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CHAPTER FIVE
SHELISTENEDTO her sister, who spoke at some length on the joys—not—of morning sickness. It wasn’t until she hung up that Chloe identified the odd achey tightness in her chest as envy, but she refused to acknowledge it. Her sister deserved her happiness; it just made her aware of the things she didn’t have and maybe never would.
Catching the self-pitying direction her thoughts were taking, she got to her feet, but halfway to the drawing room she chickened out and slipped into the bathroom, where she spent a great deal of time admiring the decor.
Sometimes discretion was definitely the better part of valour. Hoping no one had sent out a search party for her, she waited there long enough to be sure that her arrival would coincide with people leaving. Hopefully she could slip away unnoticed without any further confrontations with Nik.
She had just stepped out into the hallway when she heard Lucy’s voice and ducked back into the bathroom. It was instinctive and she felt foolish the moment she locked the door. It wasn’t Lucy she was hiding from, but that didn’t matter; it was the fact she was hiding at all that filled her with self-disgust.
With a sigh she turned, dumped her bag on the vanity unit and, palms flat on the marble surface, she looked at herself in the mirror.
Her face illuminated by the spotlights above looked pale and her eyes were too bright. She leaned in and touched the fine skin under her eye; the make-up helped but did not quite conceal the blueish half-moon, which was the result of a week of disturbed nights that had preceded her decision not to continue with further surgery.
The decision had felt liberating, she’d felt completely in control and yet what had it taken to throw that equilibrium into chaos? One single encounter with Nik Latsis. She made a sound of disgust in her throat and turned her back on the mirror.
She sighed. She hadn’t felt in control tonight, she’d felt... She shook her head, unable...unwilling to examine her emotions as she turned, taking care not to look in the mirror, and twisted the cold tap onto full.
She stood there with her wrists under the running water, waiting for her heart rate to slow, wanting to reject outright the idea that she was attracted to Nik Latsis. The lie would have been easy, easier than admitting a man like him would never want someone less than perfect, but she couldn’t.
It was a fact.
She turned off the tap, lifted her chin and looked at herself in the mirror.
‘It is what it is, Chloe.’
She made her way back downstairs, where the hallway was empty but the door stood open. There was no sign of Tatiana, so she decided to call for a cab before saying goodbye to her hostess.
She had started to punch in the number when a voice at her elbow made her jump.
‘Have you been hiding?’ Nik asked.
‘What?’
He was wearing a long tailored dark overcoat that hung open, his hair glistened wet and the same moisture glistened on his face. He had brought the smell of outdoors and rain into the room.
Chloe struggled to hide her dismay and the illicit excitement that made her stomach muscles quiver. ‘You haven’t gone yet.’
‘Ever the gentleman, I have been escorting the ladies to their cars.’ He held up a large umbrella.
Chloe clenched her fingers over her phone, ignoring the little ribbons of warm electricity making her aware of the tingling nerve endings in her skin. ‘I’m just ringing for a taxi.’
He watched as she began to punch in a number, noticing that her face had a fresh scrubbed look as though she’d taken off her make-up. She still looked good, very good, but she looked more vulnerable...delicate, even. He felt an emotion swell in his chest but refused to acknowledge it as tenderness.
‘You don’t need a taxi.’
The harshness in his voice drew her glance upwards. ‘Thanks, but no, thanks,’ she said firmly, ashamed of the moments of self-pity she had indulged in.
‘You’re still here!’ Tatiana’s relieved voice rang out before Nik could respond.
Chloe was glad of the interruption but puzzled by the older woman’s sense of urgency. ‘I was just ringing for a taxi before I came to say goodbye, but did I forget something?’ She nodded to Lucy who had appeared behind her host; the redhead was wearing a denim jacket over the slinky red dress and carrying off the contrast in considerable style.
Tatiana shook her head. ‘Spiros just rang to warn anyone left not to try taking...well, just about any road, I think. The peaceful protests apparently turned out not to be so peaceful, and the police have closed down half the streets. Spiros is stuck, and he saw a car alight too. I really think it would be better if you all stay here for the night. There are reports of the disturbances spreading and even looting.’
‘I’m walking home, so it’s no problem,’ Lucy said.
Tatiana looked alarmed.
Lucy put her hands on the older woman’s shoulders. ‘Relax, I’m not going to my home, I’m booked into the new boutique hotel around the corner. It’s only a hundred yards, so I think I’ll be safe.’ She air-kissed Tatiana and thanked her, landed a kiss on Nik’s cheek and waved to Chloe. ‘Interesting night.’
