“I totally understand that.”
“When he wakes up, we’ll go to the zoo and ride the train. With you along, it’ll make a whole new, exciting adventure for him.” He paused. “Miss me while I’m in the other room?”
Andreas...
The next two days turned out to be the happiest Zoe had ever known. Andreas was so relaxed while they played with Ari, he seemed to have thrown off his concerns and looked younger. Zoe never forgot for a second she wasn’t Ari’s mother, but she treasured these moments he allowed her to share with them.
After Ari went down at night, they spent both evenings in his suite watching home movies taken at his breathtaking villa. They showed Ari at every stage of development. Zoe saw his grandparents and other relatives. Lia appeared in them, too.
They were the picture of the perfect family, but Andreas announced there were no more movies once they’d taken Ari home from the hospital. Learning the truth had made a total shambles of his world. As soon as Ari had recovered from the operation, he’d filed for a divorce and Lia had moved to Athens. How to be with his son was all that had consumed him.
Both nights when Zoe left his suite for her own room, he walked her to the door and kissed her hungrily. But he didn’t pull her back into his arms and keep her there. This trip to Athens had been primarily for her to meet Ari.
Zoe also suspected he was anxious for Lia to see that Ari would always be an integral pa
rt of his life while he moved on with other women. Though Zoe had been the first since Andreas’s divorce, she still had no idea what the future held for either of them.
If there was any trauma, it happened when Lia appeared at the hotel door to pick up Ari. Zoe hung back while Andreas walked him to his mother. She quickly reached for him and said something in Greek, giving him a kiss.
Ari kissed her back, then wiggled to get down. Lia held him tighter and he started crying out baba. Then he saw Zoe and she heard him call out her name for the first time.
It thrilled her because Andreas had been teaching Ari to say it. But for his son to do it in front of Lia probably killed her. She loved her little boy. That much was clear before she hurried away with him. Even though Andreas shut the door, they could both hear him having hysterics in the hallway.
Andreas turned to her. His pained expression tore at her heart. “Let’s go down to your room for your suitcase. The limo is waiting out in front.” He couldn’t leave Athens fast enough and she didn’t blame him. More than ever Zoe understood why he wanted his son for longer periods in his own villa in Patras.
She found a plastic bag and brought the flowers he’d given her with them.
On the way to the airport she brought up something maybe she would regret, but she couldn’t bear to see him this stressed. This time he sat across from her, totally preoccupied.
“Would it be impossible for you to move your headquarters here and buy a home until he’s a little older? You could see him two or three times a week and every other weekend with no flying involved.”
She heard him groan. “That was Lia’s grand design when she moved here, but Athens isn’t my home. I identify with my western roots and want that for Ari. To uproot the company and my other business would be pure folly, and—” He stopped short. “Forgive me, Zoe. You have the misfortune of seeing me at my wretched worst.”
“There’s nothing to forgive. When Ari had to leave you a little while ago, he wasn’t in the greatest mood either. Talk about two peas in a pod.”
He shook his head. “Have you forgotten we’re—”
“Don’t say it!” she broke in on him. “You are father and son. I was there. That vital, emotional bond forged before he was born is DNA deep. He idolizes you. I saw moments when he tried to imitate you.”
“In what way?”
She had his attention at last. “How you throw a ball, and some of the sounds you make while you’re teasing each other. If you’re afraid he doesn’t look like you, that’s the least of your worries. A lot of people don’t resemble their parents. But take it from me. I know a good-looking man when I see one, and he’s already a heartthrob.”
Just like you.
Andreas sat back, staring at her through narrowed lids. “You always manage to say the right thing. Thank heaven for you. If you’re not sick of me yet, would you consider taking a little trip with me after we get back to Patras?”
It was a good thing he wasn’t sitting next to her. His question caused a sudden surge of adrenaline igniting her body he would surely have felt. “Is it for your work?”
“Sometimes I do things for pleasure. I’d like to take you out on my boat overnight. I’ll show you the delights of the gulf and beyond. It’s home to the striped and common dolphins, a treat you’ll enjoy. We’ll do some swimming and snorkeling. Anything we want. How does that sound?”
Too good to be true. “Can you take that time away from the office?”
A frown marred his striking features. “Is that your way of saying you’d rather not come with me?”
“Andreas—” She sat forward, gripping the sides of the chair. “I’m trying to be considerate when you have so many calls on your time.”
“Then I’ll ask you again and would like a simple answer.”