Page 67 of Below Deck Billionaire
Tiffany nodded. ‘Yeah. I will.’ And she would.
Tiffany’s phone rang as the tippy tap of her mother’s heels receded.Theo.She shut her eyes and almost let it go to voicemail. Those photos on her laptop told her she should, but the masochist in her needed to hear his voice today.
‘Hey,’ she said, injecting some cheer into her voice.
‘Hey.’ His voice was exactly what she needed, rich and low, the burr of his soft accent rubbing against her skin as if he was sitting beside her. ‘How did it go?’
Tiffany filled him on the details and they laughed about Bear showing up, and she told him about the twin apologies, and it felt so good to talk to him she just wanted to cry. And she hadn’t cried since she’d stepped off the plane in Darwin.
‘My mother wants me to stay home for a bit,’ she blurted out as he was telling her about a painting he’d seen of a mermaid in an art gallery in Athens.
There was a long pause on his end. ‘Okay… how do you feel about that?’
Like she wanted him to want her tonotstay. Even if he was back to his playboy ways. Which made zero fucking sense. But hey, she’d just buried her estranged father and found out about his apology as well as getting another from her mother.
It was a day for emotional whiplash.
‘It means something that she asked.’
‘Yes.’
‘And this place.’ She stared out at the red roof of the tractor shed beyond the green fringe of lawn and caught the faint whiff of cow manure that was a constant out here. ‘It’s as much a part of me as Mykonos is of you.’
‘You’ve missed it?’
It did still call to her and she knew if she stayed that she’d probably slip back into the way of things out here. But life on a cattle station was all-consuming – a hard daily grind ruled by the elements and stock prices, neither of which they could control. And would she pursue her dream of finishing her book if she stayed here or give up because there was just too much to do around the place?
‘Some of it,’ she murmured.
‘Well, if it helps, I’m missing you.’
Tiffany shut her eyes as her heart gave a little lurch. No, it didn’t help. Why couldn’t he just let her go? He’d obviously moved on. ‘Really, Theo?’ She gave a laugh so dry it almost grazed her throat. ‘I know we’re at the ass end of Earth here,’ she said derisively, ‘but the internet does reach Australia.’
Another pause. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
She rolled her eyes as she reached across and lifted the lid on her laptop. ‘The pictures, Theo. You. And a woman? On your yacht.’
He said something in Greek she was pretty sure was a swear word. ‘Hold, please.’
Tiffany blinked at his command as she stared at the pictures. It had been another stunning day wherever they were, and her heart ached at the way Theo was laughing at the mystery woman.
‘Tiffany, that is not what it looks like,’ he said after about thirty seconds. ‘That is Deidre, for Christ sakes.’
What?Grabbing her laptop, Tiffany pulled it closer. The images were blurry so she supposed it could be Deidre, now she looked more closely.
‘Fucking paparazzi,’ he muttered. ‘I bet if you saw the full frames of those photos you’d see Vasilis and the girls off to the side. Please believe me.’
For what it was worth, she did believe him. But this was always going to be the problem being with Theo. Pictures being snapped of him that could easily be misrepresented. Was she strong enough for that?
She wasn’t right now.
‘I’ve not been with anyone since you left. Damn it, I don’t want anyone else. You’re completely under my skin. I can’t stop thinking about you. The first thing I think about when I wake up is calling you because I want to hear your voice and I hate that you’re on the other side of the world and going through this all alone.’
Tiffany sucked in a breath at the anguish in his voice and at the revelation. She knew Theo had to be completely outside his comfort zone, and her pulse fluttered madly over what it might mean. Was he telling her he had feelings for her?
But, if so, why not just come out and say it?
Because even with her father’s apology out there, it didn’t undo the mistrust he’d sown in her life. That didn’t just disappear because the man who had been responsible was now in the ground.
