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“We did.”
“Which is why I’d like you to stay and work for me. For the duration of the project.” He didn’t know where the offer came from, but the words escaped before he could stop them. He didn’t have approval for that, but he’d pay her out of his own pocket if it meant keeping her close a while longer.
“What?” She looked as shell-shocked as he felt.
“I could use you here, and I have the budget to pay you a better salary than anything else you’ll find in Greece.”
“That’s very kind,” she said automatically. “But there’s no way I can stay on Santorini for two years.”
“Why not? You can live in the guest room, rent free, and I can be flexible with your schedule if your family needs you to go back to Athens now and then.”
She shook her head. “That’s not it, Mick. I’ve got Mihalis to think about now. I can’t take care of him if I’m working full-time.”
“I thought Sophia was just on vacation?” he said in confusion.
Lena swallowed. “It’s complicated. She’s having a bit of a mid-life crisis and there’s no way I’ll leave him with Giorgios full time.”
“I understand how you feel about Giorgios, but it’s not really for you to decide since he’s his father.” He paused. “Is it?”
“I told Sophia I’d help her so he would be with Giorgios as little as possible.”
“It sounds like you want to take over as his mother,” he protested.
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand I’m offering a job, making more money than you’d make in five years here in Greece, and you’re turning it down because we have a past you’re trying to avoid thinking about.”
“That’s not true. I told you—it’s about Mihalis.”
“Oh, please! You’re going to hide behind your three-year-old nephew, pretending he’s more important than your own needs.”
“There’s no one I love more than that little boy!” she hissed, clenching her jaw. “So there isn’t anything more important.”
Something in her tone of voice made Mick pause and he stared at her intently. “He’s yours, isn’t he?” Mick asked, his mind racing, trying to do backwards math. The boy had been born in early May, which meant she’d have conceived nine months prior. That would have been early August, right at the height of their passionate summer together. She hadn’t gone home to Greece even though Sophia had, and he’d essentially moved in with her. They’d only taken one summer class a piece, so they’d spent the summer studying, making love and moving beyond their casual hookup status. By the time September rolled round, he’d known he was going to propose, but she’d broken up with him before he’d worked up the nerve to do it.
“I’m having a hard time believing you slept with Giorgios,” he managed to say.
“If I’m Mihalis’ mother, Giorgios sure as shit isn’t his father!” she snapped.
“Then who the hell is his father?!” Mick demanded, narrowing his eyes.
Lena squeezed her eyes shut.
“You’re admitting Mihalis is your son?” He stared at her, unable to wrap his head around the turn this conversation had taken.
She gave a barely discernible nod.
“So you broke up with me because you’d gotten pregnant by some other guy?!”
Her eyes popped open and she shook her head frantically. “No!”
“Then how did you get pregnant unless Mihalis is mine?!” He was glaring at her.
The first tears escaped, leaking out of the side of her eyes as her chin dropped to her chest. Mick was too furious to notice and leaned forward. “Is. He. My. Kid.” He spoke with so much barely-contained anger, his voice became more like a growl with each word.
Lena took a shaky breath and slowly nodded.
“You’re positive?”
