For the Greek Tycoon's Pleasure

CHAPTER THREE

HE TOOK her to the Plaka after she’d soaked in all the history she could from the Acropolis ruins. That, and the fact that visiting hours were over. He could have arranged for special dispensation but wanted to take her shopping in the ancient marketplace.

It was a tourist’s paradise and Piper in tourist mode was completely charming. It also put them back on the kind of solid ground he understood. They found a shop that made authentic reproductions of ancient Greek jewelry and he bought her a necklace that would not have looked out of place on the neck of a senator’s wife.

Piper had balked at the cost, but he had stood firm. If he wanted to buy her a souvenir of their time in Athens, he would.

He could afford to spoil her and she deserved to be spoiled. Especially after the way that bastard of an ex-husband had treated her. Zephyr would not pretend to give her love as Art had, but he could afford to give her gifts. And he would.

Later that night, on the terrace of an exclusive restaurant, Piper found herself enjoying the understated, elegant décor that managed to still convey the flavor of Athens. Like most Greek restaurants, the majority of the seating was outside. However, this restaurant did not have the crowded, noisy ambiance of the cafés in the Plaka.

As much as she had enjoyed the historic shopping district closed off to automobile traffic, she appreciated the relative quiet of their current setting. Very much.

“Is this a favorite haunt of yours when you are in the country?”

“It is actually.” Zephyr’s brows furrowed. “How did you know?”

“I don’t imagine the staff know most American businessmen by name, no matter how rich and powerful.”

Looking oh so sexy in a light Armani sweater and body-hugging designer jeans, his lips quirked in his signature wry smile. “Point.”

She was glad to see his smile. He’d seemed to draw back emotionally after opening up to her on the Acropolis. It was as if he regretted sharing so much about his past and needed to bring their focus firmly back to the present.

She could understand that. Zephyr was not a guy to wallow in emotion. Heck, he wasn’t a guy to feel emotion a lot of the time, as far as she could see. But she’d realized something as they shopped in the Plaka—she felt plenty toward Zephyr. In fact, she was drowning in emotion for him and that emotion only had one name. Love.

“Thank you for sharing this place with me.” She brushed her fingers over the gorgeous necklace he’d bought her earlier that day. “Thank you for everything.”

The stones were warm from her body, but her heart was even warmer. He had insisted a kiss would make the purchase fully worthwhile. Since her kisses were free, she’d thought nothing of giving him one. Right there, in front of the proprietor, who had grinned and said something in Greek that made Zephyr chuckle.

Piper wasn’t just feeling spoiled, she was feeling cherished and that was dangerous, she knew.

“It is my pleasure.”

“You say that a lot.” She smiled up at him.

“And it is true. You are an easy companion, Piper.”

“I’m glad you think so. I don’t hate your company, either.”

“That is a relief. I would not like to think you’d been giving me pity sex all this time.”

She couldn’t help laughing at that bit of ridiculousness. “Right. Pity sex. I don’t see it.” Or feel it. No woman would pity this man. Desire him? Yes. Crave his kisses? Definitely. Hunger for his touch? Without doubt.

But pity? Nope. No way.

“I’m relieved to hear it.”

She felt heat climb her cheeks and she shook her head. “Stop teasing me and eat your appetizer.”

Surprisingly, her tycoon listened and did exactly that.

They were halfway through the appetizer when she asked something she’d been curious about for a while. “Are you going to be Neo’s best man in the wedding?”

“Naturally.”

“Are you looking forward to it?” she teased, sure he would grimace and give a negative.

But he smiled instead and said quite decisively, “Yes.”

“You are?” She had not expected that.

“Of course. I worried that Neo had forgotten his dreams of home and family under the pressure of building our empire. When we first left Greece, that was all he’d talk about, how he was going to make something of himself and then make a proper family. He stopped talking about it maybe two years after we settled in Seattle.”

“But you didn’t want him to forget it entirely?” Wow, that was not an ambition she could picture Zephyr encouraging.

“No. He deserves a family, a home that is more than a place to live.”

