Marriage at His Convenience

Her face scarlet, Amber wanted the ground to open and swallow her up. How dared he embarrass her like that in front of her family? Eyes flashing angrily, she looked at Lucas and caught her breath. In a superbly tailored white dinner jacket and narrow black trousers that clung to his thighs and accentuated the long length of his legs, he looked magnificent. A perfect example of a man—the slight dilation of his pupils still evident, although he had controlled his body, only added to his aura of predatory masculine power.

‘You look ravishing, Amber.’ His dark eyes raked her from head to toe. ‘I am a very lucky man.’ Lucas smiled—for the audience, Amber thought, but said nothing as he caught her hand and tucked it under his arm.

Dinner was probably superb, Amber decided almost two hours later. It was a pity she had no idea what she’d eaten. The maître d’ had arranged for a long rectangular table to be set at one end of the elegant dining room so the whole party could eat together. Seated at Lucas’s side at the top of the table, she had smiled and chatted and prayed for the evening to end.

‘You must try this, agape mou.’ Lucas’s husky drawl had all the women at the table swooning, while Amber felt like a cat on a hot tin roof. If he put his finger in her mouth one more time she swore she would bite it off.

Finally, when the meal was over and he called her his love for the umpteenth time, and let his long fingers stray over her breast supposedly to smooth back a strand of her hair, Amber turned in her seat and raised her golden eyes to his. ‘You are so good to me, Lucas,’ she said, and delivered a hard kick to his shin under the table.

Lucas threw back his head and laughed out loud. ‘Really, Amber, you are priceless!’

She wasn’t priceless, she was furious and frustrated and tingling all over in a semi-permanent state of arousal, because of his tricks.

‘Hey, cut us in—what’s the joke?’ Joe asked with a grin.

‘Private, strictly private,’ Lucas responded, and settled gleaming dark eyes on Amber. ‘It is only between my fiancée and I. Isn’t that right, Amber?’

To everyone else it was a casual comment, but to Amber, with his intent gaze lingering on her face, it was very definitely a warning. Their war was private and nothing must upset the success of the evening. She picked up her wineglass and drained it, avoiding his eyes.

‘By the way, Lucas, you will have to leave before midnight,’ Sir David remarked as they were all being served with coffee after the meal. ‘Traditionally it is unlucky to see the bride before the ceremony on the day of the wedding.’

‘Well, I am all for tradition, so at midnight I’ll make my way back to my lonely bed,’ Lucas drawled with mock sorrow, and everyone laughed, except Amber who could only manage a stiff smile.

The urge to smash through the smooth façade he showed to their guests raged through her. How could they not see the deception behind the clever, striking face? The feeling of being trapped was almost overpowering and she sighed with relief when a trio of musicians arrived and took up positions on the small stage set at the back of the small square dance-floor at one end of the elegant dining room and started to play. Chairs were pushed back, and to Amber’s delight Tim appeared at her side.

‘Dance with me, Amber. We have hardly had a chance to talk,’ Tim asked. With a brief glance at Lucas, he added, ‘If you don’t mind.’

‘Of course he doesn’t mind,’ Amber answered for Lucas, leaping to her feet. To escape Lucas’s overpowering presence for a few moments was just what she needed. Grasping Tim’s hand, she almost dragged him onto the dance-floor.

The lights had been dimmed and quite a few people were dancing. Amber slipped into Tim’s arms, and felt as if she were home. ‘Thank God!’ she sighed, and, looking up into his familiar face and sparkling blue eyes, she smiled her first genuine smile of the evening. ‘It’s great to see you; I had no idea you were coming.’

‘Lucas called me last week and told me your good news. My favourite girl getting married! How could I refuse? Then again, your fiancé is a very persuasive man, I doubt anyone dares refuse him.’

‘You’ve got that right,’ Amber said with feeling, her smile vanishing.

‘Hardly the response I would have expected from a woman in love,’ Tim stated quietly, and, tightening his arms around her waist as they moved slowly to the music, he asked, ‘What’s wrong, Amber?’

‘Nothing,’ she murmured. It wasn’t fair to involve Tim in her problems.

‘Come on, it’s me, your best pal. I know you better than you know yourself. I’ve watched you all night—your laughter was forced and your smile strained. That is not like you at all. You’re the most genuine person I know.’

Moisture glazed her eyes. ‘Thanks for that, Tim.’ And suddenly she had the overwhelming need to confess everything. ‘You’re right, Tim.’ And as they moved around the dance-floor she told him about Spiro’s will and the consequences of it.

‘That’s Spiro for you,’ Tim remarked dryly. ‘Even in death he causes mayhem. But that is not your problem, Amber. All you need to ask yourself is, do you love Lucas? Everything else is superfluous; believe me, I know.’

‘Yes, I never stopped loving him,’ Amber admitted huskily, the sadness in her voice unmistakable. ‘But Lucas had never loved me. I thought he did, and you know what happened. He fell in love with someone else.’

‘I’m not so sure about that,’ Tim contradicted. ‘Lucas Karadines is a very traditional Greek male, and at the time he would have done anything to humour his father—the man was dying. He went to great lengths to hide Spiro’s sexuality from the old man. Marrying the girl his father approved of would seem a likely thing for Lucas to do. As for loving her, he might have thought he did, but we men are just as likely as women to mistake our true feelings.’

‘Since when did you become such an expert on the sexes?’ Amber asked dryly.

‘Since I made a huge mistake with Spiro that could have cost me my life.’

‘But you did truly love him,’ Amber responded. ‘I was there, remember.’

‘No, it was friendship and infatuation, and the only reason I stayed so long was because Spiro, as the dominant partner, kept telling me we were in love. But once in New York and watching how he behaved, I discovered I didn’t actually care enough to even be jealous, and I realised it wasn’t real love I felt for him. I know the difference now. I have a new partner, David.’ His blue eyes lit up with happiness as he continued. ‘He has a picture-framing business in Newcastle and what we share is true love. So you see, Amber, we can all make quite horrendous mistakes.’

Amber looked up into his lovable face, believing him. ‘I am glad for you, but it doesn’t really help me. Lucas loved his wife—he can’t even bring himself to talk about her death.’