‘Absolutely not...’
‘You have worked for me for over a week. You are yet to take any time off—you need a break. Seeing as you won’t take one, I’m going to force it.’
‘You can’t do that.’
He took a step closer to her. ‘I just have.’
She folded her arms across her ample chest. ‘I’ll get the captain to take me back to Sidiro.’
‘Sorry, agapi mou,’ he said with a sad shake of his head, ‘but he only takes orders from me. If you find another means of returning to Sidiro, then I’m afraid I will be forced to reject your first set of plans for the house, even if they’re perfect. And the second,’ he added for good measure.
‘You’d be that petty?’
‘For sure.’ Another step closer. ‘And if I find you working on your laptop, I will cut the internet off.’
The glare she threw him was undermined by the flare of amusement ringing in her eyes that her humungous spectacles couldn’t disguise. Theo tilted his head to soak in her luminescent beauty from a different angle.
Something new flared in those eyes, a something that had him leaning even closer. He inhaled the clean fruitiness of her shampoo and murmured, ‘You are going to take the day off whether you like it or not. We will have our refreshments and then I’m taking you shopping.’
‘But...’
He put a finger to her perfect lips. ‘Arguing with me is now officially banned. What I say goes.’
Her breathing deepened. She grabbed the finger and held it tightly. ‘That’s not fair.’
‘You can be in charge next time.’
‘There won’t be a next time.’
‘And that is exactly why you need this break. You’re too uptight. You need to relax and enjoy the sunshine. And if you argue with me one more time, I’ll keep you here until the weekend.’
She stared at him a beat too long then seemed to realise she still had hold of his finger and hastily dropped it. ‘You’re impossible.’
‘Thank you. Now, let us enjoy our refreshments and then we can work on loosening you up a little.’ With another wink, he sauntered off to the sun room, leaving Helena no choice but to hurry after him.
Helena had no idea how Theo managed to talk her into entering the exclusive boutique hidden up a narrow backstreet in Agon’s capital, Resina, when there was no way she could afford any of the garments. Actually, she did know—by using the force of his personality and the good humour that always lurked behind it. And she, as she’d done all those years ago, had succumbed.
Well, not succumbed exactly. More that she’d realised arguing would get her nowhere. The next ferry to Sidiro wasn’t until Friday, so unless she wanted to charter a boat to sail back, she was stuck with Theo in Agon for the next twenty-four hours. She had no doubt his threat to extend their time here until the weekend was something he would happily stick to. It was a threat the old, hedonistic Helena, the Helena Theo had recognised just before he kissed her, kept whispering that she needed to test.
As the day had gone on, she’d felt the Helena that had once emerged like a butterfly for Theo growing in strength. She’d locked it back in its cage three years ago but it had fluttered its wings with joy when she’d come face to face with Theo in the Staffords boardroom and refused to calm down since.
Theo was just too...everything. He made her feel everything. He had an innate energy, a zest for life that was as infectious as it was irresistible. He didn’t just get under her skin, it was more that her skin rose to welcome him into its confines. Every breath she took, every step she walked, every word she uttered, it was all done with a heart that felt as if it had grown too large for her chest.
Why was she fighting it? He wanted her, she wanted him. They were both adults. She’d already proven to herself that she wasn’t the same little lamb for him any more. If she felt the need to take the lead in something, she went ahead and did it without a second thought.
He’d turned his nose up at the first shop they’d gone into—an international brand that sold fashionable, affordable clothing—but he’d followed her inside and been happy to wait while she tried on dozens of outfits, half of which she’d had no intention of buying but used as a form of revenge against a man who got itchy feet if he had to stand still for longer than a second. When she’d held up a summer dress she’d instinctively known he would hate, he’d pulled a face of such deliberate horror that she’d burst into laughter and added it to her to-buy pile.
She’d been too quick for him at the counter and had handed her debit card to the cashier before he’d realised she’d paid for her own stuff.
She had to admit, it felt wonderful to be spending money on herself again. She’d paid a chunk of her debt off with Theo’s signing-on payment and for the first time in three years had a little cash to spare. It had been a long time since she’d bought anything but work outfits. Now that she knew what debt felt like, she would never allow herself to be in that position again.
She had to admit, too, that it felt wonderful to change out of her stuffy work clothes into a pair of loose, breathable cream tapered trousers, a pretty cami-top with embroidered pink and purple flowers and a pair of flat sandals. A quick visit to a chemist for some sunscreen and a hair band...and now, with her hair tied in a knot at the back of her head, she felt wonderfully cool.
Having disappeared when they entered the store to chat with the boutique’s manageress—an old