“Those are some pretty traditional sentiments for a self-admitted playboy.”

“What can I say? I am a traditional guy.”

That made her laugh. “I don’t think so.”

“What? Just because I am not married does not mean I never desire to enter the state.” He didn’t look like he was kidding.

But she couldn’t get past the feeling he had to be pulling her leg. Zephyr was the original no-commitment guy. He’d made that clear from the very beginning of their sexual relationship. So much so, that she had assumed the first time had been a one-off.

He’d shocked her by coming back for more when they worked together on the next project, and continuing to see her in Seattle after that. But he’d been smart to give her the time to accept the change in their relationship, so she was ready to accept the new “friends with benefits” nature of it.

“You look flummoxed.”

“I feel a little flummoxed,” she admitted.

“I do not know why. It is the American dream, not just the Greek one, is it not? One day, I will find the right woman.” He gave a self-deprecating smile that gave her butterflies. “Hell, I may even fall in love as Neo has done.”

Those words felt like an arrow to her heart, because they implied he had not found that woman, therefore that woman could not be her. After finally coming to terms with her own feelings, that was a double blow to her heart. Her hand went to her necklace again, this time gaining no sense of comfort from the feel of the precious metal and stones. You had to love someone to cherish them.

So, what did that make this gift and all the other gifts he’d given her?

Unfortunately, after hearing his story earlier she feared she knew. This was Zephyr’s relationship currency. Gifts and money. Not love. Not for the mother who had hurt him and not for Piper, either.

“You don’t seem like the home-and-hearth type, Zephyr,” she couldn’t resist saying. “You live in the ultimate bachelor pad and you’ve dated far and wide. And deep and long besides.”

Besides which he saw his relationships with his mother and siblings as monetary transactions.

“As was Neo before he met Cass. Me? I am as desirous of making my mark on the world in that way as any other man.”

“You’re serious?” The words were just a formality, though. There could be no doubt from his tone or his expression.

He was dead serious.

“Why wouldn’t I be? Regardless of what I just said, I do not anticipate falling in love like Neo, but one day I will marry and procreate. Why build an empire if I have no intention of leaving it to someone?”

She didn’t mention his nieces and nephew. Clearly, that wasn’t what he meant. Zephyr wanted his own family. “But you don’t think you will ever fall in love?”

“No.”

That made more sense, even if it hurt enough to make it difficult to breathe.

“But…”

“But what? You loved your ex-husband, yes?”

She grimaced. “Yes.”

“And did that bring you happiness?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think love can happen, or make me happy when it does.”

“Perhaps it will happen for you again one day.”

“Maybe it will.” It already had—with him—and his revelations on the Acropolis had only cemented that fact.

However, she could see it wasn’t a truth he would be pleased if she shared. No matter how much that situation hurt her, she could not change it. She suddenly realized she was very likely to pay the price for another woman’s actions. Actions that were decades old, but had not lost the power to hurt or mold Zephyr’s actions.

But Zephyr’s heart was not available to her and might never be.

His lips twisted in distaste. “Love is a messy emotion.”

“No question, but it’s good, too.” Surely he could see that, especially now that Neo was so happily in that state?

“You don’t regret loving Art?” Zephyr asked with calculated cool.

“No. I regret that he was a cheater and a liar and that his love was more words than substance.”

“How is that different from regretting loving him?”

“My love was a good thing.”

“That ended up causing you pain,” he observed wryly.

She couldn’t deny it. Loving Art had nearly destroyed her on every level. And loving Zephyr didn’t look like it was going to be a much better prospect. At least she knew where she stood with him, though.

That was something, wasn’t it?

Zephyr gave one of those self-deprecating smiles he used when negotiating and it made her stomach clench to have him use it on her. “Look, I’m not trying to be the Scrooge of happily ever after, but you and I both know someone loving you is no guarantee they won’t betray you.”

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t open yourself to love at all.” She tried to keep the desperation his attitude evoked out of her voice. It wasn’t his fault she’d been dumb enough to fall in love with the wrong man. Again.

“It works for me.”

