Page 17 of The Heir Affair

The service manager paused, a curious expression on her face. ‘Of course, miss.’

‘Has Alex…? I—I mean Xander… Sorry, Mr Caras. The older Mr Caras…’ She stuttered to a halt, embarrassment making her cheeks burn.

Good grief, could she actually make this any more awkward?

‘You have a question about Mr Xander?’ the woman prompted, not looking perturbed by Poppy’s rambling non-question. Which made Poppy feel hopelessly foolish again—and tongue-tied.

This woman was employed by Xander Caras, of course she would be loyal to him, which meant she would probably refuse to answer a personal question about him. But who else could she ask?

‘Does Mr Caras invite a lot of guests on the yacht?’ she blurted out, almost choking on her own embarrassment.

Meghan looked momentarily nonplussed. ‘He often conducts business on it, yes.’

‘No, I meant… Does he have a lot of female guests, you know, like girlfriends?’ She flung a hand out to indicate the armoire.‘You mentioned there was nightwear here. I just… I wondered. If having women stay the night onboard is a regular thing.’

The woman’s eyebrows rose as she realised what Poppy was asking her. And Poppy suddenly wished she could just chuck herself overboard…

But then instead of being outraged or, worse, offended, Meghan let out a surprised chuckle.

‘Actually, no, he doesn’t. Not a lot. Since I’ve been working for him—which is over a year now—he’s only brought a couple of women on board socially, and neither of them stayed the night.’ The woman’s warm smile took on a mischievous tilt. ‘And there’s been no one at all in the last six months. Mr Theo, on the other hand, is more…’ She cleared her throat, discreetly. ‘Shall we say sociable? But I can honestly say, they’re always very well behaved with the staff. Surprisingly so for men in their position.’

The easy expression sobered. ‘Obviously, I’d prefer if you could keep that information between the two of us. Mr Xander, particularly, is very strict about his private life remaining confidential and I wouldn’t want him to think I was gossiping about him or his brother.’ Meghan’s gaze rested for a moment on Poppy’s pregnant belly. The kindness in her eyes made Poppy feel stupidly grateful when she continued. ‘Although it’s clear Mr Xander now considers you to be part of his private life, so hopefully he won’t mind.’

‘I… Right…’ Poppy managed, tongue-tied again. ‘I won’t tell him what you said, you have my word.’

Meghan nodded and left.

It wasn’t until the door had closed behind her, though, that Poppy realised the identity of her baby’s father was now not a secret to anyone on the crew. Apparently, Theo had been right about them broadcasting the information to the whole ship during their argument.

But somehow, as she showered and changed into a brand-new silk negligee she found wrapped in tissue paper in the armoire, her stomach unknotted enough to allow the tiredness back in.

As she drifted into a deep, drugging sleep on the thousand-thread-count sheets, listening to the lap of the waves against the yacht’s hull, she decided that Meghan’s confidential revelations about Xander Caras’ not so prolific love life made her feel a tiny, weeny little bit less overwhelmed.

CHAPTER FIVE

‘What do you mean, you want me to fix it?Youfix it. The cruise-ship business was your baby…’

Xander splashed ouzo into two shot glasses and handed his irate brother one. He needed something stronger than water right now. Alotstronger.

‘And now I have another baby to worry about…’ he offered, before downing the traditional liquor in one gulp. The aniseed burned his throat. Normally he would dilute the aperitif with water and ice, but right now he needed it neat. His insides were churning, his emotions in turmoil, ever since he had spotted Poppy from the car.

Tomorrow he would have to figure out how to proceed—how to make the woman who was having his child do as he asked. But tonight, he was forced to confront one essential truth. Somethinghadhappened on that day in April, in Parádeisos, something more than just that instant physical connection that had made him act out of character right from the moment she had approached him on the beach and begged for a lift to his own island, her brown eyes glowing with purpose and passion.

His brother continued to scowl. ‘Why are you so positive the baby is yours? I’d want proof.’

He sighed. His brother was the ultimate cynic, a man who believed in nothing and no one—and was reckless and impulsive and followed his passions without regrets. But thenTheo had never known the stability of family life. And those feral instincts had served them both well on the streets of Athens. Domesticating Theo was an impossibility—which was why Xander had offered himself as Princess Freya’s groom. At least, that was what he’d told himself at the time.

But having Poppy in his arms again, her lips softening under his mouth, her tongue tangling with his, had told a different story—of why he might have decided to finally agree to Andreas’ suggestion of an arranged marriage, the week after that day on Parádeisos. Something about his reaction to Poppy had unsettled him. Wasn’t that why he had prevented her from blurting out her name to him on the dock? Why he’d been so determined to leave that night, and never look back again?

No one had ever made him feel the way she had that day. As if his dreams had always been too small, his ambitions for his life too pragmatic. She’d made him want for fanciful things, hope for a connection that could never be real, not for a man like him.

And now she was back and unsettling him all over again. But this time, they had a connection that he would never be able to break, never be able to walk away from. And that concerned him even more.

How would he ever get over her now? How could he ever get his life back on track? Back into that safe, secure place where he was immune to the opinions and approval of others?

‘It will be easier to test the DNA once the child is born. You know that,’ Xander murmured, even though he didn’t need proof. Poppy hadn’t tried to blackmail him, hadn’t even asked for money, because that just wasn’t who she was—which only made her more disturbing to his peace of mind. And more destructive to the wall he had never let anyone breach—least of all a wide-eyed girl with notions of romance and intimacy.

He poured himself another shot, but his brother grabbed the bottle neck.