Her passion throbbed inside his veins, her words carrying a physical weight that ran through him. It would be unfair to compare Amelia to the women he’d dated in the past—she was dif
ferent from anyone he’d ever known, male or female—but he couldn’t help thinking that she was the most captivating woman he’d ever slept with.
‘If you became a bit of a minor celebrity in England, how have you been able to avoid recognition now?’
‘I’m using my mother’s maiden name,’ she said simply. ‘Grandma Ashford and I were close. When I chose to reinvent myself, it felt appropriate to honour her in that way.’
‘So you’re not completely alone?’
The light shifted from her eyes. ‘She died a few years ago.’ Amelia swallowed, her throat shifting. The moon cut through a cloud, bathing the footpath in front of them in silver light.
Amelia reached out a hand, as though she could touch it, then pulled it back almost awkwardly, her eyes jerking up to his.
‘What is your actual name?’
She hesitated for only a brief second. ‘I was born Amelia Jamieson.’
He hadn’t heard of her, but that didn’t mean anything. As she said, press coverage had probably been at its strongest in the UK.
‘Well, Miss Ashford, I think you are brave and I think you deserve to be happy. I also think your pupils are incredibly lucky to have you.’
* * *
‘I suppose we should go back to the island soon?’ She glanced at her wrist watch, surprised to see it was almost midnight.
They’d walked all over Athens after dinner, with no destination in mind, simply a desire to be together, side by side. At least, she thought they’d had no destination in mind, but here, in an upscale neighbourhood surrounded by modern homes that were four storeys high, he nodded towards one.
‘Or we could stay here?’
She wrinkled her nose. ‘I’m gathering it’s your Athens home and not just some stranger’s place you think looks okay for a night’s accommodation?’
He grinned and her heart skipped a beat. It had been a pretty perfect night. She felt so comfortable with him, but that didn’t change the fact that every now and again he smiled, or looked at her with eyes that were smouldering, and she lost the ability to breathe altogether for how completely, heart-stoppingly handsome he was.
‘It’s my place.’
She eyed it, hesitating a little.
‘It would probably be better for us to go back to the island.’
‘Why?’
‘Because if we spend the night here there’s no way Talia won’t put two and two together.’
‘And get four. So?’
‘I thought we agreed no one would find about this.’
‘It’s Cameron we care about protecting. Does it matter if Talia works out that we’re sleeping together?’
Her heart skipped another beat, this one less pleasurably.
Does it matter if Talia works out that we’re sleeping together?
Why did she want to pull at that sentence, to inject something else into it? Because they weren’t just sleeping together. She’d felt more connected to him tonight than ever before and that wasn’t about sex.
‘It’s your decision,’ he said quietly, his eyes wandering across her face, studying her thoughtfully.
‘It would be good to see where Cameron’s going to live,’ she conceded, after a beat had passed.