Page 24 of Penniless Cinderella for the Greek
‘But you prefer not to spend time with me after work?’
Savannah’s temper flared as she wondered where he was going with the conversation. What did he want from her? ‘I had the impression on the beach a week ago that you want us to be work colleagues and nothing more.’
His dark blue eyes were unfathomable, but she noticed a nerve flicker in his cheek. He sipped his wine before he said softly, ‘Is that what you want, Savannah?’
She was about to assure him that of course it was. Anything other than a strictly work based relationship with Dimitris would be dangerous. But she was transfixed by his masculine beauty, and when he smiled she felt more alive than she’d done in ten years. ‘I don’t know,’ she admitted huskily.
The band had been playing smooth jazz tunes during dinner, but now the guests had finished eating and the tempo of the music increased as people stepped onto the dance floor.
Dimitris pushed back his chair and stood up. He offered his hand to Savannah. ‘Would you like to dance?’
Not a good idea, her brain cautioned. But if she refused it might arouse his suspicion that she was fighting her attraction to him. Taking a deep breath, she placed her fingers in his. He led her to the dance floor and placed his hands on her waist as they moved to the beat of the music. The brush of his thigh against hers made her insides melt. Savannah had only drunk one glass of champagne, but she felt intoxicated by the heat of his body and his male scent: spice, pheromones—desire.
It was nearly midnight when the last guests left the restaurant. Dimitris called all the front of house and kitchen staff together and thanked them for their hard work making the opening night a success.
‘The head chef told me that a percentage of the profits from your restaurants is paid to your charity and funds a training scheme to teach young people how to cook,’ Savannah said after they had climbed into the helicopter, and it took off.
Dimitris nodded. ‘I was lucky that my grandfather taught me how to cook, and I was able to develop my skills at catering college. Many kids are not given the chance to start a career, especially when Greece experienced economic problems in the past years. I’m glad to put something back into the industry that has enabled me to be successful.’
‘You must feel proud of everything you’ve achieved.’
‘Must I?’ His voice was strangely grim, and he looked away from Savannah and stared out of his window. She didn’t understand the reason for his change of mood. At the restaurant he had been charming and when they had danced together he’d flirted with her, and it had taken all her willpower not to fall under his spell.
They were both silent for the rest of the flight to Rhodes. Savannah had never flown in a helicopter at night. It was magical sitting in the cabin and looking out at the dark sky scattered with stars that seemed close enough to touch.
When the villa came into view she sensed that some of Dimitris’s tension had eased. The helicopter landed and he jumped out and offered his hand to help her down the steps. They walked past the infinity pool that looked pretty, lit with multicoloured underwater lights. The water flowing over the edge disappeared into the darkness.
Savannah’s pulse thudded as a memory of Dimitris standing at the edge of the pool before he dived in came into her mind. She pictured his broad, tanned chest covered with dark hairs that arrowed over his flat abdomen and disappeared beneath the waistband of his swim briefs, and heat coiled through her.
‘How about that swim for the exercise you said you needed?’ He grinned at her startled expression, and she felt herself blush as she wondered if he had somehow guessed that she’d had erotic thoughts about him.
‘It’s late and I think we should go straight to bed.’ Horrified that he might think she had propositioned him, she said frantically, ‘I mean alone, to our own beds, obviously.’
Dimitris halted and turned her towards him, cupping her chin between his fingers to tilt her face up to his. ‘I think that might be what is known as a Freudian slip,’ he murmured, amusement and something else in his eyes that sent a quiver of excitement through Savannah. He rubbed his thumb absently over her jaw and the unexpected tenderness in his caress chipped at her fragile defences.
‘I want to make love to you, Savannah. And I think you want me too.’ Beneath his almost casual tone was a rough note of sexual hunger that evoked a moist heat between her legs. But this man had wrecked her emotions when she had been young and vulnerable, and even though she was older and, hopefully, wiser she was afraid to give in to the desire running rampant through her body.
He lifted his other hand and ran his finger from the base of her throat, down her décolletage to the hollow between her breasts, where the peridot pendant gleamed in the moonlight. It was impossible to hide from him the jerky rise and fall of her chest as she fought the temptation to sink against his whipcord body. He captured her hand and carried it to his mouth to brush his lips over her palm and then the inside of her wrist, where her pulse was going crazy.
His other hand still cupped her jaw. He traced his fingers over her cheek and up to her ear. His touch was as light as gossamer and her resistance melted beneath his sweet seduction when he lowered his head and moved his lips over her cheek. The delicious abrasion of his stubbled jaw on her skin aroused her unbearably and the temptation to tip her head back so that he could claim her mouth with his own was overwhelming. His closeness and the glittering desire in his eyes when he lifted his head and stared down at her made her feel as weak as a kitten.
‘One night was not enough for either of us, was it, Savannah?’
Dimitris’s voice broke the spell he’d woven around her with his skilful seduction.
‘How many nights would be enough?’ she asked tautly. ‘Five, ten? There are twenty-two nights left until the photoshoot is finished. Will you have tired of me before then?’ Savannah pulled away from him, desperate to hide the riot of her emotions.
His eyes narrowed. ‘Is it necessary to quantify a time period that our relationship might last? We both want to be lovers, so why not take things one day at a time?’
‘Relationship!’ She huffed out a breath. ‘You have said publicly in the media that a relationship and commitment are not what you want. But they are what I want. At least the possibility of something more meaningful than casual sex.’
Dimitris frowned and Savannah said quickly, ‘I don’t deny that I am attracted to you. I can’t hide the way I react to you. But having sex to scratch an itch is not enough for me.’
‘Theós!’he exploded. ‘In what way have I acted as though I view making love to you as simply a way to satisfy my baser instincts? We have grown close in the past few weeks.’
‘So we would be friends with benefits?’ She bit her lip. ‘Dimitris, you told me that your car is the love of your life. Yes, we have got on well while we’ve worked together, but you don’t allow anyone to get too close, do you? Not emotionally, and certainly not me.’
‘Is that what you want?’ he gritted. ‘For me to lay bare my deepest feelings?’
