Chapter Five

Frankie was momentarily at a loss for words. She watched the smile playing around his lips. Just why was he so keen to have dinner with her and so insistent about getting her to comply that he would give her this ridiculous ultimatum? Had that kiss really meant something to him? She dismissed the idea instantly. He was Mr. Flirtatious, Foreign, and Female; he looked, he took, and then moved on. She reminded herself of her mission in coming here. She didn’t want him to think she was his on a plate—a dinner plate! Or was it reverse psychology? That she had sent him packing after they’d kissed and his male pride wouldn’t accept it? Whatever, she had definitely been right in her instinct to steer clear of him from the start, whatever else her body had urged her to do.

“I thought I’d made myself plain” she responded tightly. “I don’t want to go out with you.”

“Perhaps you do not understand what I am proposing,” he said smoothly, pinning her with his stare. “Let me lay it out clearly for you. No dinner date, no adoption.”

She took in a deep gulp of air in an attempt to calm her rapid heartbeat, anger starting to rise up from deep inside her. “Oh, come on, Nik! You can’t make that kind of stipulation. It’s…it’s blackmail!”

“I do not think so. My understanding is that blackmail involves forcing someone to do something by threatening them. We are merely negotiating a deal, and I have just stated my terms to you. It is entirely up to you whether you accept them.”

By now, she was seething. Who did he think he was, sitting here, so ruthlessly laying down the law? She prepared to leap to her feet, intending to leave as soon as possible, but the speed of her ascent was somewhat curtailed as she was very stiff and achy now. She leaned on the tabletop to steady herself. “You are attempting to coerce me and you should be ashamed of yourself!” she bit out. “Are you really that short of dinner companions?”

He leaned back in his seat, seemingly nonchalant, and folded his arms. “Not at all. As you saw for yourself when we met downstairs, I have an active social life.” He tilted his head. “Oraioitatos, you are overreacting. Having dinner with me will not be such a big thing. Plenty of business associates celebrate an agreement with a meal.” His eyes narrowed. “Or perhaps you are worried about where it will lead? Though I am not quite sure why. You seemed to respond so willingly and uninhibitedly when I kissed you this morning.”

She turned her head away without answering. He was needling her, taunting her, trying to get to her…and he was succeeding. She chewed agitatedly at the inside of her lip. Dinner with him was out of the question. It would not be the simple affair he was suggesting. She would be putting herself at his mercy, and she couldn’t trust herself not to respond; it would be a date with disaster.

“Perhaps you require some time to think about it?”

She inhaled again, striving for calm. What she required was to get out of here. She turned back to face him. “There’s nothing to think about. The answer is no. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to be going. It’s getting late.” She straightened up and made to leave, but the movement had her wincing again, and grimacing.

Immediately, he was up and skirting around the table, halting in front of her. “I will drive you home. It is a long, dark, steep climb up to Alison and Pavlos’s house, and you are not in a fit state to attempt it on your own.”

Her body went rigid. He was too near for comfort, and she needed to make a quick exit. Without him. She shook her head. “You can’t drive, you’ve been drinking. Call me a taxi.”

He didn’t budge. “I have had one brandy, that is all. Within the legal limit. Come with me.”

Still thrumming with emotion, she thought about skirting around him. She was exhausted, her behind was killing her, and now she was standing up, feeling a little dizzy, probably because she wasn’t used to drinking alcohol. It also dawned on her that she’d left her phone at the house, so she couldn’t call Ali or Pavlos to come and pick her up. Like it or not, she was trapped. Nik was right; there was no way she could make it up that hill by herself without his help.

She gritted her teeth. It grieved her to have to accept a lift from him, especially after the conversation they’d just had. But if she could just get it over with, she would make sure that, from now on, she would do everything in her power to avoid him. “All right,” she accepted tersely.

“Okay, lean on me,” he ordered. “Relax. We will take it slowly.”

She waved a hand to refuse him, because to be in such close proximity with him could be fatal. He inhaled and his expression betrayed his impatience, but he stepped aside.

“Why don’t you lead the way?” she suggested.

He nodded, and she followed him as they left the upper story without talking. He walked briskly down the spiral stairs, then waited at the bottom of them as she carefully picked her way down, offering her a hand when she reached the last polished wooden step, but she ignored him. He walked over to a door, opened it, and silently ushered her out of the back of the building.

They reached the car and he opened the passenger-side door for her with his free hand, but because she was stiff, she had difficulty turning to lower herself into the vehicle.

“Put your arms around my neck,” he commanded.

