Summer Love: The Best Mistake / Impulse

No, that was ridiculous.

She forced herself to look over and saw that Stephen was watching her steadily. She picked up her fork with one hand and balled up the napkin in her lap with the other.

Why couldn’t he be ordinary? she wondered. Someone vacationing, someone working at the resort? Why had she fallen in love with someone so far out of her reach?

“Have you left us?”

Rebecca jerked herself back to see Dimitri smiling at her. Flushing, she noticed that the next course had been served while she’d been daydreaming. “I’m sorry.” With an effort she began to toy with thesalata Athenas.

“A beautiful woman need never apologize for being lost in her own thoughts.” He patted her hand, then let his fingers linger. He caught Stephen’s dark look and smiled. If he didn’t like the boy so much, he thought, he wouldn’t get nearly so much pleasure from irritating him. “Tell me, how did you meet Stephen?”

“We met in Corfu.” She thought of that first meal they had shared… quiet, relaxed, alone.

“Ah, soft nights and sunny days. You are vacationing?”

“Yes.” Rebecca put more effort into her smile. If she stared into her salad she would only embarrass herself, and Stephen. “He was kind enough to show me some of the island.”

“He knows it well, and many of the other islands of our country. There’s something of the gypsy in him.”

She had sensed that. Hadn’t that been part of the attraction? Hadn’t Rebecca just discovered the gypsy in herself? “Have you known him long?”

“We have a long-standing business relationship. Friendly rivals, you might say. When Stephen was hardly more than a boy he accumulated an impressive amount of land.” He gestured expansively. “As you can see, he used it wisely. I believe he has two hotels in your country.”

“Two? More?” Rebecca picked up her glass and took a long swallow of wine.

“So you see, I had wondered if you had met in America and were old friends.”

“No.” Rebecca nodded weakly as the waiter removed the salad and replaced it with moussaka. “We only just met a few days ago.”

“As always, Stephen moves quickly and stylishly.” Dimitri took her hand again, more than a little amused by the frown he saw deepening in Stephen’s eyes. “Where is it in America you are from?”

“Philadelphia.” Relax, she ordered herself. Relax and enjoy. “That’s in the Northeast.”

It infuriated Stephen to watch her flirting so easily, so effectively, with another man. She sat through course after course, barely eating, all the while gifting Dimitri with her shy smiles. Not once did she draw away when the older man touched her hand or leaned close. From where he sat, Stephen could catch a trace of her scent, soft, subtle, maddening. He could hear her quiet laugh when Dimitri murmured something in her ear.

Then she was standing with him, her hand caught in his, as he led her to the dance floor.

Stephen sat there, battling back a jealousy he despised, and watched them move together to music made for lovers. Under the lights her dress clung, then swayed, then shifted. Her face was close, too damn close, to Dimitri’s. He knew what it was like to hold her like that, to breathe in the scent of her skin and her hair. He knew what it was to feel her body brush against his, to feel the life, the passion, bubbling. He knew what it was to see her eyes blur, her lips part, to hear that quiet sigh.

He had often put his stamp on land, but never on a woman. He didn’t believe in it. But only a fool sat idly by and allowed another man to enjoy what was his. With a muttered oath, Stephen rose, strode out onto the dance floor and laid a hand on Dimitri’s shoulder.

“Ah, well.” The older man gave a regretful sigh and stepped aside. “Until later.”

Before she could respond, Rebecca was caught against Stephen. With a sigh of her own, she relaxed and matched her steps to his. Maybe it was like a dream, she told herself as she closed her eyes and let the music fill her head. But she was going to enjoy every moment until it was time to wake up.

She seemed to melt against him. Her fingers moved lightly through his hair as she rested her cheek against his. Was this the way she’d danced with Dimitri? Stephen wondered, then cursed himself. He was being a fool, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. Then again, he’d had to fight for everything else in his life. Why should his woman be any different?

He wanted to drag her off then and there, away from everyone, and find some dark, quiet place to love her.

“You’re enjoying yourself?”

“Yes.” She wouldn’t think about what he was, not now. Soon enough the night would be over and tomorrow would have to be faced. While the music played and he held her, she would only think of what he meant to her. “Very much.”

The dreamy tone of her voice almost undid him. “Apparently Dimitri entertained you well.”

“Mmm. He’s a very nice man.”

“You moved easily from his arms to mine.”