CHAPTER TWO
LEANDER’SBLOODWAS still pumping hard as he washed his hair under the shower.
Of all the people his brother and Helena could have sent to track him down, why her?
Wiping the suds off his face with his hands, he wished he could wipe the look of shocked hurt on Kate’s face from his eyes. Banish it.
It was for the best, he told himself as he lathered shower gel over his body. It had needed to be done. Kate couldn’t be here.
He’d known Leo would send someone to find him because it was inconceivable he would take Leander at his word to come back. Leander had broken his word to his twin fourteen years ago and Leonidas had never forgiven him for it. Even though it had been five years since Leo had responded to any of his communications, Leander knew he could tell his brother it was raining and Leo would open a window to check for himself.
So yes, he’d expected Leo to send someone and demand he return to Greece immediately, and had prepared his staff accordingly. He would stay in seclusion until his head was together and his emotions under control, and only then would he return. A week was plenty of time to achieve all this.
But Leonidas and Helena had sent her to find him.
Why the hell had he revealed himself to her? It was a question still raging through his mind when he pulled a pair of heavy knee-length canvas shorts on. If he hadn’t felt that strong compulsion to see if the voice was who every one of his senses had told him it was, Kate would have left Marina Sands in ignorance of how close she’d come to finding him.
He hoped like hell that she didn’t take his cruel words to heart, but he’d needed to get rid of her and that had been the only way to achieve it.
Another sin he could add to his tally. The sin that cut the deepest. The most necessary of all his sins.
He needed to eat something. His usually healthy appetite had deserted him in recent days. It was almost lunch time and he hadn’t eaten a thing, which for a man of six foot four was normally unthinkable.
He’d let his chef enjoy the balmy weather and make himself an omelette. Anything to do with eggs he could fix for himself. An omelette, a bucket of wine and a crap movie...
He stepped into his main living room and his plans dissolved in an instant.
Kate was on one of his sofas. Not just on it but stretched out, her head propped on a cushion, bare ankles hooked together below smooth, slender golden legs covered only to mid-thigh in khaki green shorts, busy doing something or nothing on her phone.
‘There you are,’ she said cheerfully, tucking a lock of blonde hair behind a little sticky-out ear, not looking away from the screen inches from her face. ‘I was starting to wonder if you’d run away again.’
‘I told you to leave,’ he said roughly. Damn her. It had never occurred to him that she would stay after he’d spoken so cruelly to her. Anyone with an ounce of pride would have driven away cursing his name.
‘For the sake of accuracy, you told me to see myself out. Now, I’ve messaged Helena with the good news that I’ve found you and updated her about your resistance to returning straight to Greece.’ She turned her head and fixed the heart-shaped face that reminded him of the pixies of folklore and eyes the colour of jade on him with a steely smile. ‘I’ve promised to do everything I can to get you back there sooner rather than later—reading between the lines, your brother’s being an arse, which doesn’t surprise me given everything Helen’s told me about him—so consider me your houseguest until such time you agree to return.’
‘Absolutely not.’ He’d rather have radioactive cockroaches as houseguests.
‘I’m afraid I only chucked a few bits of clothes in a bag when I set off to find you and I’ve left them in the plane, so I’ll have to borrow some clothes off you, and also some toiletries and stuff—unless you don’t mind having a stinky houseguest that is—and—’
Leander had never known a man’s guts could clench so tightly. ‘This is all out of the question. You need to leave.’
‘Can’t.’ Her smile widened. ‘I’ve sent the driver away.’
‘I’ll get my driver to take you.’
‘I’m not going anywhere without you, Leander, so unless you plan to physically throw me out of your home, you’re going to have to put up with me annoying you and buzzing like a bee in your ear until you’re so sick of me that you give in and do the decent thing and go back to Greece, and put Helena and Leo out of the misery you’ve inflicted on them.’
‘How many times do I have to tell you, I will return to Greece before the honeymoon is over?’ he demanded.
She turned her stare back to her phone and swiped at the screen. ‘You can repeat yourself until you’re blue in the face; no one trusts you to keep your word, and even if they did, this is supposed to be your honeymoon, and it’s selfish of you to expect your brother to step away from all his responsibilities just because you can’t cope with the idea of being tied to one woman without any sex for a few months at the most. If you need to get your leg over that badly, use some discretion. Helena won’t care.’
‘You think this is all about sex?’ Swearing loudly, Leander paced the room, torn between doing exactly as Kate had said and throwing her over his shoulder to march her out of his home, and not wanting to even share the same air as her. The thought of touching her was too intolerable to contemplate.
