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She could tell by his scowl that the last part of her statement was not what he wanted, and she laughed. “Don’t you want to go to sleep?”
He was silent.
She reached down and took his small hand in hers, guiding him towards the enormous glass doors that led to the grassed courtyard. The villa was on the top of the island. Three edges overlooked the sparkling Aegean sea. One side of the property had a sloped garden which led to a path. Beyond it was a private stretch of beach, formed as a cove, and it was completely theirs to use. She and Andrew had become friends on the shores of that beach. She took a moment to admire the view, which surely surpassed anything else on Earth, then scooped up the soccer ball.
“Okay, Andy. I’ll make you a deal. If you can help me count out the kicks, you can stay up a bit later tonight. Let’s say, every number you count buys you an extra fifteen minutes. Deal?” She knew it was a reasonably safe bet to make. He hadn’t said a single word in the two months she’d been working with him.
He dropped his head and moved to the other side of the garden, assuming the position he had stood in every other time they’d played this game.
The late afternoon sun was beating down. Even at this hour, the heat of the Greek islands was relentless. At least a gentle coastal breeze was providing some occasional relief. Not enough, though. Mikey unbuttoned her cardigan and laid it down over the edge of a chair. Even though she had dressed in a simple cotton sundress, she still felt sticky and too warm.
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She ignored her own personal discomfort and gave Andy an encouraging smile. “Here I go. First kick. Number one.”
With a gentle snub from her toe, the ball glided across the perfectly manicured lawn, and stopped at Andrew’s feet. He returned it with gusto, and now, the hint of a grin tipped his mouth. Mikey stopped it easily. She was the youngest of five children – the only girl in a tangle of noisy, athletic boys. She’d grown up kicking balls, and catching pitches. She was an effortless sport player, and loved being outdoors and mucking about. It made her the perfect speech pathologist to assist Andrew in his recovery, as he was never more communicative than when distracted by physical rough-housing.
Back and forth they sallied the ball, and with each kick, Mikey gently encouraged Andrew to count along with her. There was a fine line between encouraging and pressuring, and she knew she had to be careful not to push him further into his shell. Though he remained silent, she knew he would speak again one day. She just had to be patient.
As they approached the final few kicks, she saw his concentration waver, and he froze. Standing completely still on the edge of the garden, he looked like a small, frightened statue. Only there was emotion in his eyes. A dark emotion. One she hadn’t yet seen on his face. His eyes were trained on something behind her and she spun her head around to see what he was looking at with such passionate feeling.
Loucas Aleksandros stood, looking every bit as sexy as a model for a Ralph Lauren advertisement. His darkly tanned skin was on display today, in a pair of khaki shorts and a casual cream polo shirt. A pair of gold-rimmed Ray Bans were pushed up onto his head.
Mikey’s mouth went dry as she stared at him, open-mouthed. He was walking towards her and she had the strangest sensation she might actually faint.
Her pale hair was loose about her shoulders, and her cheeks were pink from the heat and exertion. Her eyes were enhanced by the blue of the ocean. As for the sundress she wore, while perfectly modest, it flattered her figure so much better than the outfit she’d worn to his office that he had to do a double take.
“What are you doing here?” She stammered, flickering her eyes back to Andrew. It was important to appear calm and in control for his sake. Dependability was something he was learning to have faith in again, and he depended on her to be emotionally predictable.
Andrew was still standing, as if frozen, beneath the tree.
“I came to see the boy. Is that not what you wanted?” His eyes flickered to Andrew. Mikey was right. He had so much of his mother in him. Unfortunately, he was mainly the spitting image of his father. Chad Washington. And it was difficult for Loucas to forget how much he had despised the American man.
“Of course,” she nodded, her throat thick, her movements jerky. “We were just finishing. Do you mind waiting?”
His brow furrowed. “Actually, I do. I don’t wait. Ever.”
She rolled her eyes and lowered her voice, so that only Loucas could hear her. “Of course you don’t. Because you’re a narcissist.” His eyes seemed to be laughing at her, but his face was expressionless. “But I am running a session and it’s important to finish. You may wait in the shade and watch if you’d like.”
He did like.
Since Mikey Jones had left his Athens office, he had become almost obsessively focused on her, and the words she’d thrown at him. He’d half hoped he’d imagined the degree of her sass and fire. He could see now that he hadn’t exaggerated a single point. She was spirited and she was like a lioness defending her cub, when it came to his nephew.
As they batted the ball back and forth, he had to remind himself that he’d come to spend time with Andrew. But it was difficult to stop staring at Mikey. How had he ever thought her plain? Admittedly her clothes and hair had been drab to the extreme, when first she’d appeared in his office. Now, she was so full of life and light that he could have watched her for hours. As Andrew kicked the ball and it went sailing overhead, she jumped up to catch it, and the floaty dress she wore rose with her arms, revealing her athletic, toned thighs. The ball continued to fly overhead, and Loucas moved forward, running across the grass to take it in his hands. He carried it back to Mikey.
“You missed.” He said, not ready to relinquish his hold on the ball.
Mikey’s response was predictably tart. “Thanks for pointing that out, Captain Obvious.”
His laugh was warm and rich. “Now who needs the lesson in manners?”
Mikey reached forward to take the ball but his grip was firm. “And you think you could teach me anything on that score?”
His eyes flickered with some indecipherable emotion. “I’d have fun trying,” he promised throatily.
Was he flirting with her? Impossible, she thought, with a small shake of her head. Men like Loucas Aleksandros moved in a completely different sphere to her. He was rich, he was gorgeous, and he was a bit of a bastard. No doubt he had lots of skinny supermodel types lining up to hang off his tanned, muscled arms. Yuck. That was certainly not for Mikey, even if he was sending her some kind of signal. She’d put money on the fact that he was just making fun of her. Teasing her. Well, she had four big brothers who’d teased her mercilessly, and she wasn’t going to be bothered by this man, now. She wrenched the ball from his hands and sent him a fulminating glare.
“As I said, you may wait in the shade.”
