His mouth was very close to her ear, and she was aware of several things at once. The warmth of his arm around her waist holding her close, his strong body turned protectively towards her, his gleaming golden brown eyes tinged with concern smiling down into hers.
‘No, he did not offend me.’ But he had made her question if she had made the biggest mistake of her life five years ago. She searched Jed’s face, her blue eyes wide and wondering. According to Marcus this stunningly handsome man she had thought she loved had wanted to marry her long ago. The man she still loved…
‘Phoebe, you’re very quiet.’
She lifted her hand and placed it on his chest. She caught the gleam of the gold wedding band on her finger. He covered her hand with his and she could feel the steady thud of his heart. She smiled a broad, brilliant smile. She felt the beat of his heart increase, and almost laughed out loud at her foolish plan to deny him sex as her pulse began to race.
‘I was just thinking how—’ She stopped. She had nearly told him she loved him. ‘How pleased your father must be,’ she amended swiftly, pulling her hand from beneath his as reality hit.
The shock and, yes, the euphoria brought on by Marcus’s statement had blinded her for a moment to the truth. Jed had been going to marry her five years ago—but only because she’d been pregnant, not because he’d loved her, and he had married her now because of Ben. Not much had changed except that she knew Jed had definitely never suggested a termination—and she had acknowledged that anyway. She also knew he had not abandoned her either…He had been stuck here in this hospital with his father, then as now…
She recalled when Jed had discovered Ben was his and said they should marry. She had responded that he would never be anything but a part-time father. He had asked her to give him a chance, saying that he might surprise her. Well, they were married now. Perhaps it was time to give Jed, the man she had loved to hate for so long, that chance—and herself as well, because she still loved him and always would…
Jed felt the sudden tension in her, saw her brilliant smile dim, and knew that whatever she had been going to say had nothing to do with his father. How Phoebe’s mind worked was a mystery to him. She was the most exasperating woman on the planet, and the most exquisite, and she was his wife…
He tightened his arm around her waist. ‘It is time we left,’ he said firmly.
Phoebe glanced around, her decision made. She was going to try and make a go of this marriage. Maybe there would be another baby, and maybe in time Jed would change and grow to love her…She looked up at him. ‘If you say so,’ she agreed, ‘But what about all these people?’
‘They can take care of themselves. In the circumstances no one is expecting a party,’ he said dryly.
He said their goodbyes and told Cora they would be gone for the night, and to call if he was needed. With his arm still firmly fixed around her, he led her out of the room.
‘Wait a minute—what do you mean, we will be away for the night?’
Ben and Cora’s children were at the Sabbides house, with Maria and Cora’s nanny taking care of them—but not for the whole night.
‘I have to get back for Ben.’
‘No, you don’t. He will be perfectly well taken care of,’ he said, striding along the corridor and out on to the street.
‘But I’ve never left Ben overnight!’ she exclaimed.
‘Then it is time you did,’ Jed drawled, and opened the door of a low-slung sports car. He saw her fastened in before sliding into the driving seat. ‘We have just been married, remember?’ he mocked ‘Much as I love Ben, I have no intention of spending my wedding night with him.’
‘Ben will miss me. I can’t leave him—and anyway I have no clothes,’ she declared.
‘He won’t…You can…And you don’t need any clothes.’ He grinned. ‘By the way, I love the dress—it displays your legs to spectacular advantage.’ He laughed as hastily she grabbed the hem and tried to pull it down to her knees.
Phoebe gave up and closed her eyes. The day had started with Jed telling Ben they were getting married. Her son had been delighted…Then Cora and her children had descended and chaos had reigned. A selection of dresses had appeared in her bedroom—all white. She’d chosen the plainest one, strapless, with a boned bodice and a short skirt that ended a good four inches above her knees. The saving grace was that there was a matching edge-to-edge crystal-trimmed coat, so she didn’t feel half naked.
She drew in a deep breath and opened her eyes, and saw the car had stopped. She glanced at Jed. He was unfastening the safety harness and she was acutely aware of his long, lean body, of the faint scent of his cologne mingling with the male scent of him.
‘That wasn’t far.’
Phoebe had made the decision to accept Jed as her husband willingly, but that did not stop her from feeling nervous. He made no response, simply slid out of the car and walked around the front to open her door and help her out.
‘Where are we?’ She glanced around. A few blocks away she could see the striking outline of the Acropolis. She turned to Jed. ‘We are in the middle of Athens.’ She answered her own question. ‘That’s the Acropolis.’ She pointed excitedly.
‘Got it in one, Phoebe.’ Jed grinned. Her pleasure in seeing the monument made him realise how little Phoebe had seen of the world. ‘We are staying in my apartment tonight,’ he told her as he slipped an arm around her waist and led her through some glass doors, introduced her to the doorman as his wife, and whisked her into an elevator. ‘Once my father is out of danger I will take you sightseeing,’ he drawled huskily.
‘I’d like that.’ She smiled up at him, and he had never known a ride so slow. When the doors slid open he hurried her along the hall and slid his key in the lock. He opened the door and, swinging her up in his arms, carried her inside.
‘What the—?’ Phoebe wrapped her arms around his neck. ‘Are you crazy? Put me down!’ she cried as her high-heel shoes fell off her feet.
‘Crazy for you, Phoebe,’ Jed drawled, closing the door with his back and walking through the hall, the vast expanse of the living area and straight into his bedroom. He was so strung out it took all his considerable self-control not to throw her on the bed and leap on her.
‘Oh, my—rose petals!’ Phoebe murmured, and Jed almost lost it when her lips touched his ear. He glanced around in a daze, wondering what she was talking about, and saw his very masculine bed made up with white linen and covered in rose petals. Cora’s doing, no doubt, but he was not a man to miss an opportunity…