Page 178 of Love Among the Ruins
“What was so important that you came all the way here to tell me?” she asked. “You stalked me at the bar.”
“I didn’t stalk you.” He shrugged. “Well, maybe I did. A little.”
“You came out here all the way to speak to me. But when I wanted to see you that day in your office, you couldn’t wait to get rid of me. What’s so important all of a sudden?”
He braced himself. The news would hit her like a tsunami and he was going to make sure she didn’t get swept away and drown. “That day … that day in the office, I didn’t know what to expect from you. You were the one who left the villa, Eleni. I wanted you to stay with me, but you’re still in … your boyfriend … I understand your regret.”
She shifted forward, her eyes wide with confusion. “My regret?”
What else would it be? She was still pining for the man. “I asked you to stay, and when you didn’t, I assumed that …” He had never been in the position of having to explain himself. He’d never been in the position where he’d had to compete with a dead man, but there was no point in harping on about things he couldn’t change. “Hector Galatis came to see me earlier.”
She rolled her eyes. “And what? You’re blaming your bad mood on Hector? You can’t keep blaming others, Dom. You can’t keep blaming your father, your brother, your business rivals, the air conditioning units, the sun … each time something doesn’t work out the way you want.”
“I’m not blaming anyone.”
“Then why are you telling me that Hector came to see you? What do I care? You wanted me out of your office, and all I wanted was to see you again. I missed you.”
His breath stilled in his chest and his lungs stopped working. It was possible that he had misheard, that he was about to have a seizure or something.
“You …missed me,did you say?”
“Do you just want me to repeat it again for the sake of it? Yes, I missed you.” She reached over and placed her empty glass on the bedside cabinet. “I didn’t know how to be around you. I slept with my boss. You might not care about how it looks, but you’re my boss, Dominic. I’m on a short term contract. I’m just an employee.”
“You’re so much more than that.”
She stopped and stared at him, her lips twisting, a crease in her brow. She seemed to be having an internal crisis about what to say. She sank back against the headboard, resigned, as if she’d been defeated. “It might have taken me a few days to realize it, but I missed you. I wanted to be with you, Dominic. I loved the night we had.”
Holy shit.
She frowned. “When you returned to the office, I wanted to tell you that I regretted not staying with you, and if I could have had that moment again I would have done things differently.”
“At the villa?”
“With you, I don’t care where it was. I don’t need villas and yachts to make me happy.”
He flinched and raked a hand through his hair as he paced the room, his insides in turmoil. He had so many things to tell her, and none of them were good. He rewound her words in his mental playlist, needing the reassurance. “You would have stayed with me?”
She nodded, her brows pushing together as if she didn’t understand why he was having such difficulty grasping this.
“And ...” He couldn’t bring himself to say his name. “What about your ... the … reason behind your expedition?”
She pulled the duvet off. “It’s hot in here.” She fanned her face. Her sea-green strappy summer dress had ridden up and revealed legs long and golden. His cock twitched. One of her straps had fallen down, and he longed to run his hand along her soft skin and put the strap back.
But there lay a danger in such thoughts. He was caught in a dilemma. Torn by duty to family and his feelings for Eleni.
She stood up and stretched, causing her strap to fall further down her arm. She was a sultry picture; bedraggled, looking sexy, scantily clad even though she was fully clothed. A bare shoulder, long, long legs. He wanted to wake up to her every morning, like this.
She walked to the windows and opened the blinds. The blue morning light with only a hint of yellow poured into the room.
“Your expedition,” he prompted, desperate for an answer.
“I don’t know myself if I want to do it. Whenever I think about it, I feel guilty. I feel like I’m cheating on Jonas, but I can’t be because ... because he’s not here.”
“Cheating because?”
“Must you make me say it? Must you be so cruel?” She turned around. “Why do you think, Dominic?”
She was still in love with her boyfriend. “It’s not cheating if he still has your heart.” It killed him to say it, but she’d only wanted Dominic for the sex. For his cock, not his heart.
