Page 12 of Billion-Dollar Baby Shock

As were Dion’s eyes. Taking in those pale arms and legs. He could see tantalising glimpses of the curves of her breasts under the shirt as she moved and it made him think of how they’d felt in his hands, under his tongue.

At that moment she looked up and saw him, as if hearing his thoughts. He couldn’t help but scowl in response and he saw how her own expression became wary.

The baby obviously noticed a change too and his head came around, two huge eyes looking at Dion. Mirror images of her eyes. He couldn’t unsee that now. The laughter had stopped and he felt unaccountably guilty.

She scooped Niko up and stood up gracefully in one movement. ‘We were just playing. I hope we didn’t disturb you?’

Now he felt even guiltier. He had a memory flash of his mother—who he’d realised in later years was probably an alcoholic—shouting at him to stop making noise because she had a headache.

‘No, my office is the other side of the villa, but it’s after lunchtime, you must be hungry and I’m not sure what Niko’s eating routine is. Will you come to the kitchen?’

At that moment Tara’s stomach made a noise and she blushed. ‘Okay, food would be good. I can check out Niko’s bottle and food situation. The nannies might have started him on solids by now.’

They went back to the kitchen and Dion pulled out some prepared food the housekeeper had left.

Salads and cold meats. Bread. He directed Tara to where Niko’s supplies were kept and she had a look, returning with a container.

She held it up and it had a sticker on the side.

‘Puréed vegetables, made yesterday. We can try this and I’ll give him a bottle and put him down after. ’

Dion looked at his watch. ‘The night nanny will be here in a couple of hours. She said she’d come early to help out.’

After warming the baby food in a microwave, Tara set Niko up in a high chair by the dining table and sat down to feed him.

Dion came over with two plates loaded up with food and put one down for her nearby.

He sat down too. She thanked him and fed Niko, who seemed to love the food, smacking his hands on the high-chair table, inevitably spraying some purée everywhere.

Onto Dion’s shirt. Tara looked at him and he could see her struggle to keep in a laugh as she said, ‘Sorry, they’re not the tidiest of eaters.’

Dion had a sense that she saw him as being stuffy or uptight and didn’t like it. He wiped his shirt with a napkin. ‘It’s fine. It’s true that I leave most of his care to his nannies, but I don’t have any previous experience with babies.’

Tara took a bite from her own plate in between feeding Niko. She seemed to be totally at ease with everything that—admittedly—had been thrown at her since she’d arrived.

Since last night…the most spontaneous and responsive lover you’ve ever had.

Then she asked, ‘So…why embark on having a child on your own?’

Dion once again lamented divulging so much to her earlier. He wiped his mouth with his napkin and shrugged minutely and said, ‘I’ve created a very successful business and I would like to hand it on to someone.’

I don’t want to be alone.

That rogue thought entered his head and made his blood run cold for a second before he crushed it ruthlessly. Not wanting to be alone was not an admission of anything other than realising no man was an island, no matter how he might have played it up to now.

Oblivious to his thoughts, she went on, ‘But don’t you want a partner? A mother for your child?’

‘I have no desire to be in a relationship.’

Tara’s eyes went wide. She was holding the spoon of food for Niko just inches from his mouth and he let out a frustrated shriek at her distraction and she hurriedly put the spoon in his mouth and then looked back to Dion.

‘Do you not like women? Because of your mother?’

Dion had a flash of last night, how it had felt to join their bodies. He wanted to unsettle her as much as she unsettled him. ‘Did it feel to you like I don’t like women last night?’

She immediately blushed, but, contrary to a sense of triumph, all Dion could think about was that encounter and how erotic it had been.

Before she could say anything he responded, ‘I have nothing but respect for women, but when it comes to personal relationships I decided a long time ago not to go there. I fully intend for Niko to grow up feeling secure and wanted and respected. He won’t be rejected by one parent and abandoned by another. ’

Tara was looking at him and opened her mouth to say something but, just then, Niko let out a little cry and rubbed his eyes, getting some puréed food onto his face. She deftly wiped him clean and said, ‘He’s tired. I’ll take him up for a change and give him a bottle and put him down.’

Dion stood up feeling redundant as Tara unhooked Niko from the high chair and lifted him into her arms. She pressed a kiss to Niko’s chubby cheek and he gave her a gummy smile and Dion felt as if the earth were shifting under his feet. Again.

