A Ring for the Greek's Baby

Something passed over his face: a shadow in his eyes, a tensing of muscles, his locked jaw. It was as if what he had released moments ago was now being reined back in and locked down tightly again. ‘Yes, but it didn’t work out.’

Emily knew lots of second marriages failed but she wondered if there was more to Loukas’s mother’s story than he was prepared to share. She sensed his guardedness whenever she touched on the subject of his family. But then, with a jerk of a father like his, no wonder he was a little reticent about talking about his family. ‘Just because your parents and subsequent partners’ relationships didn’t work out doesn’t mean you’ll suffer the same curse,’ she said. ‘I haven’t had the best role model in the world but it hasn’t stopped me wanting the fairy-tale.’

Which you will be giving up if you marry him.

Don’t remind me.

Just saying.

‘The break-up of any relationship where feelings are involved is difficult.’

‘Is that why you never do long-term relationships?’

‘I hate hurting people,’ he said. ‘I see no point in giving someone false hope. I’ve made it a policy to be scrupulously honest about what I’m prepared to give.’

Which he had been with her that night. Brutally honest.

No-strings sex. No phone numbers. No follow-ups.

His words hadn’t been all that important to her back then. All she had thought about was how his mouth felt on hers, how he made her body sing with delight when he made love to her. ‘But how long do you think our marriage would last? Are you expecting it to—’

‘I don’t expect you to commit to me for life,’ he said. ‘That’s why I don’t see the point in making a show out of the wedding. But I think we should remain married for the sake of the baby for three or four years at the very least. It will give our child a secure base before they go to school.’

Three or four years. It wasn’t exactly a lifetime. And she would be fully supported and the baby would have everything it needed. Besides, Emily found Loukas increasingly intriguing. He was like a secret code she wanted to solve. Was a short-term marriage a stupid move on her part or the best thing under the circumstances? ‘So...you’re not worried about marrying a virtual stranger?’ she said.

‘We might not know much about each other but we do know we have the right chemistry,’ Loukas said.

But would it be enough? Emily wondered if she was being a fool even considering it, let alone accepting his proposal. She had longed for one from her ex for seven years, longed and prayed for it every single day, and it had never been forthcoming. Now she’d had a proposal from a man she was fiercely attracted to but hardly knew. And she was having his baby. ‘I wish you’d given me a little more time to think about this...’

‘What’s to think about? Most girls would jump at the chance to marry a rich man.’

Emily lifted her chin. ‘If you think I’d marry a man simply because he’s rich then you’re very much mistaken. I’m not a gold-digger. Your money doesn’t mean anything to me. It certainly wasn’t why I slept with you.’

‘Wasn’t it?’ Something dark and cynical glinted in his gaze.

‘No.’

‘Then why did you sleep with me?’

Emily forced herself to hold his gaze. ‘You kissed me, that’s why.’

He closed the distance once more and traced the line of her jaw with an indolent fingertip, his eyes holding hers in a sensually charged lock. ‘Do you sleep with every man who kisses you?’

‘No.’

‘So...’ His fingertip traced the vermillion border of her lower lip, his body so close to hers she could feel the warmth of him, and smell the intoxicating citrus notes of his aftershave. ‘If I kissed you right now would you sleep with me?’

Emily’s lip was buzzing from his touch, her inner core already contracting at the thought of his hot male mouth coming down on hers. Her heart was racing so fast, if there’d been a cardiologist handy they would have sent for an immediate EEG. Or defibrillator paddles. What was it about this man that made her turn into a wanton woman with no measure of self-control? He only had to touch her and she trembled with need. ‘But you don’t want to sleep with me,’ she said in a voice that sounded nothing like hers. It was too husky. Sexy husky. Phone-sex husky.

Loukas sent his fingertip over her top lip, making every nerve scream for him to replace it with his mouth. ‘What makes you think that?’

‘You didn’t want to share the bed with me last night.’

His fingertip did another round of her mouth. ‘I was concerned about you. You were sick, exhausted. It would have been insensitive of me.’

I’m not sick now.

Emily didn’t say it out loud but her hands going to the front of his chest communicated it anyway. She gazed into the depths of his eyes, her insides stretching, stirring with the same need she saw reflected there. She lowered her gaze to his mouth, studying its contours, the way his dark, urgent stubble surrounded it. Had she ever seen a more fascinating mouth? That mouth had pleasured every inch of her body, done things to her secret places no one had ever done before. Her body thrummed even now with the memory of it.