A Ring for the Greek's Baby

‘No?’ One of her brows rose in a wry you-can’t-fool-me arc. ‘Only marry a perfect stranger so people won’t compare you to your father? Sure, I believe you.’

He pressed his lips together for a moment, determined not to be triggered by her little dig. It wasn’t just about being compared to his father. He genuinely wanted to protect Emily and this was the only way he could see to do it. ‘Do you want a big wedding?’

She gave an offhand shrug of one slim shoulder. ‘Not particularly.’

‘If you and your ex had married, what would the wedding have been like?’

Emily folded her arms and sent him a resentful glare. ‘Could we talk about something else apart from my disastrous relationship with my ex?’

‘Were you in love with him?’

Her gaze slipped out of reach of his. After a moment she released a short puff of a breath. ‘I thought so, but I realised later I wasn’t. Not the way other people describe being in love. I think I was in love with the idea of being in a relationship. Being a couple. Of having a base to come home to—of belonging to someone.’

‘It’s an easy mistake to make.’

Her eyes came back to his. ‘Have you ever been in love?’

‘No.’

‘Never?’

‘Never.’

She searched his gaze some more. ‘Not even a teensy-weensy bit?’

‘No.’

Her frown deepened. ‘So you just sleep with women for the sex? You don’t actually feel anything for them but pure and simple lust? Doesn’t that seem a little...shallow?’

‘No.’

‘Well, it does to me.’

‘Are you saying you felt something for me other than lust that night?’ Loukas asked, drilling his gaze into hers.

She blew out another gust of a breath, her slim shoulders going down. ‘Okay, you win. Point taken.’

Loukas put a hand at her nape and brought her head forward to press a soft kiss to the middle of her forehead. ‘Go back to sleep, glykia mou. I’ll see you in the morning.’

* * *

Emily lay staring at the ceiling once Loukas had left. So, she was going to marry him. Not that he’d given her much choice, but still. It wasn’t exactly the most romantic proposal in the world: we’ll marry quickly and quietly and that will be the end of it.

Sleep was out of the question, knowing he was in the next room tossing and turning on the sofa. Should she have asked him to stay? Asked him to make love to her?

What are you thinking?

I want him.

So? You had him and look what happened.

He wants me. I’m sure of it.

For sex, yes, but forget about anything else.

Emily didn’t want anything else...did she? The marriage would be an arrangement, not a relationship in the truest sense. She wasn’t in love with Loukas. This was a lust thing, and no doubt the pregnancy hormones were making it worse. His kiss had unravelled her. Again. As soon as his lips had touched hers she’d become a boneless, whimpering mess of need.

Emily turned over and hugged the nearest pillow but it was a poor substitute for his virile male body. But why hadn’t he taken it further? Especially since he was so determined to marry her. Was he holding back from her until he got a ring on her finger? His ability to stop a kiss in its tracks made her self-doubts flash like warning lights. Daniel had always been able to pull away from a kiss. Always. It had made her feel undesirable, resistible. What if Loukas was only kissing her to keep her sweet about the marriage deal? What if he could resist her? Would resist her? Why was she signing up for such an arrangement? A marriage without love? A contract drawn up between two virtual strangers to live together until such time they didn’t want to any more. How could she have agreed to that?