hate this,” she cried out on an explosive breath.
“What?”
“How stilted we are with each other. We were closer than we’d ever been and now this.”
“We are friends,” he said, frowning. “You being pregnant with my child will not change that.”
“We are more than friends, Zee. At least give me that much.” So, maybe she did want to deal with something besides the condom issue.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t play dumb. It’s unbecoming, not to mention lacking in credibility.”
“I am not playing at anything.” He sounded offended, his voice sliding into that zone she’d come to recognize as his anger. The chill-factor was definitely in evidence.
“I’m sorry.” She stared out the window, blinking back tears she couldn’t even name the exact reason for. “I don’t mean to patronize you.”
“Thank you.”
“Somewhere along the way, we stopped being merely friends with benefits. I mean, for me anyway.”
“You prefer the term lovers?” he asked.
“That would be a start.” Not everything she wanted, but a definite beginning.
“But lovers are never permanent in my life.” Worry crept back into his voice, letting her know this was a genuine concern on his part.
“Make me the exception.”
“I do not know if I can do that.” He sighed. “Though if you are pregnant, neither of us will have a choice.”
The next-to-last thing she wanted was to be in his life by default. The last thing was to be out of his life completely, which said what about her plans to walk away from what they had before she got even more hurt? “I don’t want it to be that way.”
“What we want is not always what we get.”
She thought of the many times she’d had to move away from friends and activities that meant something to her. Then she remembered how helpless she had felt in the face of her ex-husband’s unrepentant and repeated infidelity. “That’s only too true.”
He took a deep breath and let it out with a big smile somewhere between appearing genuine and his game face. “So, let us forget for today that you might be pregnant with my child.”
“And on the verge of losing my dreams? Okay, I can do that.”
His jaw went taut, but he let her flippancy go. “Good. We will go to Sounion and play tourists and then catch the helicopter there as planned and fly to the island early this evening.”
“Will we make love tonight?”
“Did you want to make an appointment?” he teased.
“I just want to know that you haven’t already decided you are bored with me.”
“How can you even suggest that?”
“You’re the one who said…you know what, never mind. Let’s just focus on the present. Not the past. Not the future and definitely not the possibility we’ve started on that dynasty of yours earlier than expected.” Not to mention with a woman he hadn’t considered in the running for mother of his children a mere forty-eight hours ago.
“Right.”
And somehow, they managed it. Though she had to give most of the credit to Zephyr. Every time she started to worry, he seemed to know…and knew exactly how to stop it.
CHAPTER FIVE
FROM the air, the view of Zephyr and Neo’s newest acquisition was incredible. Piper had no problem imagining this small Greek island as an oasis for the resort’s guests. Unlike many of the rocky islands that dotted the sea off the coastline of mainland Greece, this landscape was covered with lush grasses and green trees. There was a large olive grove and what looked like a citrus orchard.
They flew over the fishing village, traditional white houses with red roofs showing where the year-round residents lived. The boats that bobbed in the water, moored to the long dock, looked picturesque in their simplicity. No fancy trawlers here.
A tan circle painted with white directional lines about two hundred yards from a large villa set atop a cliff overlooking the sea had to be their landing destination. Piper shouldn’t have been surprised that a family who at one time had the wherewithal to own an island had installed a helipad on it. Only, she was. She would have expected a landing strip for small planes and said as much to Zephyr on the walk to the villa.
A young man who introduced himself as the housekeeper’s grandson insisted on carrying their luggage in a yard cart.
“The patriarch preferred travel by sea, but his children insisted on faster transportation to the mainland,” Zephyr replied in response to her comment. “As to why it was a helicopter over a jet, I could not say. I think he balked at the excavation necessary for a flat runway long enough to service a jet.”
“We’ll be doing that excavation, won’t we? I mean guests are going to want to be able to fly in.”
The young man leading the way with his cart looked back at her, his expression troubled.
Zephyr did not seem to notice, but he shook his head in negation. “The focus of the spa resort is going to be total relaxation. It will start with a luxury yacht ride from the mainland.”
“I bet you’ll stick with helicopters.” But she would have enjoyed a decadent ride on a yacht.
Zephyr shrugged. “I am not a prospective guest.”
“Maybe you should be.”
“Perhaps you should as well. We can attend the grand opening week together,” he said as he reached out to open the front door, only to have it swing inward before he touched it.
An elderly Greek woman welcomed them inside before shooting rapid-fire instructions at her grandson, who took his cart around to the side of the villa.
“The young, they forget the proprieties,” she said in perfect English, if accented charmingly. She shook her head. “Maybe that one should be a fisherman.”
“There will be many jobs for those willing to work both building the resort and working there after it is completed.”
“You will give first chance to locals?” the old woman asked with obvious hope.
“Yes,” Zephyr said decisively. “We do not want the year-round residents to feel disconnected to the resort. Their participation in the venture is essential.”
Her lined visage wreathed with a smile, the housekeeper led them into an oversized sitting room with a truly impressive view. The wall facing the sea had such large windows it felt like it was made of glass.
“Would you like refreshments?” she asked.
“Your former employer rhapsodized about the fresh lemonade made from local fruit.”
Appearing pleased by the request, the housekeeper nodded. “I will send a girl with a tray.”
“Thank you. Has Mr. Tilieu been told of our arrival?” Zephyr asked.
“He has, though how anyone could miss the sound of a landing helicopter, I do not know.”
Piper stifled a grin, while Zephyr obviously bit back a smile.
“I take it you prefer to travel by boat?” Piper asked.
“I prefer not to travel at all, but how others can stand to ride in those noisy things is a mystery to me.” The gray-haired woman waved her hands in dismissal.
“Sometimes needs must,” Zephyr said wryly.
“As