One-Night Mistress...Convenient Wife

“No matter,” Avó had said. “We will learn each other.”

Teach, she’d meant. But “learn each other” was exactly what they’d done. Now, twenty-six years later, Christo spoke with her in the same mixture of English and Portuguese that they’d come to then.

“’Stas bem?” he asked her. “Are you okay?” because she’d had fainting spells recently.

“Sim, sim. Muito bem. Perfeita.” She dismissed his concerns. “And you? Have you met the girl yet?”

Abruptly the idyll was over and a vision of Natalie popped back into his head.

He sat up and jerked his feet off the desk. “No.”

Ordinarily he brushed off the question with a laugh. It wasn’t as if she didn’t regularly ask him.

Having given up on Xanti ever settling down—though he’d been with the same woman, Katia, for almost a year now—Lucia had made it clear she was counting on Christo to marry and settle down and give her babies to dote on.

He’d never told her he had no intention of marrying because it would upset her. She would think it was her fault, that she hadn’t taught him well enough about love and family and the value of marriage. But today he felt edgier than he usually did.

And his grandmother picked up on it. “