Aware that Alekos was watching her with astonishment, Kelly realised that her response was probably less than appropriate, given the value of the gift, but she couldn’t help it.
Somehow over the past few hours she’d managed to convince herself that he was going to propose—that the celebration that Helen had mentioned, was going to be their engagement.
Hot, embarrassing tears scalded her eyes. ‘Thanks—it’s lovely.’
‘Then why are you crying?’
‘I’m just—’ She cleared her throat and tried to pull herself together. ‘Well, a bit stunned. I wasn’t expecting this.’ Complete idiot that she was, she’d been expecting something different.
‘I thought it could mark this new stage in our relationship.’
‘The sex stage, you mean?’
‘This necklace isn’t about sex, Kelly.’ Eyes narrowed, he watched her cautiously. ‘Is that what you think?’
‘No. No, I don’t think that. I—Just ignore me. I’m pregnant, and pregnant women are often emotional.’ She emphasised the word slightly, watching for signs of discomfort on his part, but he seemed perfectly calm. In fact, his only emotion was concern for her.
‘Would you like to lie down? I wanted you to be there with me tonight, but if you’re not well…’
He wanted her by his side, she reminded herself.
All right, so he hadn’t proposed, but their relationship was going in the right direction. She was being horribly unrealistic thinking that their relationship would be fixed in a few weeks. It was going to take much more than that, wasn’t it?
She had to be patient.
Trying to calm herself down, Kelly pulled away from him and walked across to the mirror on legs so shaky it was as if she’d forgotten how to walk. He hadn’t proposed, but things had changed between them. She could sense it.
For a start he’d called this house ‘our’ home, not ‘my’ home. And he had agreed to her suggestion that they leave sex out of the relationship, which showed that he was at least trying to accommodate her wishes. He saw her as his partner, not just a sex object. And, most importantly, when she’d said the word ‘pregnant’ he hadn’t made a dash for his Ferrari.
That had to be a good sign.
Chapter Seven
SIMMERING with frustration across the table, Alekos watched with mixed feelings as Kelly charmed the group of high-powered businessmen. Bringing her with him had been a strategic move on his part to soften what would otherwise have been a difficult meeting. On the one hand he was relieved that the business side of things was going well, on the other he was raw with jealousy as he watched one of the younger men make her laugh.
It had been a long time since he’d seen Kelly so relaxed and happy.
She looked as though a light had been switched on inside her, as if she’d thrown off a weight of worry.
They were seated on the terrace of one of the best restaurants in Athens, shielded from other diners by a terrace of vines.
It was a perfect, blissful setting.
Alekos had never felt so on edge.
Not only was his temper reaching boiling point as he watched the young man flirt openly with Kelly, but his body still throbbed with sexual arousal because that one, torrid encounter in his villa had been nowhere near enough to satiate an appetite that had been building for far too long.
As Kelly leaned forward to reach for her water, the hot-pink dress gaped slightly and he saw a faint hint of shadow at the place where her breasts dipped. Sure that the other man was enjoying that view far more than the sights of Athens, Alekos tightened his fingers around his glass. He sat ultra-still, holding onto control by a thread.
Apparently oblivious to the danger he was facing, his business rival carried on his conversation. ‘When Alekos said he was bringing a woman, we were not expecting someone like you.’
Listening to Kelly’s delighted response to that outrageous flattery, Alekos tapped a slow and deadly rhythm on the table, his thoughts as black as thunder.
Was she doing it on purpose?
Was she trying to stoke his anger and jealousy?
‘What do you think, Alekos?’ It was Takis who spoke, the elder of the group of bankers. ‘Will the expansion have a negative effect on profits?’