The Greek Billionaire's Innocent Rrincess(64)

breasts and delightfully round bottom, and felt himself harden again. He knew he should have no

complaints about their marriage. They got on well out of bed, and their sex life was amazing. So

why did he feel as though something was missing—something elusive, that he did not

understand, but seemed to be the cause of the curious flatness he felt inside?



She had been brushing her hair, and now it rippled down her back like a river of silk. ‘I thought

we could host a dinner party next week,’ she murmured as she set down the brush and turned to

face him. ‘We’ve been invited to several recently, and it’s time we returned the compliment.’



‘Fine—but it can’t be next week,’ he replied, thinking of the meeting that had been arranged at

the last minute. ‘I’m flying to New York on Sunday night and I’ll be away until the following

weekend.’



Kitty felt a stab of disappointment, and her voice was unwittingly sharp when she spoke. ‘This

is the first I’ve heard of your business trip.’ She paused, and then added, ‘I assume it is for

business?’ Shannon Marsh lived in New York. Was he planning on a reunion     to catch up on old

times? She instantly dismissed the idea. She trusted Nikos; he had married her because he

wanted his child, and for the same reason he would remain faithful to her.



But she did not want him to go away. They had been getting on well recently, better than she

had ever dared hope at the start of their marriage, and she was afraid that while he was away he

might revert back to the old, cold Nikos. She wished he would suggest that she accompanied him

to America, but maybe he thought she was too busy with her charity work? She hesitated, feeling

a rush of nerves, and then murmured, ‘Perhaps I could come with you?’



‘Not this time, I’m afraid.’



His smile was meant to take the sting out of the words, but when all was said and done it was

still a rejection, Kitty thought miserably.



‘I’ll be busy all week, and you’ll get bored.’ He saw the flare of hurt in her eyes and briefly

contemplated changing his mind. But these were important negotiations, and she would be a

distraction. If he was honest, the real reason he didn’t want her with him was because he wanted

some time to himself, Nikos acknowledged. She was in his mind a lot lately, more than he was

comfortable with, and he needed to prove to himself that he could walk away from her any time

he liked.



‘Well—’ Kitty dredged up a smile and tried to act as if it was no big deal ‘—another time,

maybe?’ But she was so hurt that she couldn’t help being cool with him for the rest of the

weekend, and he either didn’t notice, or didn’t care, because he made no comment when she#p#分页标题#e#

turned away from him in bed on Saturday night, and, instead of pulling her into his arms as she

longed for him to do, he rolled over and fell asleep, unaware that she wept silent tears into her

pillow.



She had to stop this, Kitty told herself at the beginning of the following week—after she had

bade Nikos a frosty goodbye and he had shrugged carelessly and walked out of the apartment

without a backward glance. She had to stop longing for what he could never give her, and make

the most of what she had—a charming, attentive, extremely virile husband who she knew was

determined to make their marriage work.



But the days without him dragged, and although she kept herself busy with her work for the

foundation she missed him desperately. He phoned every evening, but their conversations were

stilted. The distance between them had nothing to do with the fact that they were miles apart;

there was a subtle change in their relationship, and she was afraid she was losing the tenuous

closeness she had sensed had grown between them.



But what was she expecting from him? she asked herself towards the end of the week, when his

absence sat like a dull weight in her chest. She knew his history, and understood how terribly he

had been damaged by his past. It was possible that he would never fully recover, yet she was still

waiting for him to act like a knight in shining armour from the fairy tales she used to read, and

go down on bended knee to proclaim his undying love for her.



Unlike him she had enjoyed a blissfully happy childhood surrounded by love from her parents,

brothers and sister. It was easy for her to love when she had never known pain and rejection. But

instead of telling him honestly how she felt about him, she hugged her love for him to herself

like a miser, and hid her emotions behind her pride.



Perhaps it was time to dismiss her pride and ignore that little voice in her head that whispered