Page 52 of Reclaimed By His Billion-Dollar Ring

She was feeling entirely blank.

Nikos stepped out onto the balcony that opened off his bedroom. There was a partial sea view, and if he craned his head he could see part of the huge central swimming pool, but not the main resort building to the rear. It was strange to be back here—though ‘strange’ was an understatement...

Eight years ago he’d been a labourer here, turning a dirt field into a hotel.

Now he was staying here.

With his bride.

The word rang like a hollow, mocking joke, and he shifted restlessly. Had he been mad to bring Calanthe here? Yet somehow this place had seemed...appropriate.

It’s where I first set eyes on her.

He felt the tension that racked him tighten unbearably. This place might also prove to be the last place he would ever set eyes on her.

Unless...

Tomorrow—tomorrow I will find out what my fate is to be.

He pulled his thoughts away. There was this evening to get through first.

CHAPTER TEN

‘THERE ARE TWO restaurants here. The main one in the hotel, and then a more informal bistro-type near the pool.’

Nikos looked at her impassively and Calanthe tried to react similarly. But it was hard. Far harder than she wanted it to be.

To be here, in his company was hard, when the last time she had seen him it had been to hurl at him all those bitter, savage accusations that had eaten at her for all those years.

But not only was it hard for that reason. But for the very opposite.

Her gaze, still as impassive as she could make it, rested on him as they stood in the sitting room of the little villa. His presence was making itself felt on her consciousness...her senses. He was casually dressed, in chinos and an open-necked shirt, deck shoes and turned-back cuffs. Casual—devastating.

Irresistible.

The word he’d used about her now hovered in her head about him. Memory added to it. The clothes he was wearing now were way more expensive than those he’d worn when they’d gone out in the evenings eight years ago, but he wore them to the same effect. Her helpless gaze had clung to him then. It clung to him now.

‘Or,’ he was saying, as she tried to veil her treacherous—irrelevant—reaction to him, ‘we could stay in. The restaurant has a delivery service that we could use if you wish.’ He paused. ‘Your call,’ he said.

In her head, Calanthe heard the words None of the above! But for reasons she did not want to admit to. Because she didn’t want to have dinner with Nikos at all. It would be just too...

Dangerous. That’s what it would be.

Dangerous to spend any time with him at all. Dangerous to be with him. To gaze at him. Dangerous to be exposed to him...as if he carried an infection she knew she would be unresistant to.

What if he—?

She broke off her thought. What Nikos might try and do now that he had her to himself again was not to be given space inside her head.

‘The poolside bistro,’ she heard herself say.

That seemed the least bad option. Eating here, with him, was out of the question. And dining in the main restaurant, conscious of eyes all over the place, was not what she wanted either. So maybe the smaller bistro was preferable? Less showy?

More intimate?

No! Don’t think of that. This was a family hotel, not a place for romantic couples. Surely that must reassure her?

He nodded. ‘Bistro it is, then,’ he said.

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