sky and the silvery glitter of the sea. She felt a little better after some deep breaths of the sea air. She could hear the sound of the cicadas, and the distant rush of the tide against the shore.
She would get dressed; she would face Alexi and she would act cool and reserved. OK, she couldn’t act that way when he kissed her, when they made love, but she could manage it on a day-to-day basis. She had to keep strong if she was going to make this marriage work.
Katie rummaged through her case and found a floral summer dress in pastel shades. She tried it on and surveyed her reflection. Feminine yet sexy—just right, she thought with a nod.
She took her time blow-drying her hair and applying a light make-up.
It was almost nine when she stepped out of the bedroom and walked down the stairs.
The house was magnificent. A chandelier threw sparkling light over the grand entrance-hall, and to either side there were reception rooms of breathtaking proportions, each opening out to a terrace that ran the length of the house. As she lingered by the doorway through to the first of the sitting rooms she saw that Alexi was on the terrace, looking out to sea. He seemed lost in thought.
What was he thinking about? Katie wondered. She wondered if this house held memories of his first wife … if they had lived here together.
She was going to move away but he turned and saw her. ‘Come and join me,’ he invited. ‘It’s a beautiful evening.’
Katie did as he asked. He was wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt, she noticed. He looked so handsome and strong and vital that her stomach twisted into knots. She would have given anything to stand close to him, reach for his hand. But she didn’t dare. It was too possessive, too intimate, which seemed absurd after what they had just shared! But she had to resurrect barriers, she reminded herself sharply, had to play this situation carefully and protect herself.
He looked over at her and swiftly she glanced away. ‘Fabulous view from out here,’ she murmured, looking down over the sweep of a lawn that ran seamlessly down to a private beach and a jetty where a small yacht was anchored.
‘Yes, it’s a nice place.’
‘Is the yacht yours?’
For a moment Alexi didn’t reply; it was as if he were deep in thought.
‘Alexi?’ She glanced over at him again.
‘Actually, I bought it for Andrea.’ He turned his back on the view and gave her his full attention suddenly. ‘She wanted to learn how to sail, but she didn’t really take to the water—got bored with it after a while. I should get rid of it—I just haven’t had the time.’
Or maybe he just didn’t want to get rid of it, a little voice suggested inside Katie. Maybe the memories were too bittersweet to let go of it.
‘You and Andrea lived here, then?’ She tried to make her voice sound casual.
‘For a few months, but she is a city girl, so we moved back into Athens.’ He shrugged. ‘Anyway, on a more interesting note, this house used to belong to my grandparents. They left it in perpetuity for me, my children and my children’s children. I used to come here a lot as a boy.’
‘It must have been an idyllic childhood.’
Alexi smiled. ‘Yes, I was lucky. I’m from a large, very close family; it made my childhood feel very secure. That’s what I want for our child.’
‘That’s what I want, too.’ She tried to smile, but it felt decidedly shaky. She wanted that so much, it hurt.
‘We’ve done the right thing, you know—getting married,’ he told her suddenly.
She nodded, but deep down she wondered if he really meant that—or if he was trying to convince himself as much as her.
Alexi frowned as he noticed the flicker of distress in her blue eyes. ‘We’ll be happy—we’ll work at it,’ he told her softly.
Such sensible words, she thought with a sudden stab of anger. ‘Yes, of course we’ll work at it—and the fact that we don’t love each other will somehow magically become acceptable.’
She probably shouldn’t have said that. For a moment there was a tense silence between them and then he just shrugged. ‘Well, we will just have to hope for the best, won’t we?’
The phone was ringing inside the house. ‘Excuse me, Katie—I better take that.’
She watched him walk away and then turned her attention to the view again. The yacht bobbed against its mooring, a little breeze whispering and whistling through the ropes that held her secure. Almost like the ghost of his first marriage, Katie thought wryly, laughing at her …
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE phone call had been to invite them over to a party at Alexi’s parents’ house.
It was to be a large family celebration in honour of their wedding, and Katie was feeling more than a little apprehensive as they set off the next afternoon.
‘Relax,’ Alexi told her as they drove along the spectacular scenery of the winding coast road. ‘There’s nothing to worry about.’
He seemed to be finding the fact that she was edgy about this meeting rather amusing, she realised with annoyance.
‘I thought you said they weren’t happy about our marriage!’ she retorted. ‘Surely that is some cause for concern?’
‘They are not unhappy because I got married, they are unhappy because I did it secretively—they would have liked to be there—they would have liked an almighty, great big, all-singing, all-dancing, Greek wedding, to be blunt.’ Alexi changed down gears to take a very steep bend. ‘But I did that first time around, and that kind of ceremony wasn’t the right thing for us. They will accept that when I explain.’
‘And how are you planning to explain?’ Katie asked.
‘Are you going to tell them that we’re not really in love so there was no point having the big family wedding?’
‘Of course not!’ Alexi frowned and glanced over at her again. ‘I’m going to tell them it was a whirlwind decision.’
‘And are you going to tell them about the baby?’ Her voice was husky.
‘I was going to—yes.’
‘Well, I’d rather you didn’t. It’s early days, Alexi, anything could happen. I mean really—sensibly speaking—we shouldn’t have rushed into marriage at all, we should have waited until I was at least three months pregnant to be on the safe side. Or even waited until after the baby was born.’
He frowned. ‘Katie, nothing is going to go wrong!’
‘You don’t know that!’
‘I know that we’ve done the right thing. So chill out, OK? Getting so worked up isn’t going to help Junior!’
She nodded and tried to relax back into the seat.
‘And if it worries you I won’t tell them about the baby,’ he added softly. ‘We’ll wait until you feel the time is right.’
‘Thanks.’ She nodded. ‘I think that would be for the best.’
Silence fell between them.
Alexi flicked a look over at her. She’d caught a little sun as they’d sat beside the pool this morning. She looked healthy and glowing in the white sundress, her lips moist with peach satin-gloss. Her dark hair glowed with chestnut lights, and lay silky-straight around her shoulders. Yet there was a look in her eyes that concerned him—a vulnerable look that he knew she tried quickly to hide as soon as he glanced in her direction.
She hadn’t slept very well last night, either. She’d got up as dawn was breaking and had got herself a glass of water from downstairs. Then she hadn’t returned