"Well, in a way, you got your wish because the plain fact is, I'm not the same as I was when we first met, and nor are you," she pointed out. "Life happened, Dimitrios, and it's changed us. We can't go back to the way we once were, any more than a smashed china plate can be glued back together without showing any cracks. So what's the point of pretending otherwise?"
"The point," he said, "is that, despite everything, it's not too late for us. We're not china plates, we're two intelligent, consenting adults with no ties to other partners. To the best of my knowledge, nowhere is it written that as such, we're not entitled to a second chance."
This wasn't part of the plan. In fact, it was in direct contradiction to everything she'd resolved. He was part of her past, and not one overflowing with happy memories. Yet his kiss in the car, and now the way he was looking at her, and the tone of his voice-somehow they were managing to erase all that old, tired grief and revive a joy and anticipation she'd only ever experienced with him.
Schooling herself to caution, she said, "I rather think the only reason you feel that way is that you're facing a terribly difficult situation, and it would help if you weren't doing it alone."
"I'm not alone, Brianna, and if all I need is support, I can find it in my large network of friends, and a household of loyal staff."
"I didn't mean … that kind of alone."
"You think I've lived like a monk since Cecily died?" His mouth curved in bitter amusement. "I might be widowed, koritsi mou, but I've still got a pulse. If all I want is sex, I don't have to import it from North America."
"Then why are you pursuing me? You already know I'll do whatever I can to help Poppy."
"You know why, Brianna. Because we belong together and we always have. Do I want to make love to you? Of course I do, badly enough that I'd take you right here on this table, if you were willing. But you're not so naive as to think a relationship is only about sex. And that's the point I'm trying to make. I want a relationship. Not just any relationship, but one with you."
"Would you still be talking this way if I told you I've decided against going ahead with the tests? That I've changed my mind about becoming a donor for Poppy?"
"But you haven't," he said. "And you won't. You're not that kind of person, which is another reason I'm falling for you all over again."
"What if it turns out that I'm not a suitable match?"
"Then we'll keep looking for someone who is. And if I have my way, we'll do it together. I can't keep you here against your will, and if your career matters too much to give it up, I'll let you go. But I'm warning you now, I won't make it easy for you. I'll do my damnedest to make you want to stay."
One by one he was systematically destroying every barrier she'd erected against him. Beset on all sides, she buried her face in her hands, not knowing which way to turn. Her career wasn't the issue. She could kiss that goodbye and never miss it if, in its place, she found true love and fulfillment as a wife and a mother.
But desire, passion, yearning? How did she subdue their voracious demands and relegate them to their proper place? How separate them from the more enduring dimensions of a relationship, like friendship and trust and common values? Heaven knew, the temptation to cast caution to the winds and fling herself into an affair with him was strong. But if, once their carnal appetites were satisfied, she found there was nothing of substance left, what then? How would she survive losing him a second time?
She heard his chair scrape back, felt him gently prying her hands away so that he could look her in the eye. "You don't have to give me an answer now," he said. "I won't pretend I'm a patient man because I'm not. When I want something badly enough, I go after it with all I've got. And make no mistake about it, Brianna. I want and need you in every way a man can want and need a woman. Four years ago, I recognized you as my soul mate and it's taken no time at all for me to realize that's still the case. But until you decide you feel the same way about me, I won't press you for an answer. All I ask is that you give some unbiased thought to the idea of us as a couple, and know that my feelings for you aren't going to change, no matter what your final decision might be."
"And in the meantime?"
"Oh, I'm not going to make it easy for you," he admitted, beguiling her with his smile. "I never said I'd be content to sit on my hands and not take action. I intend to woo you at every turn. But tonight, I'll settle for this."
He drew her to her feet and tilted up her chin with his thumb. His eyes, their irises dark gray ringed with black, their lashes casting a dense inky shadow in the candlelight, tracked her face, feature by feature.
His lips followed, sampling the hollow beneath her cheekbones, the corner of her jaw, the bridge of her nose. His mouth flirted with hers but never quite settled, a feast for her starving soul, cruelly held just beyond reach.
The last of her resistance in tatters, she clutched fistfuls of his shirt front. "Dimitrios," she begged, the persistent throb of frustrated desire tormenting her.
He traced the outline of her mouth with his fingertip. Slid it between her parted lips and out again, a boldly unmistakable promise made more erotic by the urgent thrust of his flesh which neither his slim-fitting trousers nor the silky fabric of her dress could disguise.
Heaven alone knew what she might not have done or said next, had his cell phone not interrupted the moment. "Under any other circumstances," he muttered, his breathing almost as strangled as hers, "I would ignore this, but with Poppy … "
"I understand."
"I know you do." Flipping open the phone, he glanced at the display screen and turned pale beneath his tan. Tonelessly, he said, "It's Noelle."
Brianna's heart missed a beat, and far from escaping when opportunity presented itself, as had been her original intention, she stood rooted to the spot. The hands of a marble wall clock showed seventeen minutes after ten. At that hour, whatever the reason for the doctor's call, it couldn't be good.
Dimitrios paced the length of the room to the glass doors opening onto the terrace, the phone clamped to his ear. "No," Brianna heard him say. "We're just finishing dinner. What … ? Oh, that! With everything that's happened lately … no, of course I haven't forgotten, it just got pushed to the back of my mind … . I haven't asked her, but either way, I'm still depending on you to be there, Noelle … . Don't be silly, I'm always available to speak to you, you know that. Absolutely … . Good night."
He slapped the phone closed and turned back into the room, his face the picture of relief.
"I take it Poppy's fine?" Brianna ventured.
"Yes." He shook his head ruefully. "I'm not sure I am, though. First, I forget an important business meeting this morning, one that had been arranged months ago. And now, another couple of important dates have crept up without my realizing. See the effect you have on me?"
"Dates?"
"If you can call them that, yes, though they're as much a social obligation as anything. I offered my place as the venue for a garden party being held next Sunday to honor the people who've supported the Rosegarth with private donations throughout the year. The annual fund-raising gala that is open to the general public takes place the following Saturday. I always support both, but this year's events hold special significance for me, as you can imagine. If it weren't for the generosity of other people, there'd be no clinic here in Athens and I'd have had to take Poppy to another country for treatment."
"And you'll have Noelle for moral support both times. That's nice."
She thought she'd done a pretty good job of hiding the unreasonable burst of jealousy welling up within her, but something in her voice must have given her away because he skewered her in a sharp glance. "She agreed to stand in as hostess next weekend, yes, and I offered to be her escort at the gala. I made these plans weeks ago, before I knew you'd be here, but in case you're wondering, there's nothing romantic going on between me and Noelle. We've known each other for quite some time, but it's only recently, since her involvement with Poppy, that we've become close friends."
"I see."