“But you made it a point to prevent me from knowing you.”
That wasn’t strictly true. “You knew me, the woman. I only hid the trappings of my life as Alexandra Dupree.”
“And gave me a false set of realities to replace them.”
“In a way, you are a lot like my mother. You only see the surface. You only want the surface,” she declared.
He tugged her into his arms and brushed his warm hand over the slope of her breast. Her nipple, still sensitive from their loving the night before, went erect immediately.
“It is true I like this surface.” His smile was pure seduction, but then he went serious. “It is not all I desire, however. I want all of you and I will have all of you.”
The possessive determination in the words made her shiver. She had the awful feeling he didn’t just mean marriage. He wanted her mind and her emotions. It was there in his eyes and he would settle for nothing less.
“Madeleine said something about a newspaper, but wouldn’t give me the details. I think you’d better look into it. Someone may have seen us together and is now speculating on who the billionaire’s pregnant companion is.”
He didn’t look worried. “After we shower I will make a phone call.”
She nodded and tried to pull away. “Mother’s already left Madeleine’s. She’ll be here in less than thirty minutes unless she hits traffic. We need to get showered and dressed.”
He stopped her from hopping out of bed. “Things have changed for us, have they not?”
“Because we had sex?”
He leaned down and kissed her on the tip of her nose. “Because we have once again established an area of our relationship that is nothing but beautiful.”
“I won’t let you seduce me into marriage,” she said vehemently.
“Are you sure about that?” he asked, his wandering hands now wreaking havoc with her breathing.
She didn’t answer and he laughed, pulling her from the bed toward the shower. “Come, we will bathe together and save time.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
ALEXANDRA had been worried Dimitri would try to make love to her in the shower again, but he was as good as his word. They were dressed in record time and Dimitri was on the phone to his assistant when a gentle rat-a-tat-tat sounded on the door.
“Mother,” she breathed.
Dimitri turned from the phone and gave her a sharp look. He cut the connection abruptly and crossed the room to open the door. Cecelia Dupree stood on the other side, looking fragile and quite lovely in her pale pink Moschino suit.
“You must be Xandra’s mother,” Dimitri said as he led Cecelia through the door.
Alexandra had to stifle a groan at his slip of the tongue. Her mother’s face pinched and she swung on Alexandra, for once forgetting the social niceties. “So, this is what you do when you’re living high as Xandra Fortune. Have you no sense of decorum at all? You’re in New York now, where you are known as Alexandra Dupree. What do you think New Orleans society will say when they discover you’ve spent the night with some foreigner in his hotel room?” she asked in an outraged voice. “Think of your sister. The scandal could adversely affect Hunter’s business dealings.”
“I sincerely doubt Hunter’s business associates care one way or the other about the behavior of Madeleine’s pregnant sister, as for New Orleans society…I’m not taking out an ad in the paper. Why should anyone back home know?” Or care, she asked herself silently. Her mother lived in such a rarified milieu, she didn’t know how ninety percent of the world thought and functioned.#p#分页标题#e#
“You are a Dupree,” her mother said as if that should explain it all. “Yet, by the look of this,” she said, waving a newspaper in Alexandra’s face, “you have completely forgotten that fact. How could you allow this sort of information to become public knowledge?”
Alexandra put her hand out toward Cecelia. “May I see, Mama? The accused has a right to know the charges.”
Cecelia flung the paper toward Alexandra with an absolutely surprising lack of restraint. When Alexandra saw the headline and pictures, she understood why. One picture was of her and Dimitri leaving the restaurant they’d had lunch in yesterday. The other was of her and Dimitri yelling at each other at Chez Renée. The headline read, “Greek Tycoon and Lover Reunite: Does Petronides Now Believe the Baby is His?”
With a sense of impending dread, Alexandra read the article. She was named as the famous French model Xandra Fortune and the quiet living Alexandra Dupree. The writer speculated as to the reason for her dual personas and the effect her pregnancy had had on Dimitri’s scuffed plans to marry Phoebe Leonides. Dimitri’s denial that he was the father was quoted, apparently having been overheard by the enterprising photographer or someone who’d been with him.