One Night With Dr Nikolaides

Like deciding whether or not to be frightened of a man who no longer held her family’s purse strings. Or of his son who, when you looked at him “big picture” style, was little short of perfect.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“CAILEY-OULA!”

Theo retracted his hand from Cailey’s waist at the sound of her brother’s voice emerging from the rising and falling chatter across the street at Stavros’s taverna.

It wasn’t strange at all for Greeks to show one another physical affection, but it was now that disaster had struck that Theo realized his protective older brother feelings had morphed into I really want to kiss you ones.

At the sound of Leon’s voice Cailey unleashed the fullest smile he’d seen since her arrival. Bright, full of energy, eyes sparkling as if she hadn’t just spent the past twelve hours working her heart out.

A swift tug and a tightening right where it counted hit him hard and fast. Oh, yes. His intentions toward her were definitely romantic.

“Kyros! Leon!”

Cailey was up and being hugged in a big brother sandwich before he’d even had a chance to get his head round the fact that she wasn’t standing next to him anymore. The crowd was so thick at Stavros’s it would have been no surprise to find half the island’s population were there on the flower-laced veranda. A veranda miraculously untouched by the quake.

A rapid-fire exchange of information passed between the siblings in a shorthand he almost envied. Wives? Great. Where were they? Serving food—just like everyone else. Stavros and Jacosta had organized it. Where was Mama? Serving her famous souvlaki.

Cailey moaned, kissed the tips of her fingers and lifted them to the starlit sky. Theo’s stomach rumbled. He too had moaned with pleasure over Jacosta’s souvlaki on days when his father had been out of town and he’d “slummed it” in the kitchen.

Shouts were being launched in the direction of the taverna. “Theo! What are you doing standing over there by yourself?”

Jacosta appeared next to her children and beckoned for him to join them, her arms wide open. As ever she was non-judgmental, welcoming, loving.

For the first time in his life he hesitated. How strange to suddenly feel like an outsider on his own island. This had never happened before.

Neither had wanting to completely rip the clothes off a woman he’d known since childhood.

The earth wasn’t the only thing that had shifted that day.

“Come! Come!”

Jacosta had him in a warm embrace before he had another moment to think. Kisses were exchanged. The standard questions peppered him: “Are you all right? Is your home all right? How is your mama? Is her ankle elevated? I heard she twisted it. Your father? I saw him driving past, so I took it as a good sign. Cousins? Aunts? Uncles? Are you hungry? Eat. Eat. Look at you. Skin and bones. You must eat!”

He laughed and succumbed to the hug she pressed him into. It was pointless to resist Jacosta’s entreaties for a hug from her “third son.”

Wouldn’t life have been different if only he’d been adopted by a family for love, not power. He stiffened at the thought and, as if sensing his conflicted feelings, Jacosta let him go.

It was his body protecting his emotions. Protecting them from the inevitable hurt that would come if he so much as thought of having a family of his own one day.

“Theo.” Jacosta crooked a finger, indicating that she wanted him to come closer. Not that Cailey and her brothers, who were still in the full flow of information exchange, would overhear.

“I hope you are keeping an eye on my daughter.” She tapped the side of her nose and smiled gently. “Look after her. She may act the brave one, but she’s tender inside.”

A huge cheer erupted from the overspill of villagers at Stavros’s, followed by an excited gabble of conversation.

Jacosta gave Theo a knowing look. One that said, I know you know her as well as I do...so be kind.

Cailey twirled round toward them with a huge smile on her face. “They’ve found Stavros’s cousin’s daughter!”

“Wonderful.” Jacosta pressed her hands into the prayer position and lifted her eyes to the clear sky up above.

“Mama!” Cailey gave her mother a huge squeeze. “Why are you crying?”

“I’m just so happy. So relieved to have all my children here.” She reached out her hands, and a sob of relief filled the air around them as she pulled Cailey closer and then called her boys over for a big, tight family hug.

Something that would never happen in my family, Theo thought darkly. His father had only called to say he’d chartered a helicopter to come to the mansion and fly his mother to the mainland for treatment on her ankle and her nerves, and then asked if Theo was “keeping up appearances” with the clinic.

