When Christakos Meets His Match

CHAPTER THREE


ALEXIO WAS LOOKING at his smartphone but not seeing anything. He was incandescent with rage...and lust. Angry with himself that he’d not taken the opportunity to kiss Sidonie when he’d wanted to. But something had held him back—something that had whispered to him that she wasn’t like the women he knew. That the strength of what he was feeling was off the charts.

He prided himself on being a civilised man. With very select tastes. Not a man given to random outbursts or to passionately kissing a woman an hour after meeting her. And yet he’d come within seconds of doing just that.

Yet still...had he let her go? No. He’d all but hauled her off the plane. Sidonie was a tense figure beside him now, her bag on her lap, her hands clasping it.

Unable to help himself, Alexio reached out and touched a finger to her jaw, trailing it over the delicate line. Even that made his body scream with hunger. She tensed even more, but she turned to look at him. Alexio marvelled to himself. One wayward curling strand of hair had come loose and coiled over her shoulder like a burst of silken sunrise. Her cheeks were flushed. No make-up, and those ridiculous black-framed glasses. Her shapeless sweatshirt and those worn jeans. He shouldn’t want her. But he did.

He couldn’t explain it, but in that moment she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life. And suddenly that need was back, even more urgent than before. The realisation hit him: he might never see her again.

Rationality dissolved to be replaced by raw hunger and need. Sidonie obviously saw something on his face, in his eyes, and her own eyes widened, her cheeks getting pinker. Alexio couldn’t have stopped himself now if a thousand men had tried to hold him back.

He pulled her into him and slanted his mouth over hers.

That first sweet taste of her soft lips crushed under his made his brain go white with heat. She fell against him, hands pressed to his chest, and Alexio hauled her even closer, his mouth moving over hers, coaxing her to open up to him...

One of his hands moved up her arm to her neck, his thumb angling her chin, cupping her head...and then, after an infinitesimal moment, she opened her mouth on a sigh. He deepened the kiss and all that hunger he’d been holding in exploded in a dizzying rush of desire.

* * *

Sidonie was still in shock. Alexio’s mouth was on hers, his tongue seeking, thrusting, tasting... She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. And didn’t want to. All she knew was that as soon as he’d looked at her so hungrily and then reached for her she’d been ready to throw herself into his arms. The evidence that he did want her was like balm to her ravaged spirit.

There was nothing gentle about his kiss, and she wanted it with every fibre of her being. It was passionate, hotter than anything she’d experienced before. He was tasting and plundering, both hands on her head now, his fingers in her hair, making it loose. Sidonie felt as if she was breaking apart into a million tiny pieces, but it was so delicious...so drugging...that she never wanted it to stop.

A ravenous beast she’d never known before woke inside her and she felt herself matching the passion of Alexio’s kiss. Matching it and seeking for more. Now she was the one who wanted to taste, nipping at his lower lip with her teeth, feeling the hard resilience of that sensual contour...her tongue automatically soothing where she’d nipped.

She heard a faint sound coming from a long way away. And then Alexio was stopping, pulling back. Sidonie went with him, loath to release him even for a second.

Some sliver of sanity intruded and Sidonie realised that she was clinging to Alexio. And that he’d just been kissing her to distraction in the back of his car. She found the strength to pull herself out of the whirlpool and broke free, breathing harshly. Dazed. Eyes unfocused for a second.

She realised two things at once: the car had come to a halt outside the terminal and it must have been the driver who had made the noise to get their attention.

Alexio’s hands were still on her arms, as if she needed support, and his face was still close, those eyes looking heavy-lidded and glittering with all sorts of decadent promises. All she wanted to do was pull him back to her and kiss him again and never stop.

Almost violently she pulled free completely. Her cheeks burned. Her hair was loose and coming down. Quickly she scrabbled with trembling hands to put it back up.

She couldn’t look at him. What the hell had just happened? Mutual combustion? And she’d leapt into the fire without a second’s hesitation. As much as she’d been a willing participant in what had just happened, it scared Sidonie how quickly she’d lost control.