And she couldn’t fault him for his attitude. Now that she knew his mother had abandoned him to build a better life for herself, Piper couldn’t help understanding Zephyr’s distrust of love.

“But Neo loves Cassandra and vice-versa. Or so you said.”

“Cassandra is one woman in a million.”

The pain those words caused took Piper by surprise, making her heart cramp and her whole chest cavity hurt. Because they implied she was not such a woman. Who was she kidding? Certainly not herself. This whole conversation put Zephyr’s attitude toward her in stark relief.

He didn’t love her. Not even a little. He didn’t anticipate loving her, either. Not ever. Which was really not what she wanted to hear. The pain coursing through her mocked all the promises she’d made to herself after walking away from Art. She wouldn’t lose her livelihood when she and Zephyr’s sexual relationship ended, but she wasn’t sure her heart would survive, even if her business did.

Piper was head over heels in love with a man who did not believe in the concept for himself, and moreover he looked forward to marrying one day. Only Zephyr clearly did not intend that woman to be her. Not when he so blithely told her maybe she would find love again one day.

He’d reneged on his own words of maybe finding love and she felt like retracting hers as well. Was the prospect of love worth the possibility of this pain again?

She remembered the last time she had felt this awful inability to breathe. It had been when she realized once and for all that Art did not love her and never had. And once again, for her pride’s sake and maybe even for Zephyr’s sake, she had to hide the devastation going on inside her.

“I think you might be right,” she said, trying not to choke on the words.

“About what?”

“I do a pretty sucky job deciding who to fall in love with.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

She laughed, but felt no humor. “Thanks.”

“I’ve no interest in talking about Art Bellingham anymore.”

“Trust me, this whole conversation is leaving me cold.”

His eyes narrowed, but he smiled. One of his “armor smiles” again and she wanted to be sick. “So, tell me what you want to do tomorrow.”

She needed to do a better job of hiding her emotions. Starting now. “I’m a museum freak. I’d really like to see the National Archaeological Museum, the Acropolis Museum and maybe the Benaki Museum.”

“That’s quite a list considering you did not plan to sightsee on this trip.”

“I spent the time you were in the shower pouring over the guidebook in our hotel suite.”

“Ah. So, tomorrow is to be a gluttony of museums.”

“If you’d rather do something else, I can find my own way to the museums.”

His brow quirked at this suggestion. “There is nothing I would rather do than spend the time with you. I grew up in this city. I have seen it all.”

She couldn’t see him visiting the Acropolis when he was living on the streets, but she didn’t say anything. It was taking all her wherewithal to tamp down emotions she had not fully acknowledged before today, feelings that would be unwelcome to their intended recipient and would cause her nothing but aching heartbreak.

“As long as we are planning our schedule, what would you like to do the day after tomorrow?”

“I thought we were flying out to the island.”

“I’ve got a helicopter booked for late afternoon. I wanted to maximize your off time.”

“You spoil me.” And he did. He might not love her, but he was her friend and he cared enough to want her to be rested and happy. “This isn’t supposed to be a vacation.”

“Yes, in fact, these days are intended as exactly that. Surprise to you though they were.”

“But the day after tomorrow was supposed to be work.” She wasn’t sure which would be worse, spending more time sightseeing or being stuck in close proximity with him on a private island paradise.

“So, I changed the schedule a little.”

“Whatever you want.”

He frowned. “I want you to enjoy yourself.”

“I am in Greece, what is not to enjoy?”

“Then you will approve of a visit to Sounion and the temple ruins for Trident there?” he asked.

“Sure, that would be fine.”

“Would you prefer to do something else?”

“No, not at all.” It really didn’t matter. She needed to come to terms with her own inner revelations and his as well. The setting for doing that hardly mattered.

“Then, Trident’s Temple it is.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it. I knew it had to bother you to be visiting Greece and only see a small barely developed island the whole time you were here. You’ve got far too curious and adventurous a nature to be content with that.”

“You know me well.” On the surface anyway.

He’d be shocked out of his Gucci leather loafers to discover she was in love with him. And not in a good way.

