“It would barely have been under construction then.”
“You never mentioned a thing about it!”
One black brow lifted. “Knowing why you’d come to Greece, I’d hoped to surprise you when it was finished.”
But she’d left Patras before he could tell her what he’d been hiding...
She shook her head. “You’ve surprised me, Andreas Gavras! I’d love to go!” Her cry coincided with the arrival of their white chocolate panna cotta dessert.
Before the waiter walked away, she said, “When you’re ready to bring us the bill, please give it to me.”
He darted Andreas a glance before glancing back at her. “Very good, kyria.”
“The waiter knows who you are,” she said after he’d walked away.
“If that’s true, then he’s thinking what a lucky man I am to be wined and dined by the most beautiful woman in Greece.”
Zoe smiled. “Quoting Charlotte Bronte from the pen of Jane Eyre. ‘Decidedly, you, sir, have had too much wine.’” She’d taken liberties with the quote. “But I’d be a fool not to enjoy the flattery. In the words of Lord Byron, ‘Sermons and soda can come later.’”
His eyes lingered on her mouth, sending shivers through her. “Do your college students know how lucky they are to have you for their teacher?”
Everything Andreas said and did was getting to her. Thank goodness the waiter came back so she could pay him in cash and leave a big tip. “The dinner was excellent.”
“Efkaristo, kyria.”
Andreas stood up and collected her. “Shall we go get our feet wet?”
“That’s a good idea. Maybe we won’t need the sermons and soda after all to clear our heads.”
He walked her back to the car, where she put her bag on the floor and they removed their shoes. After locking it, he reached for her hand and held it as they headed toward the water. Could there be a more romantic spot anywhere on earth? The sun had slipped below the horizon of this magical evening. To her mind, Greece was a land for lovers and Andreas was the most gorgeous man alive.
“You’re not still frightened of me, are you?”
The unexpected question in that deep sensuous voice slowed her steps. His hand still held hers as she looked up at him. The blood pounded in her ears. “Not of you,” she answered honestly, “but our relationship. It can’t go anywhere.”
His hands lifted to cradle her face. “It already has and we both know it. Maybe this will help clarify how I’ve felt about you from the beginning.”
He lowered his dark head and gave her a slow, passionate kiss, the kind she’d been dreaming about since the moment they’d met. The hungry response she wasn’t able to hold back had to leave him in no doubt why she’d returned to Patras.
A moan escaped her throat as she reeled from the intensity of long-suppressed emotions. But his kiss didn’t go on and on. Instead he relinquished her mouth and lifted his head.
“I would have done this sooner, but you were too important to me to make a wrong move.” She couldn’t believe that’s what had been in his mind. “When you said goodbye on the phone, I feared my instincts were wrong and you hadn’t developed genuine feelings for me.”
Zoe backed away from him, struggling for breath. “You’re still not divorced.”
He tipped his head, forcing her to look at him. “I thought maybe your own divorce had put you off men. Off me. I couldn’t imagine any man letting you go. In time I hoped you’d open up.”
She folded her arms to her waist. “I didn’t ask you about your marriage for the same reason. Though a friendship had grown between us that I trusted and enjoyed, it didn’t change the fact that we’ve both been careful not to pry beneath the surface of each other’s
personal lives.”
“Yet you came back. Thank heaven.”
CHAPTER FOUR
ZOE’S HEARTBEAT DOUBLED. She lowered her head.
“I confided in Abby. It was the first time she’d heard that I spent the month of June getting to know you while I was working. She sensed my relationship with you was important to me.