Page 25 of Forgotten Greek Proposal
He could still feel it, the entirety of his body alive to the flame that had just incinerated them both.
‘The chemistry between us has always been strong.’ So strong that they’d both fought it like warriors. ‘But chemistry isn’t what we’re talking about. All you know of your missing memories is what you’ve been told—you have nothing tangible to pin them to and nothing real to pin your feelings to, and until you do, I cannot in good conscience allow anything to happen between us.’ He fixed her with a stare. ‘I won’t.’
Never. Especially not under the weight of a lie.
God damn it, why had he let that happen? He’d known it would be hard keeping Lucie at arm’s length whilst playing the role of devoted fiancé but hadn’t guessed it would be impossible.
A noise too much like real life cut through the tension-filled silence, and it took a long moment for Thanasis to realise it was the sound of a reprieve.
With a silent prayer to whichever deity had taken pity on him, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his private phone. ‘I must answer this.’
Getting to his feet, painfully aware of the arousal still so tight in his loins and of the unsteadiness of his legs, Thanasis crossed the bridge of his pool.
‘Thanasis.’
He turned his head to the sound of Lucie’s voice.
Her eyes held his for a long breath before she gave a small smile. ‘Thank you.’
A cloud of emotion filled and pushed against his chest, and he closed his eyes briefly before continuing to the balustrade.
His back to her, he put the phone to his ear.‘Yassou.’
‘How is she?’ Alexis asked, getting straight to the point.
It took everything he had not to turn back round to look at her.
Theos, he could taste her as fresh as if her sweet tongue were still dancing against his. Feel the softness of her skin beneath his fingers. The hardness of her nipple against his palm.
He swallowed to answer. ‘Doing well.’
‘She is with you?’
This time he couldn’t resist looking even as his hackles rose at the contemptuous tone Alexis used when referring to Lucie.
Shewas still sitting on the sofa. She’d pulled her knees up to her chest. Her stare was exactly where he’d known it would be. Even with the distance between them, he could see the concentration on her face, see her thinking with the same strength as the stare boring into him.
And then her lips curved into a smile. A real smile. Lucie’s Aphrodite smile. A smile she’d bestowed him with only once in their previous incarnation, on their very first meet, right before his deliberately acerbic dig about her boots.
He blew out slowly and turned away. ‘Yes.’
‘Any signs of her memories returning?’
‘No.’ He almost—almost—wished they would.
‘Good. Everything is contained this end.’
‘And this end.’ Dangerously contained.
‘The paparazzi took pictures of you two walking Piraeus harbour. Holding her hand was a nice touch.’
His hackles rose even higher. His voice gained an edge. ‘I’m glad you think so.’
‘I’ve discussed things with my father and Rebecca, and we’ve agreed on a million-euro payment for her silence. You will match it?’
Outrage at this speared so deeply that if Alexis Tsaliki had been standing in front of him, Thanasis’s fist would have connected with his nose without a second thought.
Breathing heavily to get a grip on his temper, entirely aware that Lucie was still watching him, Thanasis lowered his voice and growled, ‘Twenty million each.’
