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Maribel nodded slowly She was so stunned by the idea ofhim that she was in a daze ‘This doesn’t feel real yet’
Leonidas dealt her a caustic appraisal ‘It’ll feel real soon enough A word of warning—I’ll make a lousy husband’
With that attitude, Maribel believed that this was very probable and she wondered if she wasto make that commitment for his son’s sake The door flipped on his exit, only to be caught before it could close again Her tutorial group trooped in She spared a glance down at the enorless, she reedly, deterhts of fancy
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE penthouse apartantic to Maribel A manservant led her across the vast li foyer and ushered her into an even bigger reception area
In the doorway, she set Elias down on his feet He looked adorable in pale blue cord trousers and a little cotton shirt Before her eyes could adjust to the bright daylight that flooded in through the long run of s that comprised the farthest wall, Elias loosed a squeal of exciterasp
‘Daddy!’ he yelled, sturdy little legs carrying him across the room in seconds
A vision of casual elegance in a loose beige linen shirt and chinos, Leonidas scooped the little boy up and closed both ar through hiet down again, eager to investigate the e room
‘He missed you He asked for you a couple of tiuiltily
Leonidas studied her with keen attention She had that refined quality of quintessential Englishness that he had always aded to define to his own satisfaction Her lustrous chestnut hair was a shining frame for her delicately modelled features and, while her outfit was plain, her si prominence She had a subtle unusual beauty as authentic as her lush sex appeal and he could not understand why it had taken hie the fact After all, she had always had thehis attention even in a crowd
‘Why are you staring atif she should have used more make-up and put on fancier clothes
‘I like the dress, hara mou Of course, I’ll like you even better out of it,’ Leonidas confided, his dark, rich drawl taking on a husky edge ‘By the way, how has the boyfriend dealt with the relentless pursuit of the paparazzi?’
Her cheeks flaht ahead, Maribel veiled her gaze at that question and jerked a sliain and she didn’t blame him for the fact The a, not to mention the exposure of her association with Leonidas, would have scared off the keenest of blokes The last ti in horror at the spectacle of her trying to outrun the photographers to etaway in her car
Leonidas got the e that the competition had been decimated and he returned his attention to Elias with a satisfied gleaaze that would have chilled a block of ice In the best of huht for hi noisy vroo buttons with vigour While Leonidas was trying not to flinch at the racket, he found hi if Maribel had slept with the boyfriend He wondered in so, but it was far froht-train, because he was soon wondering how many men there had been since she’d walked out on hih he continued to devote his attention to his son, all Leonidas’ relaxation and satisfaction had drained away
Lounging back on a gilded sofa with her shoes kicked off for comfort a few hours later, Maribel watched Leonidas roll out a convoy of boats for his son’s bath-time entertainment For a Greek tycoon, whose fortune was based on a vast shipping empire, she supposed an entire fleet was a natural choice, and, certainly, Elias was iround She had tried to leave father and son alone for a while, but Elias, for all his apparent confidence, still needed to check that his mother was present every so often On the one occasion that Maribel had dared to rove out of sight, her son had shocked Leonidas by screa the place down Yet Leonidas waswith hi a level of patience and calm with his son that Maribel had never dreamt he possessed