The Power of the Legendary Greek(10)

'May I come in?' he asked.

'It's your house.'

'But this is your room.'

She shrugged indifferently. 'Come in, if you want.' A pity to waste the primping.

Luke came to stand by the bed, looking down at her. 'Eleni says you refuse to join me for dinner.'

'Yes. I'd rather eat alone in here.'

'Why?'

She raised a disdainful eyebrow. 'You were insulting, Mr Andreadis.'

'It was a shock to see Milo holding you in his arms,' he said harshly. 'I thought you were hurt.'

'No,' she corrected. 'You thought I'd engineered a fall just so he'd pick me up.'

'Only for a second.' He smiled persuasively. 'Am I forgiven?'

In his dreams! 'Of course.'

'Then you will dine with me?'

'No, thank you.'

To Isobel's annoyance, Luke drew up a chair and sat down. 'Then I shall also eat here.'

This was silly! 'Eleni wouldn't approve of that,' she told him crossly.

'So join me on the terrace.' He was silent for a moment. 'I apologise,  Isobel. My only excuse is my reaction to seeing you in Milos's arms.'  His eyes locked on hers with a look which set alarm bells ringing again.  'I was angry when I saw him touching you.'

'How utterly ridiculous,' she said scornfully. 'Milos was just being kind.'

'You will discourage him from such kindness in future!'

Isobel glared at him. 'I will certainly make sure that neither he, nor you, Mr Andreadis, will be forced to pick me up again.'

'No force is necessary,' he assured her, his eyes gleaming, and took her  hand. 'To hold you in my arms is a great pleasure, Isobel. Even though  you make it so clear the pleasure is not mutual.' He smiled  persuasively. 'Change your mind. Dine with me tonight. Otherwise, poor  Eleni must serve a meal in two places. Three, if you count the one she  shares with Spiro.'

Isobel gave in, defeated. Eleni had been so kind it was hardly fair to  cause her extra work. And Luke would be gone soon. Even if he returned  to Chyros while she was here, she would be at the cottage, not the  villa. She detached her hand very deliberately.                       
       
           



       

'Oh, very well,' she said at last. 'But only to save Eleni.'

Luke smiled victoriously. 'Good. Rest until dinner time. I shall come for you later.'

Alone again, Isobel lay deep in thought as she gazed through the open  doors at the sunlit garden. Luke was giving out signals she identified  with misgivings. Was he expecting some kind of return for her bed and  board? He was a dangerously attractive man, not least for the inner  force so plainly burning behind the impressive physical exterior. But  she had no intention of indulging in anything remotely like a fling with  him. Or any other man. Had he really been jealous just because Milos  fielded her when she fell? She ground her teeth impotently. A very good  thing he was leaving tomorrow. Otherwise, he might take her consent to  stay on here as willingness to be his 'pillow friend', whatever that  meant. It was not impossible. She was far from looking her best at the  moment, but in her normal state men were usually attracted to her. With  disastrous results in one instance. She shivered. That there was no  significant male presence in her life right now was entirely her own  choice. And she was going to keep it that way.

Isobel would have given much to wash her hair, but instead settled for a  careful session with a hairbrush, and application of eye-shadow and  concealer that worked wonders on her rapidly fading bruise. In spite of  all the drama, her headache was surprisingly absent, her ankle less  painful and for just moving around the room she could manage with the  walking stick. But she would play safe with the crutch to make for the  terrace rather than wait for Luke to fetch her.

When he joined her at the dinner table, spectacular in dark linen  trousers and a shirt in a shade of pink which looked outrageously good  on him, Luke raised a quizzical eyebrow.

'I went to your room, but my little bird had flown away.'

Isobel smiled smugly. 'I needed the exercise.'

'While I had hoped for the pleasure of carrying you,' he assured her  suavely, and seated himself beside her. 'Is your headache better?'

'Touch wood,' she said, tapping the table, 'it seems to have gone.'

'Excellent. In that case, will you have a glass of wine? A local label, but I think you will like it.'

'I'm sure I will. Thank you.'

'Thank you,' he said very deliberately, 'for joining me tonight after I made you so angry this afternoon.'

She eyed him through lowered lashes, her antennae on the alert in  response to Luke Andreadis in charming mode. Why the change of attitude?  She raised the glass he'd filled for her. 'You're leaving soon, so  let's enjoy the evening in a spirit of friendship.'

