‘Nobody but usknowsthat it’s fake,’ he reminded her in stark reproof. ‘He’s shocked and surprised but very excited about the prospect of two grandkids. The stepchildren are all younger than I am. You will be the first in the family to reproduce. Now tell me aboutyourfather.’
‘He’s a creep,’ Tabby admitted without hesitation. ‘He never wanted children and if he’d had a choice, it wouldn’t have been what he referred to as “whiny” daughters. I haven’t seen him since the divorce and that’s six, no, seven years ago. He tied Mum up in court for months because he fiercely resented being expected to support us and he didn’t want further contact with either of us. We’re just grateful that he’s out of our lives now.’
‘You’re making me appreciate that I could have had it a lot worse. Demetrius has always loved and defended me. Whatever else he was, he has always been a great father. Clearly, I was fortunate,angelos mou.’
‘Better the devil you know,’ Tabby teased, watching that smile like summer sunlight flash across his lips, elevating his cheekbones and lightening his eyes to scorching gold enticement. She saw the approaching stewardess perform a double take at his sheer masculine appeal in that moment. Colouring on her own behalf for her hyper-awareness of Aristide, she listened as a wide variation of refreshments was offered.
As she collided involuntarily with his eyes, a little shimmy of heat currented down from her belly, making her squeeze her thighs together, much as if she was afraid of that sexual response somehow escaping her. It was little wonder that she was so susceptible, she reasoned. Aristide was drop-dead gorgeous, particularly with his lean muscular physique shown to advantage in beige tailored chinos and a dark purple shirt open at his strong brown throat. Naturally she was still attracted to him. Nothing that physically intense magically evaporated like mist.
‘So, where in Greece are we heading?’
‘Anthos, the island where my mother and I were both born. Her family has always been based there,’ he explained. ‘My father has made Anthos his home too.’
Somewhere in the aftermath of a light lunch, Tabby shifted as Aristide lifted her into his arms to carry her on board a helicopter, where he fixed headphones to her head and fastened her seat belt for her before sitting down.
‘Where are we?’ she mumbled, barely opening her heavy eyes.
‘Almost at our destination,’ he promised.
The jolt of the helicopter landing again woke her and she surfaced in a tizzy, peering out of a window to note the sprawling white house on the hillside below the hot blue sky. It was massive, an undeniable mansion in size, and people were already gathering on the spacious front veranda. In dismay she sat up and dug into her bag to search frantically for a comb and a lipstick. A cool, restraining hand covered hers. ‘You look great,’ Aristide told her soothingly, and he was telling her the truth because she might look rumpled and a little sleepy but she was still indisputably beautiful. ‘There’s no need for you to primp when we’ve been travelling for hours.’
‘This is my property,’ Aristide told her quietly as he vaulted out onto the grass and reached back to lift her down by his side in the sunlight. ‘Demetrius and Andy host family parties here because I have more space. Their own home, my former childhood home, is on the other side of the island, so there is no need for you to feel like a guest here.’
As they walked down a grassy path, Tabby noticed many of the guests standing outside disperse back indoors at a small, bustling brunette’s instigation. Aristide, she realised, was the very image of his father and how he might look twenty or thirty years down the road. Demeterius was tall, straight, his black hair winged with grey, undeniably handsome and fit, the very image of a silver fox. By his side, his wife, Andy, was a curvy, scarlet-clad brunette with lively dark eyes and an irrepressible smile of welcome.
‘Oh, it isthering!’ Andy exclaimed in excitement as she caught Tabby’s wrist lightly in hers to grab a closer look at the sapphire. ‘It’s absolutely tremendous, gorgeous!’
‘Thanks. I love it,’ Tabby admitted with a smile.
‘I’ll show you up to our room. You can lie down if you like,’ Aristide interposed.
‘Again?’Tabby stressed with amusement, thinking that he needed to spend a little longer with his father and stepmother. ‘I slept most of the way here. I can surely stay awake long enough to meet some people.’
‘If that’s what you would prefer—’
‘Maybe you’re gasping to look after an invalid,’ she teased with a roll of her eyes. ‘’Fraid that’s not me. All you’ve got here is one pregnant lady, who’s feeling chirpy after so much rest. My nausea is definitely subsiding now. If you were to offer me food—’
‘I can help there.’ Andy cupped an arm to Tabby’s elbow and walked her off into a grand room where a splendid buffet table and a collection of people awaited them. ‘I slept the clock around when I was pregnant and I ate regular snacks to stave off the sickness,’ she told her. ‘Do you realise that Aristide has never brought a woman here with him before?’
‘I didn’t know that,’ Tabby said non-committally, all too well aware that she was visiting because at some stage their twins would be visiting with their father and it was her job to pave the way for that future.
As she was filling a plate, various casual introductions were made. A welter of middle-aged uncles, aunts and more youthful cousins followed. A skinny teenaged girl with bright red hair darted past them to throw her arms round Aristide as he appeared in the doorway.
‘Melody, one of my husband’s former stepkids,’ Tabby’s companion explained. ‘She and her two brothers lived with Aristide for weeks after their mother left them alone in London, where they attend school. They knew him when they were very young and contacted him when they ran out of money. I think they’ll be spending most of the summer with us.’
‘I’m glad he stepped in,’ Tabby remarked, watching two tall teenage boys join their sister’s animated conversation.
‘He’s good with children,’ the brunette said cheerfully. ‘Particularly teenagers. We’re getting a little too old to be seen as cool.’
‘Aristide can be surprising,’ Tabby admitted with a sudden smile, suddenly grateful that she had come to Greece to meet his family even if she was a fake fiancée. It was reassuring to be somewhere Aristide could relax and shed his remote and detached business persona.
Making some more food choices with Andy’s encouragement, she was soon sitting down and socialising.
‘So, tell me about her,’ Demetrius Romanos invited his son.
‘Not right now. I know how you work. The more I tell you about her, the more suspicious of her you will become,’ Aristide countered, knowing his parent of old and too respectful of him to comment that he considered his father one of the last people he would listen to advice from when it came to a woman.
‘Sheisa real beauty,’ his father conceded. ‘But so was the last one—’
