Greek Mavericks: His Christmas Conquest

Chapter Four

SOPHIE thought that it was a sad reminder of her man-less existence that the memory of that fleeting kiss haunted her over the next three days. She couldn’t understand how it had happened. She barely knew the man and disliked a fair bit of what she did know, and yet she couldn’t remember ever being more turned on by a kiss. Just thinking about it afterwards made her feel giddy.

Of course it wouldn’t take long for that ridiculous sensation to fade away and she had planned on keeping out of his way as much as she could to ensure that the fading process took as little time as possible. Besides, seeing him again would be embarrassing for both of them. She might have been shocked at what had happened but his reaction had been a lot more extreme. He had looked angry and disgusted with himself and had hustled her out of the cottage with such speed that she was surprised she had made it out of the door in one piece. She didn’t know what that had been about but she was sharp enough to realise that he would probably be even happier than her not to be reminded of the brief physical encounter.

Which was why she found herself staring at the note on her desk with such dismay.

‘They can’t do this!’ she protested to Robert, who was tackling a stack of papers with the aid of a chocolate bar. Moira and Claire had both left for the evening, Christmas shopping before the crowds descended, and, Sophie suspected, the temptation to do something a little less relentless and a little more rewarding than plough through innumerable files. She couldn’t blame them. There was nothing more conducive to killing the Christmas spirit than the contemplation of yet more paperwork that had to be matched up and puzzled over. Only Robert remained loyal to the cause. His pace of work was slow, but he was thorough and uncomplaining. Sophie had realised some time back that she could ask for little more.

‘They can and they will,’ he now said, linking his fingers on his stomach and looking at her. ‘It may have escaped you but this part of the world doesn’t rank right up there with London, Tokyo and New York…’

‘Which isn’t to say that the electricity board can plunge us all into darkness virtually in the middle of winter!’ Sophie protested.

‘For a few hours, Soph! I think we can all manage to do without electricity between eight and one tomorrow! Course, we won’t be able to work here,’ he pointed out, casting a jaundiced eye around him. ‘This place is like a dungeon without the lights on.’

Sophie’s mind was already racing ahead. Would they have notified Theo of the power cut? Probably not. She had had her mail redirected to her office address as soon as the cottage had been let. It would be her responsibility to let her tenant know the situation.

Which meant facing the man.

‘Why don’t you and I bunk off tomorrow? Go do a little Christmas shopping…You could do with a break. I’ll treat you to lunch…’

Sophie, staring off into the distance, wondered how she could avoid the uncomfortable task of calling in on Theo. She shuddered to think what his reaction would be on seeing her on his doorstep. Or, rather, on her doorstep.

‘Hello? Is anybody there?’

Sophie registered that Robert had been saying something to her but, for the life of her, she didn’t know what precisely, and her expression must have given her away for the smile dropped and he reddened.

‘I’m sorry, Robert. What were you saying?’

‘I was saying that you need to take a break from all this, Sophie.’ He made a sweeping gesture towards the paper overload swamping the surfaces of the desks and quite a bit of the ground as well. ‘This stuff isn’t important, not really, and you’re getting consumed…’

‘The quicker I go through it, the faster it’ll be finished and I can get back to finishing my teacher training.’

‘And leave here? The cottage? Everything…?’

‘Just for a while…’

‘What if you literally can’t afford to leave?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean, if there’s no money in the till, you might have to abandon your course or sell the cottage. Now, I know you don’t want to…’

‘To be having this conversation…’ She stood up and slung on her jumper, then her coat. Her life was in turmoil now, but she pinned her hopes on the future sorting it out, smoothing over the problems. She didn’t want to confront the grim possibility that nothing might be sorted out and she might, just might, be left picking up pieces for longer than she anticipated. ‘I can’t afford to have this conversation,’ she continued, grabbing her bag and stuffing the power cut note inside it. ‘I can’t afford to think that everything is going to start falling apart around me…’

‘Which it needn’t…’ Robert had leapt to his feet and was rallying around her like a diligent sheepdog rounding up a wayward stray sheep. Sophie glanced up from where she was now trying to locate the office keys in her capacious bag.

‘Oh, Robert, not this again. I know you feel sorry for me…’

‘Is that what you think?’

‘Well…yes…’ She laughed nervously because he was standing quite close to her and there was a shy nervousness about him that was making her feel a little confused. ‘I do, as a matter of fact. I mean, we’ve known each other off and on over the years and I don’t suppose you ever expected this situation to happen. I mean, that’s why you’ve been so kind to me, isn’t it…’ Keys located, she closed her fist around them and shoved her hands into her deep coat pockets.

