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With a far too devastating smirk, he stepped forward, waited for her to sit up and tug the covers up her chest so he could settle the tray on her lap.
She managed to pour two cups of coffee without spilling it everywhere, then averted her eyes again once he’d accepted his and perched his large frame at the side of the bed. The slant of sunlight indicated the sun had risen a while ago. ‘What time is it? And why aren’t we having breakfast with your grandfather?’
‘It’s just after nine, and this—’ he indicated the tray with his free hand ‘—is because I’d like us to be...easy with each other.’
She barely managed to stop herself from snorting. It was like asking a bird to be intimate friends with an active volcano, or a boa constrictor with a mouse. In both scenarios she would be the loser.
So she concentrated on the part of conversation that was least dangerous. ‘Once we’re done here, I’ll set myself up in the study, see if there’s anything urgent requiring your—’
His finger on her lips halted the rest of the words, and some of that volcanic heat she dreaded threatened to engulf her body.
‘There’s no need. I’ve already been in touch with the office. The only urgent thing is the investigator’s report on Demitri’s case. It’ll be ready this afternoon. But the case may well conclude before the weekend is over.’
She drew back from his touch with lips tingling and a reluctance that unnerved her. ‘How?’
His face tightened a fraction and his hand dropped to the bed, dangerously close to her bare thigh. ‘His wife looks set to accept the financial incentive she was offered.’
Anguish caught her on the raw. ‘She’s accepting money to give up her own child?’
‘You’d be surprised how much money and power influences parenthood.’ The bitterness in his voice drew her gaze to his face. Just like last night, his gaze was shadowed, the stubble giving him an even more forbidding look.
‘Is that...did your par
ents...?’
The cold, warning look he slanted at her made her words trail off. ‘I don’t wish to start our day with indigestion. What I meant to tell you was that I’ve cleared the calendar for the next few days, so, barring any unforeseen circumstances, you’re free to use your time as you wish.’
‘Oh... I...thanks.’
‘You seem underwhelmed by the offer.’
She shook her head, confusion still making her hazy. ‘It’s not that. It’s just, I haven’t really had a holiday for a while. I’m not sure what to do with myself.’ Her words echoed in her head and she grimaced. ‘That came out much more pathetic than I wanted it to. It’s just that—’
‘Work has dominated your time in my employ?’
She nodded. ‘Something like that.’
‘You’re not hinting that your boss has been a tyrant, are you?’ he drawled, amusement in his tone as he bit into a plump peach.
Alexis felt butterflies dance in her belly as she watched him chew and swallow, then leant forward to pile her plate with food. ‘I didn’t say that.’
‘Good. Eat up. You’ve hardly seen the island despite this being your third visit. Let’s remedy that.’
At some point before she’d fallen asleep last night, she’d planned on doing exactly that. But she’d imagined doing it alone, not in the company of the most dynamic man she’d ever known. ‘I can explore on my own. You don’t have to accompany me.’
Slowly narrowing stormy grey eyes rested on her. ‘Don’t I?’
‘If you’re concerned about giving Costas a certain impression, you could always cite work?’ she suggested, a tad desperately.
‘My presence affects you that much?’ A loaded question, which added another shovelful of coal to the flames burning in her belly.
‘Of course not,’ she denied.
‘Then it’s settled.’
With that final proclamation, he drew one leg onto the bed, fully facing her, then pushed her plate at her. The rest of their breakfast passed with Christos suggesting what to pack, and how long they’d be, before reaching for the bedside phone to instruct the staff on where to deliver their lunchtime picnic.
He relieved her of the tray when she was done, then sauntered back to the bed, the blaze in his eyes jangling her nerves. ‘I take it there will be no further problems going forward now we’ve spent the night in the same bed?’
