Page 2 of The Nicolaides Baby

Finola Stallings had raised Rowan and Sierra after their mother had abandoned them before they had started walking. And the grief at losing the only parent they had ever known after a brief, sudden illness during their college sophomore year had nearly overwhelmed them. Only the fact she’d left express wishes in her will they should finish college and take this trip had kept them going.

“Keep with the plan, my lovelies,” she’d written in the letter she’d left them. So, they were here almost as much for her as they were for themselves.

“Pardon us, ladies,” a deep male voice said behind her. The slight hint of a British accent surprised her. She took a deep breath and shook away her sadness while Sierra lowered her book and grinned over Rowan’s head.

Rowan scooted her body around on her lounger and looked way up.

The two men stood so close, the nearly noonday sun cast their faces in shadows, but she could still make out how similar in appearance they were—especially their matching clear blue eyes—and the fact that both men were quite handsome, with strong jaws and classic features. And if she had to guess, she would assume they were brothers, with the one smiling probably being the younger of the two.

Too bad the one she’d decided to dub Mr. Grumpy hadn’t taken a cue from the other man. The whole irritated, dark, smoldering—and yes, sexy, if you went for that kinda thing—look wasn’t too attractive on him. She shivered with a bit of awareness when their eyes met and held.

“Yes,” Rowan said, pulling her gaze from his and giving a hesitant smile to the friendlier-looking of the two. “Can we help you?”

“You do realize you’re likely to burn.” Mr. Grumpy’s growled words pulled her attention back to his frowning face. “You should make sure you have on enough sunscreen.”

“I figured as much,” Rowan muttered under her breath as she glanced over her shoulder at her sister and then mouthed,I told you so, before facing the two men again.

“Manners, Leo. Manners,” the younger man said. “You’ll have to forgive my older brother here.” He accompanied his words with a hard, backhanded pop to Leo’s flat stomach—eliciting a slight oomph and a scowl down at him in response. “He’s not had the best of mornings.” He reached out his hand, so Rowan felt obliged to offer hers back. Damned Southern manners. He took it in a firm grasp, but she didn’t miss the longing look he cast behind her. “Andreas Nicolaides.”

“Ro—”

“Sierra Stallings.” Sierra’s hand appeared over Rowan’s body and quickly reached out. Of course, Andreas immediately dropped her hand and took her sister’s. “And this ismyolder sister, Rowan.”

“Only by eighteen minutes,” Rowan said with a slight laugh up at her sister who now stood on her other side. It was a running joke. Rowan was the firstborn and your typical oldest child—feeling the weight of responsibility for everything and everyone, especially her slightly younger sister. Sierra was the more carefree of the two and always,always, ran behind. Rowan ascribed to the notion it was better to be early and prepared, which nine times out of...well nine, she was.

Sierra? Not so much. And it wouldn’t have surprised Rowan if her sister ran late on purpose just to aggravate her.

“You’re twins?”

Rowan glanced up at Leo and his skeptical tone—the one matching the doubting expression in his eyes—as his gaze went back and forth between the two of them with one brow raised. He wasn’t the first person to doubt they were twins. She and her sister looked nothing alike—except for their eyes. But that was something he wouldn’t know since her sister still had on her sunglasses.

“Yes, but fraternal, of course.” Rowan grimaced at how Andreas still held Sierra’s hand before she reached over the side of her lounger and rummaged through her beach bag. “Look, let’s cut to the chase. I know you guys have a job to do.” She had to have some loose money in the bottom of her bag somewhere. “So, before you give us your spiel about rubbing sunscreen on us, how about I just give you a tip and you can be on your way.” She sat up straight with a five-Euro note in her hand and offered it to Leo. “Here.”

Leo looked at the note like it might bite him and then speared her with an incredulous stare as his jaw worked.

Beside him, Andreas finally dropped Sierra’s hand as he doubled over and burst out laughing.

“It’s not funny.” Leo groused at his brother.

“Oh,” Andreas said between bouts of laughter. “But it most certainly is.” He held his stomach with one hand and pointed up at his brother’s stern face with the other. “You should see your expression!”

“I don’t need to. I’m certain it looks just as disbelieving as I feel.” Leo took Rowan’s hand with the note in it and squeezed—not tightly—but enough the few callouses on his fingertips brushed over her skin. “Ms. Stallings, I can assure you I have no need of your money. I can also assure you our purpose here—well at least Andreas’s purpose,” he said, throwing an irritated glance over at his sobering brother, “is only to make your acquaintance.” He gave her a smile, but the gritted teeth sort of ruined it.

“I see.” Rowan held his heated blue gaze and then dropped it to where his hand gripped hers. She shivered again, which was ridiculous considering the temperature was in the eighties. “Then can I have my hand back?”

“Of course.” Leo released her hand after a slight squeeze and took a step away from her.

“Sierra,” Andreas said, obviously unconcerned about either Rowan or his brother. “Would you care for a swim?”

“I don’t think—”

“Andreas—”

“I’d love to,” Sierra said, cutting off both hers and Leo’s protests, before she took Andreas’s outstretched hand and they ran together toward the clear Aegean Sea.

“Hmph.” Rowan frowned after them.

“Indeed.”

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