Both males looked up. “Where are you going?”
“I need to use the bathroom.”
Christos nodded. “It’s down the hall to the left.”
She left the room as quickly as possible and stopped in the hallway. She heard the deep rumble of Christos’s voice as he spoke to Theo, telling him about his heritage.
She realized that this situation was out of her control and she had absolutely no idea how to get it back. She’d dreamed of a time when Christos would return and claim Theo. Claimher.Yeah, that was the rub, wasn’t it?
That she’d been waiting five years for him to realize he’d been wrong when he’d accused her of infidelity. And now he was here, offering her something she’d always wanted. The one thing she’d dreamed of when they’d first begun their affair. Yet she knew that saying yes to Christos’s proposal wasn’t going to make everything into that mythical happy ever after.
“Are you okay?”
She glanced up at Antonio. She wondered if he remembered her, or if the stream of women through Christos’s life had made him forget.
“I’m fine, Antonio. I just needed a minute to myself.”
“Of course. Why don’t you go out to the gardens? I’ll let Mr. Theakis know where you are.”
“Thank you,” she said, and followed Antonio’s directions. She stepped out into the cool February evening. The smell of the ocean and the lush shrubbery surrounded her.
She followed a path to the center of the garden and found a bench that overlooked a small fountain of a triton—half man, half fish with a large, dragon-like tail. It was lit from the base and she watched the water spill out.
“Ava?”
“Over here,” she called.
Christos came around the corner. He’d put on a fleece pullover and a pair of deck shoes. His hair was thick and black, rumpled as if he’d run his fingers through it.
“Where’s Theo?”
“I sent him to the kitchen for something sweet.”
Theo had a sweet tooth like nobody’s business. Well, to be honest, that was one of the things they shared, so she limited any kind of junk food in their house. “Why?”
“We need to talk.”
Christos sat down on the bench next to her. His body heat reached her in waves and she fought the urge to scoot closer to him.
“What have you decided?”
She shrugged, not ready to tell him yet. Not really sure if she was going to say yes to him and change her life for this man. At one time she’d been ready, but she wasn’t sure she could risk her heart again.
Theo wassmart and funny and concerned about what moving would do to his mother. In a candid moment he’d revealed that Ava’s family had cut her off completely when she’d returned from Greece pregnant. Of course, the little boy hadn’t put it in those exact terms, but Christos could read between the lines of Theo’s simple words…it’s just Mommy and me.
He hadn’t wanted to personalize his relationship with Ava or her son too much yet, but it was too late for that. The little boy was slowly, shyly winding his way into Christos’s cold heart, and Ava…hell she’d always been his Achilles’ heel, hadn’t she? He wanted her. Why the hell hadn’t that changed?
Here in the moonlight she looked too fragile, too vulnerable to have done all the things he knew she had. And despite the factthat she’d played him for a fool, he had never wanted her to lose her family and their support.
What a damned mess this was.
“I have questions,” she said, turning to face him.
Her eyes were big and wide, forthright and honest. He knew the honesty was mostly a mirage. But in this moment, with the soft trickle of the water in the fountain, surrounded by the lush scents of hibiscus and the fragrance of her perfume, it didn’t feel like a mirage.
It felt too damn real. He hated that this woman made him vulnerable. With anyone else he would have swooped in, taken the boy and left. But not with Ava.
“About?” he asked her.