‘Well, you did tell your brother in that message you so kindly left him that something had come up, and you are known as Leander the Lothario,’ she reminded him sweetly, ‘so it does stand to reason.’
The tabloid moniker for him. It had never bothered him before. He’d actually found it quite useful. Women knew not to expect anything permanent from him. He could work hard and play hard without ties or responsibilities and enjoy his life and indulge in short but sweet successive flings without any expectations being levelled on him.
Kate attempted to keep her stare on the screen and not let it drift to Leander because she was still trying to banish the sight of him semi-naked from her retinas, which considering she’d sunbathed next to him numerous times—before he went all cold on her—and had barely paid his semi-nakedness the slightest bit of attention other than in a general he’s got a great body way, was as disturbing as the pulses fluttering in her stomach.
‘If it isn’t about sex then what is it?’ she asked when his only response was to glare malevolently at her. She couldn’t see the glare but she could feel it. ‘You told me only a week ago that you thought a fake marriage to Helena was no big deal.’
She’d asked him about it when they’d been sunbathing on her third day on his family island and Helena had been on a phone call. It had been Kate’s first opportunity to grill him.
‘What’s in all this for you?’ she’d asked, turning onto her side to face him.
He’d been lying on his back, fabulous body glistening under the searing sun, dark shades covering his eyes. He’d turned his face to her. ‘You mean marrying Helena?’
‘Yes. I know why she needs a quickie marriage and why she asked you—’
‘Why was that?’ he’d asked lazily.
‘Because you’re her second-best friend—’
‘Only second?’
‘Of course,’ she’d grinned. ‘I’m number one.’
White teeth had flashed.
‘And she asked you because you have no ties and apparently no intention of ever marrying.’
‘Oh, I might marry for real one day.’
‘When you meet the right woman?’ she’d teased, very much aware that Leander’s playboy reputation was well deserved.
‘That sounds remarkably romantic for a woman who wants to marry an orangutan,’ he’d teased back, making her splutter with laughter. ‘Life is for living, not being tied down, but I can see myself wanting children one day. If that happens, I might consider marriage, but it wouldn’t be for a long time. Helena needs her inheritance now and the only way she can get it is by marrying, and as she won’t accept money from me...’ He’d flashed his teeth again. ‘I just thought, why not? It’s no big deal for me. It’ll be for a couple of months at the most. As soon as the inheritance is signed over to her, we will tragically go our separate ways.’
Kate’s recollection of this conversation only made Leander’s cold feet on the morning of the wedding even harder to understand. How could he be so blasé about it one day and then only days later flee thousands of miles? It just didn’t make sense.
Leander could see from the way Kate had stilled that her clever brain was ticking and the clenching in his guts tightened to a point.
Folding his arms across his chest, it occurred to him that he could use that tabloid moniker and the reputation it had established to his advantage.
‘You know what, Kate? You’re right. This is all about my insatiable need for sex, and when I return to Greece, I’ll be sure to tell Helena that I’ll be taking lovers—discreet lovers, naturally—until she gets her inheritance and we can dissolve the marriage.’
She turned her face back to him brightly. ‘Oh, good. Does that mean we can leave now?’
‘You can leave whenever you want but I’m staying here. But seeing as you’ve put me in the mind for sex...’ He gave her a meaningful stare.
Her nose wrinkled, just as he’d anticipated. Kate was the only woman he’d met in adulthood who gave no signs at all of desiring him. From Kate there had not been the slightest sign of awareness that she saw him as a man.
‘God, you’re disgusting.’
‘Most women find me irresistible.’
‘Then most women are stupid.’
He shrugged. ‘If you won’t oblige, my phone is packed with the names and numbers of women who would be happy to come over and satisfy my needs.’
Distaste written all over her face, she shrugged in return. ‘Knock yourself out.’
‘Some of my lovers have a tendency to be...how can I put this delicately?...vocal.’
She shrugged again. ‘If they’re too noisy I’ll stick some cheese in my ears.’
How could she be so damned blasé? So unaffected?
Pulling his phone out of his back pocket, he waved it at her. ‘Hundreds of obliging women.’
‘Your mother must be very proud.’
‘My mother understands me very well.’ It was his identical twin who didn’t. Or wouldn’t.
