Page 5 of Billion-Dollar Baby Shock

Tara looked at him. Even though he was intimidatingly gorgeous, sexy and very intense, there was something about him—some kind of vulnerability she sensed that resonated deep inside her. She did trust him.

She nodded. He led her over to the helicopter and she clambered in as elegantly as she could and sat down.

He pulled the straps around her and his hands brushed against her breasts.

She sucked in a breath. He looked at her and his eyes were fiery gold.

He gave her a set of headphones to put on over her ears.

He then went and got into the passenger seat beside the pilot and she was glad because it gave her a chance to regain her breath and a portion of her functioning brain cells.

She’d never been in a helicopter and when it lifted off the ground and wobbled, she gripped the seat on either side of her thighs. The man looked back at her and mouthed, Okay? and Tara just gulped and nodded.

Soon they were high in the sky and flying over the ancient city.

The Acropolis looked like a toy model on the hill.

They were flying over the port with hundreds of boats in their berths.

Big ferries. Then they were over the sea.

Tara could see islands in the distance, lights like jewels in harbours.

After about thirty minutes the helicopter started to go lower and Tara could make out an island.

There was a string of lights around the coast and further inland.

Gradually she could make out that they were landing on a floodlit helipad on what seemed to be lush grounds on a hill overlooking the town at the harbour.

She could see a villa now, a modern minimalist’s dream. Flat roof and white lines and lots of glass. There was a pool, glittering under the milky glow of a full moon.

When the helicopter had landed the man jumped out and came around to help Tara, undoing her safety belt.

She stepped out onto the ground and felt wobbly on the grass in her high heels.

He said something to the pilot over the din of the rotor blades and then he was leading her away.

She watched as the small aircraft lifted up again into the sky and banked left before disappearing back towards Athens.

So now she was alone on an island with a total stranger who she’d just agreed to spend the night with.

The fact that no one in her family had any idea where she was occurred to her and she felt foolish.

She’d spent the best part of ten years making sure she knew where every one of her siblings was at any given moment and now she was behaving like a recalcitrant teenager.

The whirring rhythmic beat of the helicopter was gone and in its place was a dense silence broken only by night insects.

But then Tara could make out the faintest sounds of music and laughter and talking.

The man said, ‘When the wind blows a certain way it’s possible to hear sounds from the harbour below. ’

Tara found that somewhat comforting. They weren’t totally isolated. He took her hand again and led her across the lawn towards the villa. Lights came on as they walked through the garden, presumably solar powered.

There was a sleek terrace by the pool and the water looked serene and very still. Tara could imagine the view in daylight must be outstanding.

He was at a door now and sliding it open. Tara hung back. ‘Don’t you need keys?’

He looked at her. ‘I have a housekeeper who opens the place up when I’m coming.’

‘You’d already planned to come here?’ Had he intended on bringing a woman here tonight all along? And she just happened to be the lucky girl? The thought left a sour taste in her mouth.

He faced her. ‘No, but I rang her on my way to ask her to open up and bring up some supplies.’

‘Oh…’ This was so far removed from Tara’s existence that she wasn’t sure where to start trying to figure everything out.

He walked towards her. ‘I wasn’t planning this… I’d had every intention of going back to my home in Athens but…after meeting you I wanted to come somewhere very private.’

Something else struck Tara. She looked at his hand but it was bare, and back up to his face. ‘Are you married?’

If she didn’t see the almost visible shudder go through him she wouldn’t have believed it. He said, ‘ Theos. No. Absolutely not.’

Tara almost smiled at his reaction. ‘Not a fan of the institution, I take it?’

Now he scowled. ‘No.’

Tara thought again of letting someone know where she was and said, ‘Do you mind if I use your bathroom?’

The scowl disappeared. He slid open the door wide and Tara could see into a vast open space. ‘Of course, let me show you where to go.’

He directed her to a sleek and very modern bathroom stocked full of luxury products.

She picked up a hand cream and smelled it and closed her eyes at the gorgeous scent—a mixture of bergamot and something like orange.

Who was this guy who could just rustle up a helicopter to bring him to an island and the kind of villa Tara saw only on property shows about millionaires and billionaires?

