LITMIR.BIZ

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he turned to the others. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to talk to Kyria Myers.”

      By now Kellie had joined her husband, leaving Fran alone. He watched her wander to the wall at the edge of the patio and look out over the water. Her violet-blue eyes flicked to his when she saw him approach. “I can’t imagine gazing out on this idyllic view every night of your life. All the stories about the Greek Islands are true. You live in a paradise, especially here on Mykonos.”

      “I agree there’s no place on earth quite like it. On the weekends, I look forward to leaving the office in Athens and coming home. The temperature of the air and the sea turns us into water babies around here.”

      She smiled. “There’s an American artist who has done some serigraphs of Mykonos. He’s captured the white cubic style of a villa like your family’s to perfection.”

      “I know the artist you mean. I’m fond of his artwork, too, particularly several of his Italian masterpieces.”

      “Aren’t they wonderful?”

      He nodded, enjoying their conversation, but was impatient to get down to business. “How long did it take Demi to finally fall asleep?”

      “Um, maybe ten songs,” she quipped. Her gentle laugh found its way beneath his skin.

      “Let’s go for a walk along the beach.” He took off his shoes. “Be sure to remove your sandals. You can leave them here by mine.”

      “All right.” Together they walked down the steps to the sand. From there it was only a few yards to the water. “Oh. Lovely. It warms my toes.”

      Nik chuckled. “Twilight is my favorite time to swim. If you wait a while, the moon will come up. Then everything is magical.”

      “It already is.”

      They walked in companionable silence for a long time. Unlike most women he knew, she felt no need to fill it in with conversation. That was a quality he liked very much, except for tonight. At the moment he had the perverse wish she would speak her mind. Fran knew he was waiting to hear she’d changed her mind.

      Taking the initiative, he said, “Are you and Kellie still intent on leaving tomorrow?”

      She slowed to a stop. In the dying light, she looked straight at him. “Yes. Much as I’d like to help you out, I’m afraid I can’t. But I’ll have you know it has been my privilege to take care of Demi over the last few days. If it’s your wish, I’ll stay with her until the funeral services are over. Then I’ll fly back to Athens with Kellie and Leandros.”

      His heart clapped to a stop. She’d turned him down flat. Over his years in business, he’d made a study of people to find out what made them tick. Before Kellie Petralia had spent time alone with her in the bedroom, he could have sworn Fran was considering his proposition. He rubbed the back of his neck. Leandros’s wife had a definite agenda and Nik’s appeal to Fran had gotten in the way.

      Trying a different tack he said, “Could you possibly wait another day? With the funeral tomorrow, I won’t be able to do anything about Demi’s care until the next day. What I’d like to do is interview some nannies for the position. It would be a big help if you were there, too.

      “Your hospital work makes you somewhat of an expert in reading people. If we both come up with our own questions, I’m sure we’ll be able to pick the right nanny for her.”

      “I’m sorry, Nik, but I promised Kellie we’d leave as soon as you all came back from the interment. Surely your own mother and sisters-in-law would be the perfect ones to help out?”

      Disappointed by her noncapitulation, he bit down hard on his teeth. “They would if Demi would let them hold her. I’m afraid a hysterical baby could put off a potential nanny.”

      “If that’s the case, then you need to keep looking for one who can handle the situation, no matter how difficult.”

      Damn if beneath that ultra-feminine exterior she didn’t think like a man… .

      He felt a grudging respect for her, but this battle was far from over and he was determined to win. “What if I offered you the job of permanent nanny? It’s what I’d been thinking about all along after I saw how you cared for her in the hospital. No one could have been more like a mother. That’s why she responded to you.”

      “Thank you for the compliment, but I already have a career,” she came back without blinking an eye. “As much as I love that little girl—and who wouldn’t?—it’s a job, and the last one I’d want.”

      Nik was dumbfounded. “Are you so enamored of your hospital work, you can’t imagine yourself leaving it for a position that could pay you an income to set you up for life in surroundings like this?”

      “Actually, I can’t, and I don’t want that kind of money.”

      Then she belonged to a dying breed.

      “Let me ask you the same question, Nik. Do you love what you do to make a living?”

      His eyes narrowed on her appealing features, particularly her generous mouth. “What does one have to do with the other?”

      “I was just thinking of a way to solve your problem. In the hospital, you treated Demi like a father would. Maybe you ought to become her nanny and give your brothers more responsibility for running the Angelis Corporation. Your sister Melina and Stavros would look down from heaven and love you forever for making such a great sacrifice.”

      Fran didn’t know he’d agreed to be Demi’s guardian if anything happened to them. Her comment found his vulnerable spot and pierced the jugular. He could feel his blood pressure climbing.

      “Then again,” she said softly, “you could find a wife who would love Demi and make a beautiful home for the three of you. That would take care of every problem. Your parents must be worried sick you haven’t settled down yet.”

      Adrenaline pushed his anger through the roof. “Now we come to the crunch. After reading the tabloids on the plane, is it possible you’re offering to become my bride and bring an end to my wicked ways? Is that what this verbal exercise has all been about?”

      Her gentle laughter rang out in the night air. “Heavens, no. You’re no more wicked than the next man.”

      While he digested that surprising comment she said, “I’ve been through marriage once and have no desire to be locked in that unhappy prison again. I was only teasing you, Nik, but it was wrong of me to try to lighten your mood on the eve of the funeral. Forgive me for that. I can see why you’re such a powerhouse in business. You make it impossible to say no.”

      “Yet you’ve just said no to me.” The nerve at his temple throbbed. This woman was twisting him in knots.

      She eyed him critically. “You’ve told me you value what I’ve learned from my hospital work. If that’s true, then listen to me. Demi’s going to be all right. I promise. For a while we know she’ll grieve for her parents, but in time she’ll respond to your loving family.

      “They’re wonderful and they’re all here willing to do anything. Let them help. Don’t take it all on by yourself or you’ll burn out.”

      “What are you talking about?” he growled with impatience.

      “I’m talking about you. Leandros sings your praises as the new brains and power behind the Angelis Corporation. But you can’t be everything to everyone every minute of the day and night the way you’ve been doing since you heard about the tornado. You remind me of Atlas carrying the world on your shoulders.”

       Atlas?

      “I’ve seen it happen in families once a patient goes home from the hospital. There’s always one person like you who carries the whole load, whether because of a greater capacity to feel compassion or a stronger need to give service. Who knows all the reasons? But the point is, this develops into a habit, and you’re too young for

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