Kitabı oku: «The Greek's Forbidden Bride», sayfa 2

‘I’m sorry,’ she stammered, half rising as he emerged to stand in front of her. ‘I didn’t hear you coming.’

She felt her skin start to prickle with a mixture of fear and awareness as she took him in.

The full force of his male beauty hit her like a sledgehammer. He was more bronzed than his brother and vibrated with a powerful masculine attraction that Michael somehow lacked. The light of day did nothing to diminish the impression. If anything, he seemed more imposing with the harsh early sun accentuating his strong, hard features and those cold, fathomless eyes that were now boring into her with as little warmth as they had done the night before.

‘I have never developed the habit of sleeping in,’ Theo drawled, ‘even when I am taking time off work. And neither, I gather, have you. I could not help but notice that you were making a phone call.’

‘You mean you were spying on me?’ Abby asked, wondering wildly how long he had been standing behind her before making his presence known. Had he overheard her conversation? She and Michael had agreed that they wouldn’t mention Jamie just yet. One step at a time, he had said, and step one would be to introduce her to his family.

For different reasons, Abby knew that it would be a huge mistake to breathe a word about her son to the man carefully and insolently looking down at her.

‘Now I find that a very odd remark,’ Theo said speculatively. She had looked young and vulnerable last night, in her baby-pink dress, and she still looked young and vulnerable now, even though she was in figure-hugging faded cropped jeans and a T-shirt that barely skimmed her top half, leaving a slither of flat stomach visible. Her hair, he could now see, was a streaky blonde colour, the sort that most women would pay to attain, though he doubted she had been one of them. Young, vulnerable and one hundred per cent natural. Vital ingredients when it came to trapping a man, because what man could resist the charm of the untouched?

‘Why do you imagine that I would be spying on you?’ he asked. ‘Surely that would imply that I might think you have something to hide. And you haven’t, have you…?’

Abby felt telltale colour spread slowly across her cheeks. She was sitting bolt upright; their eyes locked together and she opened her mouth to laugh off his remark but nothing emerged for what seemed like the longest time.

Something to hide. Where to begin? she could have asked. The thought that he might find out anything at all made her skin crawl.

‘I should be going back in,’ she finally said, standing up on trembling legs.

‘Why? No one will get up for at least another hour or so. I’m about to have a swim. Why don’t you join me?’ Theo could have kicked himself. The first rule of making the kill was to avoid scaring off the prey. So what did he do? Jump right in and start with the accusations.

‘Join you?’ Abby asked, aghast. ‘No, really, it’s very kind of you to offer but I’ll leave you in peace…’ She took a couple of steps backwards, and then he smiled. It was a smile of such devastating charm that it almost knocked her sideways.

‘I am a man who finds peace very hard to deal with,’ he murmured persuasively. ‘Is that very sad, do you think?’

‘Yes, yes I do, actually,’ Abby replied breathlessly, and he frowned.

‘Why?’

‘I’ve got to go.’

‘You can’t possibly. It would be cruel of you to call me sad and then run away without bothering to elaborate on it.’

‘Oh, no, I didn’t mean…what I meant was…’

‘Go and get your swimsuit. We can finish this conversation in the pool. Or perhaps you would be happier just to sit by the side of the pool while I swim? Hmm?’

‘Yes! I mean…no!’

‘Besides,’ Theo said lazily, ‘Michael would like us to get to know one another, I am sure. He and I may not have grown up together in the normal fashion, what with me being sent to board from thirteen, but we are still close. He would be appalled if he thought that I…intimidated you…’

CHAPTER TWO

OF COURSE, that was what did it.

The implication that he intimidated her, that she wanted to run away from him.

Abigail thought of herself as something of a fighter. She had brought up Jamie on her own, had gone through the entire pregnancy without the support of anyone, and had been almost mortally wounded by the spectacular collapse of her relationship with her son’s father. She herself had no parents on whom to fall back and no handy network of caring relatives who could rush to her clarion call when she needed them. The only two weapons in her armoury had been her resolve to bring this baby into the world and her determination to give him all the love she was capable of giving.

To have Theo Toyas insinuate that she was running scared was like a red cloth to a bull.