* * *

‘We’re here,’ Alexio said, somewhat redundantly. He was trying to control the clamour of his blood. He felt altered after that kiss. Disorientated.

Sidonie was avoiding his eye, breathing fast. He saw her throat work. She opened her mouth and already he wanted to cover it with his, taste that sweetness again. There was something so unexpected about her—something that pierced him right through to where he’d never been touched, smashing aside his cynical jaded shell. If he could think for a moment he might even feel suspicious, but right now he was too hot for her to feel anything but carnal hunger.

She glanced at him and all he could see were the swirling blue and green depths of those luminous eyes. She was still wearing those glasses. Then he saw her hand reaching for the door handle, and everything in him rejected the notion that she was going to leave. But before he could stop her she’d looked away, opened the door and was stepping out.

Alexio moved so fast that she was only just straightening up when he reached her side of the car. Her eyes were huge and wary. Someone rushed up with her bag on a trolley and Alexio took it, only just restraining himself from snarling at the completely innocent staff member to leave them alone.

Alexio looked at Sidonie for a long moment, feeling as if he was tipping over a precipice he’d never let himself near before.

‘Are you sure I can’t change your mind?’

For a second he thought she was about to capitulate, and the blood thundered in his head, but then she bit her lip and shook her head. ‘I can’t. I need to get back.’


Alexio didn’t want to move. ‘You have a job?’

She avoided his eye. ‘I did... But the restaurant closed down.’

Alexio’s body grew tight. ‘So there’s nothing to rush home for...?’ Something very unpalatable occurred to him and he bit out, ‘Unless you have a boyfriend?’

Sidonie shook her head quickly and at the same time shot him an insulted look. ‘No... I would never do...what we just did...if I had...’

She stopped for a moment, then focused on him again and looked tortured, but it was little comfort to Alexio.

‘I just...can’t do this. With you.’ Her chin lifted. ‘I’m not easy, Alexio. I won’t just fall into bed with you because you click your fingers and expect me to.’

Alexio wanted to smash aside the trolley, rip off those glasses and grab her, kiss her into submission. Kiss her again. Instead he bit out, lying admirably, ‘I asked you for dinner, Sidonie, not for sex.’

She blanched and avoided his gaze again, slinging her bag across her body. It did little to douse his desire—the strap coming between her breasts made them stand out, defining their pert shape. Theos, what was wrong with him? Had he lost all reason in the past hour?

Sidonie took the trolley and said, ‘Look...thanks, okay? If I lived in London maybe I’d go out with you, but I don’t, and I have to go home.’

She was pulling away, taking the trolley with her case on it, and something like panic gripped Alexio’s chest, constricting his breathing. He thrust a hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a card, handed it to her.

She took it reluctantly and he wanted to push it into her hand, wrap her fingers around it. ‘Those are my private numbers. If anything changes...call me.’

After a few torturous seconds she just nodded and said, ‘It was nice to meet you...’

And then she pulled the trolley round, disappeared into the departures hall and was swallowed up by a thousand faceless, nameless people.

Alexio did not like this feeling of being out of control. At all. It was something he’d fought against his whole life—every time his father had tried to mould him into the son and heir he’d wanted. Every time his father had suffocated him with the weight of his expectations. And most all every time he’d seen his father lose it because he couldn’t control his emotions around his cold wife.

And yet this wisp of a woman had managed to slide control out from under his feet without him even noticing.

He cursed volubly.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Sidonie was about to scream with frustration. Her body was still sensitive, tingling with an overload of sexual awareness. All she could see in her mind’s eye was Alexio Christakos’s hard-boned gorgeous face and that mouth-wateringly perfect body, but all she could hear was the airline official saying again, ‘Look, miss, I’m sorry. This is the weekend of the England versus Ireland rugby final. There is no way you are going to get a ticket to Dublin today or tomorrow. So unless you want to try swimming the Irish Sea...’