Luke raised his own glass. 'We will enjoy the evening, certainly, but I shall return from Athens before you leave.'

'Will you? I thought you'd be too busy with your new venture.'

'I shall be. But I employ clever people more than capable of keeping the  engines running when I take time off,' he assured her, and drank some  wine. 'Even Air Chyros, my new baby, has a specialist department to look  after it and can therefore function without me for short periods. So,'  he added, 'should you have a problem, just ring me and I can arrange for  whatever help you need. But if you feel ill in any way tell Spiro to  contact Dr Riga immediately.'

'I'm sure I'll be fine from now on. But I appreciate the thought.'

'You value your independence very highly,' said Luke indulgently. 'Is there no man at all in your life, Isobel?'

Her eyes shadowed. 'No.'

He shook his head. 'Amazing. Why not?'

Isobel shrugged. 'Because I haven't met anyone remotely suitable lately.'

Luke's eyebrows shot into his hair. 'A cold attitude! A lover must be  more than just suitable. Have you never met a man who makes your heart  beat faster?'

Yes, but for entirely the wrong reasons. 'I was in a relationship quite recently,' she admitted.

He waited, but when Isobel merely drank her wine he stared at her in frustration. 'So what happened?'

'We broke up due to irreconcilable differences.' She shrugged. 'I wanted  his friendship. He was fixated on my appearance. He just couldn't see  past it to the personality-and hopefully brain-behind the hair and  eyes.'                       
       
           



       

Luke frowned. 'But surely a man can be attracted by both your looks and your brain?'

'Very few, unfortunately.'

Luke offered her a plate of olives. 'You must eat well tonight to gain your strength. You are too thin, Isobel.'

'I'm sure you were glad of that when you were forced to carry me around so much!'

'Very true. Most ladies of my acquaintance are more generously built,'  he admitted, and smiled into her eyes. 'In Athens I will think of you  when you are eating alone here.'

Isobel shook her head. 'You'll be too busy.'

'Not too busy to think of you, Isobel,' he assured her, a gleam under the heavy, lazy lids she was getting to know. And suspect.

'Amazing!' she said, shaking her head in wonder.

'What is amazing?'

'How you've changed from the man who was so furious at finding me on his  beach.' She eyed him curiously. 'If I had been just a sunbathing  trespasser, instead of injured and unconscious, what would you have  done?'

'My usual treatment is a harsh lecture, after which I give the  trespasser a swift passage back to the harbour.' He eyed her  thoughtfully. 'I think I would have done the same for you, but that is  very hard to imagine. Now.'

'I'm sure you'd have sent me packing, just like the rest.'

He smiled indulgently. 'I doubt it.'

Isobel took refuge in her wine. Unless she was mistaken, Luke really was  showing signs of fancying her as one of his 'pillow friends'. And  because he'd rescued her from his beach and taken her into his home, he  probably thought he had the right to expect it. Which would make for a  very difficult situation when she refused. As she would.

'You're very quiet,' he commented.

'Anticipation of dinner. And here comes Eleni with it right now,' she added, relieved.

'Which I trust you will eat. Otherwise, you will be too weak to get back to your cottage before you fly home. Right, Eleni?'

The woman nodded vigorously. 'Much better stay here.' She patted Isobel's shoulder as she left.

'Eleni's very sweet,' said Isobel.

'I shall tell her you said so. She will be pleased-she has taken a great  fancy to you.' He shrugged. 'I have never brought a woman here. She is  enjoying the experience.'

To Isobel's irritation, this information pleased her. How silly was  that? His social life was nothing to do with her. 'You keep that side of  your life for Athens, I suppose?'

'That side of my life?'

'The pillow friends and so on.'

'By that particular term I mean those ladies who are happy to wine and  dine and stay the night occasionally. I make my intentions clear from  the start,' he added deliberately, 'so that no one is misled-or hurt.'

She seriously doubted that. Probably they all hoped that wining and  dining-and a sleepover-would just be the opening bout for the main event  of something permanent with a man like Lukas Andreadis, who possessed  physical appeal, success and wealth as the triple layer of icing on the  cake. A combination far too overpowering for Isobel.