Greek Tycoon, Inexperienced Mistress

She loved the more relaxed lifestyle on the island and lived in casual clothes, only putting on a dress when the sun went down. She had dined royally on local dishes at the taverna down by the harbour. She had sat there below the plane tree on one memorable evening, watching Atreus dance a ceremonial dance with the other men in celebration of a saint’s day. The only freedom he had known growing up had been on Thrazos. His over-protective guardians had been happy to see him spend his free time here on the island. It was on Thrazos that Atreus had learned to sail, and he knew everyone in the town by name, pausing to greet people in the narrow streets and ask knowledgeably after their families.

On the yacht they also sailed to more sophisticated haunts on the island of Rhodes. Atreus had purchased a beautiful set of modern designer jewellery for Lindy in Rhodes Town, and she had shopped in the designer outlets to add to a holiday wardrobe that had turned out to be inadequate for her needs as the days passed. Theo travelled almost everywhere with them. At the end of their first week he had been baptised in a simple but moving ceremony held in the island’s church, Ag Roumeli. He was a pack-up-and-parcel baby, happy to sleep or eat anywhere and at any time without complaint, and she found him a pure joy to look after.

Lindy gazed down into her son’s big dark eyes. ‘I screwed up,’ she said again, thinking wretchedly about the wedding night which she had wrecked. ‘But your father is very slow on the uptake,’ she complained, thinking of all the loaded hints she had dropped since, not one of which had been taken up and acted on.

In an effort to redress the damage she had made several first moves: reaching for his hand, dressing in her most inviting outfits, looking, smiling, striving to flirt…all to no avail. In despair she had even steeled herself to sunbathe topless on the yacht, only to be warned, as she lay there in self-conscious embarrassment, that she was asking to get burned. Either she no longer had what it took to attract Atreus, or only a grovelling apology was going to break the ice.

That evening, when Atreus had gone off to work in his office and Lindy had filled as much time as she could saying goodnight to Theo, who was usually asleep before she was even out of the nursery, she decided that it was time to be more aggressive in her tactics.

Atreus glanced up with level dark eyes full of enquiry when she appeared in the open doorway. ‘Something up?’

Lindy could feel colour burrowing up below her skin in a sunburst of heat. She brushed her damp palms shakily down over the skirt of her elegant white sundress and breathed, ‘I’m sorry about the way I behaved on our wedding night.’

Arrogant dark head lifting at an angle, Atreus lounged back in his chair and studied her with stunning golden eyes. ‘Is that a fact? If that’s true, why has it taken this long for you to do something about it?’ he countered drily.

Having had to push herself to the brink to make her approach and apology, Lindy wanted to scream in frustration. Atreus was always so contrary. He never managed to do what she expected or wanted him to do. Here she was, trying to bridge the chasm between them, while he chose to take a more hostile stance at the most inopportune moment. ‘You didn’t say anything, either,’ she pointed out helplessly.

‘It wasn’t my place or my problem. It was for you to speak to me. Something you seem to find very intimidating,’ Atreus derided. ‘Of course, you did do the exact same thing when you realised you were carrying my child.’

Dismay filled Lindy and she gave him a reproachful glance. ‘Don’t drag that in as well—that’s over and done with!’

‘No, it’s not. Not when you’re still hiding things from me. I find it hard to believe that I used to think you were so open and honest.’

‘I was very stupid on our wedding night.’ Lindy knotted her hands together as she fumbled for the right words. ‘I don’t know how to explain it you.’

‘You’re going to have to find a way, because until you have explained it to my satisfaction I’m not sharing a bed with you again.’ Atreus spelt out that assurance without hesitation.

In receipt of that thrown gauntlet, Lindy gritted her teeth. ‘You’re being horribly unreasonable.’

Atreus sprang upright and strode forward. ‘Not at all, I’ve been generous beyond all expectation,’ he returned in hard contradiction. ‘Some men might have walked out on you and the marriage on the same night. I stayed and gave you time to work it out. If this is the result after three weeks, I’m not impressed.’

Temper was jumping up and down inside Lindy like hot steam trying to escape. ‘Obviously I shouldn’t have bothered trying to apologise!’