He couldn’t believe his father still didn’t get it. That he loved being the island doctor. No, he wasn’t a specialist surgeon like his mates—the other “golden boys” of the Mopaxeni founders—but he loved it. Loved helping carpenters and fishermen and cherished ever-aging yiayias and even billionaires. Not that his father would deign to receive treatment from him. Too personal. Too much like needing the son he claimed was nothing but a disappointment to him.

He scrubbed his hands through his hair. Enough. He was tired. Hungry. No point in getting all emotional over a family who liked to hug just because his didn’t.

“Come! Theo.” Jacosta waved him over to their small group. “Give me a kiss, then go in and make yourself useful. Fetch this poor girl some souvlaki.”

She turned to her daughter and they had a swift, low-voiced exchange. He caught the words “sofa” and “extra blankets”. Cailey’s eyes flicked to his, then guiltily back to her mother’s. Jacosta shot him raised eyebrows, clearly went through some mental calculations then offered him an aha-you-sly-dog smile.

“I’ve got food at home, Jacosta,” he said.

“What’s wrong with the food we have here?” Jacosta’s smile shifted to a frown. “You’ve never turned down my souvlaki before.”

She lowered her gaze to half-mast and tilted up her chin, her expression wreathed in suspicion. He’d seen this look before. Mostly when his father had exploded about something ridiculous and Cailey had been present. Jacosta had always swiftly shifted Cailey behind her, literally protecting her from the verbal lashing, bowing her head, apologizing, taking every blow he unleashed.

He didn’t like being on the receiving end of that look. He wasn’t his father. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Cailey.

“Mama, it’s fine. Volunteers have brought food to the clinic. Why don’t we eat together later? As a family, when this is over. Then we will have a reason to celebrate, yes?”

“Paidi mou!” Jacosta threw her hands into the air in disbelief. “It’s not reason enough to celebrate that my daughter has come home? That her brothers still have life coursing through their veins? That your mama’s souvlaki is being devoured by all these good people who have escaped with their lives but my own flesh and blood won’t take even the tiniest of bites to add some flesh to her body?”

“Yes, of course, Mama, but...” Cailey pressed her thumbs above her eyes and gave her forehead a rub, surreptitiously appealing to Theo for help with a sideways grimace.

Theo swept a hand across his mouth to hide his smile as a glimpse of the teenage Cailey emerged.

“It’s been a long day,” he said placatingly to Jacosta.

“So she should eat!”

“I need to sleep, Mama!”

“Mama, let her go.” Kyros appeared through the crowd with two takeaway packets wafting the alluring scent of Jacosta’s souvlaki in their direction. He kissed his mother’s cheek, then handed the boxes to Cailey with a wink.

“Now, go!” Kyros made shooing movements with his hands as if he were clearing the area of chickens. “Get some rest, then come back and fix more people. I’m not going to bust my gut rescuing people only to find the clinic staff falling asleep on the job.”

His grime-streaked face turned from teasing to sober.

“My wife’s nephew is still missing. He went off to play before the quake and they haven’t seen him since. There’s a crew out there searching right now.”

Cailey reached out and gave his arm a squeeze. “I’m so sorry. How old is he?”

“Six.”

They all stood for a moment, weighed down by the ramifications. The weather wasn’t yet obscenely hot, but spring often saw the temperature gauge fly up unexpectedly, and the longer someone was trapped the more likely it was they’d suffer from severe dehydration. What happened next wasn’t worth considering.

“Fine.” Jacosta wiped her hands together as if she’d been behind the decision for Theo and Cailey to leave all along. “Off you go. Shoo! Get some rest. I’ll bring you some yoghurt and fruit in the morning.”

Cailey took a deep breath as if to protest, then clearly remembered it would do no good and surrendered to the hug her mother was drawing her into.

Another round of kisses were exchanged and then they were back on their way.

* * *

“Your mother is a force of nature.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Cailey replied dryly, then sucked in a sharp breath as first her spine and then her whole body responded to Theo’s touch when he replaced his hand on the small of her back to steer her onto a small tree-lined street that led away from the village’s main thoroughfare.

Who was this man?

He was much more comfortable with the villagers than she’d anticipated. No lofty heights. No clear social barriers up between him and them.

Had he really changed from that arrogant teen she’d overheard telling his friends about the heiresses his father had lined up for him to marry into this...this kind, generous-hearted, self-effacing man?

