The Greek's Pregnant Lover (8 page)

“He’s getting married. They will have children. This is a good place to bring them. The resort will only make it better. Cass likes to travel, but prefers private residence to hotels.”

“That makes sense, considering.”

“Yes.” He tugged her to relax further against his chest. “And you, can you imagine staying here on the occasional holiday?”

She sighed, her head coming to rest against his shoulder. “Too easily. If I owned a property like this, I wouldn’t relegate it to vacation home, though. I couldn’t resist living here.” The buried longing in her voice surprised him. “I don’t know how the previous owners did.”

“How would you run your business from here?”

“I thought daydreams didn’t have to be practical.”

“Indulge me.” He wrapped his arms around her waist, enjoying this moment of relaxed closeness.

She was good for him, which was just the dangerous kind of thinking he needed to avoid before he started spilling secrets again. This was about learning what was going on in her complicated brain, not revealing more of his own thoughts. And he would remember that.

“Living here would be the ultimate indulgence, but in answer to your all too prosaic question, with high-speed Internet, a reliable telephone service and a color fax machine, I could run my business from anywhere.”

“It would require a lot of travel.” Especially if she continued to work full-time.

“I travel a lot now.”

Didn’t he know it? He understood her desire to live here, though. “I forget how much I enjoy the sunshine sometimes, but a few days in Greece and I’m spoiled to blue skies again.”

“We can’t claim our fair share of those in Seattle.” She gave a rueful sigh.

He chuckled. “This is true. The first year Neo and I lived there, we thought the rain would never end.”

“Seattle gets all four seasons.”

“And all of them have rain.”

“True,” she said grudgingly. “But it’s better than New York blizzards, trust me.”

“Here, though, the weather is perfect.” He and Neo had not left Greece because they wanted to get away from the sunshine.

“If you are partial to a warm climate.”

“Which I am.”

“Me, too.” She sighed. “Maybe I should have relocated to Southern California, when I left New York.”

“No, we would not have met.”

“You might have been better off.”

What? He did not think so. He maneuvered her so their gazes met, and saw that her azure eyes were troubled. He shook his head. “Are you trying to imply that our friendship has been a detriment to me in some way?”

“Well, it’s not as if I’m the woman you envisioned as the mother of your future children.” Her voice echoed with pain he would not have expected.

“I had not given any thought to who that might be.” No serious contemplation anyway. He had thought of her in that role, before they started having sex. He admired her character and thought she would make an ideal mother and wife, except for that romantic streak even her rotten marriage had not cured her of.

“But you would not have considered me.”

“You are right.” At least that had been his final determination.

She turned her head away completely, but not before he saw sadness making her blue eyes shimmer dangerously.

Oh, no. Tears were not going to happen. He gently, but inexorably, tugged her face back around. “Not because I do not think you would be eminently suitable, but because I knew you would never consider a…what did you call my nebulous marriage plans?
A business merger
.”

“Why would it have to be a business transaction between the two of us?” she asked plaintively.

“How could it be anything else?”

“Love.”

“Love?” Hadn’t they already discussed this? “Whatever propensity to love I may have had once is gone. Even if it were not, love does not always last. Blood ties do not count for much, either.”

“So, there is nothing left but business?”

“True friendship can endure,” he admitted.

“Like your friendship with Neo.”

“Yes.”

“He’s the only person in your life who has never let you down, isn’t he?”

“On a personal level? Yes.” He brushed her lips with his thumb. “Well, not actually. You have never let me down, either.”

“Until this morning.” Her lower lip trembled and she bit it.

“You did not let me down.” “How can you say that?” she asked.

“It is the truth. We are done assigning blame, remember?”

“I don’t think I got the memo.” She gave a pale version of her usual teasing smile, but at least she was no longer on the verge of tears.

He hoped. “We agreed this morning.”

“That was not agreement, that was you saying it did no good.”

“I am right.”

