A Fling with the Greek Billionaire (6 page)

Ignoring her knowing look, Nik asked with exaggerated politeness, “Shall we go now?”

Daria only giggled. “You’re welcome,” she said gaily. They had only walked for another minute when she blurted out, “I don’t want to go back yet.”

“What do you propose we do then?” Nik tried to mask his cynicism as he asked the question. He had wondered how long Daria would last without the finer trappings of life, and her words seemed to signal that she had reached her limit.

His belief was further cemented when Daria peered at him under her lashes with a calculating gleam in her eyes. He waited for her to ask him for something expensive – perhaps a treatment at an exclusive spa by the beach or drinks at one of the fancy bars lining the path – just to see how much she could milk him for.
Or if not that
, he thought grimly, then perhaps she’d ask for any of those and offer to pay. People like Daria Everest had to keep up appearances, after all.

“I’ve decided,” she announced.

“Have you now?” he murmured. “So what is it?”

An impish smile touched her lips, and despite everything, he was mesmerized by it. And then she asked seriously, “How good are you at building sandcastles?”

Chapter Three

“My turn to ask,” Daria said the next day. She was lying flat on her stomach on a lounge chair that faced the beach – or at least where the beach was supposed to be. Because Nik’s room was further in the island, all they could see were a few palm trees and the throng of tourists that spilled into the inner walkways, offering shortcuts to the island’s plaza where all the fancy boutiques were.

“You’ve been asking all the questions,” Nik pointed out dryly.

“It’s not my fault you take too long time to think of your question,” Daria protested. Then she released a little moan, her eyes sweeping shut in pleasure at the way Nik kneaded her back. “Oh, that’s so good.” Conscious of how Nik didn’t seem to have that much money – at least not enough to pay for a $100 treatment at her favorite spa – Daria had suggested they take turns giving each other a massage. So far, it was proving to be the best idea she ever had, with Nik’s firm, sensual touch so much better at making her feel deliciously hot and relaxed all over.

The dreamy smile on Daria’s face tempted him to kiss her, but Nik fought to keep himself in control.
It could all be an act,
he reminded himself. This and everything that had happened yesterday – all of it could be Daria simply pretending to be the kind of girl she imagined he wanted.

Yesterday had only added to the enigma Daria represented. They had indeed gone on building sandcastles – or at least he did, while hers appeared more like prison wards she had tried to beautify by sticking seashells to its sides.

Afterwards, they had gone swimming, time passing them by as they alternated between talking about anything under the sun and making out. The last one had been entirely Daria’s idea, of course. Dinner had been vastly simple, Daria insisting they buy meat and seafood from the local market and grilling them outside their room.

Throughout it, he had waited for Daria to show signs of boredom or exhaustion. He had waited for her to slip – waited for her to leave him for one of the supposedly richer guys in the island. And there had been plenty of them. Daria turned heads wherever they went, and most of the men never bothered to hide their admiration.

Any of them would have willingly dropped a couple of thousand euros just to have Daria smile at them. She could have had her pick among those men, but she hadn’t.

She had chosen to stay with him, and when she had fallen asleep in his arms after another long, wild, and passionate bout of lovemaking, it had been with the same dreamy smile she had on her face now.

Either she wanted sex from him that much
, Nik thought grimly, or he was close to getting what he wanted: Daria falling in love with him and leaving herself open to his revenge.

“Nik…can I ask my next question?” Her voice was a mixture of sleepy and determined, like a child unable to admit she was ready for bedtime.

Again, there was an urge to smile – an urge he had felt more times today than he had in his entire life. It was not a pleasant thought, and with it came an equally strong urge to leave Daria. To get out of her life and never look back.

In the end, he heeded neither urge, and his voice was deceptively mild as he said, “Make it count. I won’t answer any other questions after this.”

Raising her head, she looked at him over her shoulder and pouted. “Spoilsport.”

“Only because you’re acting spoiled. Now, your question?” As he spoke, he resumed kneading the muscles of her back, yet another thing he had never thought he’d end up doing in this lifetime. And yet…he had. The silky feel of her skin was irresistible, and a disturbing sense of possessiveness struck Nik at the thought that, in another time, another man would be able to enjoy her body the same way.

He inhaled roughly at the thought. No. Goddamn. Way.

Beside him, Daria was still speaking, apparently oblivious to the violent slant that his thoughts had taken. “I’ve asked you about your favorite color, your favorite food, hobby…”

As she rattled off, Nik slowly found himself relaxing. He merely listened, knowing by now that Daria had a penchant for thinking out loud. It was a habit he suspected would lead to other people thinking she was vain, but the time he spent with Daria made him realize it wasn’t that at all. She did it simply because she liked doing it, and if he had to be honest, he liked it, too. The years he had spent working in the corporate jungle had made him distrust people who only said what they thought people wanted to hear. He would rather have Daria, with her outrageous ideas, over them any time of the day.

“But one thing I’ve never asked…” Daria suddenly flipped around, and Nik found himself almost cupping her breasts instead.
 

He immediately pulled his hands away. Nik scowled, knowing it had been deliberate on her part, but Daria only laughed in response.

