Runaway Sister (12 page)

“Valerie darling,” he said, coming up to his wife, “you are going to kill me, I know.”

“Why, darling?” Valerie reached out a lazy hand to him from the sunlounger where she was relaxing with an ice-cold orange juice before dinner.

“Because I've got to fly to Athens first thing tomorrow morning, on the first flight out.”

Valerie sat up. “Oh, that's a nuisance,” she said, frowning, but then she smiled. “It doesn't matter, Samantha and I will go to the airport and pick him up.”

“Pick who up?” asked Samantha, puzzled.

“My brother, of course, silly,” said Valerie. “You're quite used to driving the car now, aren't you?”

And so that was how it came to be that Samantha and Valerie were at the airport the following morning waiting as the huge jet disgorged its passengers. Idly Samantha scanned the incoming passengers, wondering which of them would turn out to be Valerie's brother, when her eye caught sight of the tall figure of Adam Shaw. Simultaneously Valerie leapt to her feet, waving and saying to Samantha, “There he is!”

It was with a feeling of incredulity that Samantha realized that the man Valerie was waving at was Adam Shaw. He was Valerie's brother, he must have known all the time where she was going to work, and had misled her into thinking she was keeping a secret! Conflicting emotions were racing turbulently through her mind as Adam cleared Customs and Immigration and came striding across the airport lounge towards them. She was furious with him for having tricked her, and yet her heart was pounding totally out of control as his tall, lithe figure came nearer and nearer, his dark rugged features giving no hint of his feelings.

Valerie flung her arms around her brother affectionately, and Adam hugged her, enveloping her in his long arms. Samantha felt a stab of pain as she remembered how it felt to be held by those long, strong arms. After he had kissed Valerie and enquired about her health, Adam looked at Samantha.

Valerie dragged him over. “She's been taking wonderful care of me, Adam,” she said. “She's exactly like you said she was.”

Suddenly things began to click into place, as Samantha realized that Valerie had assumed, wrongly, that Samantha had known who her brother was all along, and that it had been Adam, not Miss MacKenzie, who had told Valerie about her. She tried to think back. Valerie had not given her any clue, but then why should she when she had thought Samantha had known she was talking about Adam all along?

Forcing a smile to her lips, Samantha extended her hand. “Your sister is in excellent health,” she said, “but you'll be glad to know that I'm insisting that she keeps to a strict antenatal régime.”

Valerie laughed, linking her arm through that of her brother. “Yes,” she said, “she's an absolute dragon when it comes to the subject of rest, she insists I have my eight hours, if not more.”

“Quite right too,” replied Adam, looking down at Valerie with affection shining from his grey eyes. “I knew she would, that was why I insisted you should have her and no one else.”

Briefly his eyes met Samantha's, she glared back, only to look hurriedly away when she saw his eyes were dancing with amusement at her discomfiture. During the drive back to the villa Samantha said as little as possible and left all the talking to Valerie and Adam. They all sat together under the umbrella on the terrace and had a light lunch. Samantha had never felt less like eating, although she usually thoroughly enjoyed all Greek food. Today, however, she only ate a little taramasalata and pita bread and had a tiny sip of wine. Valerie and Adam were still catching up with family gossip, and at the end of lunch Samantha excused herself, saying she would leave them in peace.

Adam made no attempt to stop her as she left, and she couldn't help wondering why he had deliberately set out to deceive her. Was it because he had wanted to see more of her, or was it simply that he knew she was a good midwife and recommended her because his sister needed one? After all, hadn't Valerie said that it was her brother who had insisted she have a nurse to look after her?

Pondering over all these possibilities, Samantha slipped out of the back of the villa and made her way down a little used path to the beach. Once there, she slid into the clear blue water and lazily paddled her way out into the bay. Her attention was caught by a shoal of brightly colored fish darting in and out between the rocks that lay deep on the floor of the bay. The water was so clear that although it was very deep, everything was clearly visible, even the smallest pebble.

