The Best Man's Guarded Heart

His eyes ran leisurely over the length of her body. Her insides melted. A thick dark eyebrow rose as he waited for her to speak, but for the first time in her life no meaningful words jangled in her brain. Instead it was a wasteland of inappropriate thoughts of lust for the man who stood before her.

Just above his left eyebrow a sickle-shaped scar became more prominent as his frown deepened. She balled her hands, worried that she’d give in to temptation and reach out and run her thumb against it.

After another excruciating few seconds of silence she eventually managed to garble out, ‘Yes... Yes, I’m Grace Chapman. I was expecting Mr Petrakis. The airport ground staff told me he had asked that I stay here until he arrived.’

With a quick nod he answered, ‘Yes I did.’

‘Oh.’ It slowly dawned on her who he was. ‘Oh! You must be Andreas... Christos’s brother. I thought it was your father who had sent the message. He and I met in London last month, at Christos and Sofia’s engagement party.’ Grace held out her hand. ‘You’re the best man, I believe?’

He paused for a second before smooth warm skin enclosed her hand. His handshake was firm, the dominant clasp of a powerful man who liked to get his own way.

In her flat sandals she had to arch her neck to meet his stare. Piercing green eyes framed by long dark eyelashes studied her, and his head was thrown back at an arrogant tilt. The apple really hadn’t fallen far from the tree. Dark stubble lined smooth golden skin.

‘And I believe you’re to be the chief bridesmaid?’

She ignored the coolness of his tone and let her enthusiasm for the upcoming wedding take over. ‘Yes—and also the wedding floral designer. Sofia and I have been best friends for years. It’s a shame you missed the engagement party—we had such fun.’

He gave an indifferent shrug and then his mouth curled derisively. ‘You missed your flight.’

Her heart leapt at his reproachful tone. About to explain why, she stopped. He really didn’t look as if he was in the mood to hear about delayed trains. Instead she said, ‘Yes, unfortunately. Now my priority is to get to Kasas as soon as possible.’

‘You’ve missed the last ferry.’

She forced herself not to say something terse and gave a polite smile. ‘Yes, I know.’ Her smile wobbled. Don’t say anything. Remain calm. I’m sure he doesn’t mean to be so arrogant. Her good intentions lasted all of one second. ‘My flight did arrive in time for me to catch the ferry. I had a taxi waiting.’

His mouth thinned. ‘And tomorrow the sun will rise in the west...’

Well, really! Frustration hummed in her ears. ‘I had an hour.’

He scowled at her, making no effort to conceal his growing irritation. ‘Christos realised you would miss the ferry so he called me and asked that I collect you.’

Her frustration gave way to embarrassment. His superior attitude might be rubbing her up the wrong way, but she had to face the fact that his night had obviously ended abruptly because of her.

She gestured to his tux and said, ‘I hope I didn’t disturb your night out.’

Something flashed in the depths of his eyes. Was it annoyance or some other memory? Had he been with someone? Sofia had said he had a reputation for being a playboy. Maybe she had been right about that tousled hair. It was still relatively early...but then what did she know about the bedroom habits of playboys? None of her exes had ever come close to being as dangerously lethal as the man standing before her.

‘No doubt Sofia panicked and got Christos to call you. She’s worried I’ll get lost. It’s my first time in Greece. In fact it’s my first time being abroad on my own.’

Those dark eyebrows narrowed. He studied her incredulously. An awkward silence followed.

She said the first thing that came into her head. ‘I suppose you spend your days travelling...what with your business and everything?’

He tilted his head and gazed at her suspiciously. ‘Have you been doing your homework on me?’

‘No!’ Her cheeks grew hot and she cringed to think he might assume she was blushing out of guilt. ‘Of course not. I only know what Sofia told me...that you are Christos’s older brother.’

The eldest son of the wealthy and powerful Petrakis family, in fact, who had gone on to amass his own fortune in construction and property.

As he continued to gaze at her sceptically she added, ‘I’ve only met Christos a few times, but from the moment I met him I knew that he and Sofia were perfect for one another. I’m so happy for Sofia. And her dad is equally thrilled that she’s marrying a fellow Greek.’

