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He focused on her as Alexis finished admiring the view and turned her gaze on him. That blaze flared up higher.
‘This is a beautiful place. I can see why you want to hang on to it.’
He handed her a glass. ‘It definitely deserves better than to have it turned into another celebrity hangout or, worse, a destination for a TV reality show.’
Her eyes grew wide. ‘That’s what your cousin intends to do?’
‘Yes. My grandfather isn’t the only one with eyes and ears.’
‘Does he know?’
‘No. And I don’t intend to tell him.’ Telling Costas to gain an unfair advantage wasn’t his style.
She sipped her champagne, then flicked those magnificent eyes at him. ‘Even though it might gain you an upper hand?’
‘I’m confident Georgios will show his own hand before long.’
‘You don’t seem to think very highly of him.’
He shrugged. ‘Perhaps I would if he didn’t expend far too much time and energy cursing me for advantages he seems to think I earned simply by being born Costas’s grandson when he was not. What he doesn’t appreciate is that it’s the effort you put in, not the blood running through your veins, that matters.’
Her eyes shadowed. ‘I wouldn’t know, would I?’
He uttered a silent curse. ‘No. And that’s regrettable. But perhaps you’ll take my word for it that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side?’
‘Is it bad to wish that I’d been given the opportunity to find out for myself?’
A twinge of shame in his chest reminded him why he was doing all of this in the first place—because while his parents had fallen far short of their duties, he’d found an outlet here on Drakonisos thanks to his grandfather. ‘No, it isn’t,’ he found himself responding, his regret piercing deeper.
Her eyes stayed on his a moment longer, an affinity settling between them, before her long-lashed gaze lingered again on the deeper blue waters that slammed against the rocks a short distance away. ‘I agree. It’ll be a shame to have all this spoilt for the sake of financial gain.’
He’d already concluded that she was...unsettling to his senses. But every time she confirmed how in sync they were, the more he became certain that his plan would work. ‘Unfortunately, some people can’t think beyond the urge to win at all costs, regardless of how much they have or the consequences of their actions.’
The acid in his voice redirected her gaze to his. His stomach clenched, a part of him wary that she’d delve deeper into what he’d already revealed about his parents.
But again, she surprised him by holding her tongue when others would’ve seized the opportunity to ferret out more secrets.
They dished out small quiches, cold meats, olives and sun-dried tomatoes. He passed on the baklava but served her a portion, watching with a compulsion he couldn’t stem while she ate it.
‘Well, I hope you win,’ she said softly after finishing the last bite, and his breath expelled, partly in relief, and partly with an emotion he was loath to name. Because while professionally he had people on his side, personally there’d never been anyone. Even Costas had been preoccupied with his grandmother and her failing health, only granting crumbs of affection to Christos when he could. While he’d gratefully accepted those crumbs, he’d known then it wasn’t enough. The hunger in his soul had demanded more. And while he hated to admit it, that lack had scarred him. Enough to put comm
onplace desires, like love and family, out of his mind.
But one desire he could have. One desire he craved more than anything else. His gaze dropped to her chest. Lower, over her belly to where her dress gathered in her lap. The memory of the sound of her keening arousal, the scent of her femininity, made him grow instantly hard, and he raised his eyes to clash with the liquid chocolate-brown ones he yearned to see flame with passion.
‘Don’t look at me like that,’ she murmured, her husky voice like tinder to the flames already burning within him.
‘If all it takes is a look to arouse you, perhaps you should either shore up your defences a little more...or—and this is my personal preference—give in to me.’
Her nostrils quivered. Right before her firm little chin rose in challenge. ‘I’m done eating. Can we go now?’
He smiled, partly in anticipation. Partly in acceptance that she was proving unique in this too, that she wouldn’t fall into his lap the way women had done so very easily in the past. He also smiled because he knew this chase would be the most thrilling of all. Because at its culmination he would gain the thing he treasured most in the world.
He rose with a peculiar lightness in his chest, and when she placed her hand in the one he held out to her that sensation intensified.
‘I look forward to our little skirmish,’ he murmured.
That adorable defiance remained as her gaze boldly met his. ‘I wouldn’t hold your breath if I were you.’
