Chapter Nine #3
‘Elektra?’ His mouth curved up. ‘I’m sure she will. She’s determined and studies hard.’
So he was closely enough involved to identify individual kids. Warmth spread through Dido’s chest. Admiration. This was so much more to him than a charitable tax deduction. ‘You’re bankrolling the holiday centre and scholarships as well?’
He pulled back on the throttle, slowing the boat as he turned, a frown knitting his brow.
‘Why not? I have the money and someone needs to support these kids.’ The smile that played around his mouth as he thought of Elektra faded.
‘Too often they miss out. Without families of their own to care for them it’s easy to fall through the cracks, to be neglected. To miss out on opportunities.’
His tone was measured yet she heard the undercurrent of emotion, saw it in the lift of his chin and the set of his mouth.
Because he knows what it’s like to be neglected.
He’d had everything money could buy but who’d loved him? Who’d truly cared about a little boy who must have been terribly lonely?
She’d been appalled at how regimented and cold his early life sounded.
Was that why he threw himself so passionately into this project? So other vulnerable children had something positive in their lives that he hadn’t experienced?
Her heart lurched in sympathy for the boy he’d been.
Maybe that place fulfilled a need in Panos too. A need for connection. He’d said everyone wanted him for his money. That there was always a catch. But there’d been no catch with those teenage boys. Even if they knew he funded the centre, their reaction to him was affectionate as well as respectful.
‘I agree. If more people invested in children instead of their own aggrandizement, the world would be a happier place. What you’re doing is wonderful.’
The boat slowed almost to a stop as he surveyed her. Even through those dark glasses, she felt his scrutiny.
‘Approval, Dido?’
She shrugged. ‘I call it as I see it. It’s a great initiative. I’m impressed. And,’ she continued before she could have second thoughts, ‘particularly because you do more than throw money at it. You’re involved.’
She almost added that he’d been marvellous with the kids, not just the ones learning to windsurf, but later with the younger ones. But it would sound like gushing. He’d only suspect her of toadying.
‘It’s no hardship. I enjoy being with them.’ He paused. ‘They loved having you there too.’
What did she hear in his voice? Not precisely surprise… ‘It was fun. They were just the right age because they knew some English so we could communicate a little.’
It had turned into an uproarious game, with them teaching her Greek words, though not always the ones she wanted to know, and her helping with their English.
She’d been laughing when she looked up to see him in the doorway, eyes fixed on her with a look she couldn’t decipher, but which had made her heart thrum fast and her breath snare.
There it was again. That same sensation, as Panos removed his sunglasses as if to view her better. ‘You’re a surprising woman, Dido.’
‘Really?’ She sat straighter. ‘Why? Don’t gold-diggers like children?’
She stiffened, mentally cursing her unguarded words. Did she want a flaming row with him? But she couldn’t bear the label he’d put on her.
Yet instead of flaring up in fury, Panos tilted his head. ‘No.’
‘Sorry?’
‘In my experience, and I’m an expert on the subject, gold-diggers aren’t generally interested in anyone but themselves. Unless it’s someone they can leech off.’
Dido felt her pulse stutter. ‘Are you saying…?’
He couldn’t have changed his mind about her! He hadn’t even given her the chance to set the record straight about Charles’ lies.
‘It means you’ve given me a lot to think about.’
It wasn’t enough. She needed far more than that. She opened her mouth then snapped it shut. Pushing Panos wouldn’t work. He was incredibly stubborn.
She made herself look away, breathing slowly. This was positive, that he was questioning his view of her as a fortune-hunter.
Just as she could no longer think of him as pure villain. He was too complex for that.
And so were her increasingly confused feelings.
Dido snatched in a breath that, despite the salty air, was redolent of bergamot, exotic spices and man. Heat eddied through her body to settle in her pelvis. She shivered, thighs clenching as a rush of lust engulfed her.
This was the man with whom she’d once tumbled into love. The man, she admitted now, who’d broken her heart.
Her distress through the past three years hadn’t just been upset at being maligned and dumped without a hearing. It had been as much about loss. The man she’d known so briefly had been everything she wanted, everything she needed. She’d believed in him, in them.
For three years she’d told herself she was well shot of Panos. Then when he behaved outrageously with his demands, it was easy to hate him, or tell herself she hated him.
But now… Now those visceral feelings, that need was back. And from the look in his glittering eyes, he felt the same.