Alex didn’t want gifts from Dimitrios. What she did want was still out of reach. Last night had to have been an aberration. Right now she had to keep reminding herself that the only reason he kept a hold was because she’d been dizzy earlier.
He didn’t let go until he’d helped her climb in the back of the limousine waiting for them.
“Oh—my suitcase!”
“It’s in the trunk with my backpack.”
Dimitrios went around to his side of the car. After he issued instructions to the driver, they were off.
“Isn’t the hotel the other way?” Alexandra cried as the limo made an unexpected right turn.
He nodded. “Yes. However, we still have work to do after dinner. There’s no time to ferry you back and forth. Now that I know Michael and his friends can entertain themselves, it only makes sense you stay at the villa. As for your friend Yanni, he and his girlfriend might as well use the other bedroom in your suite, which is going to waste.”
After a pregnant pause, “How long do you expect the party to last?”
“I have no idea. Does it matter? You’re my guest. Naturally you’ll be attending the dinner with me.”
“But I’m not family.”
Dimitrios cursed beneath his breath. “You must have a poor opinion of me if you think I would leave you on your own! Everyone in the family is anxious to meet the woman who has managed to bring back the splendor of Thessalonica to a world that is looking on in fascination.”
She bowed her head. “Thank you for the compliment, but as usual, you exaggerate my part in things.” He heard a deep sigh. “Should I dress up for dinner, or will one of my suits be all right?”
“Whatever makes you the most comfortable.”
“Maybe I should ask your sister-in-law. She’ll have definite ideas.”
“It’s not up to Ananke to decide.”
“Isn’t she the hostess?”
“No. We’ll be eating at Uncle Spiros’s villa.”
“I thought he’d passed away.” Her voice trailed.
“He did. After his death, his son Pantelis moved in with his family. You’ll like his wife, Estelle. She doesn’t fuss about things that aren’t important.”
Another long silence ensued. He glanced at her. “What’s going on in that mind of yours to put such a fierce expression on your face?”
“It may surprise you to know that even nondescript secretaries want to look their best when the occasion demands.”
“In my employ you’ve never presented a less than perfect picture,” he bit out in frustration. “If you thought I implied otherwise, you’d be wrong.”
He could feel her pulling away from him. Nothing was the same since they’d left Dadia.
When Nicholas appeared, Dimitrios asked him to bring in their luggage, then he grasped Alex’s elbow to escort her through the villa. She seemed in a great hurry to reach the guest bedroom. After what had transpired in the last twenty-four hours, he rebelled at the idea of their being separated for any reason.
“Be ready to leave in an hour.”
She nodded, then started to shut the door.
“Alexandra—”
“Yes?” she said, sounding as breathless as he felt. “Is there something you forgot to tell me? Something you want me to do?”
There was so much he wanted from her, he wasn’t able to think with any coherence. “It can wait.”
With that oblique comment, he turned and strode toward his suite. Alex shut the door, then leaned upon it. She couldn’t understand what had come over him. Maybe it had to do with this house that once upon a time contained the family he’d lost. He always seemed happier away from it.
Last night when he’d held out his hands for her to dance, he’d been a totally different person. Alex had never known such ecstasy as those moments in his powerful arms with the wine and the music feeding the flame of her desire.
Again she was struck by the fact that he’d always accepted her just the way she was. She loved him for it. But right now he sounded so upset. What had she said?
A shiver passed through her body. There’d only been a few times at the office when she’d seen him truly angry. The last thing she’d ever want was to be his target, even if it were deserved.
Once again Alex found herself wishing she dared to be her real self for tonight. If it weren’t for the likelihood of Giorgio being at the party, Alex was tempted to end the charade for good.
A knock on the door made her jump. She thought it was Dimitrios, that he’d changed his mind and had come back to ask a favor of her. When she opened it, she discovered Nicholas standing there with her suitcase. He placed it inside the room.
Though she needed it to get ready, she felt a bitter disappointment that it wasn’t Dimitrios. She quickly thanked the other man, then shut the door after him.
Almost to the bathroom, tears streamed down her face. Too much had transpired in the last twenty-four hours to contain her emotions any longer. She needed a release.
Half an hour later, she padded over to the suitcase with a towel wrapped around her and pulled out the only dressy outfit she’d brought from New York.
When Michael had planned her wardrobe, they’d laughed over the choices he’d come up with. But Alex wasn’t laughing now. She lifted the boxy, drab, gray three-piece suit to her gaze. The wrinkle-proof affair felt like stiff taffeta. Her eyes studied the beading on the collar and cuffs.
It was hideous. She could hardly bare to put it on, but she had no choice.
One glance in the mirror and she was equally repulsed by her dyed brown hair, which she wore in an eternal twist pulled back from an unimaginative center part. Alex’s mother wasn’t the only person who didn’t know what she looked like these days.
It astounded her that Dimitrios didn’t appear to mind being seen with her.
“Alexandra?” His peremptory voice was followed by a rap on the door.
“I’m ready.”
She slipped into her black matron shoes once more, then reached for the door handle. If he said one word about how nice she looked…
But at her first glimpse of the tall, virile male dressed in a long-sleeved black silk shirt teamed with black trousers, she forgot all about the ghastly picture she presented.
“Leon and his mother are waiting for us in the car. They’re both under the impression that I’m still too unsteady to mount a horse, so play along with me while I hang onto you for support. Shall we go?”
Once again he ushered her down the hall with his arm around her shoulders. The familiar smell of the soap he’d used in the shower assailed her again. He was clean-shaven tonight. Dimitrios had to be the most gorgeous man alive. How comical she must look standing next to him!
The strange glance Ananke flashed her when they got in the back of the limousine verified Alex’s opinion of herself. But Leon’s eyes were kind as they rested on her.
“Good evening, Ms. Hamilton.”
“I’m so glad to see you again, Leon. Since the other day I’ve wanted to apologize to you for anything I said that upset you.”
He shook his head. “No, no. I was the idiot. We don’t need to talk about it again.” Just then he sounded and acted very much like Dimitrios.
His mother chose