The Greek Tycoon's Lover (3 page)

Helen wrenched her arm free of the woman’s red clawed grip and moved down the hallway as quickly as she could.

As soon as she approached her desk, Helen’s heart sank. Dimitri was standing at her desk reading a contract instead of being in his office where he should be. She was supposed to be able to reach the sanctuary of her desk and calm her anger before he spotted her.

No such luck.

As soon as she walked in, Dimitri’s eyes looked up. His eyes narrowed as he took in her pale face and shaking hands.

“What happened?” he demanded, his eyes moving from her to the doorway, wondering if he could catch whoever had done this to her.

Helen’s mind thought frantically. “Oh, nothing. I just decided to take the stairs instead of the elevators,” she lied. “I guess I need to get to the gym more often. My heart doesn’t seem to like the exercise.”

“I thought you were down in accounting,” he asked, looking at the file containing several invoices.

“I was,” she said, smiling brightly to cover her nervousness.

“That’s thirteen floors down,” he said, putting his hands on his hips. “Helen, what’s going on? This morning, you’d obviously been crying and now someone has made you so angry you’re shaking. Talk to me,” he said softly, his deep voice like a caress as his green eyes softened to liquid pools of understanding.

Helen took a deep breath, trying to steady her breathing and shaking fingers. “I’m okay,” she lied again. “I’m just a little frustrated about some things but I’ll figure out a way to fix them. I promise.”

His lips smoothed into a grim line of frustration. “And you’re not going to give me any idea on what that problem is?”

Helen shook her head, soft wisps of curls dancing around her temples. She smoothed them back a little frantically, then looked back up at Dimitri, smiling brightly in an effort to hide her anger. Helen shook her head firmly. “I can fix it although I appreciate your support,” she said primly.

The afternoon wore on and Helen’s mood went from bad to worse. Rain started falling around four o’clock and her computer crashed. She called computer support to fix it but they were slow and didn’t finish until after six o’clock. That meant she wasn’t able to finish the report Dimitri needed in the morning and she was so hungry, she spilled coffee all over a pile of contracts.

By the time Dimitri stepped out of his office to leave, Helen had a headache and her feet ached.

Stopping by her desk, he looked down at her frazzled appearance with concern. “Come along, Helen. I’m driving you home.”

Helen glanced up from her computer wearily. “I’m sorry?” she replied, barely able to focus on him, her fatigue overwhelming her. It was both mental and physical today.

“I’m driving home. Pack up and shut down. It is time for you to leave.”

Helen looked around at all the work she had to do. “No, thank you for the offer, but I’d really rather stay here and get some things done while it’s quiet.”

Dimitri was having none of that. He looked at the dark circles under her eyes and the weary droop to her shoulders and shook his head. “No. Nothing here is so important that you need to kill yourself to get it done. You’re exhausted and you’re going to go home,” he countered.

Helen started to argue with him but she could see the intractable expression on his face. Sighing heavily, she accepted defeat in this situation. “Okay. I guess I can work on some of this from home just as easily as I could from here.”

“No Helen. You’re taking the night off,” he said gently but firmly and pulled the files out of her hands, placing them back on the desk.

She felt as if this was just another point of failure in an already miserable day. Helen wanted to cry. “I can handle this, I promise Mr. Theopolis.”

Dimitri felt defeated with her eyes turning all soft and weepy. He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss away all of her worries. But he suspected that she would run for the hills if he even made a move close to her. Soon though. He would have to do something soon or he’d go up in flames with this desire that was eating away at him. He wanted this tiny, sexy woman more than he could remember ever desiring another female.

“No Helen. I’m going to drive you home. It’s late already and it isn’t safe for you to take the subway this late at night.”

She looked out the window and saw that it was dark but didn’t want him to think she couldn’t handle the work load. “It isn’t hard at all..” she started to say but he interrupted her.

“No more arguments and no work. You’re going to go home and soak in a hot bathtub for at least an hour.” When he saw her open her mouth to argue, he stopped her by saying, “Helen, if you don’t agree to do exactly as I say I’m going to stand over you and make sure you take that bubble bath,” he threatened.

With those words, her face turned bright red for the second time that day and she had to bow her head to hide the evidence of just how much the idea affected her. “Okay,” she said, her words muffled since she was bending down to feign an interest in her lap.

“Good. Now where’s your purse?” he asked.

Helen dug her brown, dull carry-all out of the bottom drawer and stood up, following him out of the office.

“What are you going to have for dinner?” he asked when they were seated in his luxurious, powerful car.

Helen thought about the contents of her cabinets and cringed. It was shopping night tonight but she just didn’t feel up to the task. “I’ll probably make myself a bowl of soup or just a salad,” she said.

They pulled up to her house a moment later and Helen almost jumped out of the sleek, powerful car. “Thank you very much for the ride,” she said, bending down so she could see him across the passenger seat. But she was shocked when he wasn’t there. He was already at the little sidewalk in front of her door. “What are you doing?” she asked, rushing to catch up with him.

“I’m walking you to your door,” he said, turning to wink at her. “Don’t all of your dates walk you to your door?” he asked.

Helen laughed self-consciously. “I wouldn’t remember,” she mumbled.

“What was that?” he asked, turning to look down at her.

“Nothing,” she said quickly and pulled out her keys. “As I said, thank you for the ride and for seeing me safely to the door. I’m sure everything is okay now. And I’m sure you have plans for the night.”

Dimitri smiled and Helen’s stomach fluttered. “Are you trying to get rid of me Helen? What are you hiding inside your house?” he teased.

“Nothing!” she gasped. Then, seeing the teasing glimmer in his eyes, her shoulders sagged. “Sorry, I guess I’m a little too sensitive today, aren’t I?”

