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Andreas helped her lift the boys out of their carry-cots and lay them down in their cribs. “I’ll bring in your things.”
“That would be wonderful.” She kissed Kris. “The babies have been awake for a long time and are getting impatient for their lunch, but first they’re going to need a diaper change.”
“Afterward I’ll help you feed them.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“What if I want to?”
His playful teasing didn’t fool her. “You’ve done more than enough, Andreas. I can just picture your exceptional receptionist wondering where on earth you’ve disappeared to.”
She watched him kiss Nikos. “Didn’t I tell you I’m on vacation? The whole family’s here for the next two weeks.”
This time her heart really did get a major workout. “As I recall, you were going to give me an appointment at three o’clock yesterday afternoon.”
“If you recall,” he murmured, coming to stand next to her, bringing his warmth and enticing male scent with him, “a life and death situation altered the scheme of our lives.”
Gabi gripped the railing of the crib tighter. Our lives was right. When she’d gone to his office in Athens on Friday, the idea that days later she’d be alone with him on Milos would have stretched the limits of her imagination. Yet here she was…
“For the time being, my first priority is to lend Leon moral support.” On that succinct note he left the bedroom.
While he was gone she gave herself another lecture about remembering why she’d been temporarily ensconced in this corner of paradise. Leon was blessed to have his brother’s backing. As Gabi’s father had said, Andreas was a good man. How good no one would ever know who hadn’t walked in her footsteps since last Friday evening when she’d first confronted him.
In a few minutes he’d returned with the diaper bag and bottles of formula already prepared. They changed the babies before going into the living room to feed them. He was as confident and efficient as any seasoned father. Whether Leon ended up raising them or not, Andreas had claimed his nephews. She had an idea he would be an intrinsic part of their lives from now on.
After they put the twins down for their nap, Andreas announced he was leaving for his villa. “I’ll be back with food before they’re awake.” He flicked her a heavy-lidded glance before disappearing from the house.
While she was taking clothes out of the suitcase to hang up and put in drawers, she heard the car drive off. He’d told her the Simonides compound was only ten minutes away by car, but already she missed him. To keep herself busy she acquainted herself with the rest of the house.
A perfect little kitchen containing snacks and a fridge stocked with drinks connected to the living room. On the other side was a hall with a bathroom separating two bedrooms. Hers had a shady terrace with loungers and a table looking out on the translucent water. The pots of flowers and an overhang of fuchsia-colored bougainvillea on the trellis gave off a subtle perfume.
Gabi hugged her arms to her waist, hardly able to contain the rush of euphoria that swept through her. She was in that dangerous state where the lines were blurred and she was imagining something quite different than the reality of her situation.
The beach was calling to her, so, with Lena’s assurance that she would watch over the babies, Gabi changed into her two-piece aqua-colored swimming suit. A month ago she’d wandered into a little shop in Heraklion and had bought the most modestly cut outfit she could find, but it still revealed more than she liked. A tan might have helped, but this hadn’t been a summer to relax in the sun.
After smoothing on some sunscreen, she grabbed a large striped towel and left for the beach through the terrace exit. A person could step down to the sand where the sea was only ten yards away, no more. It shimmered like a rare aquamarine. She dropped the towel and ran out, luxuriating in the calm water whose temperature had to be in the seventies.
Gabi swam for a while, then floated around on her back while she watched various sailboats and the occasional ferry in the distance. There were a few other people farther down the beach, but for the most part she had this area to herself. Doing a somersault, she swam underwater to examine the shallow sea floor before surfacing to reach the beach and stretch out on her towel.
While she lay there on her stomach thinking this was pure heaven, she heard a motor that signaled a boat was approaching. When the sound was suddenly cut, she lifted her head from her arms and realized a ski boat had glided right up on the sand.
Her double vision was back as two Greek gods in dark swimming trunks jumped down from the sides with the kind of agility any male would kill for and walked in her direction.
“Andreas—” She sat up with a start, taking the towel with her to give herself a little protection from his all-seeing eyes. Then she remembered her manners, her gaze darting to his brother. “How are you, Leon?”
A faint smile hovered around his lips. “More in control than I was a few nights ago. I apologize for my rude behavior.”
She shook her head. “There’s no need.”
“There’s every need,” he insisted, reminding her of a forceful Andreas. “I should be the one asking you how you are. You’ve been taking care of my sons all this time and I never knew.”
Gabi smiled. “They’re my nephews so it’s no sacrifice, believe me.”
“May I go in and see them?” He was making the effort, she’d give him that.
“Of course. If they start to fuss, there are bottles of formula made up in the fridge. Just warm them up in some hot water. Andreas?” She flicked her gaze back to him. “Why don’t you show him their room while I go for another swim? If they wake up, it will be lovely for them to see their daddy.”
His white smile had a domino effect that slowly melted every bone in her body. “When you surface again, climb up the back ladder into the boat and I’ll take you for a ride. While Leon gets acquainted with them, we’ll enjoy a picnic on the water.”
