Sale or Return Bride

He strolled into the room and glanced at her with naked incredulity. ‘Why?’

Because she’d never had access to so much delicious food in her life and it was just marvellous not to go hungry in order to save money.

She shrugged. ‘Why not?’

‘Because I have an extensive and well-rewarded staff,’ he said slowly, enunciating his words as if he were addressing a child, his astonishment palpable, ‘and their job is to produce meals for you so that you don’t have to take an inconvenient break in your shopping schedule.’

She flinched at his cutting remark. His opinion of her was just so low. But could she really blame him for that? After all, she was the one who’d given him that impression and had to continue to do so. ‘I have all the time I need to shop,’ she said idly, ‘given that I haven’t seen you since our wedding day. And your staff have got better things to do than make me lunch.’

He was looking at her with a stunned expression on his handsome face.

‘I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that.’ She glanced impatiently in his direction. ‘Have you never made yourself lunch before?’

‘Frankly, no,’ he confessed drily, a strange expression in his eyes as he looked at her. ‘And I hadn’t exactly expected you to either. Do you often waltz into your grandfather’s kitchen and make yourself lunch?’

Alesia froze. She’d done it again. Had forgotten that she was supposed to be rich and pampered. Then she gave a mental shrug.

‘I don’t expect people to wait on me.’ Aware that he was looking at her curiously, she sighed and rolled her eyes. ‘Now what?’

‘It’s just that you constantly surprise me,’ he drawled softly, his gaze speculative. ‘Just when I think I have you all worked out, you do something that is totally out of character.’

She cast him a look of contempt. ‘You know nothing about my character.’

‘Evidently not,’ he murmured, his shimmering dark eyes narrowed as he surveyed her thoughtfully. ‘However, I think our staff might be a little shocked if they discover you in here, making lunch.’

Alesia bit her lip and refrained from telling him that she was already on first-name terms with his head chef and that they’d swapped Greek and English recipes. ‘They’re your staff.’

‘You’re my wife.’

Her body tingled at his silky reminder. ‘Forgive me for forgetting that fact,’ she said acidly. ‘I haven’t seen you since our wedding day two weeks ago. I assumed you’d taken up residence elsewhere.’

And she just hated him for not even bothering to show his face.

‘I didn’t realize you were going to miss me so much and it was our wedding night,’ he corrected softly, studying her through narrowed eyes. ‘You saw me on our wedding night. Another occasion when you surprised me. I wasn’t expecting a virgin in my bed.’

Her cheeks flamed. ‘I don’t know what you mean—’

‘You should have told me,’ he said smoothly. ‘Greek men are very possessive, agape mou. I might have been prepared to raise the purchase price still further had I realized the unique value of the goods. You missed out.’

She winced at his mercenary assessment of her character. ‘I was satisfied with the deal.’

His eyes glittered in his handsome face. ‘I’m beginning to think that I might be too,’ he drawled, stepping closer to her. ‘You were amazingly responsive.’

Graphic images flashed through her brain and her legs started to tremble as the memories came crashing back.

‘You paid me to perform in your bed,’ she said unsteadily, ‘so that’s what I did.’

He gave a short laugh and moved closer still. ‘You were totally out of control, agape mou, and you expect me to believe that you were acting?’

He was too close. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.

She wasn’t used to dealing with men like him. She wasn’t used to talking about sex.

Careful not to look at him, she sliced the cheese into chunks and laid it in a bowl. ‘It wasn’t my choice to introduce sex into our marriage. I was perfectly happy to have a very different sort of marriage.’

‘One where I pay you to do nothing?’

‘You weren’t paying me for sex,’ she said steadily, adding olives to the bowl. ‘You were paying me for the “privilege” of taking over my grandfather’s company.’

‘It might interest you to know that that particular “privilege” has taken up every daylight hour since our wedding,’ he drawled, his eyes raking over her in frowning contemplation. ‘Your grandfather is an appalling businessman. You can blame him for the fact that you haven’t seen me.’