Page 35 of The Greek Tycoon's Baby Bargain

‘Sit down,’ commanded Xandros sternly.

‘But—’

‘I said, sit down.’

She sank onto one of the sofas and looked up at the two men—at the dark and obdurate expression glittering from Xandros’s black eyes.

‘Rebecca, you’ve got to slow down,’ said the doctor quietly. ‘You won’t be good to either baby if you wear yourself out.’

‘I’m trying.’

He shook his head. ‘No more haunting the nursery at night. Only get up when you need to feed them. Sleep deprivation is a form of torture you know. You need to sleep.’

‘But I can’t sleep, Doctor.’

‘Why not?’ he questioned.

‘Because…’ She shrugged her shoulders, aware that Xandros was studying her as if she were a specimen in a test-tube. And didn’t she feel a bit like that herself? Like some strange species which defied definition? ‘I don’t know,’ she whispered.

‘You should be focussing your attention on your partner a little more,’ continued the doctor, warming to what was obviously a well-worn post-pregnancy theme, and Rebecca felt her cheeks grow pink with embarrassment.

Didn’t he realise that her relationship with Xandros was not a relationship at all? That they were parents, but nothing more intimate than that? No, of course he didn’t.

‘Thank you, Doctor,’ she said stiffly.

The medic turned to Xandros. ‘And you’ll make sure she rests?’

Xandros gave a grim kind of smile. ‘Oh, yes, Doctor—you can be assured of that.’

That evening, after the twins had been fed and bathed and put to bed, Xandros made Rebecca sit down and eat the meal which Betty had prepared and left for them in the dining room.

‘Now drink a glass of wine,’ he said. ‘One won’t hurt you.’

Obediently, she drank some. ‘How’s that?’

‘Good. Now eat your dinner.’

The wine had begun to relax her. How long since she had properly relaxed? How long since she had wanted to? ‘Will I get a gold star if I do?’ she questioned flippantly.

‘We’ll see.’ He drank some wine himself, his eyes shuttered. He thought about the night of the party and the way she had been in his arms. Had she forgotten about that? Or put it out of her mind because it made her feel guilty—or simply because she had recognised that sex would only complicate an already complicated relationship?

That kiss had been fuelled by anger and jealousy—it was easy to kiss a woman on those terms—but maybe it was not fair to do that in Rebecca’s case. Not now. Not after all that had happened between them. Xandros didn’t doubt for a moment that he could make her want him—but wouldn’t that provide only a quick fix?

After dinner and after she’d insisted on checking on the twins one more time and met the calm, indulgent smiles of the two nurses, he walked with her to her bedroom. If he hadn’t ached for her quite so much, it might have amused him to be playing so chivalrous a role for the first time in his life.

‘Goodnight, Rebecca,’ he said softly.

And suddenly the old fears were back. She swallowed—staring up into his beautiful shadowed face. How approachable he had been tonight, she thought, her heart aching. As if she could tell him anything. What would he say if she told him she still loved him? Would his accessible air desert him, to be replaced by that flinty and cool expression which used to set her nerves on edge? ‘Goodnight, Xandros,’ she whispered.

She undressed and slipped on a nightgown—for she never slept naked since giving birth—and then she extinguished the lights and climbed into bed. But even after the wine and the doctor’s reassurances and the knowledge that her children were being well cared for, sleep refused to come. She lay there, switching from one side to the other, turning the pillow so that its cool side touched her hot cheek. Until she became aware of the shaft of light from the door which had quietly opened, and the tall and shadowy form of Xandros standing in the threshold, and, turning her head to stare at him, she felt her heart give a painful kind of lurch.

She sat up in bed. ‘Is something wrong?’

‘No, nothing is wrong,’ he said, walking into the darkened room. ‘I’ve been working and came by to check whether you were asleep. But I see for myself that you’re not.’

‘No, I can’t.’ She stared hopefully at the faint light which gleamed from his ebony eyes—as if he would be able to wave a magic wand and take away some of her tension. For the night-time could be th

e scariest and loneliest place in the world. She swallowed—for surely it was no sin to long for a little human company. ‘Stay for a bit,’ she said. ‘Stay and keep me company for a while.’

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