“You have what can be an annoying tendency to think you are.” But she nuzzled his neck and he was not too worried.

“What can I say? I usually am.”

She pulled back and gave him a gloating glare. “Ah, so you admit to at least some small level of infallibility.”

“Naturally.”

“You’re so darn arrogant.” She shook her head in bemusement. “Why do I find that charming again?”

“You tell me.”

“I plead the Fifth.”

“We are in Greece,” Zephyr pointed out, “not the U.S. The Fifth Amendment does not apply here.”

“I bet the Greek constitution has some similar guarantee against having to testify against themselves for their citizens.”

“We are getting off topic here.”

“You’re right.” Piper gathered her thoughts. “Why, if you trust friendship so much, do you think a marriage based on it would fail?”

“I did not say I believed a marriage between us would fail utterly, but it
would
fail to make you happy.” And ultimately, that had decided him against the prospect.

“Why? Would you plan to sleep around after?”

“No. I could give you fidelity.” Of that, he had no doubts. “However, I could not give you something you’ve made clear is of equal importance to you.” Long before their discussion of love at dinner the other night, he had known she was still waiting for her fairy-tale ending complete with love ever after and Prince Charming.

He was a former street rat, no prince, and love was not, and never would be, on his agenda.

“You’re talking about love again, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Can you honestly say you would have considered a marriage proposal without it?”

She bit her lip and looked away, shaking her head once in negation.

“As I thought.”

“So, where does that leave us?”

“I do not know.” If she was pregnant with his child, he would try to convince her to accept his proposal, regardless of her finer feelings.

He knew his inner ruthlessness would show itself and he could not even be sorry about that. If she carried his baby, neither of their dreams took precedence. They would do what was best for their child.

He would never allow a child of his to be anything but absolutely certain of its place in his life. Unlike both his mother and father, Zephyr Nikos would consider his role as parent the most important one he would ever hold.

He did not know how to be a father, but he and Neo had self-educated themselves in business and that had been an eminently successful endeavor. With the same work and dedication, he could learn how to be a dad as well. Unlike when he was a teenager, he did not have to rely on used books, and firsthand experience at ground level.

He could afford to consult the most eminent minds in the field of child development, read the best books on the subject and do whatever else was necessary to be the best parent possible.

Zephyr had never done things by halves and becoming a parent would be no exception.

“I don’t want to take an over-the-counter pregnancy test,” Piper said after several quiet moments of her head resting on his shoulder again.

“So, we will wait until we return to Seattle and make an appointment with your doctor. We are only scheduled to be here three days.”

“They’ll feel like an eternity.”

He could not disagree.

The contractor arrived the next morning and between the four of them, they kept extremely busy laying the groundwork for preliminary plans to be drawn up. Jean-René flirted shamelessly with Piper, making her smile when that worried expression slid into her eyes.

Zephyr did not worry about the other man, knowing he adored his French wife and would never consider betraying her. Besides, Zephyr had made it patently clear that he and Piper were together.

On their last night, they climbed the stairs after a lively postdinner discussion over whether or not to place the main
resort near the current villa, or nearer the accessible beach on the northern shore of the island. Piper was in favor of the beach, but the contractor liked the idea of taking advantage of already existing power and water access.

Jean-René had played devil’s advocate, arguing both for and against each of the locations.

Zephyr had made the final decision, going with the beachfront scenario. Guests would appreciate the easy access to the ocean and while the view might not be quite as majestic, it was still magnificent. Besides, it would give him and Neo and their future families privacy when they were on the island.

“You know he reminds me a little of Art, only different,” Piper said.

“The contractor?”

“Jean-René. He flirts. All the time, but there is no sexual heat behind it.”

“And there was with Art.”

“Yes. He accused me of being immaturely jealous, but after seeing Jean-René in action, I can say definitely that the intent behind the flirting makes all the difference.”

“Yes, Jean-René is a Frenchman. He flirts with a ninety-year-old grandmother as warmly as he would a runway model.”

