ROMANCE: THE SHEIKH'S GAMES: A Sheikh Romance (58 page)

“More like “Wow, these family fortunes belong together,” right?”

“Probably. But you know Mom and Dad have been friends with Thea and Christ forever.”

“It’s a nice family. I’d marry into it.”

He kissed his little sister good-bye and waved her off, but the whole time he was thinking about Eirene. She was a beautiful woman, ravishing in fact. But Simon was curiously ambivalent about her. The blue-black curls that drifted around that perfect face, and the Aegean-blue of her eyes…dazzling, exactly the sort of looks he adored. But she seemed both vulnerable and prickly, and it kept him off balance. It shouldn’t have bothered him, but it did, and it made him want to take care of her even while he felt he really ought to keep his distance. She wasn’t just another party girl, she was a woman he thought he could love, and the thought frightened him.

The whole idea of love frightened him. He had such an amazing example in his parents, but how could he hope to be so lucky? How could Simon imagine finding his soul-mate in a woman who he’d known — though not well — since they were children? It seemed almost wrong, like falling in love with a relative. A close one, he corrected, since distant cousins married all the time.

No, he was certain it was her oppressive beauty that had ensnared him. He’d get over it. He’d grow tired of her and leave her the way he did with every other woman. He’d be callous and she’d have something pithy to say about his going, something that would cut him down to size and make him wonder if he wasn’t making a mistake. She’d hang on to him because she was exactly what he had always hoped for in a woman. She was an equal.

He liked that he never quite knew what to expect from her. As he was driving her home and they were getting their stories straight, he’d said, “Would you like to have dinner with me one night soon? I’d really enjoy spending time with you when you weren’t drunk or hung over.”

“Nice invitation,” Eirene had snapped. But then she softened and said, “Oh why not? We are sort of engaged after all. Might as well find out what the fuss is about.”

As he watched Athena’s plane climb into the sky, he had a kind of epiphany, thinking about everything that had happened in the last thirty-six hours. He thought perhaps he could happily spend the rest of his life with Eirene. She’d never give him an inch, never be dull or tiresome. She’d go toe-to-toe with him sometimes, and other times she’d be right at his side. This wasn’t just another conquest, this was something that felt real and permanent, it was something to work toward, not just take and forget.

He planned their dinner date carefully, choosing a place that was intimate and not terribly expensive. Eirene wouldn’t be impressed with money, she’d appreciate good taste. He brought her flowers when he came to pick her up, nothing flashy, just some lovely white gardenias. She seemed surprised, pleased, and the sight of her with her head bowed and her dark hair curtaining the flowers as she took in their warm, sweet scent, touched a chord in Simon that made him feel hopeful.

“They’re beautiful,” she said, pressing them lightly against her cheek. Against her golden skin, the whiter-than-white petals seemed to glow.

“You seem like a gardenia girl,” he told her. He couldn’t read her expression and hoped he hadn’t said anything too sappy.

Over dinner they spoke honestly of their dreams and ambitions. He was impressed by her independence and her desire to see the world, and it was all he could do not to say, “I can show it to you, all of it.” He already knew her well enough to know that displays of his wealth would put her off.

“I haven’t traveled enough,” he admitted. “I mean I have, but not just to travel. There’s always some bit of business, or some family thing. I’ve been places, but I don’t know them, do you see what I mean?”

“I think so. You’ve not taken the time to know them intimately, yes?”

It was an odd moment because he had the sense that what she’d said was more about the women he’d known than the places he’d visited. “Yes, I think you’re right. I’d like to change that. I’d like to go somewhere just to be there, to look at the place with the eyes of someone who wants to drink it all in.”

“Only you can do that for yourself,” she reminded him.

“I know. Where’s the first place you’d visit if you could choose any destination?”

“There are so many. But I think I’d like to start somewhere like Bali, to experience the culture. And I’ve never seen the northern lights. Can you imagine?” Once she began to talk about her chosen destinations, Simon just sat back and listened. Her enthusiasm was contagious and he found himself longing to see the things she was describing, wanting to see them with her.