Michael, as she expected, was soundly asleep when she quietly entered the bedroom to get her hat, her sun-cream and her book. The restaurant and nightclub business meant that he kept unsocial hours and could never resist the temptation to lie in whenever he could. She decided against breaking into his deep slumber for the second time to tell him where she was going, and instead headed back out towards the pool.

Just as Theo had predicted, no one was as yet up.

An hour ago it would have sent her into a tailspin to think that she was going to be alone with the man, who she was beginning to think of as a bully whatever Michael had to say on the subject, but now she strode out with the bit very firmly between her teeth.

It was to find him already in the pool, cutting through the water with the fluidity of a fish. She watched for a few minutes, fascinated by the movement of muscle, and then slowly walked towards one of the sun loungers.

She tried to take in the breathtaking view, to relish the illusion of the pool leading straight out on to the horizon, but time and again she found herself staring at the body scything through the water until finally she stuck her hat on and relaxed back, linking her fingers lightly together.

This time she was aware of his approach even though her eyes were closed. She heard him emerge from the pool and then the slap of his feet as he dragged a chair over to her and sat down.

‘I didn’t think that you would take up my invitation to join me,’ Theo said, looking down at her, at that slither of pale skin where her top ended and her jeans began. Her breasts were two small mounds pushing against the thin cotton of her T-shirt.

‘Why shouldn’t I? Besides, you’re right; Michael would want us to be friends or at least to make an effort to be amicable.’

Women didn’t usually view him as an object of dislike with whom effort was needed to be amicable but he let it go.

‘Is this your first visit to Greece?’ he asked instead, keeping his voice even. Her eyes were still closed and he found himself looking, unobserved, at those small, rounded breasts. A handful, no more. With some effort he looked away.

Abby opened her eyes and reluctantly looked at him. His hair was wet and slicked back and his body had that still damp sheen from the water. Frankly, she wished he would put his shirt back on because that hardened, well-muscled torso was just a little too much in her face for her liking.

‘My first visit to Santorini,’ Abby said coolly, averting her eyes and staring straight ahead, which was a far more calming view. ‘I’ve been to Athens. A few years ago.’

‘With your family?’ Theo asked.

‘No.’

Since she obviously didn’t want to expand on her answer, he sat back and waited in silence. Sooner or later she would fill it. People were predictable. And, since he wanted to find out as much about her as he could in the limited time at his disposal, he would wait for her to supply the details that would eventually bury her.

‘I don’t have any family. At least not in England,’ Abby eventually said irritably. ‘My parents went to Australia to live seven years ago. We don’t see one another very often, I’m afraid.’

‘You went with friends, then?’ Theo prompted. ‘Athens is a beautiful city, but I’m surprised you would have chosen that as a destination with friends. It lacks the rampant night-life of some other places, like Ibiza. Isn’t that where most young English people go to have a good time?’

‘Most,’ Abby agreed, resisting the bait. Athens was just one of those things she had no intention of talking about. Actually, even thinking about that long weekend there made her feel slightly sick. It had been the last time that she had known complete, innocent happiness. She had been in love, or so she had thought, and the world had been a very rosy place. Looking back on the person she had been then was like looking back at a stranger.

‘So you don’t know much about our island.’ Theo could barely contain the impatience in his voice. ‘Or do you? Did Michael tell you anything about it? I can’t remember the last time he was here.’

‘Oh, no. He didn’t discuss it much. Just said that the villa was your grandfather’s holiday home and that he was having his birthday celebrations here.’

‘And has the villa lived up to your expectations?’ he enquired silkily.

Abby stiffened. ‘I didn’t really think what to expect.’

‘Come now, surely that’s not true. Everyone has a vision in their mind when they’re heading off somewhere on a holiday.’ He omitted to mention the word free to describe her one week stay but it was on the tip of his tongue.

‘It’s a magnificent house,’ Abby said neutrally. She turned towards him and gave him a long, cool look. ‘Is that the right answer or is there something else I ought to say? I’m surprised by its size but only insofar as it seems big for one person to use as a holiday home.’

