The Billionaire's Elusive Lover (4 page)

Helen had grown up spending the school year in London with her English mother and her summers in Greece with her very Greek father. In London, she’d investigated so many neighborhoods, having lived in a different one every year of her life. Other children might become nervous of that kind of lifestyle, never feeling secure about where one would be living next. But Helen loved it. It might be because she always had her ultra steady father to ground her with solid morals and a large home she could always come back to during her summers.

It could also be because she’d learned how to genuinely appreciate life through her mother, never taking anything very seriously, and then learned to dig in and find a career that she loved and could thrive in with her father. Being a freelance photographer gave her the best of both worlds. She definitely had a career path and the ambition to sell her photos to the more prestigious magazines, even one day to publish her own book. But it also gave her the freedom to come and go as she pleased, to float from one area of the world to the next and appreciate, really look and understand what was around her.

As she stared across the table at Alec while he finished ordering the wine, she wondered what kind of upbringing he’d had. She guessed it was more along the lines of her father. With a name like Dionysius, he had to be Greek. But how “Greek” was he really? Did he believe in family the way her father did? Did he believe that connections and community were as sacred and inviolate as she considered? She doubted it. Many people could trace their ancestry to Greece, could even claim they believed in family above all things, but when it came down to it, they were much more Western than they wanted to think. And would he agree with her need for chastity until she married? She hadn’t met a man yet who understood, hence the reason she had so many male friends, and no boyfriend. Not wanting casual intimacy was a difficult conversation to undergo in a relationship. Men usually couldn’t handle it.

And to date, no man had even tempted her to challenge that.

Not that Alec was tempting her, she told herself firmly.

She sighed and adjusted the napkin nervously. She had to get out of this dinner unscathed but she wasn’t sure how she was going to do that. Looking up, her breath froze in her chest. The look he was giving her was lethal and she wanted to look away but couldn’t.

“Tell me about yourself, Helen.”

She played with the edges of the linen napkin, curling them about her fingers, re-aligning the perfectly straight flat ware, taking a sip of her water, anything that would let her avoid looking into his eyes. “What do you want to know?”

“How did you get into photography, first of all.”

She sighed. This was a safe subject at least. Leaning her elbows onto the table, she looked at him now. “That’s easy. I love looking around and seeing things. When I realized I could capture whatever I was looking at permanently on film or digitally, I couldn’t put a camera down.”

“Where did you study photography?”

She laughed softly. “Actually, I went to Harvard for university in the States and studied business. I only studied photography by sneaking into the community college during the weekends of the school year. My father wouldn’t let me study something so “flighty” as photography or anything arty is how he phrased it. So I studied business, genuinely enjoyed my classes, earned my degree and now I take the most fascinating pictures I can.” She smiled at the end of her tale as if that explained everything.

“You didn’t like business?” he asked, not accepting that as the end of the story.

“Oh, no. I love business. I find economics and math very interesting. The theory behind many of the economic models is fascinating and I use that philosophy to take better pictures. Applying economics to peoples’ motives gives the individual depth and dimension. You can’t take money out of the world. It just won’t work. Why fight it?”

“So why didn’t you get a job with some company where you could utilize your business skills?”

Helen laughed, having had this conversation with her father over and over again throughout the years. He simply couldn’t understand her need to be creative instead of numbers oriented. “It isn’t me,” she said with a slight lift of one shoulder. “What about you?”

“I went to Oxford, got out and now I use my business degree,” he said easily.

She laughed merrily at his synopsis. “And what do you do for fun? What relaxes you?”

“Sex,” he said simply, leaning forward and looking into her eyes, daring her to reply to his challenge.

Helen couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up at his response. She looked him up and down and shook her head. “I don’t believe you’re that much of a roué. You’re too intelligent to have sex as your only outlet.”

He leaned his elbows on the table, mirroring her posture. “Oh? And what else do you think relaxes me?”

She studied him for a moment. “I think you work out physically like a maniac.”

He shifted in a way that told Helen that she was right on target, and that he didn’t like that she saw through him. “And what makes you think that?”

She raised an eyebrow, a perfect imitation of his look of interest. “I felt your muscles when we were outside on the sidewalk. Don’t even try and tell me you don’t enjoy exercise. Those muscles are too hard for someone who only works out for their health.”

“Perhaps it’s a way to help me concentrate.”

“Isn’t that the basis for all enjoyment and relaxation?”

“No.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at his serious expression. “You’re wrong,” she said, shaking her head.

He raised his eyebrows but moved on to the next subject. They discussed everything and Helen was astonished at how charming the man could be when he put his mind to it. It was as if she’d challenged him and now he was out to prove her wrong.

The meal was extraordinarily delicious as well and over far too quickly, although she glanced at her watch and realized they’d been there for almost five hours, talking and eating and she honestly could say that she couldn’t remember laughing so much in a single evening.

When she realized it was almost midnight, she glanced up shyly. “I need to get home,” she admitted. “But it’s been a wonderful night. I hate to say it, but I really appreciate you coercing me into this meal.”

Alec leaned back in his chair, sipping his brandy slowly as he contemplated a strategy for getting her back to his penthouse and into his bed. His body simply would not accept that she wasn’t coming home with him. He’d been aching since he’d held her in his arms out on the street. The need to possess her, to somehow put his stamp of possession on her and claim her as his and his alone, was raw and urgent. He didn’t investigate these new feelings accepting that there were just some things in life he could take on intuition. As soon as he had her, made love to her and found out her secrets, she would be out of his blood.

“You haven’t finished your coffee,” he pointed out. “And I don’t think I want to let you leave yet.”

