An Offer She Can't Refuse Read Free

seafood vol-au-vents with prawns, choux pastry chicken with seeded mustard, a beef sandwich, and basil, tomato and bocconcini cheese on squid ink bread. It was impossible to eat everything. Predictably, Theo zeroed in on the chicken, her mother anything with cheese, and the seafood she loved was all hers.
    A waiter came around with a tray offering replenishments but they shook their heads, knowing there was so much more to taste—fruit cake, scones with and without raisins and an assortment of spreads; strawberry and rose petal jam, clotted cream, a strawberry mousse and tangy passionfruit.
    Tina refused to let the reminder of Ari Zavros ruin her appetite. There wasn’t much conversation going on at the table behind her anyway. Mostly it was the woman talking, carrying on in a snobby way, comparing this afternoon tea to others she’d had in famous hotels. Only the occasional murmur of reply came from the man.
    ‘I’m so glad we stopped in Dubai,’ her mother remarked, gazing at the view. ‘There’s so much amazing, creative architecture in this city. That hotel shaped like a wave just below us, the stunning buildings we passed on the way here. And to think it’s all happened in the space of what … thirty years?’
    ‘Something like that,’ Tina murmured.
    ‘It shows what can be done in these modern times.’
    ‘With the money to do it,’ Tina dryly reminded her.
    ‘Well, at least they have the money. They’re not bankrupting the country like the aristocrats did in Europe for their grand palaces in the old days. And all this has to be a drawcard for tourists, bringing money into the country.’
    ‘True.’ Tina smiled. ‘I’m glad we came here, too. It certainly is amazing.’
    Her mother leaned forward and whispered, ‘Seated at the next table is an incredibly handsome man. I think he must be a movie star. Take a look, Tina, and see if you recognise him.’
    Her stomach instantly cramped. Ari Zavros was an incredibly handsome man. Her mother nodded encouragingly, expecting her to glance around. Hadn’t she already decided it couldn’t—wouldn’t—be him? One quick look would clear this silly fear. Just do it. Get it over with.
    One quick look …
    The shock of seeing the man she’d never expected to see again hit her so hard she barely found wits enough to give her mother a reply.
    ‘I’ve never seen him in a movie.’
    And thank God the turning of her head towards him hadn’t caught his attention!
    Ari!—still a beautiful lion of a man with his thick mane of wavy honey-brown hair streaked through with golden strands, silky smooth olive skin, his strongly masculine face softened by a beautifully sculptured full-lipped mouth, and made compelling by thickly lashed amber eyes—eyes that Theo had inherited, and thank God her mother hadn’t noticed that likeness!
    ‘Well, he must be someone,’ her mother said in bemusement. ‘One of the beautiful people.’
    ‘Don’t keep staring at him, Mama,’ Tina hissed, everything within her recoiling from any connection with him.
    Her mother was totally unabashed. ‘I’m just returning the curiosity. He keeps looking at us.’
    Why??? screamed through Tina’s mind.
    Panicky thoughts followed.
    Had the Australian accent reminded him of the three months he’d spent there?
    He could not have identified her, not from a back view. Her hair had been long and curly when he’d known her.
    Did he see a similarity to himself in Theo?
    But surely he wouldn’t be making a blood connection to himself personally, unless he was in the habit of leaving love-children around the world.
    Tina pulled herself up on that dark thought. He had used condoms with her. It was unlikely he would think his safe sex had ever been unsafe. Whatever had drawn his interest … it presented a very real problem to her.
    Since he and his companion had arrived late at this afternoon tea, it was almost inevitable that she and Theo and her mother would leave before them and they would