Greek Mavericks: The Greek's Unforgettable Secret. Кейт Хьюит
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She froze on the threshold. ‘Damon?’
What was he doing here?
Leaning back against the wall, looking as hot as sin, Damon raised a brow and smiled faintly as she walked in.
‘Are you stalking me?’ she challenged lightly.
‘Surely it’s the other way around?’ he countered in his low, husky drawl.
She was instantly tense, thinking of Thea just a few miles down the road.
‘Lizzie?’ Damon pressed.
He was instantly suspicious. ‘Damon,’ she replied coolly.
Lifting her chin, she met his stare steadily. Pulses of heat rushed through her. He was so unbelievably good-looking, and she needed thinking time. She should have known he would be on the island—after all, his family owned it—but somehow she’d just blanked the possibility from her mind.
‘Is something distracting you?’ he asked.
Oh, so much! ‘The sight of such delicious food,’ she lied.
He looked at her as if he didn’t believe a word of it. ‘It certainly is a distraction.’
‘I didn’t expect to see you,’ she admitted.
He raised a brow, and his eyes burned with amusement as his gaze roved openly over the outline of her body beneath her jeans and simple top. She would have said something, but with Iannis looking on with interest she knew that wouldn’t be wise. She hated to disappoint her matchmakers, and she wouldn’t be rude in front of them, but neither Iannis nor Stavros knew her history with Damon. And nor would they, if she had anything to do with it.
‘Damon has been working all day to make things special for my staff,’ Iannis explained. ‘We are catering the big birthday party next week.’
That was all she needed to know. Why else would Damon be here if it weren’t for the fact that it was his father’s birthday they were talking about?
‘He wanted my people to have a night off,’ Iannis was explaining proudly.
Lizzie quickly pulled herself together. ‘That’s very good of him,’ she agreed.
‘And as soon as you’ve settled in you must come down to the party,’ Iannis insisted. ‘That’s right, isn’t it, Damon?’ he pressed.
‘Most definitely,’ Damon confirmed, with a look at Lizzie that sucked the breath clean out of her lungs.
‘Eat—drink—dance—make love!’ Iannis exclaimed helpfully, with a wide smile. ‘That’s all that’s allowed tonight.’
So long as they weren’t all compulsory, Lizzie thought, while Damon’s wicked smile reached his eyes and stayed there.
‘Oh, and there are some gifts waiting for you on the bed upstairs,’ Iannis added.
‘Gifts for me?’ Lizzie glanced at Damon.
‘They’re nothing to do with me,’ he said.
So gifts from whom? Lizzie wondered.
‘I’ll see you downstairs as soon as you’ve had chance to freshen up,’ Damon called after her as she left the kitchen.
She turned at the door. ‘I’m not sure I’ll be coming down again.’
‘Of course you will.’
He said this in a way that made her run up the stairs as if the hounds of hell were after her.
Closing the door on her apartment, she closed her eyes and sucked in a deep, steadying breath. Damon only had to look at her for lust to surge through her veins, and that was dangerous. She was a very different person now from the girl she’d been at eighteen. She had far more sense, Lizzie told herself firmly as she switched on the light and looked around.
The first thing she saw were the ‘gifts’ laid out on the bed. She knew immediately who they were from, and rushed across the room to pick the dresses up and hold them to her face. Then she reached for her phone.
‘Sundresses for the old lady!’ she said, laughing happily as Thea came on the line.
Thea giggled. ‘Do you like them?’
‘I love them—but you shouldn’t be spending your money on me.’
‘I bought them at the market on our first day here. As soon as I saw them I knew I had to buy them for you. I fell in love with the sunny yellow one right away, and the blue’s so pretty.’
‘I love them both,’ Lizzie admitted. She would never have wasted her scant funds on buying anything so frivolous for herself.
‘Do they fit?’ Thea demanded.
‘They’re perfect.’ Hugging the dresses close, she battled to contain her emotions.
‘Be sure to wear one of them for the concert.’
‘I will,’ Lizzie promised. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow. I can’t wait to hear you play.’
‘Playing the violin isn’t everything,’ Thea informed Lizzie, stalling her thoughts in a way that had never happened before.
‘What do you mean?’ Lizzie asked, wondering if she’d said or done something to discourage Thea.
‘Just that. Love’s far more important than anything else,’ Thea explained loftily. ‘Love is all I care about now. I’m in a romantic phase.’
‘I see…’ Lizzie said faintly.
She didn’t see at all. Instead she wondered if she’d ruined two people’s lives now.
She had to stop this, Lizzie accepted. She was always feeling guilty about something, and she had done so since her father’s trial. As soon as she had discovered how many innocent people he’d harmed, and thought about the many expensive gifts he’d bought for her over the years, she had been plagued with guilt until it had become part of her psyche.
‘Gotta go,’ Thea said, startling Lizzie back into the moment. ‘I’ll send you a text!’
‘Bye, sweetheart…’
She was the luckiest woman on earth, Lizzie thought, smiling as she stared at the small screen filled with kisses. She was so lucky to have Thea in her life, and she would never take that joy for granted.
The joy in which Damon should be sharing?
GUILT HAD SNUFFED out Lizzie’s happiness. She hated deception above all things. It was too strong a reminder of her father’s betrayal. But the rules still applied. She had to tell Thea before Damon. And she couldn’t just blurt it out down the phone. Thea had to be warned first…prepared. It would have to be done with the utmost sensitivity, and it was hard to find enough time to do that with a child who was always rehearsing.
Clinging to practicalities—as she always did when she couldn’t see her way ahead clearly—Lizzie explored her small apartment. It was such a luxury to have all this space after the confines of her tiny bedsit back in London. The walls were simply whitewashed, and the floor was polished wood. There was a small kitchen at one end, with a fridge thoughtfully stocked with essentials, and a balcony where she could eat breakfast overlooking the sea. The bed looked big and felt comfy, and it had a lovely sky-blue throw at the foot that matched the rug on the floor… All the colours of Greece.
So, had she finished procrastinating? Was she going to freshen up now and go downstairs to see Damon?
Of course she was. Soon…
She spotted a local bus timetable amongst some magazines. She’d need those times