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Since Serena’s text had come through nothing had gone to plan. The business deal he had previously been sure of clinching now hung in the balance, due to his earlier hardened dealings, and he had no idea if Serena would still be there. He’d left her alone purposely, to think through the offer he’d put to her and also give her ample opportunity to leave and get a flight home. Had that been what the reporters meant when they’d asked where she was? Had they witnessed her leave? Seen her get a taxi to the airport?
The thought of being denied his child sent a storm-surge of anger charging through him. Even if she chose to run she was never going to be able to keep him from his child.
The lift swiftly moved upwards. A small part of him wished it would stop, and along with it the whole world, so that he didn’t have to witness and acknowledge that the only woman who’d made him want more had walked away from him. Just as his mother had.
Outside the door of his apartment he paused. Why did this feel so raw? Why was it like standing on the beach as a six-year-old boy waiting, hoping, for his mother to return? For a long time he hadn’t believed his mother had meant it when she’d told him she didn’t love him and that he’d be better off without her, but her continued absence had backed up her cold claim.
Enough. The word snapped in his head like an arrow from a bow. Now was not the time to dwell on the past. He couldn’t influence that any more, but he could control the present.
With renewed determination he unlocked the door and walked in.
The balcony doors were open and sounds from the street drifted up and into the apartment. He strode towards the balcony, feeling as if his heart was in his throat. He wasn’t quick enough to smother a sigh of relief at the sight of Serena, sitting in the shade, typing away on her laptop.
So she was preparing her story, was she? What headline would she use?
‘Working?’ He threw the word at her gruffly, accusation bound tightly up within it.
She physically jumped, her head turning towards him so fast her silky red hair splayed out like a fan around her before falling neatly to her shoulders in a way that snared his attention, reminding him of the times he’d seen it spread across a pillow.
She smiled at him, her green eyes sparkling and alert after a night’s sleep. ‘I wasn’t expecting you back for hours yet—a busy man like you. What with your shipping company to run and the glamorous social life you lead.’
The sarcasm in her voice was not lost on him and he moved closer, lured by something he didn’t yet understand—something he didn’t want to understand.
She returned her attention to her laptop, saving her work before closing it down, and then stood up. His eyes were drawn to her figure and the way her pale green dress hugged her breasts and skimmed her waist. He would never have known she carried his child if she hadn’t told him.
‘It sounds like you’ve been doing some research.’ He should feel irritated that she’d been here in his home, researching him on the internet, but instead he was shocked to find the thought amused him. ‘You could just ask me about my life. After all, you can’t believe everything the papers say.’
‘You weren’t honest with me when we first met, so why should I believe anything else you tell me?’
The light tone of her voice was in complete contrast to the stern look on her face and he fought the urge to pull her to him, feel her body against his and kiss her. He shouldn’t desire her, but he did.
‘You probably know all there is to know now.’
He glanced out at the Acropolis, busy with people visiting in the sunshine. The thought that they should go there wandered idly through his mind.
‘Hmm,’ she said, and walked towards him, testing his restraint too much. ‘It’s a shame I prefer the fisherman I first met to the businessman I now see. But he wasn’t real—was he, Nikos?’
He moved closer, clenching his hands against the urge to take her in his arms and kiss her. Inside, the need to show her he was the same man grew stronger by the second. His guard slipped like a sail unfurled just before the wind filled it. He wanted to tell her he was the same man inside, that he desired her as much as he had when they’d first met, but that would be showing his hand—something he couldn’t ever do.
Then, as if the sail had been filled with the ocean wind, his guard was back, rising higher than ever.
‘Right now I’m not just a businessman. I’m also a fiancé who needs to take his intended bride shopping for a ring.’ He growled the words as his control was tested far more than he’d ever thought possible. What was it about her that made him like this?
