Stranded with Her Greek Tycoon Page 12

‘If your definition of “decent” includes a pink frock, then I’m decent enough.’ This was a game they’d used to play. The favoured answer had been: No, I’m indecently naked and what are you going to do about it? Hardly appropriate on this occasion. But how much fun their inappropriate, private times had been.

  Hayley had to brace herself against the wall against a paralysing wave of sadness for all they’d lost. The fun—that was what had gone first. The love had dissipated more slowly.

  Her heart kicked up a beat as she opened the door. Wearing black jeans and a black linen shirt, with his black hair and his jaw already shadowed, Cristos’s dark-lashed eyes blazed green, the only colour in a gloriously dark image. He’d starred in a magazine campaign once where the page was printed in black and white, the exception being his extraordinary eyes. Here was the commercial come to life and she swooned over it.

  She stared at him, unable to move, unable to say anything, overcome again by that yearning she was powerless to control. Never could she want another man the way she wanted him, had always wanted him.

  It’s just sex, it’s just sex, she chanted to herself in time to the frantic thudding of her heart.

  Did he guess?

  He didn’t say anything, just looked at her in return, that green gaze taking in her appearance from her hair—which she suspected he didn’t like cut so short—right down to the tip of his grandmother’s shoes. He used to look at her like that just before he was about to kiss her.

  Her breath quickened and her lips parted as if of their own volition. Yes! But he stepped back and the moment was broken. She found her voice, forced it to stay steady. ‘Did you come to check on me?’

  ‘It would be expected that I escort my wife into the party,’ he said.

  ‘Of course,’ she said.

  ‘I’ve never seen you wear pink,’ he said. ‘It suits you, your skin, your eyes.’ His voice broke, perhaps from the same effort she was making to ignore the sexual hum between them. ‘You look beautiful. You have never been invisible to me. It’s unbearable that you should ever have thought that true. Unbearable you should think it now.’

  ‘I... I...’ She didn’t know what to say to him.

  For a long moment, his gaze connected with hers and she could not look away. He reached out his hand to trace a line with his thumb from her cheekbone to the edge of her mouth. A wave of awareness swept over her, and she trembled beneath his touch.

  He used to work such magic with his fingers.

  ‘Th...thank you,’ she managed to choke out.

  He pushed his fingers through her hair and she closed her eyes for a moment at the bliss of it. ‘Why did you cut it?’

  ‘For a change,’ she said.

  Because he had loved it and she’d wanted in some way to spite him.

  ‘When I got to Australia I wanted a new start, a new me. Also it gets very hot and humid in the summer in Sydney. It’s more comfortable this short.’

  ‘I like it,’ he said.

  ‘You do? I thought you would loathe it.’

  ‘It was a shock, I admit. But it’s cute and—’

  ‘You know I don’t like being called “cute”,’ she said with mock reprimand.

  ‘If you’d let me finish, I was going to say it was cute and elegant at the same time. It suits you. So does the pink dress.’

  ‘It’s a nice dress, isn’t it? Although it’s not really my colour.’

  ‘Maybe it should be. As I said, you look beautiful.’

  ‘I’m glad you think so.’

  He looked down. ‘Are those my grandmother’s shoes you’re wearing? Surely not?’

  ‘She loaned them to me.’

  ‘Really? She has quite the shoe collection. A friend of hers owns an upscale shoe store and she gets them at a discount. I can’t believe she loaned them to you. That’s quite an honour.’

  ‘I know. First the cheese pie and now Italian shoes. I’m wondering what’s going on when I know she hates me.’

  ‘She never really knew you.’

  ‘You mean she never gave me a chance.’

  ‘Maybe you’ve surprised her.’ He shrugged. ‘Whatever the reason, it was a long time ago. Right now I think my yia-yia is very impressed with you. I don’t know, though, that she could actually come out and say it. Perhaps this is her way of letting you know that maybe she thinks we’re not such a bad match after all.’

  Her mouth twisted. ‘Ironic, isn’t it? Now that we’re no longer a couple.’

