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‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘Thanks for helping us out like this.’
‘There’s no need for thanks.’ Nik stood up abruptly. ‘Danny is my nephew. Naturally I would do whatever I can for him.’
‘Well, you turning up when you did certainly made things easier,’ Carrie said. She was grateful for his help, but at that moment an uncomfortable wariness crept over her. Would he find a way to use this against her? Would he say it proved she was an unsuitable guardian for Danny? ‘Of course we would have managed on our own,’ she added. ‘I just needed to get Danny somewhere cooler.’
She looked up at him, standing over her, and a shiver prickled between her shoulderblades. Suddenly he seemed incredibly tall, incredibly powerful. He was looking down at her with an unnerving intensity that made her wish she wasn’t kneeling on the floor.
‘Where’s that doctor?’ he asked impatiently. He glanced at his watch and strode across the room. ‘He should be here by now.’
‘He’ll be here in a minute,’ Carrie said, to reassure herself as much as anything. She stood up and moved away to the other side of the room. Waiting with Nik was making her feel jittery. Thankfully at that moment there was a knock on the door, announcing the arrival of the doctor.
Carrie hesitated by the door that linked the two hotel rooms and looked at Nik. He was sitting at a little table, working on his laptop computer. He hadn’t noticed her come in, and that gave her a moment just to look at him.
The jacket of his suit and his silk tie were lying on the bed, and he had rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt and undone the top button while he worked. He was completely absorbed in his task, and his tanned fingers were flying over the computer keys with a speed that surprised her.
He looked so rigidly focussed that he reminded Carrie of an athlete, centering himself before a crucial event. For a second she envied him. He always seemed so sure of himself, so certain of what he wanted and what to do next.
She had been so relieved to see him when he’d turned up in the car park, and was truly grateful for the decisive way he had taken control, bringing them to the hotel and calling the doctor. However, things did not seem so straightforward now. He’d been very helpful, but there had been an edge to his manner that made her feel anxious. What would he expect in return?
She glanced around the hotel room and frowned. Nik had the only chair, which meant she’d have to sit on the bed or stand about looking awkward. Or tiptoe back into the other hotel room, where Danny had finally fallen asleep.
She hadn’t realised at first that Nik had booked adjoining hotel rooms for them. She didn’t know what he intended, but all she wanted to do was return to the villa and wait until she could take Danny home.
The doctor had confirmed the previous diagnosis of chickenpox and told her what to expect over the next few days and what to do to keep Danny comfortable. It shouldn’t be too long until he wasn’t infectious and would be allowed to fly.
Suddenly Nik turned round and caught her watching him. A smile flashed across his face so quickly she thought she might have imagined it, and then she felt his brilliant blue eyes ensnare her. She was fixed in his gaze, and it almost felt as if he was tugging her towards him.
She’d been studying him a moment ago, but now the tables were turned and she was the one being watched. She felt her pulse leap and her senses move onto red alert.
‘Danny’s sleeping now,’ she said quickly, unsettled by how breathless her voice sounded. ‘I’ll leave this door open a fraction so we’ll be sure to hear if he wakes up.’
‘Come and sit down,’ Nik said quietly, careful not to disturb the sleeping child. ‘We need to discuss our immediate plans.’
Carrie walked across the room, feeling absurdly self-conscious, and sat down. She didn’t want to sit on his bed, but she wasn’t about to make a big deal out of it.
‘Spiro brought your things up while you were with Danny,’ Nik said, closing his laptop and lifting his chair round so he could look at her straight on.
‘Thank you,’ Carrie said, glancing behind her to the pile of things Nik had indicated. ‘Oh, my suitcase and everything! That was locked in the boot.’
‘Spiro found the keys on the ground under the car. They must have fallen out of your bag,’ Nik explained, lifting one hand to unconsciously massage the back of his neck.
‘That’s a relief,’ Carrie said, watching him roll his head from side to side. She knew he was acting instinctively, to relieve the stiffness in his neck, but the incredible sensuality of the movement suddenly caught her deep down inside.
Her heart started to race, her legs felt shaky and her mouth ran dry. It was an unfamiliar feeling for her, but even so she recognised it for what it was. Pure sexual attraction.
Nikos Kristallis was the sexiest man she had ever seen—and it wasn’t just his gorgeous good looks. The way he moved his body affected her in the most alarming way. The sinuous roll of his head from one powerful shoulder to the other. The way he flexed his muscles and tilted his head as he lifted his hand to rub his neck.
Her fingers itched to touch him—touch him in a way she had never touched any man before. She wanted to slide her hands down over the contours of his hard muscled chest, feel the heat of his body, lean forward and press her face against his skin and inhale his masculine scent.
‘That’s all taken care of now,’ Nik said.
‘I’m sorry?’ Carrie said, shaking her head sharply to clear her mind. She shook her hair back from her face and focussed on Nik carefully, concentrating on what he was saying. She didn’t like realising she had lost the thread of the conversation while her mind ran away with such blatantly sensual thoughts about Nik. ‘What’s taken care of?’
‘Spiro is returning the hire-car to the airport. You won’t be needing it any more.’
‘He can’t take it back. I do still need it!’ Carrie exclaimed, suddenly completely back in the moment. ‘I need it to drive to the villa, and to get about until Danny’s given the all-clear to travel.’
‘That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,’ Nik said. ‘I can take you home.’
