Mel looked uncomfortable, not wanting to elaborate to a stranger on the fact that she and Nikos were simply here together on holiday and weren’t an established couple—and that she was in no need of a strategy to ‘hog-tie’ him.
Not that Nikos was the kind of man to get hog-tied anyway.
For an instant so brief it wasn’t measurable in time a flicker of emotion went through her—but what that emotion was she could not tell. Did not want to...
The other woman was talking again. ‘Maybe you’ll find yourself pregnant,’ she said, and now there was an openly conspiratorial look in her eye. ‘That’s what happened to me—worked like a dream.’
She glanced towards the shallow end of the pool, where Mel could see a preschooler splashing about, with a young woman—presumably his nanny— playing with him.
Mel was thankfully spared the necessity of responding to such an untoward comment by a server gliding by, offering coffee. She took one, and so did the woman, who now introduced herself as Nyree, eliciting a reciprocal if somewhat reluctant response from Mel.
She was relieved when Nyree Friedman changed the subject to that of shopping opportunities, for which she considered Bermuda inadequate, which led to her regaling Mel with the delights of New York for that purpose, and giving a little cry of disbelief when she discovered that Mel had never been there.
‘Oh, but you must! Tell the dish you absolutely have to go from here,’ she urged.
Not waiting for an answer, she chattered on, and Mel was happy enough to leave her to it. Nyree Friedman was chatty and convivial, but Mel had to conclude she was something of an airhead.
She didn’t seem to be much of a devoted mother, either, for she was perfectly happy to leave her little boy’s nanny to do all the entertaining of her son. Cynically, Mel presumed that the child had served his purpose in ‘hog-tying’ his wealthy banker father for Nyree. It was a depressing thought.
Their mostly one-sided chat about Nyree Friedman’s fashionable, affluent Manhattan lifestyle was finally brought to an end by the emergence of Nikos from the conference. He strolled up to Mel.
‘There you are...’ He smiled. Then his glance swept sideways to take in her partner in conversation, who had stopped mid-sentence, her eyes wide with open appreciation at the arrival of ‘the dish.’
Her dark eyes sparkled. ‘Hi...’ she said warmly, holding out a languid, perfectly manicured hand. ‘I’m Nyree Friedman. I heard your presentation this morning—it was fascinating!’ she breathed. Her expression was blatantly admiring.
There was a tug at the side of Nikos’s mouth as he shook the extended hand—but briefly, Mel was glad to notice. No lingering contact with the attractive brunette...
‘Well, I can only hope your husband was just as taken by it,’ he replied drily.
Clearly, Mel realised, he knew perfectly well who Nyree Friedman’s husband was—even if he’d never met his wife before.
Nyree’s gaze was visibly eating Nikos up. Out of the blue Mel felt a dagger’s blade of possessiveness go through her. Sharp and piercing. For an instant she wanted to grab Nikos and drag him away—and slap Nyree down at the same time, for daring to make eyes at him.
The intensity of the emotion shocked her. No way did she want to feel possessive about Nikos. Hadn’t he told her right from the start that possessiveness was exactly what put him off a woman? The reason he’d asked her out that very first evening had been to ward off Fiona Pellingham’s possessive intentions. No, possessiveness—from either of them—wasn’t what their deliberately brief time together was about, she reminded herself sharply. Possessiveness had no place at all in a fun but fleeting holiday romance such as theirs was.
To her relief, Nikos’s attention was back on her, and his eyes were sending a silent question that echoed his verbal one.
‘I’m all done here now, Mel,’ he told her. ‘So if you’re ready to go we can head off? Unless,’ he went on politely, his glance taking in Nyree again, ‘you want to stay longer?’
His tone was polite, but Mel knew he didn’t want to stay on longer here at this huge, crowded hotel. He’d already told her he wasn’t going to be attending the conference dinner that evening, and she’d been glad. She wasn’t going to have him for much longer, and she didn’t want to share him for any of that time if she didn’t have to.
‘No, I’m good to go,’ she said. She looked across at Nyree, who was looking rueful. ‘It was lovely to meet you,’ she said brightly, getting to her feet.
‘Well, we must meet up in New York!’ Nyree said promptly. Her flirtatious gaze went back to Nikos, then changed as it moved past him. ‘John,’ she said imperiously, ‘persuade this gorgeous man to bring his girlfriend to New York. She’s never been—can you believe it?’