She might look like a girl of nineteen, he thought, but there was nothing infantile about her mind. Had he really expected that there would be? Any gold-digger worth her salt would have the shrewdness of a fox and would be clever enough to know how and when to use it. Of course she wouldn’t have tried to squeeze too much information out of his brother about where they were going. That would lead to suspicions. Even his trusting brother would be wary of the third degree, no matter how skilfully handled.

‘It was built at a time where there were far more family members around to use it. My grandmother was still alive and all their children were still at home. Then, for a short while, there were grandchildren. Times have changed but my grandfather’s affection for the island is still the same and he still chooses to come here every so often so that he can appreciate the peace of the surroundings. Naturally, Santorini is far more touristy than it used to be, but he contents himself with staying in the house and has very little idea of the shops and boutiques and hotels that have gone up in the past couple of decades.’

‘Doesn’t he get lonely, coming here by himself to relax?’ Abby was drawn into the conversation against her will. It was safe enough, she supposed, and besides, like it or not, he had a mesmerising voice, dark and deep like velvet.

‘My mother accompanies him whenever she can and usually brings some of her friends.’ Theo sat back in the chair and gazed out towards the endless landscape. ‘My grandfather is old. It would be more stressful for him to start taking holidays in a hotel some place he didn’t know than to come back to what he knows. Timos and Maria, who look after the place when it’s empty, have been here for ever. They are almost as old as he is and they are as familiar with him as old friends. Often, if he is here by himself, he will share his meals with them.’

‘And do you ever come here on holiday?’ Abby asked curiously.

‘I don’t tend to have holidays,’ Theo informed her flatly.

‘Why not?’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘Why don’t you take holidays? Are you one of these people who thinks that relaxation is some kind of sin?’

Theo looked at her incredulously. The way she addressed the question was very nearly bordering on insolent. Insolence was not a quality he ever encountered, not in the people he met in the line of work and especially not in the women with whom he came into contact. And the way she was looking at him, big brown eyes wide and steady and ever so slightly disdainful, made his pulse accelerate with anger.

A gold-digger, he thought, a common little gold-digger daring to cross verbal swords with him!

‘I run a vast and complex empire, Miss Clinton, and, crazy though this may seem, rushing off on holiday every two weeks is not a key ingredient to my success.’

‘People always think they’re indispensable but they never are. Michael often says that he may have opened two restaurants and a nightclub, and they may be doing well, but the most important role he could play would be to ensure that they carried on running well even if he wasn’t around. A bit like having a child, I guess. You put everything into bringing them up and of course they need you, but in the end, if the parenting is halfway decent, they’re confident enough to spread their wings and find their own destiny.’

‘And what would you know about children?’

Abby could have kicked herself. Theo Toyas was dangerous. She should have had her guard up instead of finding herself lulled into meaningful conversation. ‘I’m just saying that never looking up from the grindstone seems a pointless way of life.’ She shrugged, which sent his anger levels rising. To top it off, she actually turned away from him, dismissing him from her line of vision so that she could stare out towards the horizon.

His plan to find out about her had well and truly back fired and if he wasn’t so stunned he would have been substantially angrier with her.

He decided to postpone his inquisition for a little while longer. ‘Naturally I have highly dependable and talented people but I control the reins of my organisation. Call it doing things the Greek way.’ Her face, like her body, was neat. Small straight nose, sprinkling of freckles, surprisingly dark eyebrows for someone so blonde. He caught himself staring and gritted his teeth in exasperation.

‘Okay.’

‘Okay what?’ Theo grated.

‘Okay I’ll call it doing things the Greek way if it makes you feel better.’

Theo controlled himself with difficulty. ‘Tell me, how long have you known my brother?’

‘Oh, a couple of years.’

‘A couple of years. You’ve been going out with my brother for a couple of years and your name has only managed to surface now? I find that very hard to believe. Michael calls our mother every week. He would have talked about you a lot sooner.’

‘I said that I’ve known him for a couple of years, and I have. We’ve been friends for a while.’ Abby could feel herself slipping into dangerous territory. She knew where he was going. Thinking about it, she had seen the drift of his suspicious little mind the minute she had clapped eyes on him and she couldn’t afford to antagonise him into digging any deeper. She had to convince him that everything was precisely as it seemed and getting under his skin was not the right way to set about the task.