She was still in her bare feet and the clothes from the villa that morning. It struck Dion that she hadn’t made a murmur of complaint at having to take over minding a baby that might or might not be any relation to her. But he noticed the faint circles under her eyes now and that guilt was back.

He said, ‘Your things have been collected and delivered from the hotel. They’re in a suite near to Niko’s room. I’ve left the door open so you can find it. And a nurse from my doctor’s office will be here this evening to take swabs from you and Niko.’

‘Wow, okay, that’s fast. Thank you.’

‘Feel free to relax when Niko is napping. You must be tired.’

She blushed again and avoided his eye. Dion hated to admit he found her reactions utterly disarming. Niko regarded him with huge eyes over her shoulder as they left. Her eyes. As if mocking him for the way she had got under his skin so easily.

If Tara was a fake and a hustler he’d have her on the next plane out of Athens so fast her head would be spinning. And if she was the mother of his child then…it was even more imperative that he figure out exactly what her agenda was and make sure he was in control.

The woman was too disturbing to his equilibrium, and he hadn’t clawed his way out of abandonment and rejection to unbelievable success and respect only to risk it all because he couldn’t control his hormones.

* * *

When Niko was sleeping again, his lashes long on his plump cheeks, Tara crept out of his room, pulling the door half shut and taking the baby monitor with her. She went down the corridor and found an open door, as Dion had told her.

The room was vast. Light and bright. Gorgeous soft greys and blues and silver trim. Chinoiserie wallpaper.

She had an en suite bathroom decked out in cool white tiles, shelves stocked with exclusive products.

And there was a dressing room, where she spotted her bag.

She pounced on it and pulled out the few of her own clothes that she’d brought, changing into a soft pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

She laid the clothes she’d worn from the villa on top of what looked like the laundry basket.

They were pretty creased and dirty after her hauling herself over the wall and hours of interacting with a six-month-old.

She felt a bit more like herself in her own clothes and then a wave of weariness came over her. The bed, dressed in cool linen, looked so inviting. She sat down on the edge of the bed and tried to get her head around everything. In a matter of hours her life had been turned on its head.

She’d known she had a son, and that she had to find his father, but she hadn’t expected to have her son in her arms within twenty-four hours of landing in Athens.

Or to sleep with his father? snarked a little voice.

Definitely not that. But could Tara regret it? No. Shamefully. Last night had been…earth-shattering. Life-altering. Literally.

And now…a sense of resolve filled her. She would get confirmation that she was Niko’s mother and, when she had that, Dion would have to acknowledge her place in Niko’s life.

She could understand why he might feel a mother wasn’t necessary. But her mother had been wonderful and loving and kind and Tara felt sorry for him that he obviously hadn’t had that experience.

Her life was now going to look very different and it wasn’t what she’d intended for herself, but she’d fallen in love with her son.

She would make Dion see that his vision for a future with just him and his son would have to accommodate her.

She felt a frisson of trepidation. Dion wasn’t going to make it easy.

But she would do anything to make it work.

Tara glanced back at the bed. It looked too inviting, and soft. She scooted up to the pillows and lay down again, and told herself she’d close her eyes for just a minute.

* * *

‘Tara?’

Tara sat up straight, disorientated. Dion was standing at the end of the bed. It all came rushing back.

‘Niko,’ she breathed, looking for the monitor and not seeing it where she left it. ‘Where’s Niko? Did I not hear him?’

She was aware of Dion giving her a look but then he said, ‘He’s fine. Maria, the nanny, is here. He’s with her downstairs.’

Tara immediately felt a sense of possessiveness and had to remind herself that she wasn’t yet confirmed as Niko’s mother. She got off the bed. ‘Sorry, I fell asleep.’ She was conscious of her jeans and T-shirt. Messy hair.

‘The nurse is here from my doctor’s office to take a swab. He’s already done Niko.’

The DNA test.

‘Of course.’ Tara slipped her feet into her sneakers and followed Dion out of the bedroom and into the main part of the villa. She could hear the sounds of Niko from the kitchen and longed to go to him but this was obviously important.

They went through the impressive reception hall and into one of the corridors leading off the hall. Then they were in a suite of rooms. His home office. She followed him into the inner room and saw a young man in what looked like a hospital uniform of dark blue scrubs.