Page 45 of Modern Romance Collection May 2024 Books 1-4

Itwasa kind of virus—in his blood. A hot and urgent virus. And it was the same for her and they both knew it.

Damia came back out and took Ashling to get washed and changed. The baby looked at Ajax over Damia’s shoulder as they went out, her gaze seeming far too old for her age. As if she knew the turmoil she caused inside him.

‘We’re going into Athens to go sightseeing today,’ said Erin. ‘It’s a bit cooler with the clouds.’

Ajax looked back at her.‘We?’

‘Me and Damia and Ashling.’

‘I’ll arrange for you to have a driver.’

Erin protested. ‘We can get a taxi or use public transport.’

Ajax shook his head. ‘Non-negotiable.’

Erin looked as if she wanted to argue, but eventually she said, ‘Okay—fine.’

Ajax got up and went over to where Erin sat. He put his hands on the arms of the chair either side of her. He saw how her pupils enlarged and the colour in her cheeks grew more hectic. His blood hummed.

‘I enjoyed last night.’

She looked up at him. He could see the resistance in her expression, in her eyes. She wanted to lie. To refute it. But she couldn’t.

She seemed to sag a little. ‘So did I.’

He stood up and couldn’t stop a smile.

She scowled at him. ‘Is that it?’

He put out his hands. ‘Are you trying to invite me to make love to you here on this terrace, right now?’

He turned and walked away, chuckling, and then felt something hit him between his shoulder blades. He turned around. It was a smallpain au chocolat.

Ajax picked it up and backed away, still facing Erin. He took a bite and exclaimed with relish, ‘Almost as delicious as—’

She threw another pastry at him and Ajax let out a laugh.

It only occurred to him as he was driving to the office in Athens that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so light.

Later that day Erin and Damia were wilting in the heat. They’d stopped to sit outside a café in the shade. Ashling was in her buggy, with a muslin cloth shading her and a fan blowing cool moist air over her sleeping form.

Erin loved how child-and-baby-orientated the Greeks were, fussing over Ashling everywhere they went. It seemed to be so at odds with what Ajax had said about his family—but then they weren’t exactly mere mortals.

Erin smiled at Damia. ‘Thank you for being tour guide today. You were fantastic and your English is superb.’

The young woman blushed and smiled. ‘Efharisto, Erin. And your Greek is really coming on.’

Erin lifted her glass of chilled water in salute. She was doing her best to pick up some Greek, feeling that it was only respectful to do so.

Damia’s gaze went to something behind Erin just as the back of her neck prickled with awareness.

Ajax appeared at her elbow.

She knew it was him before she saw him.

‘Good afternoon, ladies, I trust you’ve had a good time?’

Erin smiled up at him, hating the way her body went into roadrunner mode, her pulse skyrocketing. ‘Lovely, thank you. Athens is an amazing city.’

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