One Night...Nine-Month Scandal

‘Yes, I did.’

She looked up at him, reminding herself not to fall for anything he said. ‘You have a funny way of showing it.’

‘You are the first woman I have ever proposed to.’

‘But not the last.’

‘I did not propose to Marianna.’

‘But you were going to.’

‘I don’t want to hear her name mentioned again. She has no relevance to our relationship. Tell me why you have black circles under your eyes.’

That’s right, change the subject, Kelly thought moodily. He obviously didn’t want to talk about Marianna. And maybe she didn’t, either. ‘I have black circles under my eyes because of you. Fighting you is exhausting.’

‘Then don’t fight me.’

Kelly wondered how her heart could still miss a beat even when her brain was issuing warning signals. Yes, he was gorgeous; there was no denying that he was gorgeous. Everything about him was designed to attract the opposite sex, from the leashed power in his broad shoulders to the haze of black hair revealed by his open-necked shirt. Desire pumped through her veins, her physical response contradicting her emotions.

Natural selection, she thought to herself, scrambling around for an excuse for the way she felt. It helped a little to pretend that she was genetically programmed to be attracted to the strongest, the fittest and the most powerful male of the species. And Alekos Zagorakis was all those things.

But just because she could feel herself sinking didn’t mean she was prepared to go down without a fight.

Make a fool of herself as she had first time around? Throw herself at a man who didn’t want her? No. Absolutely no. Not even knowing that she was carrying his child.

‘If you expect me to just surrender to you then you’ll be disappointed. I’ll never be submissive.’

‘I don’t need submissive. I do want honest.’

‘That’s rich, coming from you. When did you ever tell me what you were truly feeling?’

A muscle flickered in his lean cheek, the merest hint of tension in a personality big on control. ‘I don’t find it easy to open up, that’s true. I’m not like you. You spill out what you’re feeling, when you’re feeling it.’

‘It’s how I deal with things.’

‘And I deal with things by myself. That’s what I’ve always done. I have never felt the need to confide.’

Kelly picked up her drink again and sipped, brooding on the differences in their personalities. ‘So I might as well go home, then.’

‘No. There are things I nee

d to tell you. Things I should have told you four years ago.’

Judging from his tone, they were going to be things she didn’t want to hear. Kelly wondered uneasily if she should just tell him she was pregnant before he said something that would make her want to thump him. Being non-violent was becoming a real challenge around Alekos. ‘Am I going to hate you for what you say?’

‘I thought you already hated me.’

‘I do. In which case, you might as well just get on with it and say whatever it is you want to say.’ Ridiculously apprehensive, Kelly shrugged, trying to look cool and casual—as if whatever he said was going to make no difference to her. But it was obviously going to be something important, wasn’t it? Whatever it was had stopped him from turning up on his wedding day, which was pretty major from anyone’s point of view. And then there was the screaming tension she could feel pulsing from his powerful frame.

‘Just say it, Alekos. I’m not great with all this suspense and tension stuff. I hate it on those TV shows where they say “and the winner is…”, and then they wait ages and ages before they give you the answer, and you’re thinking, “for goodness’ sake, just get on with it”.’ Realising that he was looking at her as if she were demented, she gave a tiny shrug. ‘What? What’s wrong?’

Alekos shook his head slowly. ‘You never say what I expect you to say.’

Kelly thumped her glass down on the table. ‘I just want you to get to the point before the suspense kills me! I embarrassed you? I talked too much? I was messy?’ She wrinkled her nose, trying to think which of her other sins might have been sufficient to send him running for the hills. ‘I eat too much?’

‘I love your body, I find your need to drop your belongings as you walk surprisingly endearing, I have always been fascinated by your ability to say exactly what is on your mind with no filter, and you have never embarrassed me.’

The angle of the sun had shifted and it reflected off his glossy dark hair. Somewhere close by an orange fell onto the ground with a dull thud, but Kelly didn’t notice. She was too busy trying to hold back the sudden rush of hope that bounded free inside her, like a puppy suddenly let off a lead. ‘I never embarrassed you? Not even once?’