Kandy Shepherd – Greek Tycoon's Mistletoe Proposal (страница 8)
‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ he said with that trace of a smile that lifted his somewhat severe face.
‘How old are you?’ she asked. If there’d been time, she would have looked him up on the Internet. As it was, she was flying blind. He was a total stranger.
‘Thirty-four.’
‘So you were okay with thinking I was more than ten years younger than you?’
‘In my family it is not uncommon for the men to be much older than their women. My father is considerably older than my mother.’
‘I see,’ she said. She’d only ever dated men around her own age. It might be interesting to get to know a man six years older—even if they weren’t really dating. ‘There’s so much I need to know about you if we’re to appear authentic as a couple.’
‘That is true. Ask me anything you need to know.’
‘And you ask me anything too,’ she said. Not that there was a lot to discover. Her life had been anything but exciting. Until now.
They walked in silence while Ashleigh wrote herself a mental memo of questions. She fired off the one at the top of her list. ‘I probably don’t need to ask this, but I’m assuming you’re not married?’
‘I have never been married,’ he said. ‘I never will marry.’
His vehemence surprised her. ‘That answers that, then,’ she said. ‘I’m...uh...sure you have your reasons.’ He didn’t rush to enlighten her as to those reasons. ‘What about serious girlfriends?’
‘Not recently. And none that should concern you.’
‘Not married. No serious girlfriends. Okay.’ This wasn’t going well.
‘My friends tell me I’m married to my work.’
‘Really? That doesn’t sound much fun.’
His laugh was short and cynical. ‘One thing you would be expected to know about me is that I took over the family business when it was on the verge of bankruptcy. I was aged twenty-one when I set myself the goal of turning it around. There hasn’t been much opportunity for fun.’
‘That’s quite a story. You must be proud of such an achievement.’
‘Yes,’ he said shortly.
‘But what’s the point of being a billionaire and not having any fun?’
Lukas stopped so abruptly she nearly crashed into him. ‘What?’ he said.
‘I said...I said... Well, I think you heard what I said. I mean, life’s all about laughter and love and...’ Her voice dwindled away. ‘Forget it. On to the next question.’
He stared at her in what she could only describe as astonishment that she should be so impertinent. ‘My life is about responsibility and hard work and righting the wrongs of the past,’ he said.
She didn’t dare ask what those wrongs might be. Not yet, anyway.
‘I get that,’ she said, even though she didn’t. They came from different worlds. She forced her voice to sound bright and cheerful. What the heck had she got herself into?
‘Moving on to my next question. You speak such perfect English. Did you study here?’ His voice was deep and steady, with that hint of an accent to add to its appeal. She could close her eyes and just enjoy hearing him talk.
‘I went to university here in London for a while. But I was already fluent. I had an English nanny from birth and studied the language all through school. My family considered it important that I spoke good English. There is another reason so many young Greek people speak English—American and English music and movies are not often dubbed into Greek.’
‘That’s a powerful incentive to learn a language. I wish I’d had something like that to inspire me.’
‘Do you speak another language?’
‘I studied Indonesian at school. But, apart from vacations in Bali, I’ve never really used the language so am not at all fluent.’ She looked up at him. ‘Maybe you can teach me some Greek?’
‘There is not much I can teach you in the short time we will be together,’ he said. Putting her in her place.
‘Of course,’ she said. ‘But could you please just tell me the Greek for “darling”?’
He frowned. ‘What for?’
She wanted to sigh heavily at his obtuseness but didn’t dare. Wasn’t it obvious? ‘An endearment here and there might add to the authenticity of our...uh...relationship.’
‘Agápi mou,’ he said finally.
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘It means darling, or my love—agápi mou,’ he said with an edge of impatience.
Ashleigh repeated the words. ‘How did I do?’ she asked.
‘Not bad at all,’ he said with an expressive lifting of his dark eyebrows.
‘Thank you.’ In her head she went over and over the phrase so it would seem natural should she get the chance to drop it into the conversation.
They walked further, past the fashionable restaurant that had in some earlier incarnation been a garage. She’d enjoyed a very expensive cup of coffee there with Sophie the first day she’d come to Chelsea to meet Clio and be interviewed for the position with the agency.
‘How far is the restaurant?’ she asked.
‘A few blocks further down,’ he said.
‘Towards Land’s End?’
He smiled. ‘World’s End is in Chelsea. Land’s End is in Cornwall, right down at the southernmost part of England. They say if you walk from John O’Groats at the top of Scotland to Land’s End you’ve walked the length of Britain.’
Ashleigh gave herself a mental slam to the forehead. ‘Of course, what a stupid mistake. I’ve heard my English grandparents say that. You know more about this country than I do and I’ve got English blood.’
‘I like London. That’s why I bought the house here. Chelsea is so English but also cosmopolitan. I can enjoy a certain anonymity here.’
‘I love it too,’ Ashleigh said. She was about to tell him how she’d felt immediately at home in London when she’d got here but didn’t want to remind him of how completely she’d made herself at home in his house.
The ristorante was large and noisy with clatter and chatter; delicious aromas wafted to meet her. Ashleigh wondered how she would be able to talk privately with Lukas. But he was greeted by name by the beaming maître d’ who took their coats—she hoped hers wouldn’t get lost because no way in a million years would she ever be able to afford to replace it—and ushered them to a quiet table in an alcove. Reluctantly, she handed over her borrowed scarf—already she missed its warm caress with the heady hint of his scent.
The waiter pulled out her chair for her. But before she sat down she rose up on tiptoe and deliberately planted a lingering kiss on Lukas’s cheek, then trailed her fingers from his cheek, down his neck to stop at his collar. ‘This is delightful, agápi mou,’ she murmured in the throatiest, sexiest murmur she could muster. Then looked up into his eyes and pouted, as if inviting a kiss in return.
TAKEN UNAWARES, LUKAS froze at Ashleigh’s touch. For a heart-stopping moment she stayed intimately close, her curves against his chest, her sweetly scented hair tickling his face. She whispered in his ear, her voice laced with amusement at his reaction. ‘Try to look like you’re enjoying this—we’re meant to be in love.’
Then she sat down on her chair opposite him, flashing a radiant smile to the waiter as she thanked him for his elaborate play at shaking out her linen napkin and placing it on her lap.
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