Uncomfortable at the way he studied her, and trying to ignore just how gauche she felt in front of this much too silent and urbane man, she decided to change the subject to something that puzzled her. She gestured towards the other waiting travellers, and frowned when she saw that the other two women in the room, both much more elegantly groomed for the VIP lounge than she was, were staring at Andreas with obvious appreciation.

‘How did you know who I was?’

He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and took out a phone. After a few quick swipes he handed it to her. A photo of her and Sofia pulling silly faces at the camera popped up on the screen. Christos had taken the photo last weekend, after Sofia’s hen party in London...they’d both had one too many mojitos. Grace gave a squeal of despair.

For the briefest of moments a faint hint of amusement lifted his mouth upwards, but it faded and he said with a note of exasperation, ‘Christos is flooding my email with photos of Sofia.’

Confused by his tone, she decided to ignore it and handed Andreas back his phone. ‘That’s so cute. They’re so in love. Sofia tells me that Kasas is incredibly romantic. She truly appreciates you hosting the wedding there.’

He deposited the phone back in his pocket and folded his arms. The side of his upper lip curled upwards. Lord, he had a beautiful mouth. Wide, with lips that were much too full. A mouth that promised endless sleepless nights.

She gave herself a mental shake. She had enough on her plate with the wedding flowers. Getting distracted by this Greek god standing in front of her was definitely not a good idea.

He gestured to her chair. ‘Please—take a seat. I think we should discuss your stay on Kasas.’

Puzzled, she sat back down and wished once again that she had worn a longer dress as her hem rode up the length of her legs. When she glanced up, Andreas was sitting opposite her, his eyes trained on her bare legs. When their eyes met she saw a hint of appreciation. But then he inhaled a deep breath and moved forward to lean his elbows on his thighs, the wool of his trousers stretching over hard muscle.

‘I had intended taking you to Kasas tonight—’

She could not help but interrupt as relief flooded her veins. ‘That would be fantastic. The flowers and all the other supplies are being delivered early tomorrow morning, and I need to be there to—’

His hand slashed down through the air to halt her interruption with his own. ‘Yes, but considering that you’ve never been to Greece before why don’t I arrange for the wedding planner to organise the flowers? You can spend the next few days travelling. Kasas is isolated. It would be much more enjoyable for you to explore Greece instead. As I’m returning to the island for the rest of the week, you are welcome to use my apartment and the services of my chauffeur here in Athens.’

Her mouth dropped open. Was he being serious?

‘But I’m the florist for the wedding.’ Through her confusion a horrible thought occurred. ‘Christos did tell you that I would be arriving early to create all the floral arrangements, didn’t he? This has been planned for weeks.’

‘He may have mentioned it...amongst all the chaos of the other wedding plans. I hadn’t appreciated that you would be staying for so long.’

Heat flared even more brightly on her cheeks. He clearly wasn’t keen on her staying on the island. And he obviously had no idea or appreciation for the work and skill involved in flower design.

Memories of her father’s sneering comments about her making a living by ‘playing with flowers’ had her saying in the politest voice she could muster, ‘I appreciate your offer, but tomorrow morning I have over a thousand flowers being delivered to the island. It’s essential that I’m there to coordinate their arrival. I take my job very seriously, Mr Petrakis. That’s why I’ve spent the past month planning the designs, sourcing the flowers and organising support florists from nearby islands. I’m not going to walk away from my commitments now to go on holiday.’

His jaw tightened and he fixed her with an intense stare. ‘My island is secluded. There is only my villa. No shops or bars to entertain you.’

She could not help but give a light laugh. ‘I’m not here for shopping or the nightlife.’

‘I’m concerned that you will be bored in the evenings, when the wedding planner and her team have left the island. Apart from my married housekeeper and a gardener, who live in a separate villa, there will be no other people around.’

His eyes, filled with a masculine heat, held hers and a surge of tense energy passed between them.

He came a little closer and in a low growl added, ‘It will only be you and me.’

For a crazy moment something primal, something beyond comprehension, crackled in the air between them. Heat flared in every cell of her body. Her breath caught as a wave of longing...of desire...rippled through her.

His eyes grew darker as he held her stare, and a slash of heat appeared on his cheeks.