Doorstep Twins / The Cowboy's Adopted Daughter. Rebecca Winters

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СКАЧАТЬ stroller. Her arm brushed his, making her unduly aware of him. She put the empty bottles and cloths away. When she rose up, their glances collided. “I have to go,” she said. Maybe she was mistaken, but she thought the light in his eyes faded a trifle. “If you want to see them again, call me on my cell.”

      Pulling out his phone, he said, “Tell me your number and I’ll program it into mine right now.”

      Maybe that was a good sign. Then again maybe it wasn’t. A small shiver ran down her spine in fear that when he contacted her next, he would tell her that, cute as the boys were, he was still signing his rights away and they were all hers with his blessing.

      After she’d given him her number, he pushed the stroller toward the path leading out to the street. One of the older women caught sight of the twins and shouted something about them having beautiful children.

      “Efharisto,” Andreas called back, thanking the woman as if this were an everyday occurrence.

      Gabi didn’t want to tear herself away, but her mother would worry if she wasn’t back soon and would want to know why the delay. “I really have to go.”

      “I know,” he said in a husky tone before giving the boys a kiss on their foreheads. “I’ll be in touch.”

      With those long powerful strides, he left the park going one way while she trundled along with the stroller going the other. The farther apart they got, the more fearful she grew.

      He wasn’t indifferent to the twins. She knew that. She’d felt it and seen it. But one meeting with his children didn’t mean he wanted to take on the lifetime responsibility of parenting them. Between his work and girlfriends he wouldn’t have much time to fit in the twins.

      She’d told him she’d be leaving for Virginia next week. If he didn’t want her to take them away, he needed to make up his mind soon.

      Maybe he would compromise. She’d raise them and he’d be one of those drop-in daddies. For the boys’ sake Gabi couldn’t bear the thought of it, but having a daddy around once in a while, even if he only flew into D.C. from Greece once a year with a present, was better for them than no daddy at all, wasn’t it? Gabi loved her own father so much, she couldn’t imagine life without him.

      The only thing to do now was brace herself for his next phone call.

      Accompanied by his bodyguards, Andreas rushed toward the helicopter waiting for him at the Heraklion airport. Once he’d climbed aboard, he directed his pilot to fly him to the Simonides villa on Milos where the whole clan had congregated for the weekend.

      Last night there’d been a party to celebrate his sister Melina’s thirtieth birthday, but he’d been forced to miss it because of a life and death situation. Gabi Turner had been right about that.

      Though his married sister had been gracious over the phone, he knew she’d been hurt by his excuse that something unavoidable had come up to detain him in Athens. He’d promised to make it up to her, but that kind of occasion in her honor with extended family in attendance only happened once a year. Now the moment was gone.

      Yet, sorry as he was, he had something much more vital on his mind and couldn’t think about anything else. Throughout the flight he still felt the strong tug of those little mouths on his fingers. Their touch had sent the most peculiar sensation through Andreas.

      Even though he had ten nieces and nephews, he hadn’t been involved in their nurturing. The closest he’d come was to hold their weightless bodies as they were being passed around at a family party after coming home from the hospital.

      Today had been something totally different. It was as if the blinders had come off, but he hadn’t known they existed until contact was made. Kris and Nikos weren’t just babies. Those excited bodies with their bright eyes and faces belonged to a pair of little guys who one day would grow up to be big guys. Guys who had the Simonides stamp written all over them.

      As soon as he entered the main villa Andreas went in search of his vivacious mother, who was in the kitchen supervising dinner preparations with the cook, Tina.

      “There you are, darling,” she said the minute she saw him.

      He gave her a kiss, already anticipating her next comment. “My absence was unavoidable.”

      Her expressive dark brows lifted. “A delicate merger?”

      “Incredibly delicate,” he muttered. The memory of Nikos and Kris so trusting in his arms as they inhaled their formula never left his mind.

      “You sound like your father. I have to tell you I’m glad he’s finally stepped down and you’re in charge. He’s a different man these days. Let’s just hope that when you’re settled down, hopefully soon, your wife will have more influence on you to take time off once in a while. You’re already working too hard if you had to miss Melina’s birthday party.”

      His mother could have no idea. He gave her an extra hug. “Where’s everyone?” he asked, knowing the answer full well, but he didn’t want to sound like anything out of the ordinary was wrong.

      “Still waterskiing. Your grandparents are out on the patio watching your father and your uncle Vasio drive the younger children around. We’ll eat out by the pool in an hour.”

      “That gives me enough time to get in a little exercise.” After stealing an hors d’oeuvre from the plate Tina was preparing, he pecked her cheek to atone for his sin before walking through a series of alcoves and walkways to reach his villa with its own amenities farther down their private beach.

      The massive family retreat—a cluster of linked white villas in the Cycladic style—had been the Simonides refuge for many generations. Because of business, Andreas didn’t escape from his penthouse in the city as often as he wanted and had been looking forward to this time with the family.

      Who would have dreamed that, before the lift door closed, an innocent-looking blonde female would sweep into his office like a Cycladic breeze, bringing a fragrance as sweet as the honeysuckle growing wild on the island before she dropped her bomb?

      Still charged with adrenaline, he changed into his swim trunks and hurried down to the beach where the family ski boats were in use.

      “There’s Uncle Andreas!” One of his nieces waiting on the beach for her turn screeched with joy and ran toward him. Her brother followed. “Now that you’re here, will you take us? Grandpa hasn’t come back for us yet.”

      His sister Leila’s children were the youngest, seven and nine. “What do you think?” He grinned. “Climb in my ski boat. We’ll show everybody! You spot your sister first, Jason.”

      “Okay!”

      Happy chaos reigned for another half-hour, then everyone left the beach because dinner had been announced. Andreas secured his boat to their private pier. Things couldn’t have turned out better than to find his brother Leon the last to tie up his own ski boat. His wife Deline had gone up with the others, leaving them alone for the moment.

      “How was the party last night?” Andreas asked as he started tying the other end for him.

      Leon shot him a glance. “Fine, but I have to tell you Dad wasn’t too thrilled you didn’t make a showing. He was hoping to see you there with Irena.”

      Irena СКАЧАТЬ