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He saw the way she shivered and hardened a little more. Suddenly, he wanted her to challenge him. He wanted an excuse to reach for her, to grab her, to hold her body to his. It galvanized him into action. He walked around to the front passenger door, opening it without looking at her.
“Inside.”
She made a small sound of disapproval. “Barking commands at me? How very civilized. It’s quite clear you didn’t get your manners from your father.”
“Oh, I’m sure he went out of his way to flatter and charm you, Phoebe. Don’t expect the same from me.”
“I only meant that he was a gentleman at all times, in every way. And you, well, you’re—,”
“Go on.” He stared at her now, goading her with his body language.
“You’re hateful,” she snapped, stamping her foot before stomping around to the side of the car. “I mean that. You’re absolutely hateful.”
“And it would be best if you remembered that.”
The words held a warning; he could only hope they would both heed them.
For several minutes, she was capable only of focusing on his extraordinary skill and power as a driver. The thrum of the sleek black sports car—flash without being ostentatious—was palpable, but that wasn’t why she felt heat radiating from low down in her abdomen. No, that came down to her awareness of the man at her side, and the way he flicked the gear stick as he maneuvered the streets, his fingers on the wheel catching her eye and capturing her imagination, making her all too vividly aware of what it had been like to be touched by him.
So focused was she on the minute details of Anastasios’ driving that it was several blocks before Phoebe spun in her chair to question him. “Where are you taking me?”
His fingers gripped the wheel tighter, his knuckles showing white.
“Somewhere that we can speak freely.”
“My apartment wouldn’t suffice?”
He cocked her a look of mockery. “I barely fit into your apartment.” He gave his attention back to the road, turning left then pulling up at lights. “Besides which, we should avoid any situation that puts us within six feet of a bed.”
She couldn’t stop the small gasp that escaped as he confronted the desire sparking between them head on.
“Then where?”
He turned to her once more, before accelerating the car as the lights turned green. “Does it matter?”
“I guess I like to know where I’m going, yes. Call me crazy, but I’m used to a degree of control over my life.”
“Desperate times,” he said with a careless lift of his shoulders.
“Wow. You really are an arrogant son of a bitch.”
He made no effort to deny it and despite the fizz in the air, she didn’t want to argue. Pressing back against the seat, she lifted a hand to her temple and surrendered, for a moment, to his control. It was strange, given the combative nature of their interactions, but he was Konstantinos’s son, and it was, therefore, impossible not to trust him, at least on some level.
Twenty minutes later, they crossed Connaught bridge, rousing Phoebe out of her state of quiet acceptance. She sat up straighter, eyes moving from the Thames, to an airport, far smaller than Heathrow.
“Anastasios…” her voice held both a warning and a question.
He pulled the car to a stop and a man in a suit approached, but Anastasios didn’t immediately move. “I cannot allow this story go to print.”
“I told you, I have nothing to do with it. And there is no story.”
“Nonetheless,” he leaned closer, his face paralyzingly near hers. “Your cooperation is appreciated.”
“And if I don’t want to cooperate?”
“Better not to ask, for both our sakes.”
She was tempted to push him, to ask just how far he was willing to go to ensure this article didn’t get publicized but until she forgot her loyalty to Konstantinos, she couldn’t ignore Anastasios’ request. At least until she had a little more information. She knew the guilt that had plagued Kon for decades over his extra-marital affair, the pain that had come from genuinely loving two women. She also knew how important it had been to him to protect Maggie from what he viewed as his great failure. He’d have moved heaven and earth to protect her. The idea of a newspaper running a gossip piece about his alleged infidelity with her, even when it didn’t hold a shred of truth, was enough to galvanize Phoebe into action.
