She was glad she had persuaded Stavros to have most of her materials packed and sent to her grandfather’s estate. Her grandfather tired easily and without her work to keep her busy, she would have driven herself mad thinking of Stavros the whole time.
The sheer arrogance of the man, the clinical coldness with which he had made her respond—she had whimpered like a dog, for God’s sake... Even that couldn’t stop her from trembling every time she remembered the feel of his rough mouth, the bite of his teeth into her lower lip, the way his large hands skimmed and molded her body...
It had been her first kiss and it had been an exercise in... What? A war of wills? A balm to his ego? Or had he been as powerless as her?
Frustration carved through her.
She wanted to hate him, she did hate him for that cold resolve...but he also made her feel so alive. Lost in his kiss, drowning in his arms, there had been no place for fear, no place for hiding.
Nothing but living...
When he looked at her with such glittering desire in his tawny eyes, when he looked at her as if she could unlock something inside him...it was so easy to believe that he saw her as an equal.
Which was the stupidest thing ever given that he was with his lover in Athens attending a charity event right now... He was probably back in her bed too, she thought nastily and gasped as she pricked her finger with the needle.
The good thing was how much work she had gotten done and the time she had spent with Giannis.
After an excruciating couple of days, Giannis had finally taken pity on her and asked her to show him a dress from her collection. He had pronounced her dress beautiful and her, an extremely talented designer who would take the fashion industry by storm. Making dresses was in their blood, he had said with pride. While his praise had been extravagantly effusive, it had still filled her with warmth.
So every day, she took breakfast and lunch with him, then accompanied him on a short walk around the house. Sometimes, they played a board game that he taught her, and sometimes, they discussed her designs. They carefully kept away from talking about Stavros and the state of her marriage.
After being afraid for so long, after training herself to not get attached to him, forming such a strong emotional bond should have been hard to do in just a few days. But spending one of those yawningly long Greek afternoons chatting with Giannis, or just sitting together in comfortable silence, or the times he would nap and she would sit with her sketchpad on the back terrace, had become incredibly precious to her.
Her grandfather was irreverent, naughty, and kind.
As the sweltering days gave way to cooler nights, her fears melted away and like the leaves slowly changing color, an incredible sense of joy pervaded her. It was so alien that she had taken to staring at herself in the mirror, wondering if it made her look different.
As her cell phone chirped, she realized it was time for lunch with Giannis.
The time that Stavros had stipulated she spend with Giannis was rapidly coming to an end, and suddenly, saying goodbye to her grandfather, even temporarily, was the last thing Leah wanted to do.
Stavros was avoiding her, she knew as surely as her heart thumped when he called every evening and asked about Giannis.
Something had changed between them that night, whether for good or bad, she didn’t know.
Her footsteps clicking on the outer courtyard, Leah sighed. She could hate him all she wanted for forcing her to this, but she wouldn’t have had this wonderful week with Giannis if not for him.
* * *
Leah joined Giannis at the table laid out on the back patio that offered an unending view of the shoreline. The raised porch provided shade from the Greek sun. Reaching Giannis, she kissed his papery cheek and sat down.
The small table groaned under the weight of a colorful and mouthwatering array of dishes. “I didn’t know that we were having a feast today,” she said, spreading her napkin on her lap. “I would have skipped breakfast and run a few more miles.”
“Eat,” Giannis said. “No man likes his woman so thin that it could hurt him if he embraces her.”
Popping a piece of a juicy, thick-crusted pie into her mouth, Leah shook her head. “Since no man is actually intent on embracing or otherwise expressing love for your granddaughter,” she continued in that same irreverent tone, “no worries there.”