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“Having regrets?” His voice caught her by surprise. She startled, lifting her gaze towards the doorjamb, where all six and a half feet of Vitalo Katrakis were in repose, casually leaning against one side, one ankle crossed over the other, his expression impossible to interpret.
She hadn’t seen him since they’d landed. He’d introduced her to one of his domestics, Anna, and suggested Anna give Bella a guided tour – he’d had to work, he’d said.
And though their romance was hardly the stuff of fairytales and love, she’d still had to bury a wry response at how he’d chosen to spend his wedding day.
But it wasn’t a real wedding. Nor a real marriage.
She shook her head from side to side, her eyes latched to his.
“Good.” He looked at her as though he could see into her soul, as though he could unravel her piece by piece, if only he looked long and hard enough. “Have you had lunch?”
She nodded. “Anna made me something.”
“Good. She showed you the kitchen?”
Bella nodded once more.
“This is your house now. I want you to feel completely at home here.”
Her smile was sardonic. “It’s more like a palace than a home.”
“You’re used to grand things, though, aren’t you?”
For a moment, her heart panged as she remembered the homestead she’d grown up on, it’s sprawling American colonial style, the landscaped gardens, the huge weeping elm with the old wooden swing seat her dad had restored for Sophia and Bella, and emotions logged in her chest.
She thought of the home she’d lived in with Xavier, in those brief, early days of their marriage, so modern and enormous, so luxurious, and her heart twisted with different pangs.
And now, she was here – a new home in the tapestry of her life – with any luck, this one would see better memories form within its walls.
“Yes.” Just a quick agreement. “Do you live here full time?”
“No.” He straightened, walking into the room with a panther-like grace. “It is too far from my offices. I have a place in Athens. I stay there through the week.”
“Oh.” Her forehead crinkled. “So you’ll be away that often?”
He came to stand in front of her, his eyes still roaming her face like she was a puzzle he wanted to comprehend. “No.”
“But you…just said…”
“I was not a married man before. Nor did I have a child on the way.” He looked at her as though he wanted to kiss her and she ached for that, suddenly. Of its own accord, her body swayed forward slightly, and she expelled a soft breath. “I am having my office here improved, making it easier for me to be on the island as much as possible. From time to time I will need to fly to Athens, but I won’t stay long while I’m there.”
“Oh.” In the back of her mind, she registered the fact he was making sweeping changes to his life, but she was finding it impossibly hard to concentrate with his closeness and the intensity of his watchfulness.
“Oh,” he repeated, but teasingly, and he smiled, and all of the sun’s warmth was caught in his smile and beamed across her soul. “Join me for a toast?” He prompted, catching her hand and lifting it to his lips, pressing a kiss against her palm.
Her pulse trembled.
“Apple juice?” She murmured, thinking how much she’d prefer a champagne, or something equally able to calm the nerves that were ricocheting through her.
“I think we can manage that.” He dropped her hand but kept his smile in place, gesturing for her to follow him as he strolled through the lounge room, through double doors that led to another room, this one with an even larger balcony. Terracotta pot plants had bonsai citrus plants in each, and the fragrance of orange blossoms was mesmerizing.
Belatedly, she saw a table had been set with a bottle of champagne and a platter of food.
“It’s de-alcoholised,” he explained, as he moved to it and began to unfurl the top. She watched as his strong, capable hands unfurled the foil, and her body began to reverberate with a longing that was something she was beginning to get used to.
“That was very thoughtful of you,” she said honestly.
He threw her a look of sardonic amusement. “This surprises you?”
