An Offer She Can't Refuse

He might not remember her. It had been six years ago. She looked different with her hair short. And he’d surely had many women pass through his life in the meantime. But if he did recognise her and stopped her from making a quick escape, forcing a re-acquaintance, introductions … her mind reeled away from all the painful complications that might follow.

She did not want Ari Zavros directly touching her life again. That decision had been made before her pregnancy had to be revealed to her parents. It would have been unbearable to have him questioning an unwelcome paternity or sharing responsibility for Theo on some dutiful basis—constantly in and out of her life, always making her feel bad for having loved him so blindly.

It had been a wretched business, standing firm against her father’s questioning, refusing to track down a man who didn’t want her any more, insisting that her child would be better off without any interference from him. Whether that decision had been right or wrong she had never regretted it.

Even recently when Theo had asked why he didn’t have a father like his kindergarten friends, she had felt no guilt at telling him that some children only had mothers and that was the way it was for them. She was convinced that Ari could only be a horribly disruptive influence in their lives if, given the chance, he decided to be in them at all.

She didn’t want to give him the chance.

It had taken so much determination and hard work to establish the life she and Theo now had, it was imperative to hold onto the status quo. This terrible trick of fate—putting Ari and herself in the same place at the same time with Theo and her mother present—could mess up their lives so badly.

A confrontation had to be avoided.

Tina pushed back the sickening waves of panic and fiercely told herself this shouldn’t be too difficult. Ari had company. Surely it would be unreasonable of him to leave his tete-a-tete with one woman to re-connect with another. Besides, he might not recognise her anyway. If he did, if he tried to engage her in some awful memory-lane chat, she had to ensure that her mother had already taken herself and Theo out of this possible scenario.

She could manage that.

She had to.

CHAPTER TWO

THE rest of afternoon tea took on a nightmarish quality for Tina. It was difficult to focus on the delicacies they were served, even more difficult to appreciate the marvellous range of tastes. Her mind was in a hopelessly scattered state. She felt like Alice in Wonderland at the mad hatter’s tea party, with the red queen about to pounce and cut off her head.

Her mother demolished the fig tart and green-tea macaroon. Theo gobbled up the white chocolate cake. She forced herself to eat a caramel slice. They were then presented with another plate of wicked temptations: a strawberry dipped in white chocolate and decorated with a gold leaf, a meringue lemon tart, a passionfruit ball with an oozing liquid centre … more, more, more, and she had to pretend to enjoy it all while her stomach was in knots over Ari’s presence behind her.

She smiled at Theo. She smiled at her mother. Her face ached with the effort to keep smiling. She silently cursed Ari Zavros for spoiling what should have been a special experience. The fear that he could spoil a lot more kept jogging through her mind. Finally her mother called enough and suggested they return to the grand lobby and take another leisurely look at everything before leaving.

‘Yes, I want to see the fish again, Yiayia,’ Theo agreed enthusiastically. ‘And sit on the camel.’

Tina knew this was the moment when she had to take control. Every nerve in her body twanged at the vital importance of it. She had already planned what to say. It had to come out naturally, sound sensible. She forced her voice to deliver what was needed.

‘I think a toilet visit first might be a good idea. Will you take Theo, Mama? I want to get a few photographs from different windows up here. I’ll meet you at the elevator.’

‘Of course I’ll take him. Come, Theo.’

She stood up and took his hand and they went off happily together. Mission accomplished, Tina thought on a huge wave of relief. Now, if she could get past Ari without him taking any notice of her she was home free. If the worst happened and he chose to intercept her departure, she could deal with the situation on her own.

Having slung her travel bag over her shoulder, she picked up her camera, stood at the window, clicked off a few shots of the view, then, with her heart hammering, she turned, meaning to walk as quickly as she could past the danger table.

Ari Zavros was looking straight at her. She saw the jolt of recognition in his face, felt a jolt of shock run right through her, rooting her feet to the floor, leaving her standing like a mesmerised rabbit caught in headlights.

‘Christina …’ He spoke her name in a tone of pleasurable surprise, rising from his chair, obviously intent on renewing his fond memory of her.

No chance of escape from it. Her feet weren’t receiving any messages from her brain which was totally jammed with all the misery this man had given her.

He excused himself from his companion who turned in her chair to give Tina a miffed look—long, silky, blonde hair, big blue eyes, peaches and cream complexion, definitely one of the beautiful people. Another fond memory for him, or something more serious this time?

It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was getting this totally unwelcome encounter over and done with. Ari was approaching her, hands outstretched in charming appeal, his mouth tilting in a wry little smile.

‘You’ve cut your beautiful hair,’ he said as though that was a wicked shame.

Never mind the shame he’d left her in.

Her tongue leapt into life. ‘I like it better short,’ she said tersely, hating the reminder of how he’d enjoyed playing with the long curly tresses, winding it around his fingers, stroking it, kissing it, smelling it.

‘What are you doing in Dubai?’ he asked, his amber eyes twinkling with interest.

‘Having a look at it. Why are you here?’ she returned.

He shrugged. ‘Business.’

‘Mixed with pleasure,’ she said dryly, with a nod at the blonde. ‘Please … don’t let me keep you from her, Ari. After all this time, what is there to say?’

‘Only that it feels good to see you again. Even with your cropped hair,’ he replied with one of his megawatt smiles which had once melted her knees.

They stiffened in sheer rebellion. How dared he flirt with her when he was obviously connected to another woman? How dared he flirt with her at all when he’d used her up and left her behind him?