He gave her hand a light pat and then sat back in his chair, signalling to the waitress for the bill. ‘Come on. It’s time we got you out of this sun before you melt.’
I melted a month ago, when you first kissed me.
* * *
Emily was waking from a rest a couple of days later when Loukas came in with a silver-wrapped rectangular package tied with a black ribbon in his hand. He sat on the edge of the bed next to her and handed it to her. ‘Remember that antique shop we visited the other day?’ he asked. ‘I went back to get this for you.’
She took the package and unwrapped it to find the faded antique jewellery box she had admired. She hadn’t realised Loukas had even seen her looking at it, as he’d been on the phone to one of his clients while she’d been browsing the shop. It touched her he’d not only noticed but gone back to purchase it for her. Not that it was expensive. It was probably worth less than the price tag stated, but the fact he’d noticed she’d been taken with it moved her deeply. ‘Oh, how sweet of you,’ she said, stroking the velvet.
‘Open it.’
Emily lifted the lid to find two sets of earrings inside: a set of creamy pearl droplets and two winking diamond studs. She didn’t need to see any price tags to know they were hideously expensive. ‘Oh, they’re so beautiful!’ She picked up the droplet earrings and draped them over her fingers. Then she picked up the diamond studs and turned them to allow the light to catch their brilliance. She glanced at Loukas, suddenly feeling shy. ‘You’re too generous. They look terribly expensive.’
‘You said you kept losing your jewellery, so I figured the box will help you keep it safe,’ he said. ‘It has a lock and a tiny key. See?’ He pointed to the miniature lock on the base of the box. ‘The original key was missing but I’ve had another one made up.’ He fished in his shirt pocket and, taking out a miniscule key, placed it in the centre of her palm and closed her fingers over it to keep it secure.
Emily met his gaze, wondering if he would ever hand her the key to his heart for safekeeping. ‘I don’t know what to say, other than thank you. No one has ever given me such gorgeous things before.’
‘Then it’s time someone did.’ He brought her hand up to his mouth and pressed a soft kiss to it, holding her eyes with the dark intensity of his.
Emily placed the key next to the jewellery box and then tiptoed her fingers along his lean jaw. ‘I’ve never met anyone like you before.’
Argh! Don’t do this!
I have to. I can’t deny it any longer. I love him.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Something flickered through his eyes, like a lightning flash of regret. Then he gave a slow blink, as if preparing to deliver an unpleasant lecture. ‘Emily...’
She put a finger over his mouth as if she were pressing a pause button. ‘No. Please don’t say it. I can’t help feeling the way I feel. I love you.’
Loukas let out a long sigh and took her hand away from his face. ‘Look, the gifts are just gifts, okay? They don’t mean anything.’
Emily refused to believe it. The jewellery box might be worth nothing but the earrings, as well as the engagement ring, were worth more than she earned in a year. Two years. How could he say they didn’t mean anything? ‘Do you buy everyone you sleep with gifts?’
He got up from the bed to stand a few feet away, his eyes so masked they were like the boarded-up windows of a deserted building. ‘Yes.’
Her heart shrank away from her chest wall as if it had been punched. ‘So...you’re saying I’m nothing special?’
He closed his eyes and leaned his head right back, as if searching the heavens for guidance. Then he let out a long breath and returned his gaze to hers. ‘No. I’m not saying that. You’re incredibly special.’
‘But you don’t love me.’
He came back to the bed and sat beside her again. He took her nearest hand and held it in his. Her cut finger had recently healed but now a new wound was opening up inside her heart and it was a thousand times more painful. ‘I’m not sure I’m capable of feeling that way about anyone.’ He gave her hand a gentle press, the set of his mouth rueful. ‘I know it’s a cliché, but it’s not you, it’s me.’
Emily looked down at their joined hands. Why had she blurted out her feelings like that? What had it achieved? A big, fat nothing. She’d made a fool of herself yet again. When would she ever learn?
Told you so.
What was she doing, settling for a relationship that was less than perfect? How could she marry him, in the vain hope he might change at some point in the future? He was only marrying her out of duty, not because he loved her. He desired her, but how long would that last? How long before he called time on their marriage? She would have to live with the threat of it ending instead of the joy of building up a long and lasting relationship together. That wasn’t what she’d planned for her life. She wanted to be loved for who she was, treasured and adored the way she had dreamed of for so long. Having a family was supposed to be born out of enduring love. How could she bring a child into a relationship that wasn’t based on mutual love?
Emily pulled out of his hold and got off the bed. ‘I’m sorry, Loukas, but I can’t go on with this a moment longer.’
A frown made a map of lines across his forehead. ‘What are you talking about?’
She met his gaze head-on. ‘This marriage you’re proposing. I’m not comfortable with it. Not any of it. I don’t care if it’s a small ceremony or a big one. I don’t care if no one is there, or every relative and person we know and half of Greece is there. The one thing that should be there and won’t be is your love for me.’