“Perhaps. But I’ll forgive you if you’ll tell me what happened earlier.” He took her keys from her numb fingers and unlocked her door.

Helen laughed, genuine humor for the first time today. “You’re a little relentless, aren’t you?”

“Of course,” he said, grinning unrepentantly. “That’s how I get what I want.”

She chuckled at his reply. “I know. And you always get what you want, don’t you?”

Dimitri looked down at her but could only see her shiny hair. He put a hand under her chin and lifted her face so he could see her eyes. “Always,” he replied seriously.

Helen wasn’t sure what to say in response. His eyes were blazing but surely it wasn’t her that he wanted. Couldn’t be! But oh! The fantasy!

Helen shook her head. “Yes…well…thank you.”

In response, he walked into her house and turned on the lights. “This is nice,” he said, looking around at her cozy house filled with books and soft lights with a flowery sofa and matching chairs. There was a coffee table filled with magazines and pretty curtains he guessed she probably made herself. Their soft, delicate look reminded him of her hair, he thought.

Now that he was inside her house, he didn’t want to leave. He looked around and spotted the kitchen. “What are you having for dinner?” he asked, moving in that direction and turning on the light. “You mentioned soup or a salad but,” he started to say as he walked into her kitchen, “it doesn’t sound too nourishing.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” she said quickly, afraid he might look into her cabinets and see that they were almost completely empty.

Which, of course, he did. “There’s no food, Helen.” He turned and looked down at her, admonishing her for lying to him earlier.

Helen peered around his large frame into her cabinets. “Of course there is,” she said. There’s a can of soup right there.” She pointed towards the two cans of soup that sat alone on the shelf.

“That’s not a meal,” he replied. Spinning her around by her shoulders, he said, “Go get in your bath and soak while I get you something to eat.”

Helen panicked. “Get in my bath?” she asked. “What do you mean?”

Dimitri’s reply was to walk out of her kitchen and search through the only other door. “Mr. Theopolis, what are you doing?” she asked, wishing she could pull him by the coat and stop him as he entered her bedroom.

Flicking on the light, Dimitri looked around. Yellow. A soft, pretty buttery yellow. “This is very ‘you’, Helen,” he said and walked through the open door that obviously led to her bathroom.

He pulled off his suit jacket and tossed it onto the bed while Helen watched in fascinated horror. She heard the water start and then silence. It took him several moments before he came back out.

“Okay, everything is ready. Go ahead and relax and by the time you get out, I’ll have something for your dinner,” he said and waited.

“What are you doing?” she asked nervously.

“Waiting for you to undress and get into the bathtub,” he explained patiently, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the doorjamb.

Helen’s hand immediately flew to her throat, covering the small amount of skin revealed by the dull, brown suit. “I can’t undress with you watching me,” she replied, her face red for the third time that day. He probably thought she had a blood pressure problem.

Sighing, he pushed away from the door and closed the space between them. “Okay, I’ll leave you but if I suspect that you aren’t in that tub relaxing, I’ll come back in here and undress you myself.”

He looked intently down into her blue eyes to make sure she understood he was serious. Then he left, closing the door softly behind him.

Once she was alone, Helen finally relaxed and almost melted into the bed. The smell of her bath salts wafted to her nose and she quickly pulled off her suit, then stripped off the rest of her clothes, leaving them in a trail behind her as she walked towards the bathroom.

Sinking into the bubble bath filled with soft, lavender scents, she closed her eyes, placing the towel under her head that he’d rolled up and left on the edge of the bath. This man had obviously prepared other women’s baths before. That thought only hurt a little as the tension slowly ebbed from her body and the warm water did the trick.

Chapter 3

Helen almost fell asleep. But just as consciousness was about to leave her, she heard the front door of her house open and close. She hadn’t locked the door! Had one of her neighbors come by to visit? They wouldn’t have just come in without knocking first. Who could it be then?

She sat up and listened. She heard the sound of something in her kitchen. But there was nothing in the kitchen to steal!

She thought about calling out and demanding that the person get out, but was that wise?

“Helen? You’ve been in there a while. Are you okay?” Dimitri’s voice called through the bathroom door.

“Dimitri?” she asked, all the tension coming right back. “I mean, Mr. Theopolis?”

He moved his head into the bathroom and winked at her. “Dimitri sounds better. I’m making you dinner. It’s almost ready,” he said and came into the bathroom. She noticed his sleeves were rolled up and he had a towel over one shoulder and a silk robe over his arm. “Here you go,” he said and left the robe on the counter within easy reach. “Will you be done in five minutes?” he asked.

Helen could only nod her head in response, too shocked to say anything.

“Good. I’ll have dinner ready by then,” he said and walked out, his broad shoulders turning slightly sideways since he was too large to walk through her small bathroom door straight.

Helen swallowed with difficulty. Dimitri was back in her house and was cooking for her? She looked at the silk robe and wanted to bury herself in the bubbles. That robe had been purchased on a whim and she’d only worn it once, the day she’d bought it. It had stayed in her closet all that time.

The intimacy of him going through her clothes and selecting that one for her to wear struck her body with such a pang of desire she wanted to cry out. Instead, she bit her lip and jumped up, afraid he might come back in at any moment. She toweled herself dry and walked into her room, ignoring the silk robe and pulling on her fluffy pink one. The pink wasn’t much better, but at least it wasn’t so revealing.

Helen almost groaned as she looked where her clothes, underwear included, were sitting neatly on the bed. She knew she’d just stripped her clothes off and left them on the floor but apparently Dimitri had come in and picked them up. Helen’s outer clothes might be sedate and boring but she loved sexy underwear. The little lace nothings were folded neatly on top of her brown tweed and Helen could vividly imagine Dimitri’s strong, large hands picking up that lace. He probably chuckled that such a boring little hen wore sexy underthings.