  Cristos put up his hand to stop her. ‘Hayley, can we put aside all that for tonight? Let’s forget our issues, forget why you’re really here. Let’s just enjoy this party. Have fun. You used to like parties and Alex and Dell throw a good one. Besides, the weather might lift in the morning and you’ll be gone and we won’t see each other again.’

  It was what she wanted—or at least what she’d thought she’d wanted—but she felt as though his words had turned into frosty shards, like the icicles that hung from the windows, to pierce her heart.

  ‘You mean we should celebrate the end of our marriage?’

  His brow furrowed. ‘I don’t see it as something to celebrate. But since yesterday everything has been turned upside down and I don’t know what’s normal or not. If you like, you can call it our own private divorce party while the others are celebrating Valentine’s.’

  ‘That’s awful. No. We can celebrate Valentine’s too and remember—’

  ‘How we were once happy, we once loved each other and we should celebrate the happy years while we mourn the end of them?’

  ‘Okay. Yes. Good idea.’ She thought it was a terrible idea. She wanted to cry rather than act as if she were having a ball.

  ‘C’mon. I’m going to a party with a girl who looks delectable in a pink dress and my grandmother’s shoes.’

  ‘And I’m going with The Sexiest Man in Europe—’

  He groaned. ‘Can you please not call me that?’

  ‘Who...who used to be my best friend.’ Her voice trailed away.

  He was silent for a long moment. ‘And who will be your friend for one more night,’ he said, his voice husky.

  She forced a smile; if she didn’t she would break down into sobs. ‘Right. Let’s get on with it, shall we?’

  ‘It’s party time.’ He cleared his throat and she could see it was an effort for him to keep up the jolly pretence.

  Why had they hurt each other so much?

  ‘Is there anything you need from the room before we go?’ she asked.

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘I’ll stay on my grandparents’ sofa tonight.’

  ‘You’d better remember to pretend to snore if you’re going to go with the I-kicked-you-out-of-our-room story.’

  ‘I’ll do that,’ he said, making a snoring noise that made her smile. Her smile turned into a smirk and he immediately picked up on it. ‘What’s that for?’

  ‘If my own grandparents are anything to go by, it will be the old people doing the snoring. Hope you’ve got some earplugs.’

  He rolled his eyes. ‘Can we not even think about that?’ He took her arm. ‘Let’s go or we’ll be late. Are you ready?’

  ‘I think so,’ she said, drawing out the words, narrowing her eyes.

  He gave a mock patient sigh she recognised of old. ‘You’re not going to turn back as soon as we get to the elevator because you suddenly remembered you need to go to the bathroom? Or want to fill your water bottle?’

  She raised her eyebrows. ‘Would I do that?’

  ‘You know you would. Why do you think I came to get you five minutes earlier than I needed to? Just like I always did.’

  Hayley laughed but her heart felt as if it were bleeding. Those private little rituals of a long-time couple. She’d forgotten how comfortable she had felt with them. She had always checked to see if he’d shaved prop
erly; he’d often miss a little patch of those dark bristles on the underside of his chin. If she reached up to look now, to trail her fingers over his skin, she’d probably break down. Or maybe he’d managed so long without her he didn’t need her to check for him.

  The advantage of no one knowing her in Australia was they took her at face value. The disadvantage was that no one really knew her. But then no one had ever known her better than Cristos. Or so she’d thought.

  ‘I’m not taking a water bottle to a party. But come to think of it, I do need to touch up my lipstick.’

  He made a big exaggerated groan. ‘Be quick, will you?’ Just as he’d always said.

  ‘Kidding,’ she said. ‘I just wanted to make you bite. Like you always did.’

  He laughed. Then took her by surprise with a swift, hard kiss on her mouth. ‘Now you do need to fix your lipstick but I’m not going to let you. C’mon, let’s go party.’

  For the last time.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CRISTOS WANTED TO rip off the masks he felt obligated to wear and enjoy without pretence the company of his wife while he still had her by his side. But he was caught between two masks that were becoming increasingly suffocating.