Sidonie felt the press of people behind her, all looking to get home, and felt despair. The official was already dealing with the next person and, despondent, Sidonie turned away. She went back out through the main doors, half expecting to see Alexio still standing there with an imperious look on his face, but he and his car were gone and Sidonie felt absurdly like crying.

Why had she been so hell-bent on denying herself an evening with the most charismatic man she’d ever met? The ghost of her mother whispered to her, reminding Sidonie of her strong instinct to deny anything that was just for herself. She always had to work for it.

She’d vowed long ago not to be grasping like her mother, who had been oblivious to the pain of others around her—especially that of her husband, who had devoted his life to her in spite of the fact that she’d humiliated him publicly. In spite of the fact that he’d always known that Sidonie wasn’t even his biological daughter.

And now she had a huge responsibility: Tante Josephine needed her support. She didn’t have the luxury of just thinking about herself. A small voice taunted her. But you could have had tonight. One night.

Sidonie felt a lurch as she thought of how for one second she’d almost given in to Alexio and said yes when he’d asked if she would change her mind.

The one thing that should have held her back was her aunt—but she had gone on her annual two-week holiday with a local charity group. Sidonie had encouraged her to go, knowing it would take her aunt’s mind off things while she sorted herself out in Dublin. For an exhilarating second Sidonie had remembered this and thought it might be possible...but she hadn’t seized the moment. Too afraid to throw caution to the wind and trust completely.

And it was too late now anyway. She looked down and saw her hand clenched around his card. Her belly flipped. She had an image of him on his way into London to his important meeting. He would have forgotten about her already. An aberration. She’d missed her chance. Maybe she’d even dreamt him up?

A hollow feeling made her ache inside. She turned around again and faced the door, steeling herself to go back into that throng. She would buy a seat on the next available flight and then she would find somewhere to stay—

‘Sidonie.’

Her heart slammed to a stop and the blood rushed from her head to her feet. It couldn’t be.

Sidonie forgot about the trolley and whirled around. Alexio was standing there, as gorgeous as she remembered. Not a dream. Shock mixed with relief and joy jumped in her belly.

‘What are you doing here? You were gone,’ she breathed, half afraid she was hallucinating.

Alexio’s mouth tightened as if he didn’t like admitting it. ‘I doubled back...just in case.’

Sidonie made a gesture behind her. ‘All the flights are full. A rugby match is on between England and Ireland. I can’t get home till the day after tomorrow at the earliest...’

‘So you’re stuck here at the airport? That’s unfortunate.’ His eyes were glinting with that dark humour again.

Incredible joy was bubbling up inside Sidonie. He’d come back. For her. He hadn’t forgotten about her.

She fought back the goofy grin threatening to erupt. ‘I was going to rebook my flight and then I was going to find somewhere to stay.’

Alexio put one hand in the pocket of his trousers. His jacket hung open. He was stunning, blinding. Mesmerising.

‘I happen to have a very spacious apartment here in London. If you were to agree to accompany me to dinner this evening I’d let you stay. And then I’d make sure you got home at the earliest opportunity.’

Warning bells went off in Sidonie’s head again but she ignored them. She was getting a second chance. She’d never thought she’d see this man again, because she would never have had the nerve to call him.

She made a mental decision and took a step into the terrifying and exhilarating unknown.

‘I’ll accept your offer.’

Something within her leapt to see his eyes flare and his cheeks darken with colour.

She held up a hand. ‘On one condition.’

‘What?’ he bit out, clearly impatient now.

‘That you allow me to buy dinner...for letting me stay with you.’

Sidonie had a mental image of her bank account and her already close to maxed-out credit card after the flights she’d had to take back and forth to Paris in recent months. She bit her lip.

‘Except I hope you like cheap Italian, because that’s about the best I can offer.’

Alexio stepped up to her and reached around to get her trolley, taking her small case off it as if it weighed nothing. He took her elbow in his hand and looked down at her, taking her breath away.

‘I’ll tell you what. We’ll eat in—that way we don’t have to worry about who’s paying.’

‘But...’ Sidonie spluttered ineffectually as he handed her into the back seat of his car.