That night, their lovemaking was slow and intense. Zephyr unwrapped her like a fragile gift of immeasurable value, and she tried to take it at face value, unable to deal with the pain of dwelling on emotions she could not change. On either of their parts.

They did not join until he had reacquainted himself with every inch of her skin. But his behavior was so at odds with his implication at dinner—that she was not a special woman in his life—that as wonderful as it was, a curious sense of dissonance flavored their intimacy for Piper.

Afterward, silent tears of confused emotions tracked down her cheeks in the dark. She fell asleep wishing she’d remained blind to her feelings, and if not hers at least his.

Piper woke the next morning experiencing yet another set of contradictory feelings. As always, when she woke in Zephyr’s arms, she felt safe, cared for, cherished even. Only this morning, that sense of rightness fought with her new knowledge. The absolute certainty that Zephyr did not love her, the possibility that he never would and the probability that he would eventually walk away. At least from their sexual intimacy.

She hadn’t meant to fall in love, but she’d done it anyway. And looking back, she didn’t see how she could have stopped herself. Zephyr was all that she could desire in both a friend and a lover.

They shared many of the same interests. That’s how their friendship had started. She’d discovered he shared her love of European football. They watched the matches, rooting for opposite teams and yelling at the field officials in equal measure. Later, she’d learned he also found museums and art galleries as fascinating as she did, as well as being passionately interested in world politics just as she was.

He was more than a good friend, he was the best. He didn’t just enjoy the same interests she did, he cared about her and watched over her. He’d helped her build her business by recommending her to other developers, he’d even taken care of her once when she had the flu. He’d done his utmost to provide her a miniholiday and make it special. And he’d succeeded.

He treated her like a queen, never dismissing her intelligence or condescending to her. She snuggled into his strong arms, sensual pleasure running up her spine as he brushed his leg across her thigh in his sleep. And he made love to her like the world’s most accomplished gigolo. She could not forget that important little fact.

Imagining what Zephyr would think of being compared to a sexual mercenary, she had to smile. Rather than take offense, the arrogant tycoon would probably preen. His sexual prowess was a source of pride for him. If only he was as open to love as he was to making love, she would not be in such a quandary.

Unhappy with her thoughts and the conclusions she felt drawn to because of them, she lay beside him, watching his gorgeous face in repose.

A dark lock of his hair fell over his forehead, doing nothing to make him look less intimidating, even in sleep. She’d always heard even the most ruthless men looked younger and more vulnerable in their sleep, but not Zephyr. Although he was unconscious to the world, he still did not relax completely. He appeared ready to wake and jump into the crowded moments of his day at any moment.

Had he learned that type of subconscious awareness living with his mother in the seedy underworld of Athens, in the orphanage or on the streets, where he had fought for a chance at a worthwhile life? After their discussion at the Acropolis, aspects of his personality that had always intrigued her made more sense.

When she had first met Zephyr, she had believed he was a charming, rather laid-back businessman. Watching him in action at work, she had soon learned differently. While Zephyr appeared to be relaxed, even borderline indolent, he kept meticulous track of every aspect of his developments.

He had a knack for keeping even the most artistic temperament on track and on schedule. There was a certain element of ruthlessness she’d seen under the surface that never quite broke through his “let’s cooperate and get this job done” businessman’s façade. It only showed in a quick comment here, a directed instruction there, all delivered with that game-face smile she’d hated having directed at her during dinner the night before.

But when Zephyr Nikos spoke, everyone listened. Everyone. He was brilliant. He was wealthy. He was a true force to be reckoned with. Honestly? She wasn’t sure what he was doing with her, a woman struggling to build an interior design firm in Seattle after her ex-husband shredded her reputation in New York.

He might be fantastic for her, but she wasn’t really in his league, which only made their friendship that much more precious and their pseudo-lovers relationship that much more difficult to understand from his point of view.

Falling in love with him might have been inevitable, but getting involved sexually had not. She’d had a choice and she’d made it believing she could handle the limitations of what he was offering. She’d been mistaken. Spectacularly so. How could she have been so stupid? She really did pick badly when it came to choosing men to love.