  To his family and friends, he presented a united front with the woman who had left him and had put him through the humiliating experience of not being able to find her. The masquerade of playing reconciling husband and wife had been his idea, intended only for the duration of Alex and Dell’s celebrations. He had not anticipated the charade extending the way it had because of the extreme weather. The more Cristos and Hayley acted as husband and wife, the more his family and friends believed in it—and the more they welcomed her as part of the family. It would be awkward when she left.

  The second, increasingly uncomfortable mask was the one he wore when he was alone with Hayley. He could not reveal to anyone—least of all to her—that she still had immense power to wound him and how spending so much time with her was a constant stab to his heart.

  She was different but still the Hayley he had signed up to for a lifetime of commitment. He’d agreed to a civilised, getting-to-know-each-other-again way to spend her enforced time on the island. In truth, what he wanted to do was find out what the hell had gone wrong, fix it and have her back where she belonged. With him. As his wife.

  But she’d made it clear she didn’t want that. Didn’t want him to pressure her. He couldn’t very well grab her and drag her back to his cave.

  As soon as he walked into the party with his beautiful girl in her pink dress on his arm, Cristos felt the change in attitude towards Hayley from the gathered family and friends. There were more warm smiles and less curious glances. As Hayley had said, it was ironic that just as they were headed for divorce, his English wife was being embraced by her Greek in-laws.

  Several people approached them with the express purpose of thanking Hayley for her work on ensuring the electricity supply to the resort. Hayley, in her usual modest way, demurred, explaining it was her job to know such things but thanking them with warmth.

  He was so proud of her.

  And yet that pride was mingled with pain that she’d had to leave him to achieve her own career. He had not nurtured her or encouraged independence while leaving her on her own. If he had his way, things would now be very different—he worked mainly from home and the face-to-face meetings he had were brief. But her heart was barricaded against him.

  Hayley looked around her. ‘Dell has done a fabulous job decorating the room. How did she conjure all this up?’

  His cousin and his wife had rearranged the guest living room and dining area to allow an area for dancing. Big pink and red paper hearts and bunches of red and white balloons festooned the walls. The wealthy, sophisticated guests who usually frequented Prevezzo Athina would probably be horrified at its transformation into a Greek family party venue. What did Hayley call this kind of gathering? A knees-up. But the stranded guests were hooting their approval.

  Valentine’s Day had never been a big thing for Cristos. He’d celebrated it because Hayley had got a kick out of it. But to him Valentine’s was for single people looking for love, not for couples who celebrated their love every day. Now all the references to romance just reminded him at every turn of what he’d lost. But she was here and, as he had reminded himself many times already, that was a much better situation than the two years and five months he’d spent without her.

  ‘Dell has kids,’ he said. ‘She probably has all that craft stuff stashed at home. And remember Alex was the nightclub king of Sydney. He knows a thing or two about hosting a party.’

  ‘They’ve done a great job, especially considering the circumstances.’

  He agreed. To have got all this together at such short notice was impressive. There was a barman serving pink and red romance-themed cocktails with names like Love Bite and Kiss on the Lips, as well as champagne. A young DJ with a hipster beard, who was the boyfriend of someone’s niece, was in charge of the music. Heart-shaped hors d’oeuvres were circulating on trays to a roomful of guests determined to have a good time.

  Including Cristos.

  He was just about to suggest to Hayley that they dance when his grandmother came over to greet them. She was not, he was relieved to see, accompanied by the ever-present Arianna. He was not in the slightest bit interested in hooking up with his childhood friend. He’d thought it was incredibly bad form of Arianna to ogle him in the presence of his wife, with the implicit approval of his grandmother, and he’d done his best to avoid her.

  But tonight Penelope’s attention had switched to Hayley. She stood back at arm’s length and critically surveyed his wife’s outfit, finally giving it the thumbs up. ‘Very nice,’ she said.

  ‘I’m grateful to Dell for the dress. But it’s the shoes that make it, don’t you think?’ said Hayley. Bravo to his wife, who had no cause to like Penelope, for playing along with her game.

