The excitement was in her eyes. He could see she’d actually found something to be passionate about.
‘That sounds perfect.’ He spoke cautiously, wondering what that meant for them.
She nodded slowly. ‘But I only want to do it if we can be together. I don’t want to be at the other side of the world from you. I love you, Leo. I want to be with you. If I take that job it will mean lots of travel, all over the US and overseas. But the truth is I don’t really want us to be apart.’
His heart swelled in his chest. It was just what he wanted to hear. He pulled her towards him and put his lips on hers. She returned his kisses passionately, wrapping her arms around his neck. ‘It’s just as well, then, that I own a private jet and can take you, and follow you, to the ends of the earth. When you need to go overseas, I can come with you—if you want me to—and work from there. When you’re in the US, we can base ourselves here, in New York. We can make this work, Anissa. I know we can.’
‘I thought I’d been a fool,’ she whispered. ‘I thought I’d lost you.’
‘Ditto,’ he whispered, then he pulled back a little and laughed. Having Anissa back in his arms felt so right.
It was almost as if his head had finally started to clear. Realising he loved Anissa was just the starting point. ‘I might have done something that would surprise you last night.’
She tilted her head to one side. ‘What?’
‘I phoned Sebastian again.’ He stopped for a second and tried the words again. ‘I phoned my brother.’
She pulled back, her eyes wide. ‘You did?’
He nodded. ‘I did.’
‘What on earth did you say to him?’
‘I told him I’d brought the woman I loved to New York and I’d messed up. I told him that I’d asked her stay with me and she’d run away.’
‘What did he say?’ Anissa asked cautiously.
Leo gave an amused nod. ‘I think it took him a few moments to get over the shock that I’d called—and that I’d told him all that.’
‘And then?’
‘And then he told me to take a deep breath. He said if I loved you, I had to give you space. I had to respect your decision. He said I should wait and let you come back to me—if you wanted to.’
Anissa looked a little surprised. ‘He didn’t tell you try a big gesture, or to hunt the city for me?’
Leo shook his head. ‘No. Because that’s exactly what I wanted to do. He told me I’d made the big gesture and I had to let love decide what happened next.’
She slid her arms around his waist. ‘Wow. From a guy who hated you to a brother who gives advice.’
Leo nodded slowly as he looked out over New York. He sighed. ‘I love this place. But I need to get to know Sebastian and Noemi. I don’t want to be part of the jewellery business, but I need to find my place in my family. It scares me, Anissa. It scares me more than you can know.’
She gave his waist a squeeze. ‘But I do get it, Leo. More than you can understand. I had to make a decision. I had to be brave. Twice. I had to decide to walk away from the only career I had known. And I had to decide to give my heart to someone.’ She stood on tiptoe and whispered in his ear, ‘And once you do it...it’s not that hard. The thought is actually a lot scarier than the process.’ She winked at him. ‘And you’ve already done one.’
A slow smile came over him as a warm sensation swept over his body. She was right. He knew she was right. Exposing his heart to Anissa had been his first step. The first step to forming real relationships in his life. Maybe, with her help, he could take the next step.
He pulled her backwards with him and sat in one of the big chairs, pulling her onto his lap. ‘The beauty of a private jet means that you can more or less go anywhere you want, anytime. So, if I asked the woman I love to come with me—to come back with me to Mont Coeur to meet my family—what would she say?’
Anissa wound her hands back around his neck as she settled in his lap. Her eyes were shining brightly. ‘I would say try and stop me.’
And then she kissed him and made him forget about everything else.
* * *
Welcome to The Cattaneos’ Christmas Miracles trilogy.
If you enjoyed this story, look out for the next two books
Heiress’s Royal Baby Bombshell
by Jennifer Faye
CEO’s Marriage Miracle
by Sophie Pembroke
Coming soon!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Wedding the Greek Billionaire by Rebecca Winters.
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Wedding the Greek Billionaire
by Rebecca Winters
CHAPTER ONE
THE END OF May had brought glorious seventy-degree weather to Greece, but the morning traffic in Patras was as bad as in Athens. Zoe Perkins, who’d been in Greece since January, doing research on the renowned British poet Lord Byron, was on her way to the dock in a taxi. The ferry to Ithaca would be leaving soon and she couldn’t be late.
“Can’t you go any faster?” she called to the driver again. She’d phoned for a taxi from her one bedroom apartment in downtown Patras, thinking she had plenty of time.
“I am hurrying,” he replied in English over his shoulder.
She looked out the window, frustrated it was taking so long. Suddenly she saw a truck turn into their path from the intersection. “Stop! He’s going to hit—”
They collided before she could say us. The impact shot her forward, but the seat belt kept her from going flying. While she tried to get her heart to calm down, she noticed the driver slumped over the steering wheel. Blood dribbled down the side of his face.
“Oh, no! Are you all right?” she cried out, horrified. He didn’t make a sound. It was her fault for urging him to drive faster. The police hadn’t arrived yet and a crowd had surrounded them. The accident had caused a terrible traffic jam.
Galvanized into action, Zoe undid the seat belt, wanting to get out of the car to help the driver. But as she opened the rear door, she was blocked by a man with a rock-hard physique saying something to her in Greek.
“Please let me out.”
“I’m sorry, kyria, but you might need medical attention. Help is coming.” The man’s deep cultured voice spoken in accented English was disturbingly attractive.
“Thank you, but I’m fine. Honestly! The driver is the one who’s hurt. I tried talking to him, but he isn’t saying anything!”
When he lowere
d his head, she found herself staring at the most striking, olive-skinned Greek male she’d ever seen in her life. Beneath raven-black hair and brows, his eyes, dark as midnight, studied her features as if to verify she’d spoken the truth.
The thirty-plus-looking male was dressed in an elegant tan silk suit and tie. She assumed he had to be on his way to an important meeting.
“Why don’t we let the paramedics decide.” He didn’t move, and spoke in a tone of authority he probably wasn’t even aware of.