He came around and got in the other side and then just looked at her, and it was so stern that she stopped.

‘Okay—fine. I get it,’ she said a little mutinously, ‘but I just don’t want you to think that I’m not grateful.’

Alexio issued a terse command in a guttural language and Sidonie saw the car’s privacy window slide up silently. Then he was reaching for her and pulling her sweatshirt up and over her head before she had the wits to stop him. When she emerged he had his hands in her hair, taking it out of its confines and making it fall down around her shoulders.

Then he plucked off her glasses—which weren’t doing much for her sight anyway.

She slapped at his hands ineffectually. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

Sidonie hated that her whole body sizzled at his masterful actions, knowing she should be objecting vociferously.

He took her face in his hands, holding her still. Sidonie’s heart skipped and her breath stopped.

‘Much better,’ Alexio breathed approvingly, just before his head bent and his mouth met hers.

Sidonie groaned deeply, because from the moment she’d pulled away from that first kiss she’d craved this again. In her mind she ordered herself to stop thinking and gave herself up to the dark fantasy of Alexio Christakos, who had just turned her world upside down and inside out.


By the time they pulled up outside a huge, impressive building Sidonie felt completely flustered, aching and undone. Alexio’s tie was loose and he looked as feverish as Sidonie felt.

‘Come in with me. Wait for me.’

Sidonie’s mouth felt swollen. She wasn’t sure if her vocal cords worked any more. She just nodded her head. It was as if in the space of the back of that car, in the space of the increasingly passionate kisses they’d shared, some indelible link had been forged between them. She was loath to let him out of her sight.

He held her hand walking in, but Sidonie caught sight of her reflection and balked. She jerked in his grip and he looked down at her and raised a brow.

Sidonie blushed. ‘I don’t look exactly corporate.’

His hot gaze swept her up and down and he said throatily, ‘You look perfect.’

But Sidonie knew she was out of place in her chainstore tops, jeans and sneakers the moment the immaculate blonde receptionist sent her a look that could have frozen the Sahara.

When they emerged from the lift there was a veritable entourage of people waiting for Alexio. Someone took his jacket and coat; someone else handed him a folder. Someone else was on the phone. And then someone approached her and said, solicitously, ‘Miss Fitzgerald? If you’d like to follow me I can show you where you can wait...’

Sidonie was looking helplessly at Alexio, who glanced at her and then waved her off in the direction of her guide. He was already being spirited away in the opposite direction.

Sidonie was led down plush carpeted hallways. She saw the distinctive Christakos logo on the walls and blanched when she realised that this entire building must be his.

The young woman in a pristine trouser suit with her dark hair clipped back showed Sidonie into a palatial office with huge windows looking out over what seemed to be the whole of London. This had to be Alexio’s office, with its massive desk near the window.

The woman spoke with an accent that Sidonie guessed must be Greek. ‘Can I get you anything, Miss Fitzgerald?’

Sidonie looked at her and felt even more mussed up. ‘Er...maybe some tea would be nice?’

‘Of course. I’ll be right back.’ And she left and pulled the heavy door behind her.

Alexio’s scent was in the air, faint and tantalising. Exclusive. Masculine. Sexy. Sidonie took a deep breath in and walked over to the window to take in the view. It was spectacular, breathtaking.

She could see doors leading out to a terrace and opened them. She went out and was confronted with the real vista—not behind a plane of glass. It was in that moment that she had the full, gut-churning sense of the man she’d met only a few short hours before. He was one of the kings of the world.

‘Miss Fitzgerald?’

Sidonie whirled around to see the assistant hovering with a tray. She rushed forward, aghast, and took the tray from the startled woman. ‘I can look after it myself. Thank you so much.’

The woman backed away. ‘If you need anything else I’m just down the hall. Mr Christakos shouldn’t be too long, I heard him say he wanted to keep the meeting short.’

Sidonie’s belly somersaulted. Was that because of her? She nodded her head and the woman left. Sidonie put down the tray. She didn’t want to sit at Alexio’s desk so she sat at a small coffee table on the other side of the room. She noticed that her hand was trembling when she poured the tea.