There weren’t any heiresses in sight now. And—not that she was obsessed or anything—but the pictures of Theo with some willowy blonde on his arm had dried up in the society mags of late.

She chanced a glance at him as he ruffled a child’s hair after the little one had run out to show him the bandage he’d applied earlier to her arm. He knelt down and gave it a studied look, then praised her for looking after it so well.

Crikey, that was sweet. He was sweet.

Just feeling Theo’s broad hand reassert itself on the small of her back relit a flame in her core she now knew had never really been fully tamped out.

As they continued walking she couldn’t stop the niggling thought that ten years ago she’d blown the whole “Nikolaideses don’t marry housemaids” thing out of proportion. Had she, a teen herself, taken umbrage for something she should’ve just laughed off? Or, better yet, should she have flounced out of the pool house she’d been cleaning, flicked a hip in his direction with a saucy follow-up that he didn’t know what he was missing?

Instead she’d been upset, hurt and offended. Leaving had been an easy way to protect her heart from feelings she’d thought would never be reciprocated.

Theo slowed his pace and dropped his hand from her back. She missed his touch instantly. How quickly she’d grown used to something she thought she’d never know.

He stopped in front of a large wooden gate and dug his hand round in his pocket, presumably for a key, his shaggy hair falling forward across his darkly stubbled cheeks.

Theo must have felt her gaze on him. He raised his eyes to meet hers and dropped a slow, dark-lashed wink in her direction as he pulled something out of his pocket with a flourish.

“Ta-da!”

She stared at the object in his hand. A mini-screwdriver?

“Man’s best friend.”

“A screwdriver?” she deadpanned.

“Absolutely.” Theo gave her a quick nod, then turned to the gate. “I lost the key about three years ago, and last winter it started jamming, so...”

He fiddled a bit with the screwdriver at an area on the doorframe that looked as if it had borne this routine more than a few times, then gave the door a swift kick. “Voila! Your boudoir awaits, mademoiselle!”

Trying to push aside images of Theo sweeping her off her feet and carrying her to said boudoir, she tried to wrangle her backpack off his shoulder.

“No, you don’t.” Theo swept his arm out, indicating that she should enter the small but incredibly lush garden where a smattering of golden sandstone slates led to a modest-sized whitewashed traditional home. “In you go.” He pulled the gate shut behind them as she entered the garden. “So. What do you think?”

What did she think? She thought it was the last sort of place a Nikolaides would live in. More to the point, she thought it was perfect.

The small house was precisely the type of a home she’d dreamt of living in before she’d left the island. Draped in bougainvillea, shaded by palms and...was that a pomegranate tree? It felt...cozy. It was about as far as you could get from the ostentatious steel beams, floor-to-ceiling glass and columns of the neo-classical mansion he’d grown up in.

There went a few more of her hypothetical conjectures about The Life of Theo.

“I think it’s beautiful.”

He squinted at her, the corners of his lips tweaking up into a quirky smile. “Excellent. And it looks like the chaps who did the stonemasonry all those years ago knew what they were doing.”

“What?”

“No cracks from the earthquake.”

“Haven’t you been—?” She stopped herself. Of course he hadn’t been home yet. He’d been at the clinic yesterday afternoon when the quake struck and hadn’t been home since.

In lieu of throwing herself at him and telling him how selfless and wonderful he was, she shifted her weight on her heels and gave the house a studied look.

“How old is it, exactly?”

“Hmm...” Theo drummed his fingers on his chin and stared at the house as if someone would pop out of the front door and tell him.

My goodness, he has a lovely jawline. Had she ever even noticed a man’s jawline before?

“Not very. Three hundred years old? Maybe four? Not dawn of civilization stuff.”

Cailey couldn’t help but laugh. She’d always held a deep affection for the neglected and often abandoned stone structures dotted about the island. How funny that Theo seemed to share the exact same level of enthusiasm. He took a few long-legged steps past her and opened the thick wooden door to the house.

“You have the key to this one?” she teased, feeling a strange new store of energy coming to the fore.

“Never locked.” He looked back at her and gave her another one of those butterfly-inducing winks. “Wait here for a minute while I check the structure. It would be a bit embarrassing if your bedroom had been swept out to sea.”

Double swoon!