“
That
,” she declared. Pushing herself up on her elbows, she glanced at him with thoughtful gray eyes. “All the men I…know—” Again, Daria almost said ‘dated’ but managed to catch herself in time. “—are quick to paw their girlfriends in public, even when it’s not appropriate.” She wrinkled her nose, remembering how one of the frogs she had dated had tried to get his hand under her skirt in church. “But you’re different. Actually, you’re the exact opposite.
Why
?”

He shrugged.

She pouted. “Come on, please.”

“Let me ask you a question instead.” Nik cupped her chin, making sure she looked straight into his eyes. “Why did you choose me to be your first?” He managed not to let his lip curl at the last word.

Startled by the question, Daria gazed at Nik searchingly. “Why are you asking me that now?”

“Aren’t you willing to answer me?”

Even if she was
, Daria thought,
he wouldn’t believe her
. No one except her friends would believe the truth, which was that she had written a message in a bottle to God, and Nik had been the result.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she said finally.

Safe answer,
Nik thought.

Nik’s face was unreadable, but sensing that her answer didn’t satisfy him, she blurted out, “Do you know the fairytale about the princess and the frogs?”

“The one where the princess ate all the frogs?” he deadpanned.

Daria gasped in horror. “I do not eat frogs!” Then she realized what she had just let slip.

Nik’s face was relaxed now, and a smile started to tug at his lips again.

Sitting up, she instinctively touched his lips. “I like you smiling,” she said softly. “I wish you’d do it more.” His smile didn’t disappear, but it failed to reach his eyes this time, and she regretted saying anything at all about it.

“My life doesn’t give me much to smile about,” he said flatly. And he knew it was true, despite the billions in his bank account. Before she could answer, he changed the subject, murmuring, “But I’m sure it’s different for a princess like you.”

She grimaced. “You’re not going to let me forget that, are you?”

“I had a feeling you were the type of girl to think you’re the princess in all fairytales.”

She immediately shook her head. “Not at all. I can’t be Belle, for one.”

He raised a brow. “
Belle
?”

“Beauty and the Beast,” she explained.

“Because you can’t fall for someone unattractive?”

“That used to be one of the reasons,” she acknowledged honestly, “but I’ve learned my lesson. Looks don’t matter as much to me.” At the skeptical look on his face, she laughed. “I mean it,” she insisted.

“If you say so,” he murmured noncommittally.

“No, really, if God gave me someone who looked like the Beast, I’d love him.” It was the closest to the truth she could speak of. “But…that’s really not the reason why I can’t be Belle.” She gave him a shamefaced look. “You see, I’m not that into books.”

“Ah.” He struggled not to smile at the way she seemed to wait for him to call her an idiot.

“You think I’m the typical dumb little rich girl now, don’t you?” she accused.

“I haven’t said anything.”

“But you’re thinking it!”

“No. I’m not. I only think it’s…
admirable
that you can admit to something like that.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever like reading either,” she confessed unhappily. “I’m so impatient, I want to know what’s going to happen in the end right away. I usually end up skipping to the last page but whenever I do, nothing makes sense because I only read the first few pages.” She sighed.

He was almost tempted to pat her head in sympathy. “It’s all right,” he said finally. “Not everyone can be like, err, Belle. But at least you can be the princess who eats all the frogs.”

She groaned. “Yuuuuuuuuck.”

This time, he couldn’t help it. A grin briefly touched his lips, the result of seeing the genuine revulsion on Daria’s face.

“For your information, I’ve never eaten a frog, and I have no plans to,” she said huffily.

“If the princess isn’t going to eat them, what’s she going to do with all those frogs?”

Her smile faded. “Date them. Kiss them, in hopes that one of them would turn into a prince.”

Ah.

Nik forced himself to smile. “A good plan.”
And it was
, he thought grimly. Use all her charms to have a man fall for her, and when he wasn’t good enough – when he wasn’t rich enough – discard him until the next frog came along.

“Is it?” Daria shrugged. “I think it’s a waste of time.”
And that was an understatement,
she thought.

“If you don’t go through all those frogs, how would you find a prince?”

She lifted her shoulders in a clueless shrug. “I don’t really care to find out.” She stole a look at him, one that had his cock turning rigid in an instant, and when she spoke, her husky voice made his chest tighten. “I’m not looking for one anymore.”

****

It was their third night to sleep together.

She lay on her side, one hand under her pillow, the other holding Nik’s hand, which he had only tried to pull out of her hold once. It was an improvement, considering how last night he had tried to do the same thing five times.

Outside the tiny window of his room, Daria had the barest glimpse of a starry night, nothing that particularly screamed party island or tropical paradise. It should have disappointed her, she knew. All her life, she had lived in homes or stayed in places that always had the most stunning views. They painted the prettiest pictures of the world, but all those nights, she had either ended up broken-hearted or empty. Given the chance, she’d have traded all those nights for more nights in Nik’s small room. Even though four plain white walls made up her world right now, Daria couldn’t remember feeling happier. Couldn’t remember feeling more complete. And it was all because of the man sleeping next to her.

She knew so little about Nik still, like the fact that he had finished college with a degree in economics, or that he had no immediate family left. All of those things, she had practically twisted his arm to find out.
 

If Alyx and Yanna were with her now and she had told them about Nik, they’d tell her he was hiding something from her.