“He’s having fun.”
“Fun has never been his problem.”
“Whatishis problem?” she asked.
Ari shrugged and pulled a pair of sunglasses from his pocket. He turned the wheelchair toward the house and she realized that he was going to just roll away as if they weren’t having a conversation.
“For someone who places so much emphasis on manners, you are very rude.”
He stopped his chair and glanced over his shoulder at her. “Are you talking to me?”
“Do you see anyone else?”
“I don’t like your American attitude.”
She could name several things about Ari she didn’t like. “I don’t care for your Greek-male arrogance.”
“Good.”
He started back toward the house and she shook her head, watching him go. This was what she’d been trying to explain to Christos last night. The disdain that his father held for her made her days long and difficult. To his credit, Ari did seem to adore Theo and gave the boy a lot of attention.
She walked back toward the garage, noticing that both Christos and Theo had disappeared. She had a feeling that she was going to get attacked guerilla-warfare style. And she needed that distraction, because she felt out of her element here. Something that Ari always induced in her.
She’d given birth to his grandchild, but apparently that wasn’t enough for the older man to cut her any slack. She wondered if he knew the truth of what had happened in the past or just the tabloid version of everything that had transpired between her and Christos and Stavros. As observant as Ari was, she couldn’t imagine he would have missed the fact that Stavros had been having an affair and that it wasn’t with her.
She heard a rustling behind her a split second before she was hit in the back with an icy spray of water. She turned on herassailants, scooping her son up in her arms and wresting the squirt gun from him. She hit Christos in the face with the spray and then turned and ran for the car.
Theo’s laughter filled the air and she felt something ease in her soul. No matter how much Ari might disapprove of her, this was exactly where she belonged. Christos captured them both, wrapping his arms around her from behind. She felt his warm body press against her. She tipped her head back on his shoulder.
“What did my father say to you?” he asked.
“Nothing important. Can you still take us out on your yacht?”
“Yes,” he said. She could tell he wanted to ask her more questions, but she shook her head and set Theo down.
“Let’s go!” Theo said, climbing into the car and fastening his seatbelt.
Christos triedto keep his mind on driving to the marina and off the wet shirt that clung to Ava’s curves but it was hard…and that wasn’t the only thing in that condition.
His mobile phone rang and he ignored it. He’d had it with his interfering father, friends and business associates. He needed this clear, bright, sunshiny day for himself and his family. Ava wrapped her arm around her waist and shivered a little as the breeze blew through the car. Keeping his eyes on the road, Christos reached behind him into the bag she’d stowed in the back seat and pulled out her sweater.
“Thanks,” she said when he handed it to her. “Did you take care of all your business this morning?”
“Business?” he asked, wondering how she knew about it.
She shrugged. “Ari said you had a call. And last night you mentioned that there was a lot of stuff on your plate at work.”
“Stuff? Is that what you think I do?” he teased. He didn’t want to talk about business today or think about the heavy load he’d have to deal with tomorrow. Each day there was a new complication at the office. For just today, he wanted to feel…free. The way he used to when Stavros was still the one charged with carrying on the Theakis traditions.
“Meetings, conference calls, I don’t know. What do you do?”
“Stuff,” he said, unable to stop smiling over at her.
She playfully punched him in the arm. “You’re in a good mood today.”
“Am I not usually?” he asked, not wanting to assign too much significance to the fact that he was happy just to spend time with Theo and Ava. That wasn’t like him. He didn’t like to depend too heavily on someone else for his happiness. That was a road that led straight to disaster.
“Sometimes you are. You look very tense when you get home.”