Perching his backside on the side of the sofa next to Kate’s head, glancing at the screen of her phone and seeing she was playing a word game which, for some reason added to his internal fury, Leander scrolled through his contacts. ‘Who should I call? Grace? Hettie? Ah, Elle’s in Santa Monica. That’s not far. What do you think, Kate? Shall I call Elle? She’s a real beauty.’
She tilted her head back to look up at him. The movement sent strands of her blonde hair brushing against his thigh. ‘If you think Elle would be happy to be summoned to act as a vessel for your selfish pleasure, then by all means call her.’
‘Stick around long enough and you’ll find the pleasure is entirely mutual.’
‘I’m sticking around until I get you back to Greece, even if it means using a whole block of cheese as ear plugs.’
He smiled cruelly down at her. ‘I would suggest two blocks of cheese, and speaking of cheese, I’m hungry. If you’re still planning to hang around where you’re not wanted, you can make yourself useful and make me an omelette.’
‘I’m happy exactly where I am, thanks.’ And to prove it, she looked back at her phone and made another attempt to guess the day’s word.
He laughed mockingly. ‘You’ll have to vacate your spot when Elle gets here—unless you want to watch as well as hear?’
Her mouth opened in a wide yawn she didn’t bother to cover. ‘I’m sure watching you have sex will be riveting.’
‘I can go for hours.’
‘Congratulations. You should add that to your email signature.’
‘It’s gauche to brag.’ He got back to his feet. ‘I’ll call Elle now. I imagine she’ll be here within the hour so if you see sense and decide not to ruin your dream job, dial one on the intercom and my driver will take you to the airfield. I’m going to make myself some food.’
‘No onion in my omelette thanks.’
‘If you want to eat, you’ll have to go somewhere else. I will provide you with nothing.’
Unperturbed, she wiggled her toes. ‘That’s fine. I was a hungry student for five years, and besides, I’m sure the sight and sound of you having sex will kill my appetite for ever.’
Teeth clenched so tightly his jaw locked, Leander strode to his kitchen, more determined than ever to drive Kate Hawkins out of his sanctuary.
Kate waited until she was quite certain Leander wasn’t planning to come straight back into the living room with another psychological attempt to make her leave before placing her phone on her chest, closing her eyes, and expelling a long breath.
She would not let his disdain for her affect her like he so obviously wanted it to. If he didn’t like her and didn’t want her in his home then tough luck. Kate had never broken a promise in her life and wasn’t about to start now, especially not when that promise had been made to Helena. If not for Helena, she would never have survived boarding school and if she hadn’t survived boarding school she’d have had to attend the local secondary school which was infamous for its lousy teaching and so would never have achieved the grades she needed to study to be a vet. She wouldn’t be seven days from flying off to start her dream job, working at what was essentially a charity-run orangutan orphanage.
Kate had been one of only three full scholarship girls at her boarding school, one of the only girls who didn’t spend the holidays in St Tropez or Klosters or wherever else Mummy and Daddy had a second or third or fourth home. The Hawkins annual family holiday was normally a fortnight in Spain or Portugal at an all-inclusive three-star resort which the other girls had all thought hilarious, and not in a good way.
Helena had been different. She hadn’t cared that Kate’s parents drove second-hand cars, lived in a semi-detached house and didn’t have food delivered from Fortnum Mason. Their friendship had been instant and had endured for almost fifteen years. As close as sisters, there was nothing they wouldn’t do for the other, and if Helena needed Kate to cling like a limpet to Leander Liassidis until she could drag him back to Greece then she would forego any personal discomfort and do it. She knew exactly what was at stake for Helena if she failed and Leander’s twin refused to carry out the pretence of being him any longer.
She didn’t believe for a second that Leander would call Elle or any woman over. She had no idea where this certainty came from, but just as she’d instinctively known that he was in residence here, she also knew he was playing dirty psychological tricks to try and get rid of her, and she would swallow away her pride and the pangs that kept smashing into her chest that he made no bones about disliking her.
At least he was making it easier for her to despise him in return, and she would not allow herself any sadness that a man she’d struck such a great rapport with, someone she’d felt a real kernel of friendship unfold for, had turned out to be such a hateful bastard.
Leander’s omelette looked pretty damn good, even if he did say so himself. Loaded with cheese and Serrano ham, he’d deliberately not put any onion in it, just to tantalise Kate’s tastebuds. He would starve her out, and as he carried his plate out of the kitchen, he locked the door behind him. He’d never understood why the previous owner, an architect who’d designed the futuristic-looking mansion, had put locks on all the doors including the kitchen and now he could only assume they’d had a Kate invade their home.