She turned to face him and smiled. Warmly, she hoped. ‘We clicked straight away. Michael’s got all the qualities I admire in a man. He’s kind and thoughtful and modest. You would think that in his line of work those are exactly the qualities that would let him down, but all his staff adore him and so do I.’

‘And how did you two meet?’ He could hear the sincerity in her voice but he couldn’t abandon the suspicion that it was all a little too good to be true. People were never straightforward towards each other when it came to dealing with vast sums of money.

‘I worked for him,’ Abby said simply. ‘I was the accounts manager for his restaurants when they opened up. At first there was just me and a secretary, but as they’ve become more and more successful the team has grown. Now, there are ten of us and we work flat out. You’ve never been to Brighton to see Michael, have you?’

‘It is easier for my brother to travel to London to see me, usually for lunch, although lately we have not met as often as we might have hoped. We both have busy schedules.’

‘His restaurants are super,’ Abby enthused, eager to elaborate on a safe topic. ‘One is a pub-style restaurant. Lovely cosy place but with superb French food, and the other’s fancier, although the menu is really quite simple. We’ve found that most people don’t actually want to go out and be faced with a choice of weird things. They like their food to be tasty and fairly straightforward, so we do fantastic sausages and garlic mash, and slow-cooked shin of beef and other dishes along those lines. It’s very popular. In fact, at the moment there’s a two month waiting list for tables at both restaurants.’

‘What a charming eulogy to my brother’s culinary ventures,’ Theo drawled. ‘I’m sure he would have found such enthusiasm very inspiring when he was first starting out.’

Abby tried not to show her intense dislike for the man sprawled in the chair next to her. Every inch of him spoke of arrogance. She had the unnerving sensation that he was circling her, taking his time, trying to find the chink in her storylines that would validate his low opinion.

‘I hope so,’ Abby said equably. ‘It’s a tough business starting out on your own. Other people’s support can be invaluable.’

‘And is this when my brother began appreciating your invaluable contribution to his life?’

‘Oh, I wasn’t the only one who had confidence in his success.’

But I bet you were the only one who had the added advantage of some seriously persuasive feminine wiles, Theo thought. Abigail Clinton might not have the immediate, obvious sex appeal of the full-busted hourglass centrefold, but he had to admit that there was something alluring about her.

‘You should get your swimsuit,’ he said, changing the subject. ‘The pool is lovely. Always at its best when no one else is in it.’

‘I haven’t brought one.’

‘You haven’t brought one?’

Abby blushed and looked away. ‘I…I’m not that confident when it comes to swimming,’ she confessed grudgingly. ‘I did think about bringing one so that I could tan on a beach some time, but then I changed my mind.’

For the first time hostility and apprehension gave way to simple embarrassment and she felt her skin begin to tingle uncomfortably under his piercing black stare.

‘It’s not that unusual,’ she snapped, scowling. ‘Lots of people can’t swim.’ She turned a deeper shade of pink as a slow smile of amusement curved his lips. ‘It’s all right for you—’ Abby flung herself into the ensuing silence, redolent with his silent laughter at her expense ‘—you grew up surrounded by swimming pools and sea! Some of us didn’t!’

Theo was intrigued. He had wanted valuable information, information he could use to build up his case against her so that he could prevent a travesty of a marriage taking place, but this useless snippet was curiously engaging.

‘I didn’t think that you needed to be surrounded by swimming pools and sea in order to learn to swim,’ he said, staring at her flushed face. ‘I thought schools in England offered swimming lessons as part of the curriculum.’

‘They probably do!’ It was out before she had time to think. It wouldn’t take a genius to work out the next logical question to her outburst and she waited in gloomy silence for the inevitable.

‘You mean you didn’t go to school in England? Did you grow up in Australia? Is that why your parents returned there?’

Abby looked at him with a hunted expression. ‘No, I didn’t grow up in Australia. I had an unusual upbringing,’ she eventually muttered.

‘How unusual?’ He sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and continued to look at her with what she thought was an unhealthy level of interest.

Couldn’t the man see that she was uncomfortable? Yes, she thought waspishly, of course he could, which would be no reason for him to back away from the subject. Well this, at least, was no great secret, was it?

