Kimmie’s jaw firmed and her eyes flashed fire at him, but she had her friends to consider. Curbing her anger threw her thoughts back to the mistakes of the day. She should have seen that Mike’s romantic interest in her had only grown wings when her exhibition of paintings straight out of college had been such an unexpected success. That should have rung warning bells, but Jocelyn was like a sister and Kimmie loved her dearly, and she had so wanted to belong and have a family of her own. Mike couldn’t wait to share everything with her, he’d said. Now she realised the only thing he’d actually meant to share with her was the money she’d made from the sale of her paintings. And now this man wanted to take another bite out of her life?
‘I’m not here to sort out your problems,’ he rapped, confirming her impression of him as harsh and unfeeling. ‘Or to be the butt of your anger,’ he added in the same hostile tone.
She stared him straight in the eyes. He might terrify some people, but she’d been through the wringer today and had no intention of backing down, though she had to handle him carefully for the sake of her friends.
‘Without proof that you have the authority to tell us to leave, I don’t see why we should.’
‘I’m asking you politely to leave,’ he emphasised.
‘And I’m telling you equally politely that we’re not doing any harm, and that we’ll leave the beach exactly as we found it.’
* * *
She was wholly in the wrong, but she’d impressed him. Determined to defy him, after what could only have been one hell of a start to her day, he guessed what she’d really like to do was to find a dark, quiet place where she could be alone with her thoughts as she tried to work out what had gone wrong. She struck him as an intelligent woman, not the type to blunder into a hasty marriage, so he was curious too. To her credit, she was concentrating on her friends, doing everything she could to make things right for them. This included holding him at bay, which was no mean task. He was used to women waiting for him to call the shots before falling in line with whatever he wanted. This woman would never do that. He found himself in the unusual position of telling her to go while wanting her to stay. In the interest of compromise he decided to back off for a while.
‘Kris,’ he said, extending his hand in the customary greeting.
Ignoring his hand, she frowned suspiciously. ‘Does that mean you’re joining us?’
‘I didn’t say that.’ He noted the flush in her cheeks and her darkening eyes as his hand closed around hers. The urge to drag her close and kiss her hard was overwhelming, but control was second nature to him.
Displaying the same iron resolve, she stepped back, pulling her hand out of his. ‘Kimmie—Kimmie Lancaster. Kimmie isn’t short for anything; it’s just Kimmie.’
This woman wasn’t just anything. ‘So, just Kimmie...burning a wedding dress and throwing away a diamond ring, and now you’re having a party.’
‘A wedding wake,’ she reminded him. ‘We can’t waste the food. Kyria Demetriou at the Oia Mare, where we’re staying, went to so much trouble to prepare a wedding feast, and this is the only way we can show our appreciation.’
‘Commendable. She’s a friend of mine.’
‘Kyria Demetriou?’
‘Yes.’
Kyria Demetriou was a pretty good judge of character, and he could see Kimmie thinking, Okay, so maybe he’s not so bad.
‘It’s a small island,’ she said. ‘I’m not surprised you know each other. I don’t expect you’d want us saying anything bad about you to her?’
‘Are you attempting to blackmail me?’ he asked, smiling faintly with incredulity.
‘Whatever it takes,’ she said bluntly.
More gripped by her character than ever, he pressed on with his low-key interrogation. ‘The Oia Mare is very nice, but quite expensive...?’
‘I wanted to treat my friends—’
‘You wanted to treat your friends?’
‘What’s wrong with that?’ she fired back.
‘It must have cost you a lot of money.’
She didn’t answer.
‘Why couldn’t your friends contribute towards the cost themselves?’ he prompted.
‘Because I didn’t want them to. I’d had a lucky break and wanted to share my good fortune. I ring-fenced some of the money I’d made for a project I’m interested in, but there was plenty left over and I wanted us all to do something special, something different for a change.’
‘And your fiancé went along with this proposal?’
She clammed up, and then admitted, ‘I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this.’
‘Because you need to get it off your chest?’
Pressing her lips down, she shrugged.
‘Were you engaged for long?’
He could see her wondering whether to say another word, but then her armour cracked and she revealed, ‘If I tell you, you’ll laugh.’
‘Try me,’ he challenged.
‘All right, I will. I’m an artist, recently graduated from studying at college in London. My first art exhibition was held straight out of college. No one, least of all me, could have predicted what a success it would be. My ex-fiancé is an older man whom I’ve known pretty much all my life. He’s my best friend’s older brother. Anyway,’ she added, brushing off unpleasant memories, he guessed, ‘he came to the gallery on the last night when there was nothing left to buy. I think we were both amazed...buoyed up...excited by what had happened. And he proposed to me there and then.’
‘And you agreed to marry him there and then?’
‘Yes. It does sound stupid now,’ she agreed wearily, ‘but sometimes life pushes you down a path you don’t expect, because the past is steering you.’
‘Is that what happened in your case?’
She looked at him for a few long moments and then said, ‘I’m done. I’m not going to tell you anything else.’
‘Quite right,’ he agreed reluctantly.
Life choices. And where had they got her? Kimmie huffed inwardly as she realised that in the personal sense her choices had been disastrous. She’d jumped at the chance to marry Mike, thinking she would be laughing in the face of the past. She could see now he’d caught her at the very best...no, the very worst possible moment.
‘So your fiancé cheated on you?’ Kris guessed shrewdly.
‘What brilliant powers of deduction.’
‘A bride without a groom,’ he added, unfazed by her sarcasm. ‘How unfortunate.’
‘Some would call it lucky.’
‘Do you?’ he asked with a keen stare.
‘I call it a life lesson,’ she admitted.
‘Will it make you bitter?’
‘No,’ she said without hesitation. ‘It will make me cautious, and determined never to make the same mistake again.’
‘Easy to say, harder to do,’ Kris observed.
‘You don’t know me,’ she assured him.
‘That sounds like a challenge,’ he said lazily.
An idea had begun to brew in Kris’s mind. He’d have to explore the possibility a lot more before deciding to progress things further, but this unexpected