Tempted By Her Greek Tycoon. Katrina Cudmore

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      Given Loukas’s dismayed expression, it took a Herculean effort for Georgie to keep her smile in place. Heartbroken or not, Nikos Christou was going to get a piece of her mind when he got back to Talos.

      ‘My what?’

      She dropped her hand at his aghast tone.

      Crikey, Loukas was very different from his brothers. Even more so than the family photos suggested. Sombre, intense, dark... And he was enormous—at least six foot four. With the build to match.

      Light golden-brown eyes, a classically handsome face, thick dark brown hair... The only flaw in his perfection was the seriously hacked off tension emanating from his every pore—that and the murderous glint in his eye.

      Her move to Talos wasn’t supposed to be ending up like this, with her broke and at the mercy of a Greek god who looked as if he had reached the end of his patience.

      Moving to Talos had been her dad’s dream. After living in endless countries with her restless father, Georgie had been sceptical about his declaration that this was where he wanted to settle. Last summer, when she had finally agreed to visit this small island off the coast of Athens in the Argo-Saronic Gulf with him, she had been sure that this would be yet another failed quest by him to find happiness.

      But from the moment she’d seen Talos she had understood why he had fallen in love with this island of emerald waters, golden beaches and dense pine forests. Fallen in love with the whitewashed, blue-shuttered, terracotta-roofed houses that tumbled down the island’s craggy coastline. Fallen in love with its tranquillity, with the way time slowed down here.

      And as her dad had drawn up his plans to renovate the run-down farmhouse he’d been in the process of buying she had seen first-hand how the island had transformed him. The light, the heat, the stunning sea view from the farmhouse...

      The friendliness of their new neighbours and the slow pace of the island had eased her dad’s perpetual nervous energy. At the end of their week-long visit, she too had believed that he had finally found a place he could be happy in.

      But her poor dad had never got to fulfil his dream. A fatal ruptured aortic aneurysm a month after he had bought the property had ended it all.

      Georgie needed to fulfil his dream for him. It was going to be her last goodbye to her soft-hearted dad, who had never got over her mum walking out on them. She intended to keep the house, run it as a guest house. She would run a sea-swimming business during the summer months and leave the island during the winter months for work elsewhere.

      Three months ago—just four weeks after her dad had died—she had left her job in Spain and moved here, convinced that her savings would enable her to renovate the property and establish her business.

      But unforeseen building delays had eaten up the emergency fund she had factored into her budget and she was rapidly running out of money. The building work was coming to an end, and she had the funds to pay for that, but not for the final payment on the furniture she had ordered for the guest rooms.

      She needed to work for a few weeks to earn enough for the final instalment, otherwise she would be forced to cancel her summer bookings and move elsewhere to rebuild her funds.

      She flexed her hands, feeling her broken nails from weeks of endless gardening and DIY pinching the callused skin of her palms, and faced her new boss. Well, she hoped he was her new boss.

      Keep smiling, Georgie. You need this job. There’s no other work on the island at the moment.

      ‘Didn’t Nikos tell you? He recruited me while you were away. It’s only a temporary role, to tide you over until a permanent replacement can be found.’

      She gave him a friendly smile, keen to build bridges with her new boss and neighbour, but that only made his scowl deepen further.

      For a brief second his gaze moved down over her body. And then he looked away, as though irritated with himself. He shuffled the beaten-up-looking soft tan leather weekend case he was carrying into his opposite hand.

      ‘Where are my other siblings?’

      ‘Marios had a scuba-diving appointment and Angeliki has gone to Athens. I think she has a date tonight.’

      His long fingers rubbed against his temple, as though he were defeated by her answer. She gave him another small smile, wishing she could think of something to say that would help. That would ease the lines of tension pulling at the corners of his eyes.

      ‘Nikos owes you an apology. He had no authority to recruit you. Let’s talk in my office.’

      Though her heart plummeted to the floor at Loukas’s job-terminating-sounding tone, she had to think of the party, and the staff members who had been so excited for days about the celebration.

      ‘I’m supposed to be hosting the party. Can we talk tomorrow?’ She paused and then, unable to stop herself, she added, ‘Nikos’s costume is in his office. You could wear it for the party... It’s a Captain Hook costume. I think it would suit you.’

      He looked at her incredulously, and then his eyes narrowed as he realised that she was teasing him. His scowl told her that, unlike Nikos, he wasn’t one for playful banter. He really was different...unfortunately.

      ‘I’ve work to do. I need to wrap this party up. There’s too much that still has to be completed before we open. I will speak to the staff and then we will talk in my office,’ he said, before heading in the direction of the hotel terrace along a path lined with thickly blossoming lavender.

      She chased after him but her mermaid tail slowed her progress. Unable to catch him, she shouted out in desperation. ‘Loukas! No!’

      He turned around and stared at her, clearly peeved. Under his unimpressed gaze she waddled towards him, feeling less like an elegant mermaid and more like a hung-over duck.

      ‘The party has only just started. The staff will be so disappointed. They’ve put huge effort into designing their costumes.’

      His gaze travelled down over her costume and then he looked back up with a raised eyebrow. As if to ask, And precisely why should I be worried about any of this?

      But then his gaze moved back down over her body again, this time lingering at her breasts, at her waist. His eyes darkened.

      Pinpricks of awareness flooded her body. This was her boss. Her neighbour. Her friends’ brother. She had no business being so aware of him physically.

      She stepped back, overwhelmed by his size, by the heat licking her insides.

      At her movement, the dark appreciation in his eyes turned to annoyance. His mouth twisted unhappily.

      For long seconds he studied her coolly. ‘I won’t stop the party but you and I still need to talk.’

      And then, much to her consternation he held out his arm.

      ‘Let me help you.’ Those brown eyes stared at her intently. ‘You seem to be floundering out of your natural habitat.’

      He was messing with her...wasn’t he?

      His expression remained stern as he waited for her to respond. She wanted to say СКАЧАТЬ