is perfect.” He and Neo had not left Greece because they wanted to get away from the sunshine.
“If you are partial to a warm climate.”
“Which I am.”
“Me, too.” She sighed. “Maybe I should have relocated to Southern California, when I left New York.”
“No, we would not have met.”
“You might have been better off.”
What? He did not think so. He maneuvered her so their gazes met, and saw that her azure eyes were troubled. He shook his head. “Are you trying to imply that our friendship has been a detriment to me in some way?”
“Well, it’s not as if I’m the woman you envisioned as the mother of your future children.” Her voice echoed with pain he would not have expected.
“I had not given any thought to who that might be.” No serious contemplation anyway. He had thought of her in that role, before they started having sex. He admired her character and thought she would make an ideal mother and wife, except for that romantic streak even her rotten marriage had not cured her of.
“But you would not have considered me.”
“You are right.” At least that had been his final determination.
She turned her head away completely, but not before he saw sadness making her blue eyes shimmer dangerously.
Oh, no. Tears were not going to happen. He gently, but inexorably, tugged her face back around. “Not because I do not think you would be eminently suitable, but because I knew you would never consider a…what did you call my nebulous marriage plans? A business merger.”
“Why would it have to be a business transaction between the two of us?” she asked plaintively.
“How could it be anything else?”
“Love.”
“Love?” Hadn’t they already discussed this? “Whatever propensity to love I may have had once is gone. Even if it were not, love does not always last. Blood ties do not count for much, either.”
“So, there is nothing left but business?”
“True friendship can endure,” he admitted.
“Like your friendship with Neo.”
“Yes.”
“He’s the only person in your life who has never let you down, isn’t he?”
“On a personal level? Yes.” He brushed her lips with his thumb. “Well, not actually. You have never let me down, either.”
“Until this morning.” Her lower lip trembled and she bit it.
“You did not let me down.”
“How can you say that?” she asked.
“It is the truth. We are done assigning blame, remember?”
“I don’t think I got the memo.” She gave a pale version of her usual teasing smile, but at least she was no longer on the verge of tears.
He hoped. “We agreed this morning.”
“That was not agreement, that was you saying it did no good.”
“I am right.”
“You have what can be an annoying tendency to think you are.” But she nuzzled his neck and he was not too worried.
“What can I say? I usually am.”
She pulled back and gave him a gloating glare. “Ah, so you admit to at least some small level of infallibility.”
“Naturally.”
“You’re so darn arrogant.” She shook her head in bemusement. “Why do I find that charming again?”
“You tell me.”
“I plead the Fifth.”
“We are in Greece,” Zephyr pointed out, “not the U.S. The Fifth Amendment does not apply here.”
“I bet the Greek constitution has some similar guarantee against having to testify against themselves for their citizens.”
“We are getting off topic here.”
“You’re right.” Piper gathered her thoughts. “Why, if you trust friendship so much, do you think a marriage based on it would fail?”
“I did not say I believed a marriage between us would fail utterly, but it would fail to make you happy.” And ultimately, that had decided him against the prospect.
“Why? Would you plan to sleep around after?”
“No. I could give you fidelity.” Of that, he had no doubts. “However, I could not give you something you’ve made clear is of equal importance to you.” Long before their discussion of love at dinner the other night, he had known she was still waiting for her fairy-tale ending complete with love ever after and Prince Charming.
He was a former street rat, no prince, and love was not, and never would be, on his agenda.
“You’re talking about love again, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Can you honestly say you would have considered a marriage proposal without it?”
She bit her lip and looked away, shaking her head once in negation.
“As I thought.”
“So, where does that leave us?”
“I do not know.” If she was pregnant with his child, he would try to convince her to accept his proposal, regardless of her finer feelings.
He knew his inner ruthlessness would show itself and he could not even be sorry about that. If she carried his baby, neither of their dreams took precedence. They would do what was best for their child.
He would never allow a child of his to be anything but absolutely certain of its place in his life. Unlike both his mother and father, Zephyr Nikos would consider his role as parent the most important one he would ever hold.
He did not know how to be a father, but he and Neo had self-educated themselves in business and that had been an eminently successful endeavor. With the same work and dedication, he could learn how to be a dad as well. Unlike when he was a teenager, he did not have to rely on used books, and firsthand experience at ground level.
He could afford to consult the most eminent minds in the field of child development, read the best books on the subject and do whatever else was necessary to be the best parent possible.
Zephyr had never done things by halves and becoming a parent would be no exception.
“I don’t want to take an over-the-counter pregnancy
