Then he saw her miserable face. Choking back his angry words, he pulled her into his arms. She cried against his chest, and he felt her shivering from grief and cold.
“I told her too late. I should have seen... I should have warned her long ago!”
“It’s not your fault.” Inwardly cursing both his cousin and her sister, Stavros gently stroked her long red hair until the crying stopped.
She looked up at him, her lovely face desolate, tearstained with streaks of mascara as she wiped her eyes. “I’m not going back.”
“Good.”
She took a deep breath. “Nicole didn’t send you after me?”
Stavros shook his head.
Her shoulders sagged for a moment, then she lifted her chin. “So what do you want?”
He came closer, looking down at her as scattered snowflakes whirled around them on the sidewalk in front of the dark, snowy park. “I told you.”
Her eyes widened, and her lips parted. Then she turned her head sharply away. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Just don’t.” She swallowed hard, her green eyes glistening with tears as she looked at him beneath the moonlight. “All right, I was a fool over Oliver. I see now it was just a dream to stave off loneliness.” Her voice broke. “But you don’t have to be cruel to prove your point. I know I’m not your type, but I do still have feelings!”
“You think I’m toying with you?” Searching her gaze, he said quietly, “I want you, Holly. As I’ve never wanted anyone.”
Looking away, she mulishly shook her head.
As she shivered, he took off his sleek black tuxedo jacket and draped it gently over her shoulders. Reaching out, he cupped her cheek, running the tip of his thumb over her tender, trembling lower lip. “Holly, look at me.”
Her eyes were huge in the moonlight as she flashed him a troubled glance. Behind her he could see the snowy park stretching out forever beneath the wintry, starlit night. She said haltingly, “You can’t expect me to believe—”
“Believe this,” he whispered. And, grabbing the lapels of the oversize tuxedo jacket around her, he pulled her hard against him, and swiftly lowered his mouth to hers.
CHAPTER THREE
EVEN IN HER wildest dreams, Holly had never imagined a kiss like this.
The few anemic kisses she’d had in her life, the forgettable ends of unsatisfying dates in high school and her one semester of college, had been nothing like this.
But then, she’d never been kissed by a man like Stavros.
His lips moved expertly as his tongue swept hers, taking command, taking possession. Held fast against his powerful, muscular body, she felt herself respond, felt her body rise.
Beneath his passionate, ruthless embrace, a spark of desire built inside her to a sudden white-hot flame.
She’d never felt like this before. The memory of her childish infatuation with Oliver melted away in a second beneath the intensity of this fire. A moment before, she’d been heartsick and despondent over her sister’s harsh words. But now, she was lost in a sensual dream, her whole body tight with a sweet, savage yearning she never wanted to end.
When he finally pulled away, Holly looked up at him in shock. Behind him, the bright lights of Midtown skyscrapers illuminated his dark hair like a halo.
“Agape mou,” he said hoarsely, stroking the edge of her cheekbone gently with his thumb. “You are everything I want in life. Everything.”
Her throat went dry. Trying to smile, she said unevenly, “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“I’ve never said it to anyone.” He looked toward the park’s black lace of bare trees against the sweep of moonlit snow. “But life doesn’t last forever. I can’t waste a moment.” He looke
d at her. “Will you?”
She bit her lip, feeling as if she was in a dream. “But you could have anyone you want. I’m so different...”