“Don't you know it's a stupid thing to do, to go swimming straight after lunch?” enquired a deep voice at her side.

Startled, Samantha raised her head; so intent had she been on the shoal of fish that she hadn't heard Adam paddling the boat towards her.

“Get in,” he said, leaning over the side of the boat and offering her his arm.

“No, thanks,” said Samantha shortly, “I prefer swimming.”

“Get in,” repeated Adam, “or I'll come and get you.”

From the tone of his voice she knew he meant exactly what he said, so reluctantly she grasped hold of his proffered arm and let him haul her into the boat.

Adam looked magnificent in his swimming trunks, although Samantha tried hard not to notice the sinewy muscles rippling across his chest, the strength of his lean masculine thighs. As he pulled her into the boat her dripping body brushed against his, and the brief physical contact almost caused her heart to stop beating.

Defensively she pulled herself away from him and sat at the other end of the boat, glaring at him. He had a self-satisfied expression on his face; he was plainly enjoying the fact that he had surprised her by turning up as Valerie's brother.

“Surprised to see me?” he asked.

“Annoyed would be a more appropriate word,” snapped Samantha. “I don't like being made a fool of.”

“You haven't been made a fool of,” he returned quickly. “You wanted a job abroad, I needed someone for my sister. You got what you wanted, I got what I wanted for my sister.”

Put like that it sounded very reasonable, and Samantha felt stupid for flaring back at him. All the same, she was still annoyed. “You could have told me it was your sister,” she said, “instead of pretending you didn't know where I was going—and don't say you didn't deliberately mislead me there,” she added as he opened his mouth to reply.

Adam raised his hands in a mock gesture of apology. “All right, I admit that,” he said. “But be honest, would you have agreed to take this post if you had known it was my sister?”

“No,” admitted Samantha.

“There you are, then,” he said quickly. “I needed somebody good, somebody I could trust in an emergency, and you needed to get away. It seemed the perfect solution to both our problems.”

Samantha sat in the boat, seawater glistening in drops on her tanned skin. She trailed her hand in the silky turquoise water, looking down at the rocks below. He was right, of course, but he didn't know how she felt about him. She thought about the last time she had seen him in her office, when he had kissed her so briefly on the mouth before he left.

Almost as if he could read her thoughts he suddenly reached across and took her hand. “I'm sorry if I took advantage of your heartbreak,” he said.

Samantha said nothing. Her behavior was impossible to explain, even to herself. She was not normally the type to go falling into men's arms at the first opportunity. She shuddered with a feeling of shame again at the knowledge that she would almost certainly have let him make love to her without a second thought, if it hadn't been for that black negligee laying on the chair.

Adam misinterpreted her silence. “I hadn't realized, until Miss MacKenzie told me, that you'd taken your broken engagement very badly. I didn't know either that he'd been your only boyfriend.” He tipped her face up to his and said softly, “Or your only lover?”

Samantha felt her face flushing and twisted away. He had so very nearly been her lover, her face grew even hotter at the thought.

“Miss MacKenzie didn't tell me that, of course,” continued Adam softly, “that was an educated guess on my part. I was right, wasn't I?”

“Yes, you're right, he was my only boyfriend,” said Samantha quickly, then before she could stop herself she blurted out, “I don't know what came over me that night of the Ball, I…”

Adam put his finger to her lips. “No need to say anything,” he said, smiling. “I think we both were a little mad. How about forgiving me and starting our friendship over again?”

Samantha looked at him, not sure of herself or of him. Not sure of anything where he was concerned. He smiled at her, his grey eyes reflecting the sunlight from the blue water.

“How about me teaching you to water-ski for starters?” he said. “Valerie says you're dying to have a go.”

Samantha smiled back at him, her blue eyes reflecting the same light as his grey ones. Suddenly it seemed a wonderful day—the sun was shining, the sea was clear and inviting and she was sitting in a boat with Adam Shaw. She wondered what Jennie would say if she could see her now!

“That sounds like a very good idea,” she replied, “but you'll have to be patient with me. I shall probably fall off, quite often.”

