closed his eyes as the door shut behind Jaya.
It wasn’t fair to look to an infant for comfort, but he snugged the boy close against him and pressed his unsteady lips against hair dark and silky smooth as his mother’s.
The surge of emotions in him was almost too much to bear, certainly near impossible to contain while Jaya had been in the room. Lovely Jaya who wouldn’t crush a spider, brutalized by a man she’d trusted. He hadn’t had the courage to ask for details. They only mattered if she felt a need to get them off her chest. He certainly didn’t want to hear them. As far as he was concerned, the fact it had happened at all was infuriating and heartbreaking enough, but to then not even be supported by her family...
It was unthinkable, blasting him to overflowing with a need to insist—demand—that she marry him and be forevermore under his protection. He wasn’t superhuman, but he had resources the average person couldn’t touch. The proverbial shields he could place around her were near bulletproof and his blood raced with the need to affix them. Now.
But she didn’t want to rely on him, didn’t want to marry him.
If her assailant had reached into his chest and clawed out his heart he couldn’t have stolen anything more vital to him than Jaya’s trust. Theo had suggested they eat in the public dining room because he was convinced she wouldn’t want to be alone with him, and she’d agreed. What did that say?
And here he’d been fantasizing—not taking for granted, only indulging himself—that the sexual attraction was still ripe and strong between them. That it could form the basis of a marriage that stood half a chance.
His fury at the injustice made him want to scream, but he had a child in his arms. A tiny boy who had somehow come to life after Jaya had suffered one of the worst types of betrayal.
He brought the boy up so they were eye to eye. Zephyr’s wide grin caused a crack to zigzag across his heart. Not one of damage, but as if the shell that encased it was breaking open. Tender hunger for more of those smiles, more time with Jaya, leaked out.
Never one to believe the Christmas present he wanted would actually be under the tree, he still let a nascent thought form: Maybe if he was very careful with her, there would be hope.
WHEN JAYA WAS called to the front desk because Bina was asking for her there, her first instinct was to send her cousin home. Quentin had sent the girl with her sitter to check up on her, acting like an interfering, if somewhat endearing, overbearing male relative.
But Bina had a genuine connection to Zephyr that helped the girl cope with the loss she was still grieving. Jaya didn’t have the heart to send her away without a visit with her cherished baby cousin. Plus, an uninterrupted conversation with Theo for the first time since she’d seen him again held a lot of appeal.
She texted him that Bina and her nanny were coming up to stay with Zephyr and she’d meet him at the bell desk to go for dinner. Then, in a minor fit of vanity, she visited one of the hotel’s boutiques, using her employee discount to buy a new dress and shoes.
Studying herself in the mirror of the staff washroom, she asked herself what she was trying to prove. Her hair was brushed, her makeup refreshed. The only pair of shoes she could find to go with this dress were much taller than she’d normally wear. They had bling. A line of sequins decorated the heel and a jazzy buckle drew attention to the toes Bina had painted a neon pink when they’d been having girls’ night a week ago.
The dress was more feminine than sexy with its ruffled layers of sheer red and orange and pink and fluttering split cut sleeves, but gave her a moment of sober second thought.
She refused to dress like a frump, though. Her confession this afternoon had been difficult. Part of her wanted to crawl into a cave now that her secret was revealed, but she knew better than to let her past cow her. She wouldn’t deny the fact she was a woman. She wouldn’t pretend to be ugly or asexual. That would only feed her shame and she had nothing to be ashamed of. Being pretty wasn’t a crime. Wanting to please the eye of a man wasn’t a broad invitation to be abused by all of them.
Still, it was an act of bravery to swipe a final layer of gloss onto her lips and take herself to the bell desk. The bellman was engaged and only Theo stood there.
He stared broodingly at the bobbing lights against the dark backdrop of water beyond the windows, his demeanor the quietly compelling man she’d so admired from afar in Bali. Pausing, she allowed herself a few seconds to take in his profile of statue stillness. He projected casual wealth with his gold watch and tailored shirt over crisp pants with their break in the cuff where they landed on his Italian loafers. Since he took these things for granted, he emanated power. And he was so attractive with his fit body and neat haircut and perfectly hewn, freshly shaved jaw.
She had always thought he had it all, had so much he was bored with the world, but she knew him so much better now. He held himself remote as a self-protective thing and that made her see him with new eyes. She realized he must be terribly lonely.
He glanced abstractly toward her, then started with a flash of surprised recognition. Maybe something else. She wasn’t sure what she saw between his raking gaze from her lashes to her fancy shoes. He quickly masked his expression.
“No uniform,” he commented.
No compliment, either.
“I didn’t want to start any rumors if the Makricosta CFO was recognized having dinner with our general manager. I made reservations across the road.”
He nodded without reaction and held the door for her as they walked across to La Fumée Blanche, The White Mist. She’d secretly wanted to try the dinner and dance restaurant forever, but it was a place for couples, not singles or a woman and her preadolescent niece.
They were shown through a dining room surrounding a small dance floor. On a dais, a trio played French jazz, filling the room with the Pink Panther sound of a brush against a cymbal. Their table had fresh roses, plush velvet chairs and a spectacular view of the Med.
It would have been perfect if she didn’t feel like Theo was wearing his CFO hat and picturing her in her Makricosta blouse.
“Wine?” he asked.
“I thought you don’t drink?”
“I thought you might.”
“Sometimes.” She flushed at how awkward this was. Maybe they needed Zephyr between them after all. “If it’s a special occasion, but I don’t need anything tonight.”
This wasn’t special, even though the candle glinted flecks of golden light off the silver and touched sparks in the crystal wine goblets. Even though a pianist tickled keys, accompanying a bassist who stroked sensual notes from her instrument.
Even though she was with the only man who’d ever melted her frigid libido and still managed to kindle heat in her when he seemed completely oblivious to her presence.
He ordered starters and painful silence ensued.
“Bina got to the room all right?” Of course she had or he wouldn’t have left Zephyr. Try harder, Jaya.
“She looks like you,” he said with a lift of his brows. “It was startling. Made me think that’s what our—your daughter could look like, if you had one. People must make that mistake often?”
“All the time.” She swallowed, trying not to latch onto what she thought he’d meant to say. Our.
More silence. This dress, coming out, it was a huge mistake. He wasn’t comfortable so she couldn’t relax.
Theo eyed Jaya’s tense posture. His own prickling tension was at maximum. She couldn’t relax, probably because she felt threatened by his mood.
A pile of ferocious curses piled up in the back of his throat. He was so angry, he could barely think