The Greek Bachelors Collection. Rebecca Winters

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СКАЧАТЬ didn’t think of it like that. I keep thinking how much they’re like us. The age mix is different, of course. I’m barely a year younger than Adara and Demitri is almost four years younger than me, but we were only a few years older than Evie and practically left to raise ourselves. Adara was all I had for a mother figure and she was looking after Demitri. I guess some part of me thought it was too much to ask of Evie and Androu to take on Zephyr, but they have functioning parents.”

      “So does he,” she reminded, wishing she could be amused by his almost naïve misreading of the situation, but it was so tragic. “Is that why Adara always seems so...” She searched for the right word to describe her former boss that wouldn’t insult the whole family. “I always thought you and she seemed very introspective.”

      He snorted. “You mean aloof? Distant? Cold? I’ve been called worse and yeah, we’re not the most demonstrative family, but Adara did the best she could. I can’t fault her. I’d do anything for her.”

      Ignoring the pang of jealousy that struck, she listened deeper, hearing exactly how far he was willing to go on his sister’s behalf.

      “Did you step in to protect her from your father?” Part of her knew she shouldn’t ask. She didn’t want to open up her own wounds and show them off so she couldn’t expect him to, but her heart ached for the boy he’d been.

      He flinched and turned away to set a tiny cup on a silver saucer. “Not that it did much good. She still caught her share. Demitri was the one we worried about. He was so little.”

      “Oh, Theo. And you think you’re not cut out to be a father?”

      “Have you seen how Demitri turned out? If that’s my work, I’d be scared. The man’s a menace.” He offered her the first coffee.

      “You have that one. I like mine with steamed milk.” She stepped into place before the machine and filled the receptacles. “And yes, I have met your brother. Thank goodness for the repellant that is the Makricosta uniform because we all would have been pregnant. He’s very adept with the ladies.”

      “Were you attracted to him?” His sharp gaze made her very aware of her nakedness under the robe she’d pulled on when she’d realized Zephyr had been stolen from his cot.

      “I can’t deny he’s good-looking, but no, not really attracted.” Not the same way I’m attracted to you. She pretended that the spurt of coffee and steamed milk required close attention, using it to hide the betraying longing she shouldn’t be feeling toward him.

      “A year and a half ago you weren’t dating because your career was too important. Now Zephyr’s in the way, isn’t he?”

      “I wouldn’t put it like that, but he’s definitely a factor. I’m not about to introduce a string of men into his life. So yes, between him and what’s been going on at home and starting my new job I haven’t had time to date. But dating has never been a priority so I don’t miss it.” There, that glossed nicely over her reasons for still avoiding men.

      Yet here she stood, vulnerable in a thin robe held closed by a slippery tie, in the presence of a virile man who could overwhelm her without even trying.

      Would he try? She sidled her gaze over his broad chest. He was wearing yesterday’s shirt that still had some of his nephew’s supper on it. That made him seem very human and normal. If he crushed her against that stained cotton, her heart would sing.

      When she glanced up, she found him staring into the part of her lapels where her upper chest was exposed. Behind the light satin of the robe, her nipples tightened. Why him, she wondered, but didn’t actually care. It was just such a delightfully good sensation to react to a man.

      With a harsh inhale, he visibly pulled himself together and looked away. “Are you still sending money home?”

      Her sensual curiosity drained away.

      “Yes.” She didn’t elaborate and deliberately put space between them, taking her coffee to the breakfast bar and positioning herself so she could see the kids if they moved. Partly it was decent child minding, but at a deeper level, she was confused and trying to figure out why she longed for Theo to make a move on her when she was still stinging from his dropping her from his life.

      “Have you told your family about Zephyr?” he asked.

      A spike of grief pierced her as fresh as the day her family had first shunned her, hanging up on her because she had dared to run away to live with Saranya, rather than stay in the ruin they all considered her life had become. “Put it this way. If you don’t acknowledge him, my cousin’s daughter and Quentin are his only support after me.”

      Silence. When she glanced back, he was scowling toward the lounge, arms folded in frustration. “There are plenty of people with old-fashioned views in America, but it still surprises me they’d ostracize you for having a baby out of wedlock.”

      She sipped her coffee, ignoring the opening to tell him it was more than that. She shouldn’t feel ashamed, but there was also the bit where she’d have to explain that the steps she’d taken to leave India weren’t entirely legal.

      “Would—”

      He didn’t continue so she dragged her gaze to his again, finding him looking something like he had that night in Bali: slightly defensive, rumpled but gorgeous in spite of it. His jaw was stubbled, his hair disheveled, but his proud bearing and those hollow cheeks above a strong jawline made him one of those men who would get better looking with age.

      There was no sign of uncertainty in his tall, solid stillness. His expression was impassive, as if he was asking after her plans for the day.

      “Would it mend fences with your family if we married?”

      He couldn’t have hurt her more if he’d walked right by her yesterday at the hangar and pretended he didn’t see her. She wasn’t a romantic. After being sexually assaulted, she had quit dreaming of the perfect man sweeping her off her feet with a proposal that made her cry happy tears—except possibly if it came from him.

      Seriously, Jaya, you have to let this infatuation die.

      But one thing she knew she wanted in any marriage proposal was for love to form the underpinning of it.

      “Probably,” she answered, forcing herself to reply honestly, but the word choked her. She had to sip at her coffee to clear her voice into working order. Eyes on the sleeping cherubs, she added, “But my country is full of women who married because they felt they had no other choice. I do have a choice and I’m not interested.”

      Another thick silence.

      He had to be relieved, but she didn’t glance over to interpret what he might be thinking. Her insides ached too much, especially near her heart. If he saw it, he’d know how much she longed for something deeper from him and that could send him running again, making Zephyr suffer for her foolishness.

      For such a powerful, confident man, he was awfully gun-shy about being close to people. Given what she’d learned about him, she could see how he’d fear betrayal of the worst kind lurked behind the slightest show of warmth. His warnings against trying to fix him burned bright in her mind. It added up to a hopeless basis for a marriage so she felt compelled to douse any spark of that talk.

      “I should answer some emails while I have the chance,” СКАЧАТЬ