Piper nodded. “It’s all about making a woman smile, without making her feel like sexual prey.”

“Art did not understand the difference?”

“How could he? Any woman even halfway attractive to him
was
sexual prey.” The disgust that tinged Piper’s tone was a definite improvement over the grief that used to lie so heavily on her when she talked about her ex.

“
I
do not flirt.” Or rather, he only flirted with intent and since he and Piper had begun their liaison, there had been no other woman he wished to seduce.

She laughed and hugged him, right there on the stairs. “No, you don’t.”

He enjoyed the spontaneous embrace. While she never
drew away from his displays of affection, she had been more circumspect in offering her own since they reached the villa. He didn’t know if that was because she blamed him for her possible pregnancy, though she’d said she didn’t. Or maybe she was responding to his pulling away from talking about personal things.

He just did not see the need to discuss their future when they did not know whether they needed to take a pregnancy into account, or not. He’d also resisted talking any more about his past. It was over and done. They did not need to keep revisiting it.

He followed her into the bedroom and closed the door behind them. “Are you ready to go back to Seattle tomorrow?”

Drawing aside the drape at the window, she did not answer for several seconds. “I don’t know.”

“It is hard to leave here.” He began divesting himself of his clothes.

“But I want to know.”

He did not ask what she wanted to know. There was only one thing causing worry lines between her elegant brows.

Part of him, a very large part if he were honest with himself,
wanted
her to be pregnant. Then he could be selfish and convince her to marry him despite the lack of love between them. It would be the best thing for the baby and he trusted her to make the needs of her child paramount.

He cupped her shoulder, caressing her nape with his thumb. “I have something more interesting to focus on than a dark vista.”

She turned to face him, her expression soft and yearning. “Do you?”

“Can you doubt it?”

She just shook her head and waited. Waited for him to kiss her, to touch her, to show her that in this at least, they had perfection.

And that was exactly what he did.

Piper flew back to Seattle in Zephyr’s private jet with him. When they landed, she learned that he had already made an appointment for the next morning with her doctor. She wasn’t even a little surprised by his excessive efficiency. She was a bit startled by the fact that he’d gotten an appointment so quickly. She was never so lucky with her doctor’s appointment keeper.

But then Zephyr Nikos moved entire ranges, not simply single mountains, when he wanted to.

He spent the night with Piper in her apartment. They didn’t make love that night, but he held her close in the darkness protecting her dreams and making her feel safe.

“We’ll call you tomorrow with the results,” the nurse said after setting the vial with Piper’s blood aside.

Piper stood up and put the chair they’d used for the blood draw back against the wall at the head of the exam table. “Thank you. Have the doctor call my cell phone, all right?”

“Of course. I don’t think our office has ever successfully gotten hold of you on your house or business line.”

“I travel a lot.”

“It must be nice.” The nurse put the vial in a small red carrier.

“It can be.” When she’d first moved to Seattle, she’d loved the travel, but after she and Zephyr became friends, she missed him when she was away. Even before the sexual side to their relationship started. “It can be exhausting, too.”

“Well, if this test comes back positive, you can count on being exhausted even more.” The wry grimace on the usually friendly nurse’s face could in no way be described as a smile.

What was she supposed to say to that? Thank you? She was sure the other woman thought her information necessary, if not welcome. Piper would rather focus on the upside of this pregnancy…just as soon as she figured it out. She got up and grabbed her bag. “Well, um…goodbye.”

“See you soon.”

Piper didn’t know about that. She rarely visited her doctor between physicals. Of course, if she was pregnant, that would have to change, wouldn’t it?

Z
EPHYR
was waiting for her when she came out. “How did it go?”

“A little prick, a bandage and we were done.” It seemed like something awfully innocuous to find out something so momentous.

“They’ll know tomorrow?”

“That’s what the nurse said.” Piper had tried to dissuade Zephyr from coming to the doctor’s office with her.

