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He smiled back. “Perhaps with the right person.”
As he continued to look directly at her, her heart raced. Surely he didn’t mean she was the right person. Of course not. Right?
She averted her gaze. It was the only way she could string words together. “As for the second reason, I admire a man who cleans up after himself.”
“Oh, so that’s a positive quality.”
“Very much so.” She was having fun with the flirty banter. It’d been so long since she’d felt like a desirable woman and not like a nursemaid or a fragile widow. “As for the last reason, well, that is obviously not true. I had a lot of fun today. And I’m looking forward to more excursions.”
“I must admit that when I first suggested the tour of Corfu, I wasn’t so sure about it. You’re the one who made it fun.”
“I think we made it entertaining together. So when do we arrive in Venice?”
“Not for a few days.”
And then she came to a stop outside her cabin. “Can you believe I’ve never been to Venice?”
“Really? I would have thought you’d have visited the beautiful city at least once.”
“I’ve always meant to. But for one reason or another, I’ve never been there.”
He smiled at her. “I’m honored that your first visit will be with me.”
She gazed into his eyes and her heart skipped a beat. Again, she was swept up in the desire to lift up on her tiptoes, press her hands to his broad shoulders and touch her lips to his. Stasia stifled a sigh.
At the very least, it would be nice to invite him into her cabin for a nightcap. She knew what would happen if she did. This pretend relationship would take on a very real tone. And she knew that would not only jeopardize Roberto’s relationship with Xander, but it would also gravely injure her brother-sister relationship. That was a lot to risk for a shipboard romance that would end as soon as they returned to Athens.
Left with no reasonable option to prolong their time together, her gaze lifted to his. “Good night.”
“Night.”
She remained right there in her doorway as he turned and walked away. Her gaze lingered on him. He looked just as fine going as he did coming. Mighty fine indeed.
DAY FOUR
Kotor, Montenegro
KEEPING UP APPEARANCES surprisingly wasn’t hard.
Roberto liked spending time with Stasia. In fact, it was quite possible he liked it too much. But Stasia wasn’t quite as enthusiastic. Granted, his boisterous family could be a lot to take in all at once. But every chance Stasia got, she would escape to her cabin. Or perhaps it just felt that way to him because he missed her when she wasn’t around.
“You’re a hard man to catch up with,” said a familiar male voice.
Roberto turned to find his grandfather standing behind him. “I don’t mean to be. There are just a lot of activities on this ship and then there are the daily tours and there’s also work to catch up on. I’m always on the go.”
“I understand. Your grandmother has tried to get me to go on the tours with her, but she doesn’t understand that I have work to do.”
Roberto felt bad for his grandfather. He wasn’t getting any younger, and at his age, he should be able to enjoy life instead of having to worry about work and deadlines. But there was this thing about control. His grandfather didn’t want to give it up. His successor would have to meet his stringent requirements. As of now, no one in the family wanted the position or was willing to meet his grandfather’s standards—including himself.
His goal since childhood was taking over his grandfather’s commercial construction business. But in college, when he’d gotten into it with his grandfather over the man’s unreasonable expectations, Roberto had walked away. He’d joined Xander and he’d helped his friend build up his real-estate company.
His grandfather cleared his throat, drawing Roberto from his thoughts. “I have to be going.”
“To meet Yaya?”
His grandfather shook his head. “I told her I didn’t have time for a cruise right now.”
He knew his grandfather was a workaholic, but this seemed excessive even for him. “Is something wrong?”