She pulled her mobile phone out of her evening bag and sent a quick text to her brother, Oisín, dropping a pin to her location and saying,

Hi baby bro, got into the party, just letting you know where I am. I’ll check in with you tomorrow. Tara X

She put the phone back in her bag and looked at herself in the mirror and groaned. Her hair was a wild tangle on her head, more resembling a bird’s nest than the elegant chignon she’d aimed for earlier at the budget hotel where she was staying.

She pulled out the pins and let her hair fall around her shoulders, doing her best to make it look presentable. Then she pinched her too pale cheeks and washed her hands.

She took a deep breath and came out of the bathroom and made her way back to the main living space that reminded her of an art gallery, especially when she saw the vast canvases on the walls.

They surprised her because they were full of colour and passion in contrast with the otherwise very white and stark space.

The man had taken off his jacket and was standing with his back to her at the open French doors, hands in his pockets.

Tara’s insides clenched. Was he having second thoughts about bringing her here?

After all, she was nothing special really, and that had been driven home spectacularly when she’d seen the other women at the party, each one more beautiful and lissom and golden than the last.

Tara had no real fashion sense, not like her sister Lucy. She rarely wore make-up. She never went to the gym so any muscle definition was down to sheer luck and genetics.

He turned around and Tara’s whirling thoughts stopped. He’d taken off his bow tie. She gestured to her hair, feeling self-conscious, ‘My hair…took a bit of a battering from the helicopter.’

‘Sorry about that.’

‘Oh, no, it’s fine, it wasn’t as if I had it done professionally or anything.

’ Tara mentally closed her eyes and cringed.

She had to learn to filter her thoughts.

She realised her feet were aching in the high heels, also something she wasn’t used to, and lifted one foot, saying, ‘Do you mind if I take them off?’

He shook his head. ‘Not at all.’

She slipped them off her feet and put them to one side. The marble floor was deliciously cool to the touch.

‘Can I get you a drink?’

Tara put her bag down on a table and walked forward. ‘Sure, what do you have?’

‘Whatever you’d like.’ He went over to a panel in the wall and pressed something and it slid back to reveal a well-stocked bar, lit up with golden lights.

Tara made a soft whistling sound. ‘Impressive.’

She wrinkled her nose as she looked at the vast array of products and confessed, ‘I’m not much of a drinker actually, a water would be fine.’

‘If you’re sure?’

She nodded. He poured her a sparkling water and added some ice and lemon and handed it to her in a crystal glass. She hoped she wasn’t behaving too gauchely but she knew she wasn’t equipped to deal with this situation.

Should she now be lounging seductively on a couch and waiting for him to come and ravish her? Or should she be the one making the first move? Like a strong woman in charge of her sexuality?

In a bid to avoid overthinking, Tara went over to stand in front of one of the big canvases.

He came to stand beside her. She looked to her side and up.

He was so much taller now she wasn’t in heels, but she didn’t feel vulnerable.

She did trust that if she didn’t want anything to happen he wouldn’t push it.

There was something inherently proud about him.

She asked, ‘Did you choose this?’

He glanced at her and seemed slightly wary. ‘I did, actually. I like this artist’s work. What do you think of it?’

Tara cocked her head to one side. ‘There’s a lot in it. And yet everything around it is so…white and still.’

‘I like the contrast.’

‘I get that.’ She wondered if it hinted at what she could sense under the suave surface of this man—the same passion that had sprung up between them and this totally spontaneous night. But then…maybe it wasn’t all that spontaneous. Maybe this was a well-worn routine. She went a little cold.

He came and stood between her and the painting, eclipsing it. He said, ‘I also like something else in here.’

Tara gazed up at him. She had to ask. ‘Is this…usual for you? Do you bring women here in some sort of showy gesture?’

He looked at her and she could see that he appeared slightly shocked. Maybe he wasn’t used to women questioning him.

But then he shook his head. ‘Not at all. You’re the first woman I’ve ever brought here. This is somewhere I usually come to be alone, take time out.’

Something inside Tara melted even as she castigated herself for needing reassurance—after she’d agreed to spend a night with a total stranger! ‘You’re not just saying that?’

‘No, I wouldn’t lie.’