“What about you? What’s the one thing you’ve never done that you would love to do?”

Simon didn’t think saying “Marrying you,” would go over, so he chose a different dream, one that had been with him since he was a child. “It would involve time travel,” he admitted.

Eirene’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t have modest dreams, do you?”

He shrugged. “The thing is, I wouldn’t want to change anything. That wouldn’t be fair or right. I want a clear bubble in which I can travel unseen to any time.”

“And when would you go to?”

“I’d spy on a lot of things. But mostly I think I’d like to see the beginning of the universe. I’d want to watch life evolve on this planet. I want to see dinosaurs! When I was a little boy I wanted that more than anything.”

“You’ve got enough money, you could make your own Jurassic Park.”

“That would be terrible. This isn’t their time. They’d be freaks, and you know how humans would treat them. No, I want to see them in their own time, and among their own kind. I want to see them when they owned this planet.”

She was staring at him.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re a romantic.”

“Guilty, I guess.”

“What else?”

Embarrassed, he mumbled something about great events in history.

“And you wouldn’t try to change even the bad things?”

“No, because everything that happens in the world effects everything that comes after. I could maybe kill Hitler when he was just a boy, but maybe that would mean that you would never be born.”

“Don’t you think that would be a fair trade? I do.”

“That call is not mine to make, is it?”

“No. You’re right. It’s just so satisfying to think of what good it might do.”

“And someone worse might have come up through the ranks to take his place in history’s void.”

She shuddered. “You make a good point,” she admitted. “Let’s talk about something else.”

After dinner they took a long, moonlit walk and talked about family and the future. Simon had a sense that they wanted much the same things, stability, children, a sense that they’d made the world a better place. Again, he felt hopeful.

It fell to Eirene to initiate a good-night kiss because Simon was determined to be the perfect gentleman. It was a sweet, tentative one, promising nothing and yet filled with promise. It made Simon dizzy. It made him blissfully happy. He felt like a teenager again, and once they’d said good-night, he drifted back to the car, thinking about weddings.

She was everything he wanted. He was certain of it.

Kosta had been right to turn his attentions to Athena Katsaros when he had because the next time he saw Simon, the man was changed. It was for the better probably, though not for the betterment of Kosta’s business. Simon planned to close down the business. He was going to work for his father’s company.

“I’ve finally convinced him that I’m ready to apply myself to the business. I am finally ready,” he added. “And I’m getting married.”

“Married? Well I can’t fault you for that,” Kosta admitted. “Who’s the lucky girl?”

“The daughter of one of the Katsaros business associates.” That was playing it close to the vest. He didn’t want Kosta to know too much. But as it happened, Kosta already knew that Simon had been seeing the Dimitrios girl pretty regularly for months.

“Can’t you do both? This is a nice sideline for us.” Kosta still needed financial backing, though he was close to being able to strike out on his own. And now he needed more introductions to people with the money to buy what he was selling. Simon’s rich, idiot friends were fine for the more minor-league items, but what he was getting lines on were museum-quality antiquities, very rare, and very hard to move if you didn’t know the right people.

Simon was looking Kosta up and down, clearly surprised by the changes he was seeing. “You’re looking… prosperous,” he observed.

“You think?” He brushed an imaginary speck of dirt off his cuff. “I thought it was time to take the business to a higher level. The people I buy from distrust me if I don’t look like I’m on the make, but the people I sell to prefer a little more respectability, even if it’s only on the surface.” Did you get that, rich boy?

“It’s a good move,” was all Simon said to that. He didn’t respond at all to any hidden meaning in Kosta’s words.

And it was a good move. Athena had responded very positively to his casual overtures. They’d actually had coffee together at a cafe in Neil’s Yard. She’d laughed at his jokes, had told him about her classes and her plans. She’d also agreed to have dinner with him the next time he was in London. He couldn’t help but smile as he remembered that afternoon. He liked the girl well enough that being around her wasn’t a trial. He’d be good to her, and she’d adore him. It was enough.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was just thinking about a joke I’d heard. It’s nothing. When is the wedding?”

