Susanne James - Irresistible Greeks - Passion and Promises - The Greek's Marriage Bargain / A Royal World Apart / The Theotokis Inheritance

She affected innocence as she ran a reflective forefinger over the garish pink sequins. ‘This? It’s one of a batch from our last tour, which never got sold. Extra-extra-large. If you’re interested I can always have one couriered to you. I’ve got masses of them back at the cottage.’

He gave a flicker of a smile as he poured a glass of wine and handed it to her. ‘Tempting, but I’ll pass. Now, eat.’

She sat down and did as he suggested and was soon tucking into pasta with a simple sauce, studded with anchovies and olives. Afterwards there were iced grapes and squares of dark chocolate, accompanied by the thick, sweet coffee he loved so much. In the flickering light, she ate with an appetite which seemed sharpened, and as the stars began to prick the velvet sky she felt better.

By tacit agreement, they kept to neutral topics, with Xenon recounting some of the exploits of his twin cousins in New York, who Lexi had always liked. He told her that there had been talk of doing a sequel to My Crazy Greek Father but that he had ruled it out, because he couldn’t face going back to Hollywood for any sustained length of time. Lexi found herself wishing that the dinner could continue, like one of those meals you found in fairy tales, where the table was lavishly replenished each day. Because around that table it was easy to forget about the world which existed outside that garden.

But the world did exist and it came with complications. Big complications, in their case. She pushed away her empty coffee cup and looked at him.

‘What have you told your mother?’

He shrugged. ‘That you’re coming to the christening with me and are eager to see my grandmother again. Other than that, I haven’t elaborated.’

She folded her napkin and put it on the table. ‘And what did she say?’

For a moment Xenon was silent as he poured himself another cup of coffee. Unsurprisingly, his mother’s response to his news had been muted. She had never wanted him to marry this particular Englishwoman when there had been so many suitable Greek girls eager to take on that privileged role. He suspected she still lived in hope that it might one day still happen, for she did not share his grandmother’s sentimental views on divorce. But he had told her that Lexi’s visit was non-negotiable and had demanded that she show his estranged wife courtesy and consideration, a demand which had left his mother looking at him thoughtfully before she had agreed.

‘She accepted it,’ he said.

‘Just like that?’

He raised his eyebrows. ‘My mother wouldn’t dream of objecting to the way I live my life. Not any more.’

‘Or maybe she just wouldn’t dream of saying it out loud.’

‘Most people have thoughts they wouldn’t want to say out loud, Lex. I’m having a few of my own at the moment.’

She stood up. ‘I think that’s my cue for bed.’

‘Wise decision.’ His eyes gleamed. ‘If a rather disappointing one as far as I’m concerned.’

Lexi looked at his ruggedly handsome face and thought how easy it would be if they’d only just met. If she could just give in to the demands of her body. Just walk right over there and let him take her in his arms and to hell with the consequences.

But she couldn’t. There was a reason why she still sometimes woke in the middle of the night with her heart pounding with fear and a sinking feeling of realisation twisting at her gut.

It was the same reason why she could never give their marriage another go.

CHAPTER FIVE

THE FAINT DRONE of the aircraft engine was the only sound he could hear and several times Xenon found himself lifting his head from his pile of paperwork, to see if Lexi had fallen asleep. She hadn’t. She was sitting staring at an open magazine on her lap, though he noticed she hadn’t turned a single page.

She still looked pale, he thought. Against her flowery dress her skin seemed almost transparent, giving her a delicate appearance which made her seem almost breakable. But she wasn’t breakable, he reminded himself. Behind her delicate appearance, she was tough. The toughest woman he had ever known.

He looked down at the document but the words were just a blur of black and white. He leaned his head back against the seat. Last night they’d talked more frankly about the baby than they’d ever done before—but he had been left with no answers. Maybe there were no answers. Maybe he just had to learn to accept that it was what it was. A marriage against which the odds had been stacked from the beginning, followed by circumstances which had conspired to prove it was never going to work.

Yet that wasn’t helping him deal with the current situation, was it? It didn’t stop him wanting her so badly that it was all he could do not to reach out and touch her. She’d made it clear that sex wasn’t on her agenda but he wondered how long her resolve would last once they were back to sharing a bedroom.

The engine noise changed and he glanced out of the cabin window. ‘Look, we’re coming in to land,’ he said.

Lexi followed the direction of his gaze and saw the island of Rhodes dazzling like a bright jewel in the dark blue waters of the Aegean. She thought how long it had been since she’d been abroad and done anything as decadent as just lie in the sun. ‘When were you last here?’

‘I came over a couple of months ago for a few days. Work has been...demanding.’

‘So what else is new?’ she demanded wryly. ‘You haven’t stopped since we boarded the plane.’

His blue eyes gleamed. ‘There’s a reason for that. I’ve been trying to clear my diary so that I won’t need to work while we’re here.’

Lexi felt her lips part in surprise. ‘Good heavens,’ she said faintly. ‘Next thing you’ll be telling me that you’re planning to switch off your phone at night.’

‘If that’s a veiled offer to share my bed, then consider it done.’

‘It wasn’t.’

He smiled. ‘Didn’t think so.’

He picked up the documents and put them in his briefcase, vowing not to go near them for the duration of their stay. But it was hard to break the habit of a lifetime—a way of living and working which had become second nature to him.

He’d been barely eighteen when his father had dropped dead and Xenon’s discovery that the business was in a parlous state hadn’t helped the family come to terms with their shock and grief. Suddenly, the world as he had known it was one he no longer recognised.

But he had turned everything around. He had thrown himself in at the deep end and worked every hour to learn about the business, from the bottom up. He had sweated blood to earn the respect of the disillusioned Kanellis workforce. And while most people would have been content simply to get the giant organisation back on its feet, Xenon was not most people. He didn’t want to be known as a man who had saved something, he wanted to be known as a man who had made something. That was why he had bought the newspaper.

The film had been something different. The film had touched something deep inside him. It had connected with his essential Greekness. He had backed it because he had loved it; the money and awards he had earned as a result had not been what had driven him. And Lexi had understood. She had loved that film, too.

‘I’m trying to learn how to delegate,’ he said and saw her turn her head to look at him, that lip-parted look of surprise still on her face. ‘Loukas and Dimitri are keen to share some of the responsibility but it’s hard to let go when I’ve lived this way for so long.’

‘What are you so scared of.’

The smile which greeted this remark was sardonic. ‘You think that I am scared? That Xenon Kanellis is scared of anything?’

‘Well, if you’re not—then why not just go ahead and do it? Free up more time for yourself. Enjoy some of the fruits of your labours.’ Her voice softened. ‘Didn’t you once tell me that you weren’t going to work yourself into an early grave, like your father?’