When she told him tonight that she’d be flying to Dijon tomorrow to stay with Abby and Raoul until she went back to California, she would feel she’d shown him the respect he deserved.
Today, while she’d had time after her arrival in Patras, she’d gone to a toy store and bought his son a set of three little ModMobiles on wheels, with interchangeable foam pieces. They were colorful and looked fun to play with. The clerk had put them in a gift bag.
Andreas, with his influence, had done things for her she could never repay. But she knew how much he adored his son and decided a gift for his little boy would please him.
Zoe brushed her hair into its usual windblown style and wore her floral enamel earrings. After applying a peach-scented lotion, she put on her favorite coral lipstick. Once she’d reached for her purse and the gift bag, she felt ready to walk out of the flat in her white leather sandals. It was only ten to seven, but her heart was pounding so hard, she couldn’t stay inside any longer.
This evening she found him lounging against the passenger door of his silver Mercedes sedan with his arms folded. He’d come early, too. Though he looked sensational in everything he wore, the black silk shirt and khaki chinos covering his powerful legs made him more dangerously attractive than ever before.
His penetrating black eyes roved over her, missing nothing. It made her think he was seeing her for the first time. Zoe sensed a marked difference in him that caused her insides to flutter. This was a new Andreas, throwing her off balance.
He straightened to his full height and opened the door as she walked up to him, swallowing hard. “Andreas—thank you for letting me do something for you tonight, even if you had to pick me up.”
One corner of his sensual mouth lifted. “Being a beach-city girl from California, your boss should have paid you enough money to buy the latest Porsche you once told me you coveted. Then you could have picked me up. I never saw anyone work harder than you.”
She felt the sincerity of his unexpected compliment to her bones. “That’s high praise coming from a man the media touts as the human dynamo of Greek industry.”
Her arm brushed against his well-defined chest as she climbed in the car. The mere brief contact darted to every atom of her body. He walked around and got behind the wheel. She could smell the familiar faint scent of the lime soap he’d used in the shower. There wasn’t anything about him that didn’t bring her alive.
You’re in such trouble, Zoe.
An excellent driver, he pulled into traffic and they headed for Rion, a suburb eight kilometers to the northeast of the city. It sat at the foot of Mount Panachaico. This evening she marveled over the view of the heavenly blue Gulf of Corinth spanned by the Rion-Antirion Bridge. The miracle of engineering linked the Peloponnese with mainland Greece.
Andreas had been right. She had a natural affinity for water and sunshine. How she adored Greece, the land of pristine beaches and twelve hours of daylight in summer! Tonight the sun wouldn’t set until close to nine. To be here with him like this was better than any dream where he was always part of it, but forever out of reach and shrouded in mystery.
“Now that you’ve finally finished with your research, do you feel like a woman without a cause?”
She feared he could see right through her. “You’re a very intuitive man and already know the answer.”
They soon reached the delightful-looking open-air restaurant with large white umbrellas to shade the tables. He parked on the side of t
he road next to the beach and shut off the engine.
“Andreas? Before we get out, I wanted you to have this.” She handed him the bag she’d kept on her lap.
He shot her a surprised glance. “Dinner and gifts? What have I done to deserve all this?”
“Take a peek.”
In seconds he’d pulled out the box and opened it. The smile that broke out on his handsome face was worth everything. “Ari is going to love these.”
“They look fun to me, too, and indestructible. That photo you showed me of him in your sunglasses tickled me. I may not have met him, but I can just picture him pushing these around on the sand, pretending he’s at one of your hotel construction sites. Your little boy is so lucky to have a great role model in his remarkable father.”
She felt him hesitate before he said, “You’re the one who’s remarkable.” Just now his deep voice sounded husky. Something had been going on in his mind she couldn’t decipher. “So tell me the real reason you’ve come back.”
The truth, Zoe.
“Since we met, I’ve developed feelings for you. Guilty feelings because you’re not free. It frightened me and I ran away. That was childish. You deserved to know the truth face-to-face. If I’ve embarrassed you, I’m sorry.”
He was quiet so long, she couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking. In a minute he gathered the toys into the bag and placed it on the back seat before getting out of the car to help her.
The restaurant was getting crowded, but she’d reserved a table that had an exquisite view of the gulf. The host showed them where to sit and the waiter came right over.
Zoe gave Andreas a brief look. “Please choose whatever you want and I’ll have the same.”
“You trust me?” he quipped.
“How can you ask me a question like that?”