Simon gave him a look that said the date didn’t matter since Kosta wouldn’t be invited anyway. “I thought I’d send a gift.”

“We haven’t set a date yet, Simon told him. We’re thinking in the winter.”

Good plan. Well let me know so I can pick out something nice.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“So you’re determined to bow out of the business, then?”

“You can handle it. You’ve handled most of it all along.”

“Well, if I can’t convince you, then it simply remains to finish off the contracts we’ve made and get your money to you. I don’t suppose there are any job openings in the Katsaros empire.”

“For someone with your skill set? I don’t think so.”

“No? Pity. You’re putting me out of business after all.”

“I have a feeling you’ll land on you feet, Kosta.”

With the money he still held, Kosta figured he could get one more shipment out of the Middle East before Simon shut them down. Maybe he could find his own buyers. And if this thing with Athena didn’t work out, he’d simply abscond with Simon’s share of the profits and start over somewhere else, though that wouldn’t have been his first choice.

Kosta could buy and sell anything if he put his mind to it. He’d been doing it all his life, and doing it well. He liked the jobs that paid well, of course, and that usually meant something illegal. He had never balked at circumventing the law when he could do it to his profit.

It would have been nice to relax though, and be a Katsaros by marriage. The truth was that Kosta didn’t much care what he did so long as there was a reasonable chance that he wouldn’t have to do it forever. “I’ll be in touch,” he promised. It was nearly time for another trip to London.

But first there was business to be done.

He arrived in London a week later to find Athena packing to go home. “Your timing is terrible,” she told him and kissed his cheek. It was friendly and suggested that she was comfortable with him. That was good.

“Why are you leaving?”

“My brother’s engagement party. He would decide to have it just as the fall term started.” She shook her head and laughed. “Because of course everything is about me.”

“As well it should be. Can I at least drive you to the airport?” he asked. “I have to catch a plane back to Athens later tonight anyway, and—” It was a lie, of course, but he was playing an angle.

“Well that’s perfect. You can fly with me and we can yammer the whole way there.”

“Can I get a ticket for your flight at the eleventh hour?” he asked.

“Please! I’m taking one of the family planes. So join me. It’s not a long flight, but we can kick back and enjoy it. And when we get to Halithos, you can meet my family, and then we’ll arrange for you to go on to Athens.”

It was exactly what he’d been hoping for. If he could meet her parents before Simon could hustle him away, he could charm them into inviting him to stay a while. “I guess I could do that. Let me see if I can cancel my ticket.” He pulled out his cell and pretended to be pulling up an airline website. After a few minutes of scrolling through some online news site, he said, “There, it’s done.”

“Great!

This was working out better than he’d hoped.

The plane was so sleek and beautiful that Kosta decided that he was going to have one of his own one day. He’d name it The Athena. If people actually named their planes. Or even if they didn’t. It would be a nice, romantic gesture to name something so lovely after Athena. She’d be thrilled.

Once aboard, Athena ordered them a meal, and asked Kosta if he’d like a drink.

“Coffee if I may. Very sweet.”

It arrived once they were airborne, along with a little plate of cookies. “This might spoil my appetite for dinner, but I don’t care,” he joked. “These look too good to ignore.” He passed the plate to Athena who took one and smiled at him.

“Dinner won’t be for an hour yet,” she said.

They chatted about his business. He never mentioned Simon, wanting to keep this thing that was happening between Athena and himself. He was enjoying her, and making sure she enjoyed him. Kosta was on his best behavior.

Not long after their dinner arrived, Athena’s phone rang. “Oh it’s my brother. I should take this.”

“I’ll make myself scarce.” He got up and went to the lavatory to give her some privacy. But when he returned a few minutes later, She was weeping uncontrollably.

“Athena, sweetheart… what’s wrong?” He couldn’t say why the sight affected him so. It almost hurt him to see her so distressed.

From what he could gather from her garbled sobbing, her parents had been killed in an accident. What kind, he wasn’t certain. And it didn’t matter at that point, so long as he was there for her. He held her while she cried and said soothing things.