‘You’d already told him to leave. I was just making sure that he didn’t feel obliged to stay to protect me.’
‘You understand Greek?’
Just for a moment Andreas sounded so taken aback that Becca actually allowed herself the smallest hint of a smile. Typical male—typical Greek male, she told herself. He made assumptions from his lordly position in charge of everything and was stunned to find that perhaps those suppositions and his assessment of the situation were not quite as perfect as he believed.
‘I don’t have to know precisely what words you used to know just what you meant,’ she pointed out. ‘So tell me, do you always order everyone around as if they were a dog that was yours to command?’
‘Leander values his job too much to do anything stupid.’
‘Leander knows that you’re in a vicious mood and liable to bite his head off if he didn’t do as he was told. You surely didn’t really think that I was flirting with him? You have to know that…’
Yikes, no!
Mentally Becca screeched to a halt, slamming the brakes on the foolishly betraying words she had almost let slip. Don’t go down that road—just don’t!
Had she really been about to say to Andreas’s face that he had to know that when he was in a room—anywhere nearby—any other man just didn’t have a chance? That beside his incandescent male sexuality, every other male within a hundred miles became just a shadow of himself, fading into insignificance beside Andreas?
‘I have to know that what?’ Andreas enquired with silky menace when she caught herself up, biting hard on her foolish tongue. His brilliant dark eyes had narrowed sharply, the look he turned on her from them shrewdly assessing, and to Becca’s horror she felt a rush of embarrassed heat flooding her cheeks.
‘That I’m with you,’ she managed to force out.
Her voice grew stronger as she recalled her thoughts of moments before, putting them into words to get herself out of the hole she had dug for herself. If she was his current mistress, then she would probably laugh off Andreas’ overreaction just now.
‘And even if you don’t want anyone to fuss, if you’re determined to dismiss your staff like that, then someone needs to keep an eye on you.’
‘And you’re happy to do that?’
‘Of course.’
Did his question mean that perhaps he was reconsidering? That he would let her stay after all? Behind her back, Becca crossed her fingers secretly. She didn’t know what she would do if Andreas still insisted that she leave.
‘You should sit down.’
She waved a hand towards the nearest chair, cursing the way that, in her own eyes at least, her fingers’ unwanted tremor gave away too much to that cold-eyed scrutiny.
‘And would you like something to drink? Water? Coffee?’
‘Wine?’
It was a deliberate provocation and a wicked gleam in his black eyes told her that he was testing her. But he moved towards the chair just the same.
‘You’re just out of hospital after a nasty accident. Do you think wine is a good idea? How about thinking of something else?’
‘I would but you’d probably veto that as well,’ Andreas tossed at her surprisingly lightly, but Becca noticed that he took the seat she’d indicated all the same.
He sank down into it with every appearance of ease and lounged back, stretching out his long legs and crossing them at the ankles. He looked as if he was simply relaxing but there was a slight tightness to his mouth, a shadow on his skin that reminded her he was still convalescent. Pushing back her own chair, she got hastily to her feet.
‘I’ll get you some water, then.’
‘If that is all that you’re offering…’
Andreas’ reply stopped her in mid-flight to the kitchen, and she froze for a moment before she turned slowly back again. Had she heard right? Was that note in his voice what she thought it had been?
Was it possible that Andreas was actually flirting with her?
She realised what had happened. She had taken the route in the conversation that she would have done when they were together and an argument had broken out. She had stood up for herself, refused to give in to his anger, then she had moved the subject away and on to another topic entirely—and Andreas had followed her. Just as he had used to do when they were together, he had let himself be eased out of his bad mood and into another, very different one.
But was this different mood any less dangerous than before?
There was one thing she did know and that was that the way to make Andreas reveal his hand when he was determined to keep it hidden was to challenge him—call his bluff. And although he might not remember her or their life together, this was still Andreas, wasn’t it? She had to know where she stood and she thought she knew the way to go about it.