‘My parents were…a bit unorthodox. They travelled a lot.’

‘You mean they were gypsies?’

‘Of course they weren’t gypsies! Not that I have anything against gypsies, as it happens! But do I look like a gypsy to you? Do I? With this hair?’ She yanked off the hat and extended one long handful of her amazing hair towards him. Theo realised that he was thoroughly enjoying this surreal turn in the conversation. He took the proffered hair and made a show of examining it carefully.

‘Could be dyed,’ was his comment as she snatched it out of his fingers.

‘I’ve never dyed my hair in my life.’

‘So explain.’

‘Okay. If you really must know, my parents were…were…sort of…hippyish.’ There. It was out. She waited for the roar of laughter and the immediate attack. Instead he was looking at her with real interest. ‘They didn’t believe in material possessions or settling down. When I was older, Mum told me that life was one long adventure and what was adventurous about settling down with a mortgage and a job at the bank? So they travelled. Course, I did go to school but never anywhere for very long, not long enough to…’

‘Take swimming lessons? Make friends?’

‘Of course I made friends! Lots of them over the years.’ But they had come and gone and her parents had never understood that whilst they saw that ever-changing parade of people entering and leaving her life as exciting, she found it very hard to deal with. She had never really even had the opportunity to have boyfriends in the normal way. What would have been the point? They would have been short-lived anyway. Which, with the benefit of hindsight, had made her a walking target for being hurt, because when her parents left for Australia and she could finally impose stability on her life, she just didn’t have the accumulated experience to spot the cad. Oliver James had been charming and persistent and she had fallen for him hook, line and sinker, never spotting all the inaccuracies in his behaviour that most other girls would have seen a mile off.

That, she thought, was something Theo Toyas would never learn about!

‘That was incredibly selfish of your parents. Why did they decide to go to Australia?’

‘More space to wander.’ Abby grinned sheepishly. ‘Although they tell me that they’ve now opened a shop in Melbourne, selling organic food and ethnic ornaments. They’ve even bought themselves a small house and they’re planning on coming to England next year for a three month holiday.’

‘I’d like to meet them,’ Theo surprised himself by saying. He was picturing her as a girl, trekking in the wake of her parents from one place to another, longing for stability so that she could be like everyone else.

Then he reminded himself that really this was just the sort of background that would encourage her to go after a man with money, a man who could promise her the security she craved.

‘I don’t often meet nomads in my day-to-day life,’ he amended, backtracking on that fleeting impulse that had seen him wrapped up in her life story, hanging on like a kid listening to a riveting bedtime yarn. Touching though her little tale had been, it had nothing to do with the reality he needed to deal with. He gave her a brisk, cool smile and vaulted to his feet. ‘I’m going to have one last swim before I go inside for breakfast. In case you don’t know the routine, breakfast tends to be a buffet affair. Everyone’s going to be busy getting ready for tonight, so I shouldn’t expect to be waited on hand and foot if I were you.’

With that he turned his back and sauntered towards the pool, leaving her to simmer at the pointed dig in his remark. She was sorely tempted to throw her book at the back of that arrogant head of his, especially as it was a hardback, but no, giving in to emotion was a bad idea. Instead she glowered and removed herself from the lounger and headed back towards the villa.

For a minute there she had very nearly forgotten how dislikeable he was and that wasn’t going to do. For Michael’s sake, she had to be on her guard.

The object of her protectiveness was still asleep and Abby nudged him with one finger until he rolled over and looked at her blearily. ‘You can’t spend all day in bed,’ she informed him without preamble and Michael smiled at her drowsily.

‘You sound like a wife.’

‘Michael, be serious.’

‘I am being serious.’ He grinned. ‘Where have you been, anyway?’

‘By the pool.’

‘You can’t swim.’

‘I know that, Michael. I was by the pool with your brother and I’m beginning to think that this engagement business wasn’t a very good idea.’

