Unreal.
And yet the reality of it was vivid. Far, far too vivid—
‘You were right—it’s hardly a lake at all any more.’ Nikos’s voice penetrated her thoughts. ‘This will call for dredging. All the same…’ He paused, scanning around him. ‘It will be spectacular one day.’
His gaze came round to Sophie again.
‘Did I do well, buying this place?’
There was humour in his voice and warmth in his eyes. She felt the breath squeeze in her lungs.
For a moment she did not move—could not. Only let her gaze be held by him, only let herself be warmed by the warmth in his eyes.
Once he looked at me like that all the time….
An ache started in her. She pulled her gaze away.
‘It’s very beautiful,’ she said. There was constraint in her voice now.
Did he feel the same? He must, for abruptly he turned away, checking out a stand of ash saplings that had invaded from the woods beyond the lake.
‘Those will have to go,’ he said. ‘And we’ll need more specimen trees planted.’
We…
The ache in her side intensified. There was no ‘we’. There never could be—never again.
She blinked. Nikos turned back. His eyes flickered over her, but she kept her expression veiled.
‘Time to see the house,’ he announced. His tone was brisk, businesslike.
Dutifully, Sophie followed him back through the long grass, up to the crumbling terrace.
‘This way,’ he said, and walked up to the door, fishing the keys from his trouser pocket, walking more quickly than he needed to. Briskly, he opened the front door of the house. The lock was stiff, but the door opened smoothly enough, even though the movement brought a strand of a cobweb floating down. He stepped inside, nostrils wrinkling at the dusty smell, and gazed around him.
Yes, he was right to have bought this place. On the verge of ruin it might be, but it was a gem of a house! Neglect and deterioration could not disguise the elegance of its proportions, nor the beauty of its interior. The moulding around the ceiling edge, the sweeping rise of the staircase, the dusty chandeliers suspended from the high central rose all testified to that.
‘So, what do you think?’
He half turned. Sophie was in the doorway, looking up and about her. She hadn’t seen the hall from this perspective before, and it was stunning.
‘It’s wonderful,’ she said. The words came out spontaneously as she craned her head, gazing upwards.
Nikos stopped looking at the beautiful proportions of the hall—another set of beautiful proportions were riveting his gaze. Sophie’s slender body was outlined in the sunlight filtering down through the high-set windows above the front door, making a halo around her hair. The exquisite line of her profile, the bow of her slightly parted mouth, the arched line of her throat, the gentle swell of her breasts all made his breath catch. He could not look away. Could not.
How does she do it? How?
Warning bells sounded inside his head, but he ignored them. Ignored, too, the warning words sounding there—be careful, be careful…
Instead he went on gazing, feeling emotion uncoil inside him as if from a long, long sleep of many years.
Then her gaze swept round and down, and back to him—and pulled away, breaking the moment.
‘Can you see this place as a hotel?’ he asked.
Her expression flickered a moment under the impact of his regard, then steadied, darting about a moment to take in the space around her.
‘Not really,’ she said slowly. ‘It’s just a beautiful grand house.’ Her brow furrowed slightly. ‘Who lived here?’ She’d wondered that on her earlier explorations, finding it sad that it was so clearly no longer inhabited.
‘A very elderly widow who’d married the owner and lived here for fifty years with him before he died. Her nephew inherited and wanted to sell.’
‘Fifty years?’ Sophie echoed. So many years of marriage! She felt her heart contract. So beautiful a house to live in, for so long! In her head burned, betrayingly, the thought that had pierced her the day she’d wandered around on her own. We could have lived here, Nikos and me…our own private paradise…
But paradise had not been waiting for her. Neither with Nikos nor without. To purge the traitorous thought, she made herself go on. ‘I’m sure it could be done up to make it work as a hotel,’ she said.
‘It has to be restored very carefully, with scrupulous period detail,’ Nikos replied, his gaze working methodically, assessing all that needed doing. ‘The historical architect who is to be in charge was to have met me here this afternoon. He’s been delayed until tomorrow. I’m staying overnight at a local inn. You’re in the only habitable part of the house.’