One Night...Nine-Month Scandal

‘That sounds completely logical.’ His voice was gently mocking. ‘If I lose any of my possessions, the first place I look is the fridge.’

‘You never lose anything because you’re scarily organised. You ought to loosen up a bit. And it’s mean to tease me. I’m just really tired.’ Her comment wiped the indulgent smile from Alekos’s face.

‘We will go home and I will call the doctor.’

‘I don’t want to go home and I don’t need a doctor,’ Kelly said mildly, pushing her iPod deep into her bag to avoid losing it again. ‘I’m pregnant, not ill.’ Glancing at him, she noticed the sudden tension in his shoulders and sighed. It was like waiting for a bomb to go off. ‘I just need a decent night’s sleep.’ And she needed to stop lying there worrying that he was going to change his mind and walk out any day. ‘It doesn’t help that you’re insatiable.’

‘I seem to recall you were the one who woke me at five this morning.’

Kelly turned scarlet as two women turned their heads to stare. ‘Could you keep your voice down?’

‘They shouldn’t be listening to a private conversation.’

But Kelly knew that the truth was that wherever they went women stared. Alekos attracted female attention. Slightly uneasy about that fact, she changed the subject. ‘I expect you did well at school. You’re very clever.’

‘I was bored stiff.’

Kelly gave a strangled laugh. ‘I pity your poor teachers. I wouldn’t have wanted to teach you.’

Alekos stopped and pulled her into his arms, smoothing her hair away from her face with his hand. ‘You are teaching me,’ he said huskily. ‘All the time. Every day I learn something new from you. How to be patient. How to solve a problem in a non-violent way. How to find an iPod in a fridge.’

‘Ha ha, very funny.’ Her heart was thundering like horses’ hooves in a race, because he was so indecently good-looking and all his attention was focused on her. ‘You’re teaching me stuff, too.’

He gave a slow, dangerous smile. ‘Perhaps you’d better not list exactly what I’m teaching you while we’re in a public place. That’s why we came here, remember?’

‘I didn’t mean that.’ A warm, fluttery feeling settled low in her belly, a feeling that increased as he lowered his mouth to kiss her.

Alekos led her along a narrow back-street and into a tiny restaurant where he was greeted like a hero.

‘My grandmother used to bring me here. It is traditional Corfiot cooking.’ Alekos pulled out a chair for her. ‘You will enjoy it.’

‘You adored your grandmother.’ Kelly twisted the ring on her finger self-consciously. ‘I feel so guilty that I almost sold this. I had no idea it was hers. And I didn’t have a clue that it was that valuable. I almost had a heart attack when I saw that bid.’

‘But not as big a heart attack as when you saw me standing at the school gates and realised that I’d bought it.’

‘That’s true.’ Kelly wanted to ask whether he’d intended to give it to Marianna, but she decided that their fragile relationship didn’t need any more external bombardment. ‘It was a shock.’

‘Why did you choose to teach in that place? You could have taught in a big school in a city.’

Kelly watched in surprise as several waiters arrived carrying a dozen small plates of different Greek specialities. ‘When did we order? Or did they just read your mind?’

‘They give you whatever the kitchen has freshly prepared. If you want authentic Greek cooking, then this is the place to come. You haven’t answered my question.’

‘About why I chose Little Molting? I wanted to keep a low profile.’

In the process of spooning dolmades onto her plate, Alekos paused. ‘A low profile?’

Kelly picked up her fork, wondering how honest to be. ‘The whole press thing was a bit overwhelming after our wedding that didn’t happen. They wouldn’t leave me alone. Only because I was linked to you, of course,’ she said hastily, her hair falling forward as she studied the food on her plate. ‘Not because I’m interesting by myself. And, actually, I wouldn’t really want all that. Can you imagine what they’d print about me in one of those celebrity magazines? “And Kelly has graciously invited us to photograph her in her beautiful home. And here we are in her kitchen where you see that, oh dear, she has forgotten to empty the bins”.’ Realising that Alekos hadn’t said a word, her voice tailed off and she looked up at him. ‘What? I’m talking too much?’

‘The doctor said that the press hounded you on our wedding day.’

Kelly tucked her hair behind her ear. ‘Yes, well, you not turning up at the wedding was quite exciting for them, I suppose. For reasons I’ve never understood, some people thrive on the misery of others. Watching someone coping with trauma appears to be a popular spectator-sport. I don’t get it myself. If I see someone upset I either want to comfort them or give them privacy, not ogle them, but there you are—people are sometimes a bit disappointing, aren’t they?’

‘Theé mou, I am truly sorry for what I put you through.’ His voice was hoarse and he reached across the table and caught her hand. ‘I didn’t think about the press or the attention that would be focused on you.’

‘That’s because you live your life behind high walls and you have security men who make the Incredible Hulk look puny.’ Kelly stared down at the strong, bronzed fingers covering hers. She wondered if he realised that she was still wearing his ring on her right hand. Maybe he’d just forgotten; men were pretty rubbish at noticing things like that, weren’t they? She tapped her fingers on the table, hoping to draw attention to it. ‘Are you right-handed or left-handed?’

Alekos looked astonished by the sudden change of subject. ‘Right-handed. Why?’