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Libby watched as her brother’s fingers tightened around his mug. For a brief moment both of them had forgotten Adrienne’s presence. ‘Defending my honour, Alex?’
‘Maybe.’
Libby swallowed, touched by her brother’s protectiveness. ‘Would you have hit him?’
‘Into the next county,’ Alex drawled lightly, ‘so maybe it’s just as well I didn’t go. I gather someone outbid him?’
Oh, yes. Someone had definitely outbidden him.
Libby stared at her plate, her mind suddenly full of Andreas. His broad shoulders, his powerful musculature and the aura of strength that surrounded him.
All her instincts warned her that he was the sort of man who broke hearts.
He was absolutely the last person that she ought to be daydreaming about.
So why couldn’t she get him out of her mind?
‘Lib?’ Alex leaned forward, his blue gaze sharp. ‘Come on. Tell your big brother.’
Libby felt her colour rise and cursed inwardly as she saw Alex smile knowingly. It was impossible to hide anything from him.
‘He’s not really my big brother,’ Libby told Adrienne, keeping her voice light to disguise the hammering of her heart. ‘We’re triplets. He was born about three minutes before our sister Katy. I was last.’
Adrienne stared at them in fascination. ‘Triplets? You lucky things. How wonderful to be one of three.’
‘Not that wonderful,’ Libby said, glaring at her brother, but Adrienne sighed wistfully.
‘I think it’s great. I would have done anything to have had a brother or sister and you’ve got both.’
Alex leaned forward, his voice gentle. ‘You’re an only child?’
Adrienne nodded. ‘And my mum and dad died in a boating accident in Greece when I was tiny. I’ve lived with my Grandma for the past twelve years but she had to have a hip operation and now she’s decided that she’s too old to look after me now and that’s why I’ve come to live with Andreas.’
Alex listened carefully to this tumbled speech and his gaze swivelled to Libby.
‘And who’s Andreas?’
‘He’s the man who bought me last night, Alex. Remember? I was for sale, and you were supposed to buy me.’
Completely unrepentant, Alex lifted a dark eyebrow. ‘How much did he pay?’
‘Andreas bought you?’ Adrienne’s eyes were like saucers and Libby suppressed a groan. She’d forgotten that the child didn’t know the story.
‘He just bought a date with me, that’s all,’ she said quickly, throwing a warning glance at Alex. ‘The money was for a good cause. It was all very harmless.’
Except that the sum hadn’t been harmless. He’d paid a small fortune for the privilege of spending an evening with her.
Adrienne’s eyes were very round. ‘Wow. That doesn’t sound like him. Andreas is very picky about women. Especially women he doesn’t know. He doesn’t trust them. Grandma says it’s because he’s handsome, Greek and a millionaire,’ she said ingenuously. ‘They’re after him for the wrong reasons. So why you were sleeping in our spare room?’
Aware of her brother’s amused gaze, Libby gritted her teeth. ‘It’s a bit complicated.’
Alex drained his coffee-cup. ‘I’ll just bet it is,’ he muttered under his breath, and Libby rolled her eyes in frustration.
Whoever thought it was great to be a triplet had never had a brother as infuriating as Alex.
‘None of this would have happened,’ she snarled, ‘if you’d fulfilled your brotherly duty and bought me.’
Alex stood up, as cool and relaxed as ever. ‘Of course, there’s always the possibility that he might have outbid me if he’s that rich.’
‘You’re filthy rich and I’m your sister!’ Libby looked at him in exasperation. ‘You should have been prepared to pay whatever it took.’
‘To keep you out of the clutches of a handsome Greek millionaire?’ Alex’s eyes brimmed with laughter. ‘I don’t think so. I think he could be just what my baby sister needs.’
Libby stared at him, a suspicion forming in her mind. ‘You did it on purpose, didn’t you?’ she said slowly, her eyes narrowing as she looked at him. ‘You never intended to buy me.’
‘I’ve always been very careful with my money,’ Alex said lightly, ‘and, anyway, there’s nothing like a new love affair to take your mind off your old one. You needed a distraction from Philip.’
He lifted one broad shoulder in a careless shrug and with a conspiratorial wink at Adrienne he strolled out of the room, leaving Libby fuming.
