When She Fell for the Billionaire(14)

“That was shipping tycoon Hector Theodorou you were just chatting with.”

“Oh.” She received this news with equanimity. “He seems like a sweet old man, like how I’d imagine a grandfather would be.”

Was that a fleeting pang of longing on her face? Luca refused to care. She would just be a casual lay, and emotions were fucking out of the equation.

He eyed her outfit critically. Surely a gold digger could afford better clothes? Her dress had sunflowers bursting all over the cheap-looking fabric. She kept her hair off her face with a plain white headband. And she had light make-up on. Luca preferred her without, the way she was earlier at the beach, sun-kissed and rosy-cheeked. She appeared more innocent.

“That sweet old man is on the lookout for wife number five,” he bit out. “Wife number four was young enough to be his granddaughter.” Between her breasts hung the same sea glass pendant. Luca wanted to yank it off and hurl it so it wouldn’t draw attention to her breasts, which Theodorou had been ogling awhile back.

She probably knew this already, but Luca had to give her credit for looking like she was surprised by the information.

“I’ve reserved a table at the Calypso.” He referred to the restaurant helmed by a famous French chef. “It will be too hot to dine al fresco at this time.”

She nodded. He offered his arm. She paused before hooking hers into his. Luca felt the heat of her skin boring through the fabric of his linen jacket. He wanted to pull it off and be pressed against her bare skin. He felt her stiffen by his side. Was it possible his desire was being transmitted to her?

“Is everything alright?” he asked, to hide how a tad disconcerted he was by the thought of this physical affinity.

Her big brown eyes glanced up at him, her pupils dilated. “Y-yes.” She pulled her arm away, creating some space between them.

Luca’s lips curled at her heightened awareness. She might be after Markos, but she couldn’t control her body’s response to him. Why else would she be with him? Unless she was aiming to make him her next victim, he thought grimly.

They ascended the grand marble staircase to reach the restaurant. When they reached the landing, a man who was talking on his mobile paused and gaped at Sabrina. Luca shot him a malevolent glare. The man gulped and turned away, cowed.

Get a grip, Luca thought irritably. She is nothing. Once he’d tasted her body, he would lose his attraction to her. He’d been celibate too long. He was too keyed up. That was the problem.

A charged silence hung between them as the waiter left after taking their orders.

She broke it first. “Your company renovated the hotel?”

She was trying to make small talk, but her gaze was latched on to the bread basket on the table, avoiding him. Luca fished out a wheat roll.

“Only the interiors and the furnishings. It’s my sister’s project.” He broke a piece of bread off, popped it into his mouth, and chewed slowly.

Her eyes drifted to his mouth.

“She’s done a very good job. Everything’s beautiful.”

He waited for her gaze to drift back up to his. “Si. Very beautiful,” he said emphatically before he could stop himself.

She blushed again, playing with a strand of her hair. She was really good at playing the innocent miss. “Are you renovating the rest of the hotel chain?”

“Only this one at the moment.”

“You’ve worked with the Konstantinos family before?”

She was fishing for information. Luca decided to let her. It amused him to think she would get a shot at Markos now that he was on to her.

“Our families go a long way back.” He was pretty sure she knew this already, but he played along. “Our parents were friends. It was convenient to spend summers here. Seirenada is in the middle of Italy and Greece. My cousins are from here.”

“I know. The royal family. I looked you up.” He couldn’t contain his surprise at her little admission. He expected her to be more covert, given how subtle she was compared to what his info led him to expect. She gave a delicate lift of her shoulders. “I’m not going to have lunch with someone I barely know.”

It’s going to be more than lunch, strega, he thought with dead certainty. It was inevitable. “That’s very wise of you. But as I said, the staff of the hotel can vouch for my identity. Some of them have known me and my siblings since we were little.” Where was this constant need to reassure her coming from? Before he could stop himself he said, “I ran wild with my brothers around the island.”

Her brown eyes turned wistful. “I didn’t have a lot of playmates when I was growing up.”