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Which meant he had to stop his brain from craving more. From making the hideous mistake of thinking that he needed Kate in his life, not just his bed. Of thinking that he wanted to make her his—permanently.
Flinging his towel over his shoulder, he was about to head back to the villa when the fiery sunset blazing across the sky stopped him in his tracks. He stood with his hands on his hips to watch the spectacle. Crete was full of beautiful beaches, but somehow he had been inexorably drawn to this one. To the beach where he had proposed to Kate...to the exact spot where the deed had been done. It was as if he was deliberately torturing himself.
It seemed there was no escaping the memories of her.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE AEROPLANE BANKED steeply before starting its descent, giving Kate a slanting picture of the island of Crete below, bathed in early-evening sunshine, the turquoise water fringing white sandy coves, the dense greenery and the craggy mountains further inland. Just beautiful.
She remembered her first sighting of this view. Just starting her European adventure, she had fallen in love with the place before the plane had even landed—had felt excitement bubbling inside her at the thought of being able to spend time somewhere so idyllic. Back then she’d had no idea of what ecstasy and misery the island had in store for her. No premonition that the next few weeks would change her life for ever.
‘If you would like to put on your seat belt, Kyria Nikoladis, we will be landing in ten minutes.’
Kate smiled her thanks at the flight attendant and fastened the buckle around her waist. Her every need had been catered for on this transatlantic flight. Even though Kate had made it clear she could easily take a scheduled flight, Nikos had insisted that she made use of his private jet. No doubt he wanted her back in Crete as fast as possible, with no excuse for any delay.
The phone call had come early yesterday morning.
Kate had imagined Nikos’s impatience, waiting for New York to wake up a full seven hours behind Crete. She’d heard it in his voice when she’d answered, still half asleep, and had felt shock and surprise shooting through her, followed by a wave of anxiety. And all before she had even said hello. It was the first time she had heard from him in weeks.
Nikos needed her back in Crete, apparently. Right away. This he had informed her in a coldly determined way, clearly designed to brook no argument. If he had been expecting her to refuse, to kick off and say she would do no such thing, he needn’t have worried. Kate would honour the agreement between them. Nikos had fulfilled his side of the bargain and she would do the same. That, at least, was clear-cut. Even if everything else between them was a murky pool of misery and regret.
Crossing the concourse towards a waiting limousine, Kate shielded her eyes against the glare of the setting sun. The driver opened the door for her and, taking a deep breath, Kate slid inside.
Disappointment hit her like a sledgehammer. He wasn’t there. Just an empty space where she had hoped Nikos would be. She quickly pulled herself together. Why would he come to meet her? It was hardly as if he was dying to see her.
The journey to Villa Levanda, Nikos’s luxurious home, took no more than twenty minutes. Kate had never been there before. When she had met first Nikos he had been living in a little stone cottage belonging to his cousin. Kate had loved it. She had loved him. Now that humble residence had been swapped for a huge gleaming glass construction perched on the edge of a cliff.
So much had changed. Those reckless young lovers were gone—replaced by level-headed adults making sensible decisions to further their own ends. In theory, at least. Deep down Kate knew she still felt the same. She still loved Nikos with all her heart. And that realisation made each heavy beat more painful than the last.
There was no sign of Nikos when the driver let her in, depositing her small case on the floor beside her and leaving her in the care of the housekeeper, who introduced herself as Agní.
Showing her to her room, Agní fussed about, making sure everything was to her satisfaction, until Kate assured her that it was and that she was going to go straight to bed, because she was exhausted from the travelling. After a quick shower in the gleaming glass bathroom Kate pulled back the white covers on the enormous bed and slid underneath, hoping for the oblivion of sleep.