It wasn’t as if she was having a difficult procedure, or something. But he’d insisted and now, she was kind of glad.

He put his hand out to take hers and led her outside. It was one of Seattle’s rare sunny days. Not so uncommon in the summer, but not something to be taken for granted, either.

“I’m glad I’m not alone, which makes me feel like a real wuss,” she admitted.

“You are facing the possibility of a major life change. That cannot help but be disconcerting. You are no weakling.”

She smiled up at him and squeezed his hand. “Well, I’m glad you’re here.” Even if she hadn’t wanted it that way at first.

“I am glad to be here.”

“Do you have to go into the office today?” she asked as they settled into his Mercedes.

“No, but I did promise to have dinner with Cass and Neo tonight.”

“Oh, okay.” She pasted a bright smile on her face. “If you
could just drop me at my apartment. I’ll drive to the office from there.”

Or close her shades, put in the Coco Chanel biography she’d been meaning to watch and eat that pint of triple chocolate decadence hiding in the back corner of her freezer. It wasn’t as if she had to go to work. She was her own boss. If she wanted a day off to wallow in worry, she could take it.

“Dinner isn’t until this evening, and I was hoping you would come with me.”

“Oh.”

“I have no intention of leaving you alone to dwell.”

He knew her too well. “Who said anything about dwelling?”

“We have been friends for years.”

“Are you implying that makes you a mind reader?”

“I only wish—” he smiled “—but I do know you.”

“Yes, you do.”

“So, dinner with Cass and Neo?”

“Sure.” She bit her lip and looked out the window. “You know Cass and I have never actually met.”

“I know. It is time.”

“Because I might be pregnant.”

“Because you are my close friend and so are they,” he explained.

“So we should all know each other?”

“Naturally.”

“Your arrogance is showing again,” she teased.

“But remember, you find it charming.”

“It’s a good thing for you that I do.”

“Do you need to work today?” he asked this time.

“I have a few small jobs I could work on finishing up before your project swallows all my time.” But she really didn’t want to deal with any of them.

“Is that what you want to do?”

“No.”

“Well, then?”

“There’s a pint of chocolate ice cream in my freezer with my name on it.” Piper clung on to her original plans.

“Really? I was unaware your name was triple chocolate decadence.”

“You’ve been snooping in my cold storage?” She tried to sound outraged, but only managed mildly amused.

“Business tycoons crave ice cream, too. Even Greek ones.”

“You ate my triple chocolate decadence?” The outrage came through bright and clear this time.

“Of course not. I ate the single-serving cherries jubilee buried behind the vegetarian meals you never eat but buy to make yourself feel better about your food purchasing habits.”

She ignored the jab about her sadly ignored healthier food options. “I like cherries jubilee.”

“With a healthy dose of hot fudge perhaps.”

“Okay, so, I’m a chocoholic. Is that a crime?”

“Not in Seattle, home to more chocolate-flavored coffees than most small countries.” He sounded indulgent. She loved him in this mood.

“Oooh, an iced mocha latte sounds good.” Could she have caffeine if she was pregnant? “Maybe decaffeinated.”

“We’ll go through a coffee-shop drive thru.”

“Why not stop somewhere?” she asked.

“Because I indulged your museum obsession in Athens, today is your day to indulge mine.”

“You want to go to museums?”

“I have other obsessions,” he said as he pulled up next to a coffee shack.

“You do? Other than making money, I wasn’t aware.”

“Right. You are probably the only person in the world besides Neo that knows that for the lie it is.” They both made their orders and then he gave her a significant look. “You are one of those obsessions.”

“You’re turning into quite the silver-tongued devil, you know that?”

“I have always been good with my mouth.”

“That can certainly be taken more than one way.”

“You should know.”

She felt herself blushing, despite their history together. Nevertheless, she agreed. “I do.”

The young barista cleared his throat. With a blush darker than hers burning on his cheeks, he handed Zephyr their drinks.