That had him sitting up abruptly. Michael had a range of silk pyjamas. It was his only sartorial weakness. Today’s number was a deep blue and beige Paisley. Abby fleetingly wondered whether his brother had a similar taste in pyjamas and concluded that the man probably didn’t sleep in any at all. He didn’t strike her as a pyjama-wearing type. She immediately squashed any follow-up to that line of thinking and focused on her partner, who was looking at her with a worried expression.

‘Of course it’s a good idea. You’re not going to back out on me now, are you? Are you?’

‘I just didn’t think it through,’ Abby mumbled. ‘I can see why you wanted it, really I can, but now that I’m actually here, I don’t like deceiving your mother. And your grandfather, for that matter. They’re nice people.’

‘We’re not deceiving them,’ Michael whispered urgently. ‘And the reason we’re doing this is because they’re nice people. Please don’t back out on me now, Abby. Please.’

‘And another thing,’ she said uneasily. ‘Your brother suspects something.’

‘What?’

‘Well, for a start he thinks that I’m after your money.’

Michael grinned at that. ‘Well, that’s okay. He’s way off target, then.’

‘True, but the fact is that he’s going to probe until he finds out the truth.’

‘He’s here for three days, Abs. How much probing can one man do in the space of three days?’

A normal man, she wanted to say, not much, but your brother, more than I feel happy about.

‘I suppose I could just keep out of his way for the whole time,’ Abby said, more to herself than to Michael. ‘I mean, it shouldn’t be too difficult. I can just stick to whoever happens to be around and make conversation.’

‘Which would really make him think that you’ve got something to hide,’ Michael mused with a frown. ‘On the other hand, it might be better if you just try and convince him that he’s wrong. I mean, talk to him, give him the impression that you and I adore one another. Which, incidentally, also wouldn’t be a lie.’ The boyish grin was infectious and Abby found herself reluctantly drawn into his optimism.

‘And don’t worry; we’re only here for a week, then we’ll be back in England and everything will return to normal once more. Look, I’ll get dressed and we’ll have breakfast and then what say we head down to the town and do a bit of touristy stuff?’ He pulled back the covers, stood up and pulled her into his arms so that he could wrap her up in a big reassuring hug.

After the tension of being in Theo’s company Abby gave in to the hug with relief. One of the most wonderful things about Michael was the friendship he so unstintingly gave her. She had agreed to the engagement because she loved him and she succumbed to the wonderful mixture of tenderness and affection that he inspired in her.

‘But you just need to spend some time with him,’ he said into her ear. ‘Honestly, I know Theo can be a bit overwhelming but he has always been the fairest man I have ever known.’

‘If he was that fair…’

‘Fair but frighteningly old-fashioned in his beliefs. You have nothing to fear in his company. You’re not after my money and we do care deeply for one another. So give me a few minutes and we’ll head down for breakfast together. Okay?’

Half an hour later, they emerged to find that the household had finally awakened. From where he was sitting out on the front veranda, Theo watched as they joined in with the other guests, chatting and easy, their body language speaking of a certain closeness which he couldn’t believe was all it was made out to be.

She had tied her hair back into two very loose plaits and it irked him to see how genuinely warm her expression was as she made conversation with the other relatives milling around the buffet, helping themselves to the warm breads and fruit and cheeses. She turned around to say something to Michael and his brother grinned at whatever she had said and bent towards her to murmur something. Some sweet nothing, Theo thought, watching the display through narrowed eyes. The poor fool. Take one sexy woman and one gullible man and you get a divorce within a year and a hefty settlement for a gold-digger.

He frowned. When had he stopped thinking of her as a girl with no figure to speak of and started thinking of her as a sexy woman?

The main thing, he mused to himself, still following them as they helped themselves to some breakfast and took their seats at the far end of the table with his mother and two uncles, was that he was there to look out for his brother. It was what families did. They protected one another at all costs.

As though suddenly aware of him staring at her, Abby lifted her eyes and stared across the room and out towards the veranda, to where he was sitting, watching them and sipping his coffee. Theo met her gaze with cool, speculative eyes and was quietly satisfied when she gritted her teeth together and hurriedly looked away. She might have taken his brother for a fool but he was damned if she was going to think that he was the same.

He drained his cup and sauntered back into the villa, pausing where the group was sitting and chatting and leaned on to the table, palms spread to support his massive body-weight.