“That sounds good. I’m getting hungry.” It was already three-thirty. She’d lost track of the time.
“So am I.” His husky tone caused a ripple effect through her body.
The second they disappeared through the front door, she hurried into the bedroom via the terrace and grabbed a loose-fitting short sundress with spaghetti straps she often wore over her suit as a cover-up.
Their deep male voices faded as she rushed back to the beach. After shaking out the towel, she walked in the water and chucked her things in the back of the boat before climbing in. By the time Andreas emerged from the house, she was presentable enough to feel comfortable being with him.
He ran toward her, shoving the boat back into the water, then he levered himself effortlessly over the side. His brief glance managed to take in all of her before he started the motor. “We’ll head for Kimolos.” He nodded toward an island that couldn’t be more than a mile away. “The sight of the little village of Psathi is worth the short trip.”
Halfway across, he turned off the engine and joined her in the back so they could eat. In the hamper were sodas, fruit and homemade gyros. No food had ever tasted so good. She didn’t have to search for a reason why.
“Thank you for a wonderful meal. In fact this whole trip.”
Andreas stared at her while he munched on an apple. “Thank you for not giving up trying to get in to see me.”
Gabi knew what he meant. Her mouth curved in a half-smile. “We need to thank your receptionist. Without her going out on a limb for me, that would have been the end of it.” Then a slight frown marred her brow. “But maybe it would have been better if she hadn’t had compassion on me.”
Lines darkened his striking features. “Don’t ever say that. I don’t even want to think about it.”
Neither did she. A world without Andreas was incomprehensible to her. She finished her cola. “What are your brother’s feelings by now?”
Letting out a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes and lay back on the padded bench to get the full effect of the sun for a moment. End to end, his toned physique with its smattering of dark hair plus his chiseled profile proved to be too much for her. She turned her head to stare anywhere but at him.
“If the twins hadn’t tugged at Leon’s heart the first time he saw them, he wouldn’t have agreed to my plan for you to bring them here. When I told him Kris has to go in for heart surgery next month, that seemed to jar him to the reality of the situation. But he’s terrified because he loves Deline and is afraid he’ll lose her when she learns the truth.”
“I can’t imagine being in his position.”
After a silence, “If you were Deline, do you think you could handle it?”
His searching question brought her head around. They looked at each other for a long time. “I don’t honestly know. She forgave him for what happened a year ago, but now that the other woman’s children are involved…”
She bowed her head. “If I loved him desperately, it might be possible. At the time he didn’t know he’d gotten my sister pregnant, but I’m not Deline. Do they have the kind of love for each other to deal with it?”
He jackknifed into a sitting position and put his feet on the floor of the boat. His eyes looked haunted. “After he tells her, I guess they’re going to find out how solid their marriage really is.”
Gabi stirred restlessly. “He needs to do it soon. Every day that passes while he keeps it from her will make it harder for her to trust him.”
“I told him that the night he saw the children at the park.”
“Andreas—much as I’d love to go sightseeing with you this afternoon to give him more time with the twins, I think we should go back. You need to impress on him that if he waits even another day, it might be too late to convince Deline of anything.”
“I agree,” his voice rasped.
“Trust is everything. If Leon wants to prove his love, then he needs to approach her now.”
He nodded. “Not only that, every day he’s away from his sons, he’s losing that vital bonding time with them.” Andreas sprang to his feet. “Let’s go.”
With the sea so placid, they made it back to the beach in a flash, but Gabi had returned in a completely different frame of mind than when they’d headed for open water. She jumped into the shallows carrying her towel above her head and walked in the front door of the house ahead of Andreas.
To her surprise, Leon had brought the chil-dren into the living room. It was a touching scene to see the three of them spread out on the quilt together. Nikos lay next to his daddy, who held Kris in the air, kissing his tummy to produce smiles.
Andreas’s eyes looked suspiciously bright as he darted her a glance that spoke volumes. While she held back, not wanting to interrupt, he lifted Nikos from the floor and cuddled him.
Leon stood up with Kris pressed against his shoulder. “I can’t believe they’re mine.” He spoke into the baby’s soft black hair. He was totally natural with the children now.
“I dare say you’ve produced the most beautiful sons in the entire Simonides clan.”
He eyed Andreas with a soulful look. “No matter what, I have to tell Deline today. Come with me, bro.”
What Gabi had been hoping for had come to pass, yet with those words no matter what she felt a door close on her secret dream of adopting the twins herself. It was as if her heart had just been cut out of her body.
Chapter Five (#ulink_f7ce73de-2572-5aa9-87d5-74745e4861ca)
“GABI?” Leon had turned to her. “I’m not sure when I’ll be back. Do you mind being responsible for the twins a while longer? You know what I mean.”
Yes. She knew exactly, but by some miracle she didn’t give in to the impulse to break into hysterical sobbing. “I’ve loved taking care of my nephews and want to help you any way I can. Why don’t you put the children back in their cribs so I can change them?” she suggested in the brightest voice she could muster.