Lord. What was she doing here? Sitting in Alexio Christakos’s palatial office, waiting for him. He’d picked her up on a plane.

Sidonie blushed. She’d engaged him in conversation in the first place. If she’d buried her head in her book he probably wouldn’t have looked twice at her. Sidonie put down her teacup. She knew she could walk out of there right now, get her bag out of his car and melt into the crowds in London and quite possibly never see Alexio again... But, treacherously, she didn’t want to.

The novel sensation of putting herself first was uncomfortable. It felt like a coat she’d never worn. Tante Josephine’s face popped into her mind...but even Tante Josephine was okay for the moment, on holiday with her friends. There was no reason why Sidonie couldn’t be here, doing this.

Sidonie felt a sense of lightness, freedom, and it was heady. Dinner tonight. A place to stay. A chance to get to know this amazing man a little better. She breathed deeply and tried to quell her rapid heartbeat. That was all. And that was all she wanted. No matter what her body might be screaming for. She would emerge from this adventure with her emotions intact.

* * *

When Alexio could finally get away from his meeting, which he’d cut ruthlessly and uncharacteristically short, he headed for his office, pulling at his tie impatiently as he did so. Sidonie. When he’d ordered his driver to turn around before they’d hit the main motorway into London he’d felt like an abject fool. But the compulsion to go back and see her again had been too great. To find her, persuade her to stay.

And then she’d been standing there, like a lost waif, looking at his card, and the sheer relief that had rushed through him had eclipsed any niggling concerns about his uncharacteristic behaviour.

And now she was here, waiting for him. Alexio gritted his jaw to stop his body reacting. He had to get it together. It had been hard enough to concentrate in the meeting.

When he went into his office he didn’t see her and his blood turned to ice.

She’d left.

But then he saw the open terrace doors and his heart started beating again. He went forward and saw her slimly curvaceous form, that plump bottom, as she leant against the railing, taking in the view.

He went right up behind her and put his arms next to hers on the railing.

She started for a moment. ‘You scared me.’

Alexio imagined that he felt her heart pick up pace—or was it his? Her lush derriere pressed against him right there. And Alexio didn’t have a hope in hell of controlling his body.

She was tense in the circle of his arms. ‘Your meeting wasn’t very long.’

Alexio put out his hand and pulled her long, rippling hair over one shoulder, baring her neck. It was a crime to confine such hair. He bent his head and pressed his mouth to the soft skin just under her ear. Immediately she quivered and her bottom moved against him. His other arm came down and wrapped around her midriff, dragging her in tighter.

Theos. He would take her right here and now if he could.

He drew back slightly, dragging in breath, control. ‘I told them I had urgent business to attend to.’

Sidonie turned around in his arms and that was worse—because now Alexio’s steel-hard erection was pressed against her soft belly and the hard tips of her breasts were visible through her sleeveless vest tops.

‘Alexio...’

Alexio dragged his gaze up and met two pools of aquamarine.

‘Hmm?’

‘If I stay with you tonight...that doesn’t mean I’m going to sleep with you...’ She bit her lip. ‘I’m not saying I don’t want to, but I’m not like that.’ She winced. ‘I mean...I won’t sleep with you as some sort of payment. I would prefer to stay in a hostel or something.’

Alexio cupped her jaw. She would sleep with him. They both knew it.

‘I think you’ve already made your morals clear, and I respect that. Firstly, you are not staying in a hostel or anywhere else.’ His voice was rough. ‘Secondly, I do not expect you to sleep with me to pay me for the room. If you sleep with me it will be because you want to. Not for any other reason. We’re two consenting adults, Sidonie, not bound by any ties. Free to do as we wish...’

She was breathless now. He could feel her chest moving against him and he wanted to groan.

‘Yes...but after tonight we won’t see each other again... I don’t do one-night stands. We barely know each other.’

Alexio bent his head and feathered a kiss at the corner of one succulent pouting lip. He could feel her yielding against him.

