Rebecca Winters - Double Trouble - Newborn Twins

“Sometimes I think you’re half god the way you make things happen. It’s like magic.”

“Would that I had the magic to put my brother’s world back together.”

“I could wish for the same thing.”

She got up from the sand and walked into the water to wash off. Bringing her to this spot had been in the back of his mind since last night. He couldn’t bear it that they were forced to leave, but they had to get back to the twins.

Although he’d allowed Gabi to believe otherwise, he’d never brought another woman here before, not even Irena. She liked an occasional dip in a swimming pool, but she wasn’t adventurous, not like Gabi, who’d sprung onto the canvas of his life with an unexpectedness that had left him reeling.

Until today he could have told Irena that everything he’d done to help his brother through a nightmarish, unprecedented situation had been necessary and it would have been the truth. But being out here with Gabi would have been impossible to explain. More than ever he was thankful he’d broken it off with her.

She would have pointed out that the twins’ aunt was already staying in a vacation spot that provided every possible distraction without requiring Andreas’s assistance. He would have had no excuse for spending the rest of today and tonight with her on his cabin cruiser. No excuse for coming close to making love to her.

While she treaded water, he threw his head back and looked up at the darkening sky, wishing this night never had to end.

“We’d better go, Gabi.” The words came out harsh, even to his own ears. “Do you think you’re up to it?”

“I was afraid maybe you weren’t and I would have to save you,” she quipped. So saying, she took off like a golden sea sprite, leaving behind a trail of tinkling laughter he found utterly irresistible.

Gabi gripped the rings that helped her climb the ladder into the boat. After rinsing off in the shower of the swim platform, she wrapped up in a towel and moved toward the rear cockpit where Andreas was talking to Stavros.

She smiled at him. “Did you think we were never coming back and you’d have to deal with two howling babies wanting their feeding in the middle of the night?”

The older man’s eyes twinkled. “We would have managed.”

“Have they been good?”

“Like little angels.”

“I’m glad, then.” She raised up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Thank you for being a wonderful babysitter.”

Gabi was still trying to catch her breath, as much from the physical exertion of attempting to outdistance Andreas—which was an impossibility—as having been alone with him.

There’d been a moment on the sand when she’d wanted to know his possession so badly, she’d almost expired on the spot. But she knew better than to repeat the mistakes of the past.

She had no doubt Andreas wanted her. He’d been forthcoming about it, and the desire between them had been building until she was ready to burst. Those kisses on the beach were inevitable, but she was wise enough not to read anything more into them. That was why she’d swum for her life back there, so she wouldn’t forget the promise she’d made to herself to focus all her energy on her career.

She flicked her host a steady glance. “When I’m back at my job inundated with work, I’ll remember this glorious day. Thank you.”

“There’s more to see tomorrow before we get back to Apollonia,” Andreas reminded her.

Gabi knew what that meant. Her pulse throbbed without her permission. “I’m looking forward to it,” she said bravely. “Goodnight.”

Not daring to meet his eyes this time, she darted down the steps to her cabin off the passageway. Relieved the children lay sound asleep in their carry-cots, she quickly showered again and washed her hair before climbing into bed.

Since spending time on the boat, she’d learned that his stateroom was on the other side of the wall. One more thing she’d picked up from Stavros. This cabin cruiser was Andreas’s home when he really wanted to get away on his own.

Gabi realized the older man had let her know she was a privileged person, but she could tell him that without the babies she would never have been given entrée to Andreas’s private world.

Almost a week ago today she’d gone to his office. Since then she’d spent some time with him, yet she still didn’t know anything about his personal life. He’d only volunteered information on a need-to-know basis. Love for his brother was the sole reason she’d been invited aboard this boat.

With time on his hands, he’d done the natural thing and had kissed her because he knew the attraction was mutual. The same thing had happened with Rand. She’d been a guest on his ranch and he’d enjoyed her to the fullest as long as she was there .

Those were the key words to help her keep her head on straight with Andreas until she went back to Alexandria.

Three o’clock was going to be here before she knew it. With the memory of him lying next to her on that sandy beach where she could still feel the taste of his mouth on hers, she closed her eyes, fearing she’d never be able to sleep. But to her shock the twins didn’t start crying until seven-thirty the next morning.

Maybe it was the sea air or the gentle sway of the boat. Whatever, they’d actually slept through the night!

After she’d bathed and fed them, she got dressed in shorts and a top before carrying them up on deck one at a time. Already the sun was warm. Stavros had breakfast waiting for her on the up-and-down table, another remarkable invention aboard the cruiser.

“Mmm, that looks delicious. Good morning, Stavros. How are you?”

“Never better.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Is Andreas still asleep?”

“No,” sounded a familiar voice behind her. She swung around to discover him standing there in a sage-colored polo shirt and white shorts. There couldn’t be a more attractive man anywhere in the Cyclades. His slate eyes collided with hers. “I’ve been waiting for you and the babies to appear. Let’s eat. I’m ravenous.”

“I’m hungry myself,” she admitted. “It must be this gorgeous air.” Andreas sat down next to her. Gabi tried to act natural, but after her dreams of him it was close to impossible.

Andreas studied her for a moment. “How did you sleep?”

Was this god from Olympus psychic, too?

“Would you believe these two didn’t start crying until seven-thirty? It’s the first time I haven’t had to get up in the middle of the night. The pediatrician said it would happen when the time was right. Isn’t it strange how they both did it at the same time?”

His compelling mouth broke into a lopsided smile. “My mother could tell you endless stories about the mystifying aspect of twins.”

“I don’t doubt it.” She would love to meet the mother of this extraordinary man, but held back from telling him so. Near the end of their meal he chuckled over Nikos, who gave a big yawn. In the next breath he got up and took the twins out of their carry-cots. Propping them in either arm, he moved over to the windows. “What do you think of this sight, guys?”

Gabi had been concentrating so hard on Andreas, she could tell him that the sight of him standing there holding his nephews was the most spectacular one in all Greece. Terrified to realize how emotionally involved she’d become with him, she found it a struggle not to let him know it.

When she could finally tear her gaze away, she noticed the cruiser was anchored off an unreal white outcropping of elongated rocks set against a brilliant blue sea. She stood up and joined him. “What is this place?”

“Sarakiniko, an Arabic word.”

“It looks like a moonscape.”

“That’s what it’s famous for. When we were boys, Leon and I would come here to play space aliens with our friends.”