Zephyr pulled his car back out onto the road. “You are not my only interest, however.”

“My feelings might be hurt if you hadn’t downgraded whatever you’re going to try to talk me into from an obsession, which I am, to an
interest
.”

“I like fish.”

“I had noticed.” Her blue eyes queried where he was going with this. “You eat it more often than either steak or chicken.”

“Not to eat. To watch.”

“You want to go whale watching?” she guessed.

“Not today. I was thinking the aquarium.” That was so not what she expected to hear.

“You want to go the Seattle Aquarium…but that’s for children.”

“
I
don’t think so.”

“Seriously…you’ve been?”

“Several times.”

Wow…just wow. “No way.”

“I go when I need a place to think. Watching the fish can be very soothing.”

“Even with all those children around?”

“I like to see happy families.”

Somewhere over the Atlantic, Zephyr had become convinced that Piper was indeed pregnant. Regardless of the statistical probability after her years on the birth control patch. Therefore, he needed to convince her that marriage to him was a good option for her future, even without the love.

He wouldn’t give her love, but he realized he could give her more of himself. It went against his desire for selfprotection, but he now considered his sharing of his past with her as a brilliant tactical move on his part. Piper needed to feel emotionally connected to people she cared about. He had seen the effect his sharing had had on her.

She’d drawn closer to him even as he’d attempted to backtrack to a shallower level of emotional intimacy. With his baby’s future on the line, he could and would give Piper a stronger connection, despite the fact he had no intention of allowing himself to be vulnerable to romantic love, were he even capable of the emotion.

Going to the aquarium wasn’t some big romantic thing, but it would allow Piper to glimpse a part of his life he did not share with others. It wasn’t much, but his instincts told him that sharing this habit with her would work toward convincing her they could have a strong enough marriage to raise children in.

Piper enjoyed the aquarium more than she thought she would. A lot more, but what she found most intriguing was watching the way Zephyr watched the other people there. She was sure he had no idea just how much his expression revealed of the inner man. His mouth would tilt in a half smile every time a child made an enthusiastic noise to its mother or father.

He watched the antics of the little ones with an indulgent grin and looked with pure longing at more than one set of parents visiting the aquarium with their kids.

“You really enjoy being here, don’t you?” she asked him in the glassed-in tunnel of exotic fish.

“Very much.” He looked around them with a wistful expression that was there and gone in a blink. “Everyone here has normal lives.”

“You assume.”

“I assume.” He smiled ruefully at her correction.

“You have a normal life. Now.”

“Do I?”

“Yes, of course,” she said.

“I’m a workaholic tycoon that spends most of his time making money and creating places for other people to enjoy the fruits of theirs.”

“So, spend some time enjoying them yourself.”

“Alone?”

“You aren’t alone right now.” If she didn’t know better, she would think he was making his case for how much he needed his own family.

“No, I am not.”

“Does that make you happy?” she couldn’t help asking.

“Yes, I like being here, in one of my favorite places,
with you
.”

“It’s special.” Really, really special. And he was sharing it with her. She reached up and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Thank you.”

They both stepped to the side as a young boy went racing by, his older brother right behind him and a woman even farther back calling for them to slow down.

Looking harried, but smiling, she rushed to catch up. “Sorry about that. They’re both crazy for the otter exhibit.”

Zephyr tilted his head. “No problem. You’re lucky to have such active children.”

“That’s one way to look at it.” But her grin as she sprinted after her children said she saw it the same.

“You really do want children, for more than just having someone to pass on your legacy of wealth.” How could she have thought anything else?

He looked down at her, his dark eyes filled with a longing she was just beginning to understand ran soul deep for him. “Yes.”

Lost to anyone else around them, she reached up to cup his cheek. “You’ll make a wonderful father.”

“That is my sincere hope.”

Cass was wearing a beautiful bright dress when she opened Neo’s apartment door to Zephyr and Piper later that evening.

