She waited until the burning in her cheeks had died down and then walked back into the dining room, meeting Jill’s inquiringly raised eyebrows with a careful smile. ‘It was Andreas,’ she said quietly, noticing the way Dimitra and Evangelos froze momentarily before they carried on eating.
‘Oh, yes?’ Jill had never been renowned for her tact, but Sophy had been hoping for once her sister might be a little diplomatic. It wasn’t to be. ‘Why was he calling you?’
‘Just to say he had to go to Athens on business,’ Sophy said a trifle limply, hoping it might encourage Jill to be subtle as she made her voice as dismissive as she could.
‘Oh, yes, the Tripolos contract. You remember I told you about it, my dear?’ Evangelos was talking to his wife but Sophy suspected it was more to save her further embarrassment than anything else, especially when he turned to include Jill and Sophy as he said, ‘Andreas is a brilliant businessman. I would be lost without him, but sometimes I feel he works too hard.’
‘That is because there is no one to encourage him home at night,’ Dimitra said maternally. ‘He needs a wife. I have told him this many times. It is high time he settled down.’
‘Perhaps that is why he has not looked for one?’ Evangelos returned with a wry smile and raised eyebrows.
‘He thinks I am a fussy mother.’ There was no rancour in Dimitra’s voice and her eyes were full of love as she looked at her husband. ‘But I know my Andreas. He will never be content with the beautiful, mindless creatures who throw themselves at him and have nothing in their heads but cotton wool. Nevertheless, he does need a wife, the right sort of girl.’
Dimitra’s voice was light and her gaze was steady as she smiled at them all, but as they continued to eat Sophy felt Andreas’s mother had been saying much more than the mere words indicated. Dimitra didn’t think that she was making a play for Andreas, did she? Sophy asked herself in horror, nearly choking on a piece of green pepper as the thought hit and hastily taking a sip of wine.
Had Dimitra been trying to tactfully warn her off without saying anything direct? It might indeed look as though she had thrown herself at Andreas as far as his parents were concerned, considering he had taken her out to dinner last night and she hadn’t got home to the early hours. What would they say if they knew he had asked her out tomorrow night?
She wriggled uncomfortably in her seat and found she had no appetite for the mouthwatering array of desserts Ainka brought in after the little maid had cleared away the other dishes.
Andreas clearly conducted his life independently of his parents, and that was fine—to be expected in a man of his age—but considering she was here as Evangelos and Dimitra’s guest, she was in a totally different position.
She sipped her coffee thoughtfully, joining in the conversation with the others automatically but with her mind a million miles away as she considered how best to get a message to Andreas the next day to emphasise she definitely, definitely had no intention of seeing him on a one-to-one basis again.
Dimitra suggested they might like to have coffee on the patio again, the night being a humid one, and as they all rose to walk out into the scented night air Sophy felt a restraining hand on her elbow. ‘Sophy?’ Dimitra’s voice was low as Jill an
d her husband disappeared out of the dining room doors, the long silky curtains billowing a little behind them.
‘Yes?’ Sophy forced a smile to her face as she waited for the polite cautionary word about Andreas she was sure would follow. She didn’t blame Dimitra; one son had married an English girl and had been lost to her for ever, so it was only natural Dimitra would prefer Andreas to marry what she was sure his parents would describe as a ‘good Greek girl’, someone familiar with their culture and on their wavelength. Which meant any involvement, however transitory, with Jill’s sister was not to their liking.
‘Andreas wants to see you again, doesn’t he?’ It was a statement of fact, and followed by a little rush of words as Dimitra said, ‘Oh, forgive me, my dear, for speaking to you in this way about a matter which is of no concern of mine, but I feel I just wanted to tell you…’
‘Yes?’ Sophy wasn’t quite sure where Dimitra was coming from. There was none of the gentle aggression she had expected.
‘He is not an island, although I know he gives that impression,’ Dimitra said softly, embarrassment making her colour high. ‘To the outside world he is Andreas Karydis, virtual head of a vast shipping empire which he controls by being hard, ruthless and clever. He has an intuitive knowledge of people which he uses to his advantage, but that has made him very cynical for one so young. He is not a fool, in other words.’
‘I think I realised that in the first five minutes I met him,’ Sophy said quietly. No one could think Andreas a fool.
‘He likes you.’ Dimitra’s soft gaze was very steady, and Sophy suddenly realised Andreas’s mother was made of sterner stuff than she had thought. ‘And he doesn’t like many people, I’m afraid. Oh, he will use them—the women too, if they are foolish enough to throw themselves at him—but he never allows anyone to touch the man inside. And the man inside is a good man. Of course, I am his mother and so I must confess to being biased. But I know he needs peace and happiness like everyone else.’
‘Dimitra, I’m not looking for any sort of relationship at the moment,’ Sophy said softly. Especially with Andreas. But she couldn’t very well say that to his mother. And she wasn’t quite sure about the liking part, either; she and Andreas struck sparks off each other and there was no doubt the physical chemistry was there, but as for liking her… But she couldn’t say that either—that it was good old-fashioned lust that attracted him.
Dimitra nodded slowly. ‘I think I knew this. But…’ She shrugged in a very continental way and didn’t continue what she had been about to say. ‘No matter.’ She smiled at Sophy. ‘You will not tell Andreas I have spoken to you in this way? He would be most annoyed with me.’
‘Of course not.’ Sophy still wasn’t a hundred per cent sure exactly what way Andreas’s mother had spoken! She rather suspected Dimitra had been trying to find out how her daughter-in-law’s sister felt about becoming one of Andreas’s ‘women’, and Sophy could well imagine there had been a velvet-coated warning in Dimitra’s comment about women who were foolish enough to throw themselves at Andreas. And she didn’t doubt there had been plenty.
Which made Sophy all the more surprised with herself when—she and Dimitra having started to walk across the room to join the other two outside, and Dimitra asking in a low undertone if she was going to see Andreas again—she answered in the affirmative. ‘Tomorrow night,’ she said quietly. ‘He has asked me to have dinner with him. He’s picking me up at six o’clock.’
Sophy determined she was not going to agonise over what to wear this time when, later the next afternoon, she emerged from the shower and stood in front of her wardrobe gazing at the clothes she had brought with her. She lifted a simple, pastel blue dress with an asymmetric hem-line off one of the hangers and laid it on the bed, along with a cotton cardigan in the same colour. Decision made, she told herself firmly.
She dried her hair, applied her make-up and was ready to go and sit with Jill and Michael at half-past five, Michael being in the process of munching his way through his tea on the patio.
‘Very nice.’ Jill smiled at her with her mouth but Sophy noticed her sister’s eyes were troubled. ‘You look lovely.’
‘What’s the matter?’ Sophy asked directly.
‘The matter? Nothing. Of course nothing’s the matter,’ Jill returned brightly, and then, as Sophy’s wry expression didn’t change, Jill said quietly, ‘Don’t get in too deep, Sophy. He is Theodore’s brother, remember.’
It was said discreetly, in an expressionless voice, with Michael in mind, and Sophy’s voice was equally flat when she replied, ‘Half-brother, Jill. They only share the same mother, remember, and Dimitra is a love,’ even as she asked herself why on earth she was defending Andreas. ‘And Evangelos’s a nice man.’