked confused. And he didn't really have the right to say that to her. She'd always remembered. She'd tried to get him to care, to be involved earlier.
The Playboy and the Nanny Page 10