  ‘I think so too,’ said Penelope, preening at the compliment to her taste.

  Hayley pointed her foot out in front of her. ‘These shoes make me feel like Cinderella.’ With his yia-yia as the fairy godmother? Cristos supposed stranger things had happened.

  ‘You must have them,’ Penelope said immediately. ‘To keep, I mean.’

  ‘Really?’ said Hayley with genuine surprise. ‘But I couldn’t—’

  His grandmother threw out her hands in a dismissive gesture. ‘I have bunions that make these narrow shoes uncomfortable. I’ve only worn them once. They are yours now.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Hayley asked. ‘They’re designer shoes and—’

  Cristos nudged her. ‘Thank you, Yia-yia. It’s very kind of you,’ he said. He nudged Hayley again.

  Hayley leaned across and kissed Penelope on each cheek. ‘Efcharisto poli—thank you very much Pentherl Penelope.’

  Penelope laughed. ‘You called me your mother-in-law when I am your grandmother-in-law.’

  Hayley flushed. ‘I stand corrected.’

  ‘It’s no matter,’ Penelope said. Her eyes clouded. ‘I have been mother to Cristos since he was fourteen years old so you can think of me as your mother-in-law. I would like that. Or you can call me Yia-yia.’

  After Penelope left them Cristos rolled his eyes. ‘I think the unthinkable has happened. The matchmaker has reversed her decision—it will never be official, of course, but you’ve won her over, Hayley.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘By being your own sweet self. By pitching in and helping whenever you had the opportunity. Finally, she has respected my choice of bride.’

  ‘Which isn’t really valid any more, is it?’ she whispered. ‘She’ll hate me more than ever when I leave.’

  ‘I doubt that. Besides, you won’t be here to worry about it.’

  ‘But you will,’ she said.

  Worrying about his grandmother’s reaction
would be the least of his problems when he had to say goodbye for the last time to the wife he still wanted. But he didn’t let his mask slip and let her know how he really felt.

  * * *

  It wasn’t just Cristos’s grandmother who welcomed her, the whole family embraced her and Hayley was surprised how good it felt. Thank heaven she’d made an effort to learn Greek when she’d first met Cristos. Her language skills were rudimentary at best but people seemed delighted she’d made the effort. Then proceeded to chat in what was usually excellent English.

  The only exception was a brief and rather unpleasant encounter with the woman who had been staring so lustfully at Cristos the day before when they were told about the storm. Thankfully Dell had seen what was happening and come over to rescue her.

  Hayley told Dell about Penelope’s gift of the shoes. ‘That was nice of her. I’m so pleased you’re getting on well with Penelope. She’s a real friend to me, was wonderful from the word go. Wait until you and Cristos start a family—you’ll never have to worry about a babysitter.’

  Hayley tried to smile but she knew it came out as a poor imitation. She couldn’t bear to think about babies and Cristos in the same thought. Dell misinterpreted her expression. ‘Sorry. Silly of me. Of course you won’t be living here. I guess you’ll live in Cristos’s apartment in Athens? Or maybe London?’

  ‘We...er...haven’t really got that far yet.’

  ‘Of course, he could move to Sydney to be with you. I hope not. I mean, not that I don’t love Sydney. It’s home. But it’s too far away from us here. I hope you stay in Europe. You know I love Cristos to pieces—as a cousin, of course—and I think you and I are friends already.’

  ‘Of course, we are,’ said Hayley. She’d liked Dell immediately.

  ‘Keep that in mind, won’t you?’ said Dell. ‘About us being friends, I mean.’ She hugged her and Hayley hugged her back with genuine feeling.

  ‘I most certainly will,’ she said. ‘And thanks again for the dress.’

  ‘You’re welcome,’ said Dell. ‘Please keep it. Now I’ve seen how great you look in it, I probably won’t wear it again.’ She patted her hips. ‘By the time I shift this baby weight the dress will be out of fashion. Besides, I can’t be outdone by Penelope, much as I love her.’