‘You think because I kissed you I assume you sleep around?’ Andreas said incredulously.
‘No. Yes. I mean—’ He was tying her up in knots! ‘I don’t wish to discuss this,’ she said hotly, drawing the tattered remains of her dignity about her as she rose to her feet. ‘I’m going to get ready for dinner. Goodbye, Andreas.’
‘I’ve been invited to stay for dinner,’ he said with suspicious meekness. ‘Is that all right with you?’
‘This is your parents’s home,’ she said primly. ‘I wouldn’t dream of suggesting you shouldn’t stay. You must do as you please.’
‘Thank you, Sophy.’ He eyed her with barely concealed amusement.
He had risen with her, and now, as she felt his hand at her elbow, she drew in a deep breath and forced herself to show no reaction at all to his touch as they began walking back towards the house, even though she could feel the vitality and strength that was such an essential part of him flowing through his fingertips and making her flesh tingle. She wanted to shrug his hand away but it would be too crass, and so she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and ignored what the touch of his thigh against hers was doing to her equilibrium.
‘Your clothes are in my car,’ he said softly without looking at her as they walked. ‘I didn’t think it wise to leave them down by the pool as it might have prompted a question or two in view of your early departure after dinner, but I thought if I returned them to you last night it might have…disturbed you.’
Huh! She could hear the hidden laughter in his voice and her face was straight when she said tightly, ‘Thank you.’
‘My pleasure,’ he returned smoothly. ‘And I shall leave for my own home straight after dinner so if you feel inclined for another midnight dip, please do not hesitate on my account.’
‘I won’t,’ she assured him with a tartness that made the dark eyebrows rise just a fraction in silent reproach.
For all the world as though he didn’t know he had been deliberately goading her, she told herself savagely. But he had known all right. He was just loving this, all of it. But at least his quiet mockery sent hot pride flooding into every nerve and sinew and enabled her to march back to the house with her head held high and her back straight.
Sophy was applying the last light touch of make-up to her flawless skin before joining the others downstairs when the knock sounded at her door. Jill had already gone down some minutes earlier when Sophy had urged her to do so after her sister had knocked on her door, and Sophy had been pleased Jill had appeared quite happy to do so. Jill’s confidence was definitely improving.
Thinking her sister had come to hurry her, she called out gaily, ‘All right, all right, I’m ready, don’t worry!’ as she rose and walked to the door.
Andreas was leaning lazily against the opposite wall when she opened the door, and in spite of the fact that the previous night had prepared her for what the sight of the big, lean body encased in an immaculate dinner suit did to her senses, she found she had to take a breath or two before she could say, ‘Oh I’m sorry, I thought you were Jill, come to tell me I’
m taking too long,’ as her cheeks began to burn with annoying colour.
‘Take as long as you like.’ He levered himself away and reached for the small bag at his feet. ‘Your clothes,’ he offered imperturbably, his expression definitely sardonic.
His bronzed skin and black hair seemed ever darker against the light cream wall. He looked all male, the veneer of civilisation barely held in check. She caught the fanciful thought, angry with herself but shivering without knowing why.
‘Thank you; I’m ready now.’ She took the bag and walked across to place it on a chair, and when she turned back Andreas was framed in the doorway. His grey eyes lingered for a moment on the pure honey-tinted curve of her throat as she stood, slim and ethereal in the pale blue silk cocktail dress she had chosen to wear, and something in his gaze made her voice slightly breathless as she said, ‘Won’t it look a little strange if we go downstairs together? I’ll wait a moment or two, if you like.’
‘I don’t like.’ His voice was not hostile; rather, it had that thick smoky edge which had haunted her dreams the night before.
‘But they might wonder—’
‘Sophy, my parents and Jill have more important things to do than to wonder at the incredible sight of two people walking into the dining room together,’ he said matter of factly, the sheer patience in his voice emphasising how silly she was being.
She nodded jerkily, wondering how it was that Andreas always made her feel like she was eighteen instead of twenty-eight, or perhaps a young gauche girl just entering her teens was more apt. Her normal cool common sense seemed to take one look at him and fly out of the window. Still, she was the only person who could change that so she’d better pull herself together. Right now.
She picked up the small silk purse in the exact shade of the dress and joined him on the landing, brushing past him as he stood aside for her to exit but with his hand still holding the door.
The contact, brief though it had been, brought a hectic pink flush to her cheeks as they walked along the corridor towards the stairs, but if Andreas noticed he didn’t comment.
As they walked together down the wide staircase, Sophy slanted a surreptitious glance at him from the corner of her eye. The hard profile was giving nothing away. The strong forehead, black brows, straight thin nose and square chin could have been sculpted in granite for all the expression they held.
Sophy swallowed drily as her eyes rested a moment more on his firm, nicely moulded mouth before she dragged her gaze away. The memory of that kiss had been with her all day; even when it hadn’t been in the forefront of her mind it had been lurking in her subconscious. She hated it but she didn’t seem to be able to help it.
She could still feel how it had felt to be held so close to that big rugged body; even now her flesh was tingling at his closeness whereas he— She bit her lip hard as a mixture of self-disgust and irritation made her soft mouth tighten. He seemed quite oblivious to her supposed charms. And yet he had admitted down by the pool earlier that he felt the sexual chemistry between them every little bit as much as she did.
So what did that mean? That he could control himself better than she could? That thought wasn’t to be borne, and it brought her sweeping ahead of him into the dining room with her backbone rigid and her eyes narrowed. She just had time to compose her face into a more socially acceptable expression before the others turned from where they were standing on the patio and called for Andreas and Sophy to join them.
The meal was as good as the night before and the conversation even better now Jill had gained enough confidence to do her part. Christina was a first-class cook and fiercely Greek, which meant most of the delicious dishes paraded in front of her Sophy hadn’t tried before, but every one was excellent. Dolmades—meat and rice wrapped in vine leaves—and taramasalata—a compote of fish roes, garlic and lemon leavened by breadcrumbs—were two of Christina’s staple dishes, but the table groaned with other succulent morsels.
Fried potatoes, slices of eggplant in batter, olives, cheeses, bowls of tomato, cucumber and peppers, seafood in various disguises, meatballs in thick sauce, plates of cold sliced veal, pork and lamb were all brought in at various stages of the long, leisurely meal. Sophy found souvlak—a pancake of brown meal garnished with tomatoes, peppers, onions and yoghurt and filled with thin slices of lean meat which had been pressed into a cone and cooked over a grill—to be especially to her liking, but it was all delicious. And Dimitra explained each dish in her soft gentle voice, giving a list of the ingredients and its Greek name along with the way they were cooked.