Adam laughed. “Everybody does to start with,” he said, turning the boat back to the jetty. “Come on, let's get the skis on you.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon water-skiing, and by the end of the afternoon Samantha found to her surprise that she was quite adept at it, but very tired. So when Adam suggested that they stop water-skiing and take the boat so that he could show her some of the beaches and caves that could only be reached by sea, she readily agreed.

The coastline around Paleokastritsa was rugged and honeycombed with small coves, each with its little beach of white sand mixed with large pebbles. Adam steered the little boat in and out of the coves and finally stopped the engine and dropped the anchor over in one surrounded by high towering cliffs. Samantha leaned over the side watching the anchor as it slid down through the clear water and lay glistening on the bottom. Even though the water was so deep, the sunlight still glinted on the metal of the anchor.

“The water is so still here,” she said, “you can see everything.”

“Yes,” agreed Adam, “it's perfect for diving and snorkeling, although you do have to be careful. Every now and then a swell will come in and if you're not careful you can get swept up against those rocks.” He indicated some jagged-looking rocks at the foot of the cliffs.

Then he stood up, his lightly tanned body glistening in the late afternoon sunlight. “I'm going to have a swim,” he said as he dived in. “Coming to join me?”

Although Samantha's arms and legs were feeling tired from being pulled along when she was skiing she dived into the smooth blue water. Adam swam underwater in amongst the rocks at the bottom, but Samantha stayed on the surface, floating on her back enjoying the sun on her face and the warm water lapping over her body. She was quite unprepared for the sudden surge as a huge wave swept into the cove. She felt herself being swept towards the rocks Adam had previously pointed out, and desperately tried to swim through the wave away from the dangerous points. Adam must have seen her being swept along, because suddenly he was there, his strong arms around her as he pulled her away from danger.

Roughly he hauled her with him into the boat, while she clung on to him, gasping for breath, the force of the wave having knocked it out of her.

Adam looked down at her. “Just as well I was there,” he commented. As Samantha raised her eyes to look at him she saw his eyes darken with desire and desperately tried to quell the rising tide of emotion his closeness brought to her. But she was powerless to move as he pulled her closer, crushing her breasts against his chest until she could hardly breathe at all. It seemed like a lifetime to Samantha, she felt herself drowning in his passionate gaze, but when his mouth descended at last on hers he was gentle.

He dominated her, his mouth moving gently, persuasively over hers, consuming her pliant softness as he pulled her closer and closer. Samantha pushed at him, but it was only a token gesture, she didn't want him to stop. She let her hands rest on his chest, running her fingers through the curling wiry hair on his torso.

At last Adam drew back his head. “I didn't mean to do that,” he said. “In fact, I'd made up my mind that I wouldn't be tempted by you.”

Samantha smiled and shyly laid her head against his shoulder in a gesture of mute surrender.

“You're not angry?” he asked. “And you're not kissing me, pretending it's Steve?”

Samantha raised her head and looked at him. “I'm not angry, and I'm certainly not kissing you pretending it's Steve. I've got over Steve now, but…” she hesitated.

“But what?” prompted Adam.

“But I'm not going to let you make love to me,” blurted out Samantha quickly. She couldn't forget that he was almost certainly still involved with Sophie, but she couldn't bring herself to mention that fact.

Abruptly Adam released her. “In that case,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose, “we'd better go back, or I might be persuaded to attempt to make love to you right now.” His laughing eyes took any sting out of the words.

When they had tied up the boat to the jetty and were walking up the path back to the villa he pulled her towards him and kissed her gently again, but this time without the consuming passion of before.

“If you should ever change your mind,” he said, “about letting me make love to you, don't forget to let me know.” Then before Samantha could reply he grabbed hold of her hand and ran up the path, pulling her protesting at the speed behind him.

Valerie leaned on the carved stone balustrade at the edge of the terrace watching them. “He's an absolute brute,” she said, laughing. “Has he exhausted you with all that water-skiing? You look awfully flushed.”