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Aware that Zach was watching her with a puzzled frown, she struggled to control her expression and presumably failed; she could hear the suspicion in his voice as he asked, ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Not a thing.’ She tucked the tablet under her arm. ‘I promised myself I’d explore this morning.’
‘Want a guide?’
‘I think I’ll be fine on my own.’ She had to get out of the room before he guessed, which would be the ultimate humiliation!
He stared at the door, fighting the impulse that gripped him to follow her before he slumped down into one of the chairs. It was time to stop pretending and face facts. When it came to this woman his normal iron control did not apply.
* * *
More by luck than good judgement, she found her way back to her suite. Nobody had cleared the shoes that had littered the bedroom floor since she had pulled them out of the cavernous closet in the early hours of the morning. She kicked one of the soft-as-butter lemon-coloured pumps that were lovely, almost tripped over the striking red loafers, and picked up one of the cute kitten heels in one hand, and one of the spiky, far too high ankle boots, sexy as hell—even with pyjamas—in the other.
With a low moan, she threw them both across the room, then, feeling guilty that she was leaving someone else to pick them up, gathered up the shoes and, pairing them all up, stacked them neatly in their boxes, telling herself that she needed to get a grip. She needed to focus and not think about Zach Garros.
She spent the next hour lying, head propped in her hands, on the bed, poring over the guest list and the cream of Athens society. But for some reason it wasn’t sinking in, so she welcomed the interruption when a maid tapped on the door.
‘Mrs Carras asks me to tell you that there is morning tea in the small salon if you wish it, miss?’
Why not?thought Kat, closing the tablet.
‘Lead the way,’ she said to the girl, who looked startled by the informality.
An hour later, as she sipped her second cup of tea, Kat walked to the high, deep windows. The sea shone in the near distance like silvered turquoise in the morning sun. As the place was built on a peninsula projecting into the water, she assumed that most rooms would have similarly breathtaking marine vistas.
Selene bustled in. Kat found herself envying the woman’s vaguely harassed air and realised she was bored. She was used to being busy. She would make a very poor lady of leisure.
‘Good morning. Did you sleep well?’
‘Perfectly,’ Kat lied. ‘I thought I might explore a little this morning, if there’s nothing you want me—?’ she began hopefully.
‘Gracious, no. I’ll send Della. She can be your guide and she’s too teary this morning to be any help—she’s in love,’ Selene added with an eye-roll.
‘No, don’t worry. I’d prefer to wander alone, if that’s okay?’
‘Of course. Enjoy yourself.’
A little exploration had proved her assumption was right: the scale of the building was daunting and then some. She hesitated to call it a home. It seemed more to her like a massive status symbol. Surely no one needed this much space?
She got turned around several times during her exploration until she realised that the place was built on a grid system. After that her attempts to get her bearings got a little easier. Everything fanned out from one central living area. She supposed that you got your head around massive in time—less so the presence of staff, discreet but liable to pop up and take you by surprise. She hoped some of them were temporary additions for the evening event.
It was her first test and one she hadn’t decided if she actually wanted to pass. Who was she trying to please and impress? The grandfather she didn’t know, or the man who didn’t care one way or the other?
Maybe, Kat, you should try pleasing yourself?
It was a plan.
The first of the two wings she explored seemed to be dedicated to private suites, like her own, and some slightly smaller guest suites. After half an hour of opening doors and admiring views she wandered back out to the terrace that ran the full length of this side of the building. Beautifully manicured lawns ran down to the sea. She took off her cardigan. It felt like spring as she took a seat on one of the long stone benches surrounded by tubs of flowers. Selene appeared, along with a young girl in a maid’s uniform who she introduced as Della.
The appearance was so perfectly timed that Kat imagined her every move being picked up by CCTV cameras. She smiled at the girl, recognising the name, but didn’t get a smile back, just a quick curtsey and a look that mingled tragic with sulky. She was not a recommendation for love with the black mascara rings around her eyes.
Selene noticed this, too. ‘Go on, run along and wash your face,’ she said, and the girl rushed off.
‘It’s such beautiful weather here, I can’t get over it.’ She had as little control over that as she did her visceral response to Zach, but the weather was much easier to live with.
‘Yes, and such a relief after the heat. The summer was hot even for here. You are finding your way around?’
Kat’s smile was a poor disguise for the fact she was overwhelmed by everything. She fought her way through a wave of longing for the comfortable predictability of her old life and nodded. ‘There is a lot to explore.’