She opened her mouth to protest. “No, I—” But he took her hands in one decisive move and placed them on his shoulders. It brought her face to face with him. His eyes rested on her mouth, making her lips tingle with remembrance, and his hold was steady as he lowered her down, the muscles in his shoulders rippling and flexing beneath her fingertips.

“Are you comfortable, pet hi mou?”

She nodded mutely. Her fingers slipped away from his shoulders and dropped primly in her lap. Annoyance and shame, not to mention puzzlement that she should still be so reactive to him after all that had passed between them, overwhelmed her. It had to be the alcohol meddling with her self-control.

He walked around to the driver’s side of the vehicle, and, in a series of fluid movements, got in, fired the engine, and accelerated out onto the strip. The top of the Spider was down. As they drove their way up the mountainside, Frankie enjoyed the cool breeze that whipped her hair around, relieving the pressure in her temples. She leaned her head back against the headrest, feeling drained. From the corner of her eye, she watched as Nik effortlessly steered around hairpin bends and potholes in the rough-surfaced road, his profile silhouetted in the semi-darkness. He was the epitome of the handsome playboy. What would have happened if I’d said yes to dinner with him? She brushed her traitorous thoughts away. Hell would freeze over before she allowed herself to find out.

At that moment, they passed a set of imposing gates with lighted carriage lamps set above them, flanked by high, white stone walls overhung with vines and bougainvillea. She heard him say over the roar of the car’s engine, “That is my house.” With difficulty, she sat up and attempted to look but felt her spine protest, so didn’t get to see much as they sped past. She hadn’t realized he lived so near to Alison and Pavlos.

“Maybe you will come and visit me there sometime,” he said.

She shot his profile a withering glance. “That’s not funny. You know it’s not going to happen.”

He smiled but kept his eyes on the road. “We’ll see.”

His self-assurance and persistence were truly breathtaking. She lifted her chin. She’d rather the devil himself took her before she’d let herself be vulnerable to Nik Kontarinis. There would be no dinner date; she refused be held to ransom. She would help Alison find another new owner for the injured dog, and the shelter would survive without his patronage.

They swept onto the forecourt in front of the Angelis residence and KATS. Ali had left the outside light on over the front door, and it cast out a welcoming circle of illumination. Nik killed the engine, and Frankie immediately struggled to push herself out of her seat, keen to get inside.

“Wait,” he said, placing a stilling touch on her arm and then getting out of the car. He came around to the passenger side, opened the door, then offered her a hand. She had to take it.

“Ooh!” She straightened up and her other hand flew to the small of her back again.

“You must get that examined first thing tomorrow,” he said, catching hold of her. “I can drive you to the Emergency department at the hospital in Paragolis for an X-ray.”

“No! No, thank you. I’m sure it’s just nasty bruising. I need to apply a cold compress.”

They stood for a moment bathed in the lamplight, then she attempted to shake off his hold. But he held her fast and gently turned her to him. Once again, she was alerted to their nearness, the rise and fall of his chest, the heat and strength of his body. She could not to allow herself to be hypnotized by him. She jerked slightly as he raised his hand up to her face and stroked away some strands of her hair that had been disturbed during the car ride. Her breath caught in her throat as his fingers feathered lightly across her cheek. Why was it so hard not to give into the urge to let her face nuzzle into their seductive strokes? With the little resolve she had left, she jerked her cheek away from his touch and stepped back.

“Why do you fight me so hard, agapimeni mou? Why do you fight this attraction between us?” he asked softly.

“I have my reasons,” she responded flatly.

“And you are not going to tell me what they are?”

“All you need to know is that, for whatever reasons, I can’t—I won’t—be involved with you.”

“Because of my reputation?”

“I didn’t like what I heard.”

“And you say there are other reasons?”

She mentally cursed herself for that slip. She had no intention of telling him about her failed marriage. “I-I just need to spend some time on my own,” she said, stumbling over her words. “Look, I have to go. Thank you for driving me home—”

“He must have hurt you very badly—this man who has made you want to spend your time alone.”

Her chin jerked up. “How do you know it’s because of a man?”

“Because, pet hi mou, I know what men are capable of. What has happened to make you so afraid and angry?”

His probing questions made her hackles rise once more. “My past is not up for discussion. Neither is my decision not to have dinner with you.”

He gave her a wry smile. “You sound very sure about that.”

“I am.”

He chuckled. “But you have not denied that there is something incredible between us.”

She wanted to refute it, but somehow, because she knew it was the truth, the words would not come. Instead, with a great effort, she turned away from him and walked to the house, her head held high. The heavy wooden front door was unlocked, and she twisted the handle and entered, shutting it quietly behind her. When she was quite sure she was safe inside, and the door was firmly bolted against the outside world and Nik, she slumped against it.