‘I already know more about you than I do about my own secretary. And I thought you said you couldn’t get a flight for at least a couple of days...so that’s two nights... And you know what? You think too much. Tomorrow is a long way away. We have tonight, and that’s all that matters right now.’

* * *

Alexio’s apartment was not as Sidonie had expected. She’d anticipated some kind of penthouse apartment in a sleek building, but his loft-style apartment was in an old converted redbrick building on the Thames, with stunning views.

It had huge windows and exposed brick walls. Sleek and modern furnishings married well with the old shell of the building. Abstract art and compelling black and white photos hung on the walls. The furnishings were unmistakably masculine, but not in an off-putting way. It was comfortable.

Alexio was standing with his arms crossed, watching her. Sidonie blushed and answered his look. She shrugged slightly. ‘I’d expected something a bit more...’

‘Generic? Without taste?’ Alexio put a hand to his chest. ‘You wound me...although maybe when you see this your suspicions will be proved right.’

He took her hand and led her to an alcove off the main open-plan living area. It was a dark nook, decorated like an opulent private gentlemen’s club, with a pool table and a fully stocked antique bar. A huge mirror behind the bar made the whole space glitter with decadence.


Sidonie smiled. ‘Now, this is more like it.’

Alexio let her go and moved to the bar. He disappeared behind the counter to re-emerge holding a chilled bottle of champagne and two glasses.

Sidonie’s skin prickled.

He arched a brow. ‘Can I tempt you with an aperitif?’

Sidonie saw then how the light was lengthening outside the huge stunning windows and over London. London Bridge was in view—an iconic landmark. She hadn’t even noticed that the day had almost flown by.

Vowing to stop thinking so much and just to enjoy, she went and perched herself on one of the velvet-covered stools.

‘I’d love one, thank you.’

Alexio expertly popped the cork with only the smallest, most sibilant hiss, and poured them both a glass of the sparkling golden liquid. Sidonie tried not to notice the label, which proclaimed it to be one of the most expensive brands in the world.

Don’t think. Enjoy.

He handed her a glass and then came around the counter to stand in front of her. If she widened her legs Alexio could step right between them. Sidonie’s pulse leapt.

But he merely clinked his glass to hers and said, ‘To us, Sidonie Fitzgerald. Thank you for coming with me today.’

Sidonie couldn’t look away from that green gaze. ‘Cheers...and thank you for your hospitality.’

They both took a sip and Sidonie blinked at the effervescent bubbles rushing down her throat. She felt buoyed up, heady. Alexio took her hand again and something within her loved the way he did it.

He tugged her gently from the stool. ‘Let me give you the tour.’

Carrying their glasses, Alexio brought her through the living area and showed her the sleek kitchen, which again had a lived-in look about it.

‘Do you cook?’ she asked curiously.

He shrugged minutely. ‘I can cook enough for me. I wouldn’t put it to the test of a dinner party, though.’

Sidonie teased him to hide her nervousness. ‘So what have you lined up for tonight? Beans on toast?’

He looked back at her. ‘A chef from one of London’s best restaurants. He’ll be arriving to serve us in about an hour.’

‘Oh...’ That shut Sidonie up. For a second she’d almost forgotten who she was with...

Alexio was leading her up some wooden stairs now, with brass railing banisters. There was glass everywhere, all the spaces blending into one another seamlessly as only the best architecture could.

This upper level was like a mezzanine. Alexio was leading her to a room on the left, and Sidonie could see her bag on a huge white-covered bed. A window looked out over the Thames, and the en suite bathroom was rustic and yet delightfully modern, with two sinks and an enormous wet-room-style shower. A huge antique bath stood alone.

‘It’s gorgeous,’ she breathed, her hand tightening unconsciously around Alexio’s fingers.

He exerted pressure back and she looked at him.

‘This is your room, Sidonie. Like I said, I don’t expect you to sleep with me...but I won’t deny that I want you.’

Just that. Stark. No games. No false seduction. He wanted her. It was devastating in its simplicity.