Helen laughed. “I’m not sure that’s possible. I have a meeting tomorrow morning and, although it isn’t early, I need my beauty sleep.” She pushed her napkin onto the table beside her plate, preparing to stand up.

“Stay with me tonight,” he said softly. “I’ll make sure you get to your meeting tomorrow with plenty of time to spare.”

Helen couldn’t deny she was tempted but she had a promise to live up to. “I can’t. I won’t even explain because you wouldn’t understand but I made a promise to someone and I can’t break that promise.”

Alex stiffened with anger. “Was this promise made to another man?” he asked, his tone just as soft but with a deadly force which was undeniable. Alec couldn’t even consider that she might be attached, even casually, to another man. The feelings that were shooting through his system were new and unrecognizable, but as a man, he reacted to them at a primal level. He would not allow any other man to touch Helen, not while he was still interested, he told himself.

Helen looked at him curiously. She could sense his anger but didn’t understand it. What had she done or said to make him so furious? “Yes. Of course, but I don’t see what…”

His brandy plunked down on the table with a thunk and he leaned forward, his dark, dangerous eyes capturing her green ones and holding her captive. “Let’s get something straight, Helen. From now on, you make promises to no one but me. Is that clear?” His voice was firm and he thought she would understand that he was not going to stand for her being with another man, no matter what the circumstances.

Helen was stunned for a long moment, blinded to his logic by the intensity of his tone and his gaze. But slowly, she realized that he was ordering her about, thinking he had the right. And stubborn woman that she was, she’d always fought against any kind of authority, driving her father crazy until he’d figured out how to deal with his stubborn daughter.

She shook her head, instantly irritated. “Alec, I’m not sure what you’re expecting here but I’m not making promises to you at all. And this promise was made long before I ever met you and I’m not going back on my word.” She stood up and pushed her chair in, ignoring the waiter hovering nearby and Alec’s security detail that was instantly alert. “Thank you for a very pleasant evening and please, don’t do anything about Mick’s or Edith’s transgression. It was my fault.”

Alec was livid that she would walk away after making that kind of a statement. Didn’t she know who he was? What he could do to her and her family? With only a phone call, he could destroy her career, ensure that she never sold another photograph. “Sit down, Helen. We haven’t finished with this discussion,” he articulated carefully.

Helen couldn’t believe this man. Where had all the charm gone? Where was the man who had made her laugh throughout the meal and who had listened to all her dreams as if he really cared about her goals and ambitions? He was definitely not this stern autocrat who thought she would jump at whatever commands he wanted to deliver.

She pulled out her wallet, grimacing at the small number of bills left after her lunch. “I’m sorry, I know this won’t cover my half of the meal, but it’s all I have. Goodnight, Alec,” she said and walked away from the table. A part of her wished he would stop her, to take the decision out of her hands. She suspected that, once he started kissing her, she would fall easily into his bed.

When she reached the sidewalk, Helen quickly raised her hand to hail a cab. She should probably take the bus but she had no idea where the nearest bus stop was or what time it would arrive at this time of night. It was safer, if much more expensive, to take a cab tonight.

Glancing back at the restaurant, she wished the evening could have gone on longer. Alec definitely was a different kind of man than what she was used to. She’d never met anyone quite like him. If only he hadn’t changed so drastically at the end of the night….

No, she thought as the cab turned a corner and the restaurant’s lights faded around the next building, Alec was dangerous. His touch could make her forget. She needed to stay away from him completely. He definitely wasn’t the man for her.

Alec watched her as she walked gracefully through the tables, his body rebelling at his patience. He’d have her, he knew. It was just a matter of time. He knew he could convince her but that wouldn’t be as good as if she came to him willingly.

“Follow her,” he said to Dominic, one of his body guards. The man nodded immediately and turned to leave the restaurant.

He then looked down at the table and burst out laughing. The impertinent woman had left him nine dollars. He chuckled as he stood up, shaking his head in exasperation. He’d have to eliminate that stubborn and independent streak she had, he thought. The meal had cost more like nine hundred dollars but he admired the fact that she’d emptied her wallet for him. She obviously had no concept of how much a meal in this kind of establishment could cost but he didn’t mind. At least she wasn’t after him for his money.

He ducked into the back of his waiting limousine, his mind automatically starting to focus on what he would do once he finally had her in his bed. The ideas tumbled over the next one and he shifted uncomfortably as his body reacted to his mind’s plans for the slender beauty.

Chapter 2

Helen balanced the chocolate cake in one hand while talking on her cell phone with the other. “Are you sure you’re free for at least an hour?” she asked Edith as she walked quickly around the corner. The building was in sight but she hesitated, hoping she wouldn’t run into Alec again. Once had been bad enough. The man had infiltrated her dreams every night for the past seven days and she’d become distracted at least several times a day while working. What had the man done to her? She couldn’t get him out of her mind! Men never got under her skin like this. And she definitely didn’t like that!

Edith smiled through the phone. “Yes, he’s flying back from an international meeting today so I expect him at some point. But thankfully he won’t be back until tonight.”

“Which is why you’re working late, huh?” she asked, feeling hopeful that her plans would all work out. Edith had no idea what was going on, and Helen hoped to keep it that way, at least for a few more minutes.

Edith sighed. “Yes. But things always turn out for the best,” she replied.

Helen wasn’t fooled. She heard the sadness in her new friend’s voice and was determined to make her feel better. “Okay, then I’ll call Mick and let him know I’m on my way. I have a great surprise for you.” She hung up the phone quickly, afraid she’d reveal too much if she didn’t get off the line immediately.