Page 101 of Modern Romance December 2025 1-4

‘What are you thinking about, Rosa? You look miles away. Is it your mother?’

She shook her head. ‘A little. It’s good to talk about her. There’s no one else I can talk with about her, other than Lucie.’ Her father had never wanted to reminisce and Leon had barely known her, for all they’d technically been one family.

She turned, gaze colliding with sea-bright eyes, and a quiver of sensation snaked through her. Desire mixed with a longing that wasn’t merely physical. And something else too, delight at this open conversation, sharing in a way she couldn’t remember doing before.

‘Actually I was thinking what an enigma you are. I know some things about you.’ She ticked off her fingers. ‘You like your coffee black and strong. You have eclectic tastes in music. Everything from rembetiko,’ a Greek style she’d never heard of until she came here, ‘to classical. From jazz to hip-hop.’

She knew his dedication to keeping fit, running or using his indoor pool and huge gym, complete with climbing wall. She knew how his hands felt on her hips as she rode him to pleasure. How his deep voice turned deliciously rough when he gasped out her name as ecstasy took him.

Rosamund swallowed. ‘I know when you give your word you keep it.’ He’d promised to protect her and she knew how seriously he took that oath. ‘But I know nothing about your past, only that you went to boarding school. Nothing about what made you who you are.’

‘What do you want to know? I promised to share.’

Yet she saw the hint of reserve in his eyes. She guessed that a long time ago, he’d retreated into himself, throwing up a defensive wall far more impenetrable than hers. He’d even hinted his early life had been difficult.

She wanted to ask about that hurt, for hurt it clearly was. She wanted to know about his strained relationship with his mother, and whether he had other family. The way he’d spat the wordsocialitemore than once as if it were a curse intrigued her.

But asking him to spill his deepest secrets might push him away. He was the most self-contained person she knew. So she’d begin small.

‘How do you know Dimitria Politis?’

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SURPRISE MADEFOTISjerk his chin up.Thatwas what she most wanted to know? Rosa never ceased to surprise him. He’d expected something deeply probing, or painfully personal.

Like what she’d just revealed to him.

He was surprised and, he realised, honoured that she’d shared such intimate confidences.

True, they’d been mainly about her mother rather than herself, but he knew they affected her deeply. It didn’t take a genius to realise her mother’s experiences had impacted on Rosa. They’d affected him.

‘Dimi’s a friend, that’s all.’

It hit him suddenly that perhaps Rosa thought he wanted to be more than a friend to Dimi. Could she be jealous?

The thought barely lasted a second. Dimi was too young and naïve for a man like him. She couldn’t hold a candle to the woman beside him, whose self-contained façade concealed a vibrant passion and a generosity he couldn’t get enough of.

‘Come on, Fotis. Surely you can share just a little.’

Her tone was full of tongue-in-cheek challenge yet he saw disappointment in her expression. Did she think he was reneging on their bargain?

‘I can and will. In the meantime you need to eat. You didn’t have breakfast.’

Since when had he worried about what a lover ate?

Since Rosa. Only Rosa.

An electric frisson of warning crept across his skin but he dismissed it. He was being considerate, that’s all. He’d interrupted her meal with his questions.

He plucked an olive from the container and leaned across to pop it into her mouth. Inevitably his fingertips brushed those plump, soft lips and he had to snatch his hand back. He’d promised her words, not seduction.

‘I’ve known Dimi since she was a baby. We don’t see each other much but we’re family friends.’ He paused then admitted, ‘That’s rare for me.’ Because he had no family. None that he cared to acknowledge.

Rosa didn’t speak, just nodded as she covered another piece of rich, nutty bread with slices of feta and tomato.

‘Her grandfather was a good friend of my father’s.’

That made Rosa catch his gaze but instead of commenting she took a bite of her food and this time he watched her eyes flicker, half closed in pleasure at the flavour. She was a woman who used all her senses.