‘Why do you imagine that I worked with your father for such a long time…? Off and on…?’ He reached out and stroked her hair. Sophie’s eyes widened. If she could have commanded the ground to open up and swallow her whole, she would have. This was certainly a week for shocks. First Theo and now this—pleasant, background Robert declaring…what? She resisted the urge to laugh. Somehow she didn’t imagine that he would appreciate the gesture. He was, as Theo had hinted, vulnerable and probably insecure around women.

‘Because you liked him?’ Sophie offered hopefully, and Robert shook his head.

‘Sure I liked him…’ There was genuine wistfulness in his voice. ‘And I enjoyed his company, his enthusiasm, but I also enjoyed hanging around here so that I could see you…’

‘Me?’ she squeaked.

‘Which is why I want to help bail you out of this mess if you need to be bailed out…I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but…’ He allowed a few seconds of silence to elapse, during which Sophie had ample opportunity to dwell on the most pessimistic scenario he could come up with. ‘What if, at the end of this exercise, the only thing you discover is a mountain of debt? You can sell the cottage, but there’s still a mortgage on it.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘How does anyone around here know anything?’ Robert answered with a wry grimace. ‘The birds on the trees…But what I’m saying,’ he carried on, considering his words carefully, ‘is that I’ve saved enough for you to carry on with your course, to do what you want to do…’

‘And you would lend me the money?’ Sophie asked dubiously, ‘even though I wouldn’t be able to pay you back for a while…?’

‘I wouldn’t have to lend you the money,’ he said patiently and he shook his head when she continued to stare at him in baffled silence. ‘What I’m saying is…Would you consider marrying me?’ He laughed nervously and grabbed her hand, tugging it away from the warm protection of her coat pocket.

‘Marry you?’

‘I know we haven’t got a conventional relationship…’

‘Robert, we haven’t got a relationship!’

‘Which is something I want to remedy…I would really like to settle down now, start a family.’

‘But we’ve only ever been just good friends, Robert…’

‘It doesn’t have to stay that way. I’m attracted to you, Soph…’

‘No, you’re not!’

‘I am! What can I say to convince you?’

For the second time in about as many days, Sophie was caught utterly off guard. One minute he was standing there, looking at her earnestly. The next minute he had managed to close the gap between them without her noticing and his lips were on hers, exploring her open-mouthed surprise.

Like a badly dubbed movie, there was a couple of seconds of delay between Sophie being aware of what was going on and reacting to it, but when she did react it was with some vigour.

She pulled back, trembling, and stared at him crossly.

‘Okay!’ He held up his hands and smiled crookedly at her. ‘But think about it, Sophie. Promise me you’ll think about it…’ At the door, he paused and turned to look at her. ‘I just think we’re both ready for a committed relationship. I know I am and, in a way, your financial situation just seems like fate putting us together. I could help you out and we could have a great life together.’

‘Robert…’

He placed one finger over his mouth, willing her to be silent. ‘I’m going to be away for the next couple of weeks, anyway. Dad’s not very well, so I’m going to go up to give Mum a hand. I was going to leave it till the beginning of next week, but I’ll go tomorrow, give you time on your own to think about what I’ve asked…You know, Mum would love you…She’s desperate for some grandchildren. But, anyway, when I get back, maybe we could go out? Discuss things…?’

He didn’t really give her time to answer that, which was just as well since Sophie, stunned into silence, couldn’t think of anything to say.

She wondered how she could have missed all those signs that Theo seemed to have picked up after a couple of minutes. Robert’s mum wasn’t desperate—he was!

She would have spent the rest of the evening worrying about that. Instead, paying a visit to Theo seemed less of a nightmare and more of a distraction from having to think about what Robert had said. She found herself heading directly to the cottage shortly after Robert had gone and she had locked up for the night.

It was only when she glimpsed the glow of the lights that had been switched on that she faltered. Well, of course he was going to be in! Where else would he be likely to be? Now that she was here, the sickening thought, which she had conveniently sidelined, rose to the surface with monstrous ease—how was he going to react when he saw her? She hoped that he would follow her lead and pretend that nothing had happened, but what if he slammed the door in her face?

Sophie knew with unerring instinct that she was not physically Theo’s type. She didn’t know why he had kissed her; maybe isolation had generated an irresistible urge and she had just happened to be around at the time. He had known that she would respond because what woman wouldn’t? The man was gorgeous. But he had realised his mistake almost as soon as he had committed it. Because she was no sex siren. She was just average Sophie Scott. Should she be grateful for Robert’s proposal? It had taken her unawares, but should she at least consider going out with him on a date? A real date? With possible commitment at the end of the road? Robert might not set her ablaze but at least he wouldn’t reject her with obvious insulting distaste after one kiss.

From the small study, where Theo had been staring at his computer screen, willing it to work its usual magic and suck him in, he glanced up at the sound of the doorbell.

