to. He was right about her interest in her professional development. She had plans and one affair eighteen months ago wouldn’t derail them—no matter how life-altering the consequences had turned out to be.
Besides, she had told herself when the text had popped up, he was probably making the request on behalf of a favored guest. When she’d climbed into the limo, she’d told herself not to expect Theo at the private airstrip. She’d braced herself for a mistress.
Talk about special guests who needed personal attention!
As they rode up the elevator, she sent him yet another glance of exasperation. They each carried a child. He had the bag of minimal groceries in his hand and was looking at her. His narrowed brown eyes sent a prickle of heat into her center.
No. They weren’t starting that again. She’d learned her lesson, thanks. Looking away was like ripping off a bandage, but she mentally scoffed, Think of the children.
Although, when it came to advancing your career through favors for influential guests, he was right that they didn’t come bigger than this. Managing this gorgeous hotel on the Mediterranean coast was fun and fulfilling, but if she pulled off keeping both the Marcussen Media and Makricosta Resort heirs off the paparazzi radar, she’d have it made in the shade. Paris, London, New York... She could name her price.
As they entered her hotel’s best suite, she automatically searched for flaws that needed correction, but the eclectic mix of 1960s reproduction furniture, pop art, and ultra-modern amenities awaited judgment with quiet perfection. Where many of France’s oldest hotels were rabbit warrens of tiny rooms with even tinier beds, this one had been upgraded into chic suites of fewer rooms that catered to a very affluent clientele. An open space in the middle of the sitting room would be perfect for the babies to play. Since a curved breakfast bar was the only partition to divide the kitchenette from the adjoining dining area, they’d be in sight while their meals were made.
She couldn’t have planned it better, she decided, glancing at the impossible-to-scale glass fencing around the pool deck. There were even child safety locks on the glass doors that led to the pool’s edge.
If only she didn’t have the sense she was approaching one of those crossroads she and Theo had talked about that night in Bali.
Don’t think about it, she warned herself. He obviously didn’t reminisce about what they’d shared. The memories twinkling through her like fairy dust needed to be blown off, swept up and dumped in the bin.
“This kid stinks,” Theo said, pulling her back to the present and brutal reality.
“I’ll order some diapers and show you how to change him,” she said, refusing to be moved by the kicked puppy look he sent her.
He tried to put Androu down, but the tyke clung on, demanding to be held.
“Seriously kid, you stink.”
“He’s scared,” Jaya provided. “Almost as scared as you.”
His head went back and a mask of aloof dismissal fell over his features.
Oh, had that penetrated his thick shell? Rather than bask in satisfaction, she suffered a twinge of conscience. Deliberately insulting people wasn’t her thing. She’d been on the end of too many bullying tactics herself.
And Theo’s discomfort with having care of these two babies wasn’t funny. It broke her heart. He really wasn’t keen on children.
Still, she couldn’t help noticing with a pang, “He trusts you. Do you spend a lot of time with him?”
“Whenever I’m in New York,” he shrugged. “Adara’s always inviting me to dinner and handing him off to me. I copy what Gideon does and we get along okay. Airplane rides, right, sport?”
Androu grinned, put out his arms and tipped forward into space, trusting he’d be caught with a firm hand under his chest. He made a raspberry noise with his mouth as Theo did a slow circle and dive with him.
Jaya took it like a punch in the stomach. Turning away from the heart-wrenching sight of Theo playing with the boy, she carried Evie to the sofa and started an animated movie on the television for her.
“Think you can handle them while I make a few calls?”
“You’ll stay then,” he said as though it was a done deal, but she read the underlying tension in his intense stare.
She wavered, still annoyed that he was only here because he wanted a favor, not because he wanted to see her, but a little voice inside her said, Quit pretending you have a choice. All the safe, secure blocks and fences and supports she’d put under and around herself trembled in warning of a bigger shake-up, but it had been destined to happen sometime. Today was as good an opportunity as any.
It was so hard to be near him, though. He still got to her, so handsome despite being stubbled and rumpled and smelling faintly of leather and fuel and sweat. Maybe because he looked so nonplussed and human. Like he genuinely needed her. Again.
He wasn’t interested in her, she reminded herself, hurt even though she shouldn’t be. He’d warned her not to expect more than their one night. She hadn’t. It wasn’t like she’d been in love with him. Not deeply, anyway. Just tentatively.
No, it was the fact he hadn’t called when she’d had a serious reason to reach out to him. He shouldn’t have dismissed her like some ditzy woman who didn’t understand the rules. When he had texted her today with his cryptic message, she had responded. She expected that same consideration from him. He should have called her back.
He should know that he had his own baby who liked airplane rides.
* * *
Theo spoke to Gideon while Jaya chattered in French, ordering supplies to be delivered to their suite. When she began speaking Punjabi, she lost him, which irritated him further than he already was.
Forcing himself to pay attention to his own call, he heard Gideon say, “It’s a stunt. The son of an African prince. He’s chasing down his runaway wife, although the guns are real and so are the consequences. We’re stationary while the French and Spanish navies draw straws on whose jurisdiction we’re in. Of course the FBI wants a say because we have so many Americans on board. Meanwhile, our pirate is threatening to draw all of North Africa into the fight if we don’t turn over his wife, but if she’s stowing away, we haven’t found her. The ladies are having kittens that I sent the babies off the ship. Are they all right?”
“Safe,” Theo replied, eyeing Jaya as she toed off her shoes and shrunk by a couple of inches. Something in her expression seemed disturbingly vulnerable as she spoke with a lilt of persuasion into her phone. Her tone riled up oddly protective instincts in him when, on the surface, she looked more self-assured than ever.
Again he wondered if there was a man in her life, then cut off his speculation. The thought of her with a lover made him nauseous.
“Can you keep them out of sight?” Gideon continued. “Nic’s planning a broadcast from his cabin—man can’t stand to be scooped—but we want to leave the impression they’re still here, otherwise...”
“Understood. We’re off the grid.”
“Excellent. We’re a day from shore once we can move again and may have to wait for a slip in Marseilles.