There was no doubt about it. Theo was flirting with her and she was falling for it hook, line and sinker. Just as she’d warned herself not to.

Then again... If this whole “get some rest at my house” thing was leading where she thought it might, it could lay a few old demons to rest.

Yes. Definitely. They’d have their night of carnal bliss and then poof! She’d lend a hand for a few more days at the clinic, maybe throw in a bit of a showdown with Dimitri, then get back to her job in London, put an end to the evil glares of the gift shop lady every time she leafed through the society mags, and get on with the rest of her life.

And maybe monkeys wearing tiaras would fly out of her backpack.

Theo appeared at the doorway. “It’s safe. Still no power so I’ve lit some candles. Just a couple of broken plates.” He laughed. “Typical Greek, eh? Breaking plates in the best and worst of times. C’mon. In you come.”

He crooked his finger, beckoning to her like the wicked wolf luring little Red Riding Hood into his lair.

Goosebumps skimmed across her skin as she stepped inside. Like the outside, the interior had the gentle glow of whitewashed stone walls. Theo had lit several candles set in traditional wall stands complete with mirrors, so a soft, warm light flickered around the room.

The ceilings were higher than she’d expected. The odd exposed support beam added character. Wooden, of course. A small kitchen was tucked at the back of the large open-plan area, so that there was room for a circular dining table opposite a pair of French windows. In the living room area, where they stood, a pair of over-sized sofas, perfect for napping or reading on, were dotted with blue throw pillows. The sofas faced another set of French windows, leading to a covered veranda, beyond which she could just see the white effervescent foam of the sea—still a bit choppy, though there had been no aftershocks since the one a few hours ago.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you’ve become, Cailey.”

Theo was right behind her, his voice low and weighted with intention.

She wheeled round and stumbled back a few steps. Being so close, inhaling his scent—amazingly pure and clean after such a long day—was suddenly too much.

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

Theo actually looked shocked at her question. “Why shouldn’t I be?”

Cailey was about to launch into a rather detailed explanation of exactly why this was all rather peculiar when he closed the space between them and put a finger to her lips.

“Cailey mou. I’ve always felt we had a connection, you and I. Don’t you know that?”

She shook her head against his finger, fighting the urge to open her lips and draw it into her mouth. Any connection they’d had had been more master and servant than anything. She’d grown up working in his house. Scrubbing, cooking and cleaning alongside her mother, who had spent her entire adult life serving as the Nikolaides housekeeper.

Sure, she’d played with Erianthe when they were kids, and sometimes with Theo when he and his gang were in the mood to torture or tolerate his kid sister, but a connection...? She’d thought that kiss they’d shared all those years ago had been a dare. A cruel one at that. For it had been only a day later when she’d overheard him telling his friends he’d never marry a housemaid.

She was surprised to see him looking hurt. Genuinely hurt. Furrowed brow. Eyes narrowing. A sharp intake of breath. The whole caboodle.

“Not in the strictest sense,” she whispered against his finger.

“We’re peas in a pod. You must know that. And today, working together, wasn’t that proof?”

“No. It only proves we work well together. Our lives...we’re so different.”

She wanted to hear him say it. Say he’d held himself apart from her because of her background. That he’d soared where she had failed even to get into medical school, let alone become a doctor.

“You are different from me,” he said, lowering his head until his lips whispered against hers. “You’re better.”

Before she could craft a single lucid thought they were kissing. Softly at first. Not tentatively, as a pair of teenagers might have approached their first kiss, more as if each touch, each moment they were sharing, spoke to the fact that they had belonged together all along.

Simply kissing him was an erotic pleasure on its own. The short walk to Theo’s house had given his lips a slight tang of the sea. Emboldened by his sure touch, Cailey swept her tongue along Theo’s lower lip, a trill of excitement following in the wake of his moan of approbation.

The kisses grew in strength and depth. Theo pulled her closer to him, his lips parting to taste and explore her mouth. The hunger and fatigue they’d felt on leaving the clinic were swept into the dark shadows as light and energy grew within each of them like a living force of its own.

Undiluted sexual attraction flared hot and bright within her, the flames licking at her belly, her breasts, her inner thighs, as if it had been waiting for exactly this moment to present itself. Molten, age-old, pent-up, magically realized and released desire.

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