Powerful Greek, Unworldly Wife

She was dreading the inevitable rejection.

‘Are you planning to eat dinner with the baby? You have a hidden passion for baby milk perhaps?’ Leandro’s smooth, masculine tones came from behind her and she jumped because she hadn’t expected him to come looking for her.

‘I was just making sure he’s all right.’

‘Of course he’s all right. He slept for the entire journey and now he’s asleep again, which means, agape mou, that you have no excuse for not joining me.’

‘Why?’ Millie heard the ring of desperation in her own voice. ‘Why would you want my company?’

‘Because that’s what married couples do. They eat dinner together.’

‘Perhaps I’d better stay with the baby, just for tonight,’ she hedged, ‘in case he’s unsettled after the journey.’

‘He’s asleep.’

‘He might wake up and realise he’s in a new environment.’

‘In which case he’ll yell. One of Costas’s qualities is that he isn’t shy about letting you know he’s unhappy,’ Leandro said dryly, staring down at the baby with a faint smile on his handsome face. ‘All the bedrooms open onto the terrace, you know that. If he cries, we’ll hear him.’

‘I don’t like leaving him.’

‘We have a team of eight staff here, including the nanny that you appointed yourself.’

‘He doesn’t know them yet!’

‘Neither is he likely to, if you don’t allow them near him. Enough, Millie. The baby is going to be asleep!’ His tone held a note of exasperation. ‘Why is it that you’re afraid to spend an evening with me? I’ve made a particular effort to be approachable and thoughtful. Am I such an ogre?’

She shook her head. ‘No.’

Leandro gave an impatient sigh and slid his fingers under her chin. ‘I am trying to understand what is going on here,’ he breathed, ‘and you’re not giving me any clues. I thought you loved Spiraxos. I thought you’d be pleased to be here.’

‘It’s very quiet.’ She meant that she found the intimacy difficult, but he misinterpreted her words.

‘I’ll arrange a few shopping trips it that’s what’s bothering you.’

Preoccupied by what was to come, Millie barely heard him. ‘Why would that help? I’m not interested in shopping.’

‘Millie.’ His tone was dry. ‘You used to spend hours deciding what to wear, so don’t tell me you’re not interested in clothes. I’ve never known a woman spend so long staring into her wardrobe.’

Because she’d had no idea what to wear. She’d been desperately insecure and those insecurities had grown and grown, fed by his gradual withdrawal. The harder she’d tried, the more he’d backed off until it had become obvious to her that he’d deeply regretted the romantic impulse that had driven him to marry her. And how much more insecure was she now? If she’d found it hard being his wife a year ago, now it seemed a thousand times harder.

This was the perfect opportunity to tell him everything that had happened to her after she’d walked out that day, but Millie just couldn’t get the words past her lips.

‘Given that you’re so dedicated to the baby’s welfare,’ Leandro drawled, ‘I will watch him while you

take a shower and change for dinner. Remembering how long it used to take you, I’ll prepare myself for a long wait.’

Millie cast a last reluctant look into the cot, willing Costas to wake up and yell. Willing him to give her an excuse to miss dinner. But for once he lay quietly, sleeping with a contented smile on his tiny mouth, oblivious to her silent signals and growing distress.

Which meant that she’d run out of excuses.

Leandro glanced at his watch and sprawled in the nearest chair with a sigh of resignation. Previous experience told him that he was going to be in for a serious wait. The length of time Millie took to get ready had been one of the things that had driven him crazy about her.

Not at first, of course. When they’d first met he’d been startled and charmed by how unself-conscious and natural she was. She couldn’t bear to be away from him, even for a moment. Any time spent in the bathroom had been together. Making love. Touching.

She’d been addicted to him, and so affectionate that it had astonished him. Accustomed to women who guarded their behaviour and protected themselves, he’d never met anyone as free and honest with their emotions as Millie. She’d been as straightforward and honest as the fruit that grew on her parents’ farm.

Or so he’d thought.