First, there had been Art, who had seemed like the perfect source of stability, but who had in fact destroyed her security. Then, there was Zephyr, who seemed so charming and open on the surface, but who was actually more closed off than any man she had ever known.

He only lost control in one setting that she knew of—and she knew him as well as anyone, besides maybe Neo Stamos. Zephyr lost control when they made love.

He had from the very beginning, which was why she’d been so sure their intimacy would end up a one-off. He’d looked positively shell-shocked after that first time, his usually perfectly groomed hair askew, and his big body glistening with sweat. She’d been so turned on by his overall state of dishabille; she had initiated another round of lovemaking.

He’d acquiesced soon enough, but the next morning, she’d woken alone and they hadn’t mentioned the sex in any shape or form the next time they spoke. They’d been at the tail end of another job together when the sexual tension thrumming between them blew up into another bout of no-holds-barred sex.

And Piper realized now, that was when she had started really falling for the billionaire tycoon. No matter what she’d told herself at the time about commitment-free sex with a friend. She’d been allowed to see a side of Zephyr Nikos that he showed to no one else. Doing so had captured and enthralled her.

Even more so when he had admitted what she had already suspected to be true after his reaction to their first time—that he was not the same with other women. Unfortunately, Piper had allowed herself to build emotional ties on that flimsy pretext, while ominously lying to herself about what was going on in her own heart the whole time.

But was the pretext so flimsy?

Despite what his words the night before had implied, she was special to him. They were friends and he had few enough of those, no matter how he liked to tease Neo to the contrary. Piper and Zephyr’s sexual relationship had already lasted longer than any other one he’d had as well. And she already knew it drew out a side in Zephyr he did not regularly let loose.

So, in all three of those instances, she was not business as usual for the tycoon. Add that to the fact he was vacationing for the first time since she’d known him, with her and for her benefit, and it all added up to something special. Right?

Or was she grasping at straws as she had done with Art, not wanting to believe he was being unfaithful until confronted by irrefutable evidence?

One thing she knew, she wasn’t going to lie to herself any longer. She loved Zephyr. Irrevocably and unequivocally. More than she’d ever loved Art, and she suspected more than she could ever love another person. But if Zephyr could not, or would not, love her, then she needed to stop this thing between them before she had no hope of coming out of it with a healable heart.

The thought of letting Zephyr go hurt so badly, an involuntary whimper slipped past her lips. He didn’t wake up, but his arms tightened around her, only exacerbating the pain.

Because if she walked away from him, there would be no one there to comfort her.

And that led to her final decision. She wasn’t going to waste what might well be her last days with Zephyr as even a pseudo-lover grieving a loss that had not come yet. She would squeeze every bit of joy out of their time together in Greece that she could.

Zephyr woke to the wonderfully pleasant experience of Piper giving him a massage. He was on his stomach, his arms relaxed above his head and his legs stretched out under the light covering of a sheet. She sat on his upper thighs, having an effect on him that he doubted she was going for.

Or maybe not. Piper was the most open and adventurous lover he’d ever had.

It bothered him that her moving him around had not woken him. His ability to incorporate her touch into his dreams showed how deeply he trusted her. As did the secrets of his past he’d shared with her the day before.

He’d never been tempted to tell that story to another woman, and no other lover had been allowed to sleep in his bed, much less wake him with a massage. He’d thought he’d been so clever in pursuing a sexual relationship without strings with the only woman he had ever considered a true friend. Now, he realized that kind of thing led to intimacies he did not crave.

He had to get his relationship with Piper back onto an even keel, or end at least the sexual side of it. Friendship and sex. Nothing more, and certainly nothing so deep it led to true confessions. He’d started at the Plaka, the day before, buying her gifts and clamping down on that dangerous urge to talk.

She’d done him a favor waking him with the massage. It would lead to sex and that was something he could handle. He didn’t open his mouth to blurt out things better left unsaid when it was busy pleasuring her.

