Abby Green - In Christofides Keeping (Harlequin Presents)

RICO CHRISTOFIDES stifled his irritation and tried to rein in his wandering attention. What was wrong with him? He was in one of the most exclusive restaurants in London, dining with one of the most beautiful women in the world. But it was as if someone had turned the sound down and all he could hear was the steady thump-thump of his heart.

He saw Elena gesticulating and speaking with a little too much animation, her eyes glittering a little too brightly as she tossed her luxurious mane of red hair over one shoulder, leaving the other one bare. It was meant to entice but it didnt.

He knew all the moves. Hed seen countless women perform them for years, and hed enjoyed them. But right now he felt no more desire for this woman than he would for an inanimate wooden object. He regretted the impulse hed acted on to call her up once hed known hed be in London for a few days.

Curiously, he was being enticed by a tantalising memory. Hed glanced fleetingly at one of the waitresses as theyd walked in and in an instant something about the way she moved had registered on his brain, throwing him back in timetwo years back in time, to be precise. Hed found himself thinking of the one woman who hadnt been like all the others. The one woman who had managed to smash through the high wall of defences he kept rigid around himself and his emotions.

For just one night.

His fist clenched on his thigh under the table. It had to be just because he was back in London for the first time since that night. He forced himself to smile tightly in answer to something Elena had said, which seemed to require that response, and to his relief he could see that she was off again, clearly loving the sound of her voice more than she cared if he was listening or not.

The night hed met herGypsyif that even was her nametheyd just come out of the club and hed been about to tell her his name. Shed put a hand over his mouth, saying fervently, I dont want to know who you aretonight isnt about that.

Scepticism hadnt been far away. Either she knew damn well who he was, as hed been splashed all over the tabloids for days before that night, or elseBut Rico had found himself pausing as hed looked down at her. Shed looked so lovely and young and freshand untainted. And for that moment, for the first time in his life, hed pushed aside cynicism and suspicionhis constant companionsand said, OK, then, temptresswhat about just first names?

Before she could say anything and still believing deep down and with not a little arrogance that she had to know who he was, hed held out his hand and said with a flourish, Ricoat your service.

Shed placed her small soft hand in his and hesitated for a long moment before saying huskily, Im Gypsy.

A made-up name. It had to be. Hed chuckled, and he could remember even now how alien it had felt to allow that emotion to rise up. Fair enough. Play your silly game if you wantRight now Im interested in a lot more than your name

Someone laughed raucously at a nearby table, jerking Rico out of the memory, but even so a hot spiral of desire ran through him and he had a sudden memory flash of hearts beating in unison, sweat-slicked skin, her sleek body around his in an embrace so velvet hot and tight that hed fought just to keep control. And then her muscles had started to spasm around him, shed given a fractured breathy moan, and hed lost it in a way that hed never lost it before or since.

Rico, darling Elena was pouting at him, lips too blood-red. Youre miles away. Please tell me youre not thinking of boring work.

Rico stifled a cynical grimace. It was that very boring work, and all the many millions hed made in the process, that had women like Elena hovering around him in droves, waiting for little more than a crooked finger to signal his interest. Even so, the acknowledgement couldnt stop him from shifting uncomfortably in his seat, very disturbed by the fact that he was being turned on not by the woman opposite him, but by a ghost from the past. Because that ghost was the one woman who hadnt fallen at his feet in sycophantic ecstasy when hed singled her out.

On the contrary: shed tried to walk away from him. And then the following morning she had walked away from him. But not before hed left her on the bed, like a callow, unsophisticated youth. Regret burned him, and Rico didnt do regret.

He forced another tight smile and reached across for Elenas far too available hand. She practically purred when he took it. He opened his mouth to offer some platitude as a waitress walked past their table, and he frowned when his body inexplicably reactedtightening almost as if it sensed something his brain hadnt yet registered. He looked up; it was the waitress hed noticed on the way in. The waitress who had sparked a veritable torrent of memories.

Was he going completely insane? An evocative scent lingered on the air in her wake. He tried to sound casual, and not as if he was afraid he was going crazy. He looked back to his date. What scent are you wearing?

Elenas lips curled seductively as she offered Rico her wrist to smell. Poisondo you like?

He bent his head, but even before he smelt the distinctive perfume he knew it was all wrong. Nausea clenched his belly. He looked up again, as if drawn helplessly, to see the back of the waitress. She was taking an order at a nearby table. That evocative scent reminded him ofAbruptly Elena pulled her hand from his with a barely disguised huffy sigh and stood from the table, smoothing a hand over one artfully cocked hip sheathed in silk.

Im going to go and powder my nose. Hopefully by the time I get back you wont be so distracted.

Rico disregarded the reproach in her voice and didnt watch her walk away. He was transfixed now by the slim back of the petite waitress just a few feet away. She had a neatly shaped figurefirm buttocks, defined by the close-fitting black skirt which hid her legs to the knee, and slender but shapely calves and tiny ankles. Feet in low-heeled black shoes. So far so unremarkable.

His gaze travelled back up, past the plain white shirt, with just a hint of the bra underneath, taking in her hair, which looked a dark honey-brown but which he guessed might be lighter in daylight. It was densely curled, tied back into a tight bun, but he could already imagine the wild corkscrew curls that would burst free. Almost exactly likeHe shook his head again, cursing softly.