"But now that you have the money, you could find him."
"I broached the subject with Nikos once. I learned to regret it. Had I not asked, I could have done so without repercussion, but because I told him what I wanted to do, he asked me not to use money from his hard work to find a man who had abandoned us both. I could not change his mind."
"Did you tell him that his father wrote?"
"It did not matter to him."
"Nikos is very stubborn."
"Yes."
Said stubborn man returned soon thereafter, but Ash could not get her discussion with Zoe out of her mind.
When he took her home, he once again parked in the visitor parking garage and asked to come up. She knew what was coming, but she wanted to talk to him about what Zoe had told her and if she was honest with herself (and she had a policy of being scrupulously so) she wanted what he wanted. Very much.
This time, she went directly to the kitchen and put the kettle on for tea.
"I am not thirsty," he said from behind her.
"I want tea."And time to talk , she added silently.
His dark brow rose, but he bowed slightly. "Then we shall have tea."
"You're making fun of me."
"I am humoring you. It is not the same."
"I see. Why are you humoring me?"
"For obvious male reasons. I hope to sweeten your temperament toward me so that I may have my wicked way with you."
She laughed. "I think you know you can seduce me without a pot of tea first."
"But I prefer not to seduce."
"You want me to offer myself?"
"Is that so bad?"
She shrugged. She didn't suppose it was, but she frowned anyway. "You think indulging before bed will make me more inclined to invite you to share mine?"
"I will do my best to convince you."
"I thought you weren't out to seduce me."
"Reminding you of the pleasure we shared last night is hardly a seduction."
Right. "And that's your plan, to remind me?"
"And entice you with thoughts of what tonight could bring."
Luckily for her already heating libido, the teakettle whistled and she jumped into action, making a pot of herbal tea that would not keep either of them awake. Though she had a feeling Nikos would effectively do so anyway.
They were sitting at her small 1950s restored yellow Formica kitchen table when she broached the subject of his dad. "Have you ever considered finding your father?"
Nikos' body tensed. "I suppose it was too much to expect that my time on the phone would not provide the opportunity for Mama to open this particular can of worms tonight. What happened, did she drag out the sorry tale of how my grandfather beat Jacob Forrest and chased him away?"
"You're uncannily prescient." She grinned teasingly, wanting to keep it light, but not sure that was going to be a possibility with the look on his face. "I don't suppose you were eavesdropping?"
He sighed and drank his tea. "No, but it's a story she's tried to feed me more than once."
"It's not a story. Your mother wouldn't make something like that up."
"I have no doubt my grandfather did as she said, but what does that change? My father was too weak to return for her. That is the bottom line."
"He tried."
"She told you about the letter, too?" Sandor sounded pained.
"Yes."
"Look, I read that letter and it was hardly the missive of a love pining away for her company. He had finished university, he thought they could see each other again…for old time's sake. He said nothing of the love she insists they both felt so strongly. He said something about thinking she might have married by now because Greek girls married younger than American ones, or some such rot."
"Did you think he should have poured his heart out in a letter to a woman he couldn't even be sure wasn't married?"
"If his love was as great as my mother claimed, he would have." Nikos' tone was hard, brooking no argument.