The Greek Bachelors Collection. Rebecca Winters

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ as he didn’t really care about being judged over something like that, he also made it a habit to keep from providing opportunities to be judged.

      “They were anxious so I chartered a helicopter,” Nic said. “Gideon had to stay with the ship. Everyone is okay, but what a mess. I don’t envy him. There’s my girl.” He broke into a wide smile as he caught Evie reaching from Rowan’s arms into his.

      “It’s not that we didn’t trust you, Theo. We just missed them so much,” Rowan said, her light touch on his arm apologetic.

      He gave a jerky shrug, subtly removing himself from her uninvited touch even though he didn’t hate it. She was nice enough and being sincere. It was just he wasn’t at his best, accosted by a lot right now with their unexpected visit and a distant, illogical disappointment he didn’t want to examine. He didn’t need her standing too close, sensing his tension, reading his vibe for him.

      “It’s fine, I understand,” he said, and strangely, kind of did. His chest filled with pressure at the way his sister was smothering the life out of Androu. Her eyes were closed, her lashes wet. He had a new understanding of how precious their babies were to them and was suffused with a weird self-conscious pride that he’d been able to keep their offspring safe for them, whether they had really trusted him to do so or not.

      “I knew he’d be fine. He knows you,” Adara said, voice thick. “But Gideon threw you into the deep end with both of them. I’m glad you called Jaya—she’s perfect—but what made you think of her? How did you know she was here? Where is she?”

      Before Theo could get past the suffocation provoked by questions about Jaya, she said, “I’m here.”

      They all turned toward her voice.

      “Sorry,” she said with a flash of anxious eyes at Theo. “The commotion woke him and he needs a drink.”

      Zephyr looked sweaty and flushed, hair damp and pushed up in tufts around the face he buried in Jaya’s neck to hide.

      Theo moved to fetch the boy’s cup, distancing himself from something he didn’t want to face, then kicked himself just as quickly. This was exactly the kind of abandonment he would hate himself for inflicting on his son. Or Jaya, for that matter.

      “I’m sorry we spoiled his nap,” he heard Rowan say and glanced across to see her peeking at the boy over his mother’s shoulder. “What’s your name?”

      “Baby Zepper,” Evie provided from her happy perch on Nic’s bent arm.

      “Zephyr,” Jaya corrected softly, smiling at Evie. “You’ve been my best little helper, haven’t you? She’s been very sweet with both of them.”

      “Zephyr,” Rowan repeated. “That’s lovely. Greek god of wind, right?”

      Theo absorbed the meaning, wondering if it was a deliberate reference to his love of piloting, thinking, I really don’t deserve her, as he crossed with Zephyr’s sipping cup.

      “Thanks,” Jaya said with a flickering gaze of apprehension as he approached. She rubbed Zephyr’s back to get his attention. “Want your cup, sweetie?”

      Zephyr lifted his head and spied the cup, but rather than wait for Jaya to take it, he leaned out for Theo.

      Theo was getting used to the boy’s impulsive launches. He caught him in what was becoming a practiced scoop and hitched him up against his chest. The air in his lungs stopped moving as he held the cup for the boy, aware of how telling his actions were, how much like a father he must appear. How close a copy of Androu Zephyr was.

      Zephyr’s little hands settled over his big one while profound silence fell over the room like a dome.

      Theo forced himself to lift his gaze and meet each pair of stunned eyes. They had to be reading guilt in him. It sprang from ignoring Jaya’s attempts to contact him and thinking he could ignore someone as important as his son. He was ashamed of himself, not Zephyr.

      Disgust with himself made him blurt, “He’s mine,” aware that it was the clumsiest possible way he could have announced it, but he couldn’t dance around it. Not when Nic was drilling him a look that said, You lucky bastard.

      His half brother blinked and the envy was gone, replaced by a doting smile at Evie, but it was the reinforcement Theo needed to keep inching across the hot coals cooking him from the soles of his feet to his collar. Maybe he wasn’t doing this well, but he’d figured out what was right and he’d do that much.

      In his periphery, he saw Jaya lift an uncertain hand then fold her arms defensively. Don’t, he wanted to say. Don’t be embarrassed for me. I don’t care how stupid I look, only that I not fail where it counts.

      Over Zephyr’s loud gulps, Androu made a noise and put out his hand.

      “I told you before, sport,” Theo said, trying to sound normal while emotions log-jammed in his throat. “Yours is the green one. It’s on his tray,” he told Adara, nodding to the high chair where Androu had been sitting before she arrived.

      He hoped she’d move away and begin to defuse this charged moment, but she didn’t. Her gaze was fixed on Zephyr’s face.

      The boy looked at her with his unblinking brown eyes. Makricosta eyes.

      “Theo.” She spoke his name with myriad inflections. Shock, awe, surprise, approval. Exasperated disapproval.

      As he braced himself for whatever she would say, he felt a feminine hand rest on his biceps. Jaya. If he’d had a free hand, he would have wrapped it around her waist and pulled her in close. He might be willing to face the scrutiny of his family without apology, but it wasn’t easy. How such a slight woman could be his shield against them, he didn’t understand, but he had an intense need to wield her in just that way.

      “He didn’t know,” Jaya said. The tips of her fingers dug into his tense arm. “Not until I told him yesterday.”

      Had it only been a day?

      He drew in a breath, realizing he’d neglected to take in air for several seconds. Looking into Jaya’s eyes, he let her know she didn’t have to protect him that much. It was his own damned fault he hadn’t known about his son.

      It’s okay, she seemed to reassure with a softening of her touch on his arm. Our secret. And therein lay her appeal. He feared every stumble, too used to being knocked down a second time for daring to err. She was a forgiving person, though. She was so softhearted, she’d help him to his feet after a face-plant. He wanted to kiss her for it.

      Hell, he wanted to kiss her, period. He dragged himself free of their locked stare in time to hear Rowan ask Nic, “Will it be a full Indian wedding, do you think? I’ve always wanted to go to one.”

      Jaya’s touch on his arm fell away.

      Theo stiffened, struck anew by rejection.

      “I’m making assumptions, aren’t I?” Rowan said with a blush and a reach for her daughter. “Come on, Evie, let’s find Androu’s cup for him.”

      “I’ll help,” Nic said, taking Androu as he passed Adara. “Drink, champ?”

      Jaya watched the Viking blond media mogul and his petite wife СКАЧАТЬ