Stopping at his floor-to-ceiling wine fridge, he selected a bottle of Chablis, plucked a glass from the cabinet beside it, and carried his haul into the living room.
The comment he’d planned to needle Kate with went unsaid when he crossed the threshold and found she’d fallen asleep.
He could do nothing to stop the swelling in his chest that rose all the way up his throat.
Still stretched out on her back, an arm had flopped down the side of the sofa, the tips of her fingers brushing against the rug on the floor. Her breathing was deep and rhythmic, the motions making the abandoned phone resting on her chest move and slide with each exhale.
Jaw clenched, he forced the swelling to subside and sat himself on a reclining armchair close to her. The aroma of cheese and ham would wake her up, he told himself, and if that didn’t work, turning the television on and upping the volume would do the trick. Pressing the remote, the television sprang to life, a daytime home improvement show. About to increase the volume to eardrum bursting levels, he made the error of letting his eyes fall on Kate’s sleeping face. The swelling set off again.
He’d been so intent on getting rid of her that he’d ignored the exhaustion lining her delicate pixie features.
He turned the television off and left the Chablis unopened.
Three bites of his omelette and he could stand it no longer. Putting his plate on the floor, he padded quietly over and gently removed the phone from her chest, being careful not to allow his fingers to make contact with the round-necked blue and white striped top she was wearing, and set it on the floor beside her sparkly flat sandals, close to the hand trailing on the rug.
The delicate fingers twitched.
His heart stopped.
Swallowing hard, he backed away and finished his solo meal.
The figure moved from the shadows of the door and stalked towards her, only a small towel hiding his nakedness. The closer he got, the more magnified his demonic beauty and the higher the thuds of anticipation in her chest. She couldn’t open her mouth to speak but when his face hovered over hers, her lips parted. Threading her fingers into the black silk of his hair, she tightened her grip and moaned into the hungry possessiveness of his kiss...
Kate pulled herself out of the dream with a start. Eyes springing open, the deep blue of the crushed velvet sofa she’d fallen asleep on dominated her vision. Her heart was thumping so hard and so fast it was a burr against her ribs. If her hand wasn’t already gripping her top she’d have to pat herself for assurance that she remained clothed.
It took an age before she found the courage to turn her head.
Leander was in an armchair reading, the strong jaw covered in thick black stubble set, the slightly too wide mouth compressed into a thin line.
‘What time is it?’ she mumbled, striving desperately to shake the dream and sleepiness off, and was more grateful than she could ever express that he didn’t look up from his book when he answered.
‘Seven.’
She’d slept for hours.
It took much more effort than it should to swing her feet to the floor. ‘I need to use the bathroom.’
‘I’m afraid the facilities here are unavailable for you.’ His voice was as tight as his features.
That was better. Right then she needed him to be as mean as possible, to grow horns and develop cloven hooves.
‘Fine. How about I pee on your rug?’
That made him look at her, and God did she wish he wouldn’t, not until she’d scratched that dream from her memory for good.
The lips that had just kissed her in her dream pursing in a put-upon motion, he nodded at the arch he’d gone through earlier, before she’d zonked out. ‘First left.’
She crossed the vast living space, past the enormous central feature fireplace, and almost hoped he was sending her to a broom cupboard or something, just so she had something else to hate him for. But no, it was a bathroom, an ordinary downstairs bathroom with a toilet and a sink and which just happened to be one of the plushest downstairs loos she’d ever stepped in.
Only once she’d locked the door was she able to snatch a lungful of air.
Her heart was still racing when she washed her shaking hands with the deliciously scented hand wash and splashed cold water on her flushed face. It wasn’t just her face that was flushed. Her insides felt liquidised.
God help her, that dream... It had felt so real.
She pulled more air into her lungs then ran her fingers through her mussed hair and rubbed away the last of the mascara applied over two days ago from under her eyes, forcefully reminding herself that it hadn’t been real.
Even so, there was something frightening about her reflection, a feverishness she didn’t recognise and which made her splash her face with more cold water.
One more deep breath and she left the bathroom.
Each step back to the living room made her heart race a little bit faster.
It was decidedly colder when Kate crossed the threshold. Most of the glass wall facing the ocean had been opened, cool evening air pouring in.
Leander’s set profile was still focused on his book. He made no acknowledgement of her return.
The racing of her heart turned into a painful thunder. If she’d thought she could scorch the image of Leander’s practically naked body from her retinas, her dream had put paid to that.