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Claudia didn’t know and didn’t much care. The effect was the same. Her pulse skyrocketed and she felt like she was in free fall. Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to get back to Barnwell, but it was also what she feared most of all. Being alone with him wrought its own problems.
And yet they weren’t alone yet. Patrick and Marta were still at the estate – her chance for escape.
She tapped her credit card against the reader then entered her pin. Once the items were bagged, she reached for it but Stavros was there first, curling his fingers around the handles, adding it to the single shopping bag he held – a pale blue plastic with no discernible branding. “Allow me,” he growled – yes, growled – and she blinked at him.
“Not discovering a semblance of chivalry all of a sudden, are you?”
He flashed her a look of patronizing impatience. “Weren’t you in the car earlier?” He dropped his mouth close to her ear. “Did that seem chivalrous to you?”
A shiver ran down her spine and she couldn’t answer. Her mouth was dry.
“No. It didn’t.”
He stepped aside, putting some space between them. “Ready to go home?”
“No.” She shot him a warning look. “I’m not. I’ve been cooped up in your house for days and I’m not used to being so confined. I want to … wander.”
“Wander?”
“Yes.” She snapped. “Wander.” Her eyes lit up as they landed on a Starbucks across the street. “And I want a gingerbread latte.”
“You must be kidding?”
“Nope.” She shot one more look over her shoulder, all her attention focused on Stavros and making sure he understood how annoyed she was with him. She stepped out onto the street at the exact moment a motorbike came careening around the corner.
Stavros swore under his breath, pulling her hard, yanking her off the street, swearing once more as he thrust her away from him, onto the safety of the sidewalk.
It all happened so fast, but C
laudia was frozen with fear. Her emotions had been pulled from pillar to post that morning and they were in overdrive now. She was shaking as she stormed back to Stavros.
“I saw the motorbike!” She lied. “You didn’t need to do that!”
“Oh, you saw it, did you?” He asked loudly, then made an effort to lower his voice. “You saw it and decided it looked like a good way to die? Do you have a death wish?”
Tears sparkled on her lashes and shook her head but she didn’t want to be sad. She wanted to be angry. She was furious with him. “I wasn’t anywhere near it.”
“Only because he swerved to avoid you.”
“Well, you made me so mad!” She shouted, pointing a finger into his chest. “You made me so mad!”
“Right back at you, but you do not see me roaming into traffic begging it to hit me.”
She bit down on her lip to stop from sobbing. It wasn’t completely successful. A sound of emotion flopped from her lips and she turned her face away from him. “Let me go.”
Stavros stared at her for a perplexing second before realizing he had indeed lifted his hands to her upper arms and was holding her still, holding her close to his body. He dropped his hands instantly, removing his touch.
Claudia looked both ways – twice – and then moved quickly across the cobbled street, breathing in deeply as she went. The familiar fragrance of the Starbucks coffee beans hit her and she smiled despite the angst that was travelling through her bloodstream.
“This is not coffee,” Stavros complained behind her.
She was too churned up to answer immediately. She pulled the door and spun around to him in one swift motion. “You can wait outside if it offends you.” She blinked her eyelashes innocently and then moved inside. The store was full of people, all wrapped in their winter woollies, festive and bright. Tinsel garlands were strung around the walls, baubles glistened in the lighting and carols were playing from the speakers.
Claudia joined the back of the queue and began to hum quietly to herself, unaware of the way Stavros was watching her, his whole face frowning. She shuffled forward, until she reached the counter. She pulled out a gingerbread man and turned to him, surprised at how close he was standing. She was surprised by the expression on his face as well, the way his glower spread from his eyes to his mouth and to all the flesh in between.
“Did you want one?”
He lifted one dark, thick brow and shook his head. “They are for children.”