Feeling shaky, Sidonie just replied, ‘Okay...thank you...’

Before they left he showed her how to pull the huge white curtains across the windows that were both walls and door for privacy.

Then he was leading her out along the corridor to another room. This one had to be his. Much larger. Bare but for some choice furniture. An enormous bed, a chair, a wardrobe and a chest of drawers. And again that amazing view.

His en suite bathroom was black-tiled, undeniably masculine.

They came back out and Alexio showed her two other guest rooms and an office that looked to be equipped with enough technology to make a space rocket take off.

‘London is my next main base after Athens,’ he explained. ‘I spend most of my time between here and there.’

He led her back down to the bar and Sidonie perched on the stool again. Alexio refilled her glass and then produced a bowl of fresh strawberries from somewhere. Sidonie almost groaned when he dipped one in champagne and handed it to her. The taste of the sweetly tart fruit exploded in her mouth. She wasn’t unaware of his intent look at her mouth and she melted inside. She knew that at some point she would have to make things very clear to herself about how far she was prepared to go, because Alexio was waiting for the barest sign of encouragement. And yet she believed him when he said he’d leave it up to her. He wouldn’t put pressure on her. He wouldn’t have to!

Speaking of inconsequential things as the light outside Alexio’s apartment faded into dusk, Sidonie felt herself being more and more seduced. That line she didn’t want to cross was blurring and becoming something she wanted to leap over. The sparkling wine did little to help her keep her inhibitions raised.

After a while Alexio glanced at his watch and made a face. ‘I don’t know about you but I’d like to freshen up—and the chef will be here soon.’

Immediately he said that Sidonie felt sticky after the long day. She nodded. ‘I’d love to have a shower...if that’s okay.’

Alexio looked at her, and she was shocked and thrilled at the explicitness of it.

‘Meet you back down here in twenty minutes?’

‘Okay.’ Sidonie slid off the stool.

She relished the opportunity to get some space, even for a few minutes. Alexio was so all-encompassing. She still couldn’t really believe she was here, with him.

When she let herself into her bedroom she pulled the drapes over the door and windows, marvelling again at the genius design. She went to the main windows overlooking the view and opened one, breathing in the late spring London air.

London Bridge was teeming with traffic, but Sidonie felt deliciously cut off from everything. The real world was fading, being held at bay. With Tante Josephine safe, and away from her own worries, Sidonie could fool herself into thinking she had no responsibilities. She could just...indulge.

Realising that she was standing mooning at the view, she galvanised herself into action, unpacked some things and took her shower.

Afterwards, wrapped in a towel, she bit her lip as she looked at her pathetic clothes options. Jeans and more jeans. T-shirts. She had one smart outfit that she’d brought over for the meeting with the solicitor, but that was a black skirt she’d worn for work as a waitress and a black shirt. She’d look as if she was going to a funeral.

Clothes had become a luxury a long time ago, when she’d sold most of her more expensive items to help pay for college while her father had been struggling.

She felt absurdly gauche right then, knowing that Alexio must be used to women who dressed like...women. Not impoverished students. Which was what she was. But what she wouldn’t give right now for some sleek little black number...

Sighing deeply, Sidonie reached for a pair of dark denims that might be construed as smart and selected a grey T-shirt with a glittery sequin design on the shoulders. She slipped on the slingback heels she’d worn for the meeting and, after inspecting herself in the mirror and balking at her freshly scrubbed pink face, applied some make-up to try and make up for her woefully inappropriate outfit.

She was tempted to put her hair up again, but recalled Alexio taking it down earlier. The thought of those hands and long fingers touching her made her leave it alone. She didn’t want to tempt him in any way unless she was competely prepared for his response. But then, she didn’t think she’d ever be prepared for the response of a man like Alexio.

Sidonie took a deep breath, as if that might ease the tumult in her breast and in her blood. The ease with which this relative stranger seemed to have sneaked under her skin scared her and exhilarated her in equal measure. It was like being on a rollercoaster ride with no one at the controls.