Lucy Gordon - For the Greek Tycoon's Pleasure

Shock froze his features for several long seconds. “You do not mean that.”

“I don’t lie.”

“No, you don’t. No more than I.”

That was something she still had to work on believing, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. Because Zephyr had never done anything to earn her mistrust.

“I guess a billionaire real-estate tycoon would make an admirable choice as father for your child,” he said in his second full-scale departure from tact.

She just managed to stop herself clouting him. “This is more of that, they want me in their life for what I can buy for them garbage, isn’t it? I don’t look at you as a meal ticket, Zee.”

And he’d better get that through his head right now, or they were going to have more problems between them than an unanticipated possible pregnancy.

He jolted. “You have never called me that before.”

Sometimes, he focused on the least important things.

“I’ve heard Neo do so.” But he was right. For some reason, believing she might be pregnant with Zephyr’s child made her feel more comfortable with the casual intimacy.

“Yes.”

“If you don’t like it, I won’t do it again,” she offered.

“I do not mind.”

“Fine. Um, we need to make a plan.”

“You need to eat breakfast.” Again with the non sequitur, but maybe that was okay. For now.

She needed some time to think if nothing else. “So do you.”

“Then let us eat.” And incredibly, they managed to do that without any further discussion of possible consequences of the lack of birth control.

They were halfway to Sounion before he mentioned the morning’s disturbing revelations again.

“So, a plan,” he said as they drove down the coastal highway.

“We should, um, probably go back to using condoms until we know if I’m pregnant.” She had realized during her personal ruminations that was as far as she wanted to go with contingency arrangements at present. Her mind simply refused to wrap around the prospect of a child. Their baby. Growing inside her body.

Yesterday, she’d been thinking she had to tell him goodbye once and for all and now she was faced with the prospect of never being able to do so, even if they stopped making love.

“Yes.”

“I don’t want to put another patch on, just in case, even though it is not likely, but we should definitely use condoms.” She shook her head at herself. She didn’t want to risk hurting a baby that probably didn’t even exist.

“You’ve mentioned that point several times.”

“Have I?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry,” she apologized distractedly.

“Are you that disturbed by the idea of being pregnant with my child?”

“We’ve already covered this ground.”

“Then by the prospect of being pregnant at all?” He slid a sidelong glance at her before looking back at the road.

“I’m building a business. Having a baby will change a lot of things, including how much time I can spend on work.” It was the only concern she was willing to voice right this second. She’d been on an emotional thrill ride since discovering the loss of her patch. Fear competed with hope and illicit joy at the prospect in equal measure.

“And this worries you?”

“A little,” she admitted. “I’m willing to rearrange my priorities though. Any child of mine will not pay for the choices of its parents.”

“As you felt you paid for yours.” He saw immediately her determination to give her child everything she felt she’d missed out on.

“To an extent, but even more so, as you paid for yours.”

“I cannot disagree there.” He smiled grimly.

“I’m not asking you to.”

“That is good.”

“I hate this,” she cried out on an explosive breath.

“What?”

“How stilted we are with each other. We were closer than we’d ever been and now this.”

“We are friends,” he said, frowning. “You being pregnant with my child will not change that.”

“We are more than friends, Zee. At least give me that much.” So, maybe she did want to deal with something besides the condom issue.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb. It’s unbecoming, not to mention lacking in credibility.”

“I am not playing at anything.” He sounded offended, his voice sliding into that zone she’d come to recognize as his anger. The chill-factor was definitely in evidence.

“I’m sorry.” She stared out the window, blinking back tears she couldn’t even name the exact reason for. “I don’t mean to patronize you.”

“Thank you.”

“Somewhere along the way, we stopped being merely friends with benefits. I mean, for me anyway.”

“You prefer the term lovers?” he asked.

“That would be a start.” Not everything she wanted, but a definite beginning.

“But lovers are never permanent in my life.” Worry crept back into his voice, letting her know this was a genuine concern on his part.

“Make me the exception.”

“I do not know if I can do that.” He sighed. “Though if you are pregnant, neither of us will have a choice.”

The next-to-last thing she wanted was to be in his life by default. The last thing was to be out of his life completely, which said what about her plans to walk away from what they had before she got even more hurt? “I don’t want it to be that way.”

“What we want is not always what we get.”

She thought of the many times she’d had to move away from friends and activities that meant something to her. Then she remembered how helpless she had felt in the face of her ex-husband’s unrepentant and repeated infidelity. “That’s only too true.”

He took a deep breath and let it out with a big smile somewhere between appearing genuine and his game face. “So, let us forget for today that you might be pregnant with my child.”

“And on the verge of losing my dreams? Okay, I can do that.”

His jaw went taut, but he let her flippancy go. “Good. We will go to Sounion and play tourists and then catch the helicopter there as planned and fly to the island early this evening.”

“Will we make love tonight?”

“Did you want to make an appointment?” he teased.

“I just want to know that you haven’t already decided you are bored with me.”

“How can you even suggest that?”

“You’re the one who said…you know what, never mind. Let’s just focus on the present. Not the past. Not the future and definitely not the possibility we’ve started on that dynasty of yours earlier than expected.” Not to mention with a woman he hadn’t considered in the running for mother of his children a mere forty-eight hours ago.

“Right.”

And somehow, they managed it. Though she had to give most of the credit to Zephyr. Every time she started to worry, he seemed to know…and knew exactly how to stop it.

FROM the air, the view of Zephyr and Neo’s newest acquisition was incredible. Piper had no problem imagining this small Greek island as an oasis for the resort’s guests. Unlike many of the rocky islands that dotted the sea off the coastline of mainland Greece, this landscape was covered with lush grasses and green trees. There was a large olive grove and what looked like a citrus orchard.

They flew over the fishing village, traditional white houses with red roofs showing where the year-round residents lived. The boats that bobbed in the water, moored to the long dock, looked picturesque in their simplicity. No fancy trawlers here.

A tan circle painted with white directional lines about two hundred yards from a large villa set atop a cliff overlooking the sea had to be their landing destination. Piper shouldn’t have been surprised that a family who at one time had the wherewithal to own an island had installed a helipad on it. Only, she was. She would have expected a landing strip for small planes and said as much to Zephyr on the walk to the villa.