The study was in an advantageous position. Since the house was very old, it was highly doubtful whether it had been specifically designed for the purpose, but the study permitted an unobscured angled view of the front door. From where Theo was sitting, and with the porch light shining directly down on to her, he could easily make out Sophie’s thoughtful expression.

Instead of getting to his feet, Theo pushed himself back from the desk and continued to look at her, fingers steepled under his chin.

He had known that she would come back. Sooner or later. If she hadn’t, then he would have sought her out under some pretext or other, but he was pleased that the necessity to do that hadn’t arisen. Active pursuit would not have sat quite right with him.

But now…

He wondered what she would think if she knew what was going through his head right now. After his performance a couple of days ago, chances were high that she would belt him. He had, he admitted, not behaved in a very gentlemanly manner. In fact, he had committed the ultimate sin as far as a woman was concerned—he had succumbed to a physical situation only to reel away in disgust, and Sophie would not have known that his disgust had been aimed at himself. She would have felt insulted and mortified. Especially as she had responded so eagerly to him.

The doorbell rang again and he saw her stare upwards impatiently, one foot tapping, hands thrust into her coat pockets.

With a little sigh, Theo stood up and headed out towards the front door.

He took his time, giving himself an opportunity to talk himself out of his decision. The past three days had not been good for Theo. In fact, dealing with the long months of grieving had almost been easier. At least grief was a known quantity, an emotion he could understand and deal with accordingly. He could lose himself in reckless abandonment on the ski slopes and twice against the unforgiving face of a perpendicular cliff face. He could take financial risks and savour the illusion it gave him of being alive. Of course, in the end, he had always returned to his silent mourning but even that, he now acknowledged, had a quality of predictability about it.

But succumbing to ten seconds of physical connection with another human being had catapulted Theo into a state of unacceptable confusion.

For three days he hadn’t been able to concentrate. The dull background noise of his computer, once such a comforting sound, had thrown him into a mindless reverie in which he’d dwelled on the way her lips had felt as they had touched his, the feel of her soft skin crushed against his hard body, the sensation of his own body flaring out of control.

It wasn’t going to do. Nor did he intend to dwell on it as a problem which had landed on his doorstep and lacked a solution. Every problem had a solution and every situation could be dealt with.

He had dealt with Elena’s death and he could certainly deal with the sudden war raging now between his body and his brain.

Theo had looked at the situation with the cold detachment of someone intent on analysing and staring down a dilemma.

He had responded to the woman and he wasn’t a fool. He knew why. Removed from his normal environment, indeed from the routine of his life, he had behaved in a manner that was extraordinary given the iron control he had maintained over himself over the past year and a half. Without the eyes of the world upon him, he had broken away from his normal pattern of behaviour. This was excusable.

But facing the reality of his motivation had done very little to staunch the surge of inappropriate lust he had felt every time he thought about her.

That was something he was less certain about. Why her? There had been many a more enticing woman beckoning before and he had managed to ignore them all. Indeed, they had irritated the hell out of him. So why finally crack with someone like his landlady? A woman who was annoying, abrasive and not particularly headturning at that?

Again he arrived at the conclusion that it was all to do with the circumstance in which he now found himself, far removed from the reality of London and his working life and with no links to anyone he personally knew. Freedom to behave how he wanted with the comforting blanket of anonymity around his shoulders.

He was feeling for the first time in well over a year and Theo, recognising that with dispassionate honesty, treated the unforeseen situation in much the same way as he had dealt with the horror of Elena’s unpredictable death. He was a man of action and he would take action. If his body was telling him that it was finally stirring into life, then he would obey the demands of his body. The fact that the unlikely recipient of his awakening was a woman he would never have looked at twice before was in itself a good thing. There was no risk of entanglement. They were physically attracted to one another but beyond that there was nothing. She might even dislike him, strange though the concept was.

The thought of her actively disliking him was peculiarly jarring. He relegated it to the back of his mind and focused on the immediate prospect of seduction, free from questions about a future and unconcerned with questions about the past. A moment in time and a step forward for him.

Concerns about Sophie’s compliance in this general scheme of things barely crossed Theo’s mind. He knew, with the instincts of a deeply sexual man, that she was attracted to him, had enjoyed him touching her, had wanted more. For him, that was enough. He had no problem being a moment in time for her. Indeed, he would have had it no other way.

He pulled open the door and Sophie was greeted with a crooked smile that made her heart do a little somersault inside her. She had half expected him not to let her in but he stood aside and, after a moment’s hesitation, Sophie brushed past him before turning to face him in the flagstoned hall.

‘An unexpected surprise,’ Theo drawled. He gently shut the door, noticing that she wasn’t removing her coat. ‘Would you care for something to drink?’