She grinned at Zephyr and pulled him in for a hug. “Long time, no see, stranger. How was Greece?”

“Warm and beautiful.”

“You mean you actually took time to notice. When Neo told me you were taking a minivacation before going to the island, I almost fainted, but I’m glad.”

“Hey, I am not as bad as my business partner.”

“Only a robot works as many hours and holidays as Neo did before we met, but he’s well on his way to reformed now.”

The complacency in Cass’s voice made him smile. “I noticed.”

Cass turned to Piper. “Please tell me you’re taking on the job for Zee. He needs someone to.”

“Don’t answer that,” Zephyr demanded, then said, “
Yineka mou
, this is my best friend’s fiancée, Cassandra Baker, worldrenowned pianist and composer. Cass, this is Piper Madison, brilliant designer and my very good friend.”

Cass’s brows rose to her hairline and Zephyr realized he had made a mistake using that particular endearment in front of her. No doubt Neo had long since told her the translation and the implications often associated with it. Implications he was becoming more and more comfortable with.

Cass took both of Piper’s hands in hers and squeezed them. “So, it
is
your job.”

“I’m beginning to think so, yes.” Piper glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “Good friends have an obligation to look out for each other.”

“That’s the argument Zee used when talking me into taking the piano lessons that changed my life,” Neo said as he came into the entryway. “Shouldn’t we all go into the living room? It’s got more comfortable seating.”

He gave Piper a smile that seemed to startle her, but she
returned the gesture and said, “Good to see you again, Neo.”

Then Cass led Piper away by the hand while Neo hung back to give Zephyr a traditional Greek greeting. “It is good to have you back in Seattle.”

“I miss the island already.”

“I felt the same after leaving.” Neo nodded. “It is a special place.”

“Special enough to consider making it a more regular aspect of my life.”

“You are serious?”

“What would you think of delegating another level of responsibility to our well-trained staff and moving our offices to the island villa?”

Neo’s eyes widened in shock. “You
are
serious.”

“Never more so.”

“Something has happened.”

Zephyr shrugged, but was feeling nothing like complacent. “I’m ready to make changes in my life.”

“Do you have news to share with me?”

“Not yet.”

“But there will be?” Neo pressed.

“Perhaps.”

“You’re going to have to do better than that.”

Not yet. “Give me until tomorrow.”

Neo didn’t push. Cass would have. Zephyr could just be thankful his friend would not have a chance to bring it up to her while Zephyr and Piper were there.

They walked into the living room to find Cass and Piper ensconced on the sofa going through digital pictures of the trip to Greece on Piper’s minitablet PC.

“I didn’t realize you’d brought that,” Zephyr said as he took the chair next to Piper’s spot on the sofa.

Neo sat beside his fiancée.

“I thought they might be interested in your trip.”

“Our trip.”

She rolled her eyes. “Our trip.”

“I’d really like to go to this art museum while we’re there,” Cass said to Neo.

He kissed her temple. “Then we will definitely add that to our agenda.”

“You’re going to Greece soon?” Piper asked.

Cass beamed. “For our honeymoon.”

“I seem to remember reading that you’d been there in a tour when you were younger.”

“Yes.” Cass looked a little startled. “You read about me?”

Piper blushed, but smiled. “When Zephyr told me Neo was getting married, I was understandably curious about the woman who had managed to lead him to such a human endeavor.”

Cass laughed out loud. “Wow, and you told me once that Zephyr was the only person that really knew you well.”

“I’ve worked for Stamos and Nikos Enterprises a few times.” Piper gave them a look rife with meaning. “I met Neo on a couple of the projects, though he wasn’t coordinating them.”

“And you found me inhuman?” Neo asked, contriving to sound offended.

“You were so intimidating that I sent up a prayer of thanks you were not the lead on the project I’d been hired for.” She winked conspiratorially at Cass. “I thought Zephyr was so much more laid-back and would be a much easier man to work for.”