As they headed for the bedroom she was aware of Andreas’s avid gaze leveled on her, but she managed to avoid contact. He could see inside her soul. If she were to make the mistake of looking at him, her composure would dissolve. This was a pivotal moment for Leon. An emotional meltdown on her part now could ruin everything.
Thankful after they’d left the room and she could hear the rev of the boat engine, Gabi put clean diapers on the twins and got them ready for an evening walk around the village in their stroller. Next to the bakery was a deli where she could buy some food ready to go.
Once she’d showered and had dressed in a matching blue skirt and sleeveless top, she wheeled them out of the back door. Lena happened to be pushing her little boy along in his stroller as she did some weeding.
The two of them talked and pretty soon they went into the village together. Gabi enjoyed the other woman’s company. It helped not to think about the loss that was coming. If she were honest, it wasn’t only the twins she was already missing…
Three hours later she was putting the babies to bed when her cell rang. The sight of Andreas’s name on the caller ID caused a fluttery sensation in her chest.
“Hello?” She knew she sounded anxious.
“I called as soon as I could, Gabi.”
“You don’t owe me anything. H-has Leon told his wife?” Her voice faltered.
“Yes.”
His silence made her clutch the phone tighter. “Was it awful?”
“I won’t lie to you. It was a great deal worse.”
Tears clogged her throat. “I’m so sorry.”
“So am I. She’s threatened to divorce him and has flown back to Athens in the helicopter. I just drove him to the island’s airport so he could take a plane to catch up to her.”
A whole new world of pain had opened up for them.
When Thea had divorced Dimitri, Gabi had been overjoyed, but this was an entirely different situation. From all accounts Deline was a lovely woman who didn’t deserve to have any of this happen to her. Neither did the babies. But the fact remained Leon and Thea had made a mistake that had caused heartbreak in every direction.
“Does your family know the reason they left Milos?”
“Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time,” he ground out.
She moistened her lips nervously. “What would your brother like me to do?”
“Stay right where you are. I’ll bring the car around at eight-thirty in the morning. We’ll drive to the pier where the cabin cruiser will be waiting. I need a solid break and intend to show you the sights of the island. Pack enough formula in case we want to dock somewhere overnight. Stavros will take care of everything else.”
Her body trembled.
An invitation to party overnight on the Simonides yacht had proved too much of a temptation for Thea. Gabi wasn’t any different. The desire to spend uninterrupted time with the twins’ uncle aboard his cabin cruiser filled her with secret longings that had her jumping out of her skin.
When she thought about it, she would never again have the opportunity to be with a man who thrilled her the way Andreas did. In a few days Leon would make definitive plans where the twins were concerned and Gabi would be leaving Greece.
So why not enjoy this time with Andreas? As long as she recognized he was a bachelor who didn’t take his relationships with women seriously, then she wouldn’t either. She’d learned her lesson with Rand.
In the future she would come to visit her family and the twins from time to time, but she had a career waiting for her back in Virginia. The boys’ lives were here with their father. They would need to get used to the nanny Leon would employ to help him.
Gabi couldn’t possibly stay around, otherwise none of it would work; therefore this little bit of time on Apollonia was all she was going to get with Andreas. As she’d told his receptionist on Friday, “I’ll take it!”
“Eight-thirty’s a perfect time. The three of us will be ready. Goodnight, Andreas.” She hung up before she betrayed herself and kept him on the phone if only to listen to the sound of his deep, mellifluous voice.
With the babies down until their next feeding, Andreas instructed Stavros to bring the cruiser as close to the cave opening as possible. A side glance revealed that a golden-haired nymph had come to join him on the swim platform and was ready to dive with him.
Her modest two-piece suit only seemed to add to the allure of her beautifully proportioned body. Compared to the bronzed females he’d seen at various beaches throughout the day wearing little or nothing at all, her delicious femininity and creamy skin—unused to so much sun—drew his gaze over and over again.
“Are you sure you want to try this, Gabi? We’ve done a lot of swimming today. If you’re tired, we can explore here in the morning.”
She flashed him a mischievous smile that gave his heart a wallop of a kick. “After the big buildup about an evening swim at your favorite beach, you couldn’t stop me!”
Without warning she leaped off the side and headed through the cave opening to Papafragas beach at a very credible speed.
Andreas hadn’t had this much fun in years and followed her into the cool water. Beyond the opening was a long, natural, fjordlike swimming pool surrounded by walls of white rock. He heard her cry of delight.
“This is fabulous, Andreas!” Her voice created an echo.
He caught up to her and they both treaded water. “You can see the deep caves where pirates used to hide.”
Her lips twitched. “Even modern-day pirates like the Simonides twins, I would wager.” She kept turning around, looking up at the incredible rock formations. “It’s time for the truth, Andreas. Between you and Leon, how many girls did you used to bring here on an evening like this, pretending surprise that you were the only ones about?”
His laughter created another echo. “You’ve caught me out. We brought our share. It’s true that this late in the day most tourists have gone back to wherever they came from.” He’d planned it this way because he’d wanted Gabi to himself. “Come on. I’ll race you to the beach at the other end.”
