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‘That was just sex,’ she said flatly and something flared in his eyes.
‘There’s no just about it. What we share is so good and I love the fact you don’t demand the emotional pretence that often goes with a physical relationship.’
Rendered speechless by his total lack of ability to appreciate the true extent of her feelings, Lauranne failed to manage anything in the way of a response. Stunned into silence, she reminded herself that if she ever managed to get through this and fall in love again then it was going to be with a man who was in touch with his emotions.
Zander was not only severely allergic to her emotions, but he evidently didn’t want to make even a passing acquaintance with his own either.
Finally she found her voice. ‘Emotional pretence?’
Zander shrugged. ‘My father was continually confusing sex with love,’ he drawled, ‘and it was a mistake that cost him a fortune.’
Still reeling from his blind rejection of even the slightest degree of emotion on her part, Lauranne looked at him blankly. ‘Your father?’ Zander had never discussed his family with her before. And he’d certainly never mentioned his father. ‘What about your father?’
Zander frowned. ‘He never learned. One expensive divorce settlement should have been enough to inject him with a healthy degree of cynicism about women, but it didn’t. Every time he met a new woman he thought he was in love and he just gave them everything they wanted.’
‘Oh!’ Lauranne considered this statement thoughtfully. ‘I suppose if you’re seriously rich then it is sensible to show a little more caution in relationships, but I like the fact that he approached each one with optimism. Now that is romantic.’
‘Romantic?’ Zander stopped dead and threw her an incredulous look, the stunned look in his dark eyes almost comical. ‘What’s romantic about being taken for a ride?’
‘But he started each relationship believing that it would last,’ Lauranne breathed, her eyes slightly misty as she contemplated the trusting nature of a man that she’d never even met. ‘Is he happily married now?’
‘He died,’ Zander said flatly, ‘when I was twenty-one, leaving behind him a mountain of debts, a large number of extremely disgruntled employees and investors and some very rich, smug women.’
Lauranne bit her lip, stunned by the revelation and experiencing for the first time a small insight into the complex workings of Zander’s character.
Suddenly she had a brief glimpse of what might have made him the man he was.
‘I really wanted you to tell me that eventually he met someone lovely who was worthy of him.’ She touched his arm. ‘I’m sorry. That must have been so hard for you.’
‘Well, let’s just say I learned a valuable lesson early in life,’ he drawled, a sardonic smile on his handsome face. ‘That love comes with a high price tag.’
Lauranne wondered how his remark could cause so much pain when she knew that he didn’t love her.
‘Only you could produce a balance sheet for a relationship,’ she said lightly and he shrugged.
‘Had my father done the same then he might not have lost everything.’
‘What about your mother?’ Lauranne held her breath as she waited for the answer, but he merely shrugged, showing not one flicker of emotion on his face.
‘My mother was wife number two. She stayed around long enough to give him me, and then she decided to use my father’s generosity to fund her less savoury lifestyle.’
Lauranne winced. ‘That’s awful—’
He shot her an impatient look. ‘Don’t start performing amateur psychology on me, agape mou. I don’t even remember her, so I can hardly blame her for my shortcomings.’
But she had to be at least part of the reason that he was so emotionally detached, Lauranne reasoned, struggling to keep pace with him as he lengthened his stride along the path that led to the beach.
Deciding that the time had come to change the subject, she cast him a wary look. ‘Are you angry that Kouropoulos invited you here and then vanished?’
Zander laughed. ‘He is playing games, Lauranne. And no, I’m not angry. I’m relieved. It will be nice to have some time together, just the two of us.’
She swallowed, refusing to allow herself to read anything into that comment. He was talking about sex again, nothing else.
They walked across the beach and then onto a narrow path that led away from the beach and she suddenly realised that he was walking with a sense of purpose and direction.
‘Where are we going?’
For a moment she thought he wasn’t going to answer her. ‘There’s something I want to see.’