“Mmm…” He stretched under her kneading fingers, rubbing his cheek against the bottom sheet, taking in the scent of their lovemaking from the night before.

Call him earthy, but he loved that smell and often put off their morning shower so he could enjoy it.

“Like that?” Her voice was husky as if she was getting as much out of this as he was.

“Very much. Are you sure you’ve never gone to massage therapy school?”

“It’s one of my many natural talents.” Humor laced that sweetly husky voice.

“I admit, I am grateful for this particular talent.”

“As you should be. So, I’m the only person in your life with this particular talent?”

“I’ve never asked Neo if he likes to give massages.”

Soft laughter tinkled above him. “I’m having a hard time imagining that conversation.”

“You’re not the only one.”

“There are no other women in your life who know how to relax your muscles like this? I find that hard to believe.”

Was she fishing? He’d never asked her if she slept with other men, but he knew she didn’t. He didn’t make it a habit to sleep with more than one woman at a time, either. It led to messy complications, and he didn’t do messy. Though he was rarely with a woman long enough for it to become an issue, he still followed his own rules. His longest liaisons could be measured in months, not years.

“There are no other women in my life, at least none that I would allow in my bed,” he amended smartly.

After all, he had as many women working for him as men. Well, maybe not quite as many, but close. There weren’t a lot of female construction workers as a percentage overall, especially in countries outside the United States.

She stilled above him. “I’m your only…”

Her words trailed off as if she didn’t know how to term herself, and he could not help her. She wasn’t a girlfriend per se. She was a friend with whom he shared his body and bed. But it became obvious that she was definitely fishing.

He didn’t mind giving her the truth. “I haven’t had sex with another woman since the second time we made love.”

The first time had scared him shitless and he wasn’t afraid to admit it. To himself. But then he’d realized that he was just more physically attracted to Piper than he had been to other women. Add in their friendship and the sex was mind-blowing. He’d decided to enjoy it as long as it lasted.

Because sex never did. Experience had taught him that. Just as it had taught him that while love might be transitory, and family couldn’t necessarily be counted on, a true friend stuck with you through the years. He’d learned that from Neo.

Long after the sexual elements to their relationship were over, Zephyr had every expectation that he and Piper would continue to be friends.

“I’ve never asked for promises of fidelity.” She’d gone back to massaging the pleasantly loosening muscles of his lower back.

“And I’ve never offered them.” Because thanks to her ex, she would not believe them. “But if you are asking, I am telling you I don’t have sex with other women right now.”

“Because of me?”

“Because I have a rule about not having multiple sex partners at the same time,” he explained.

“Serial monogamy?”

“Yes. I never make promises, you know that, but while I am having sex with one woman, I do not seek out release elsewhere.”

“So, you haven’t been with anyone else but me since we started sleeping together.”

“Not since the second time, when I knew we would continue to have sex.” He’d had a one-night stand after the first time he and Piper had gotten together, when he’d hoped to make their explosive sex a single shot. The hookup had only confirmed that mediocre sex was no substitute for what he had with her right now.

“The first time?”

“Wasn’t planned and I wasn’t sure we should repeat it.”

“But you decided we should?” she asked softly.

“As did you.”

“Yes.”

“Once I realized you and I were going to have a prolonged sexual association, I stopped looking for that from anyone else.” He looked down at her seriously.

“Even when we went weeks between getting together?”

“I don’t break my own rules, Piper.” He was no oversexed adolescent who could not go a few nights, or weeks, without. It wasn’t always easy, especially when they spoke on the phone and his body reacted with the predictability of Pavlov’s dog, but a real man knew how to keep his zipper in the up position. Zephyr was nothing like his father.

Not one damn thing.

“Right.” She snorted a laugh.

Pleasure from the massage tried to melt Zephyr’s brain along with his muscular tension. “Yes, right,” he affirmed with emphasis.

But he doubted she believed him, which was why he’d never made promises of fidelity during their temporary sexual relationship. Arthur Bellingham deserved so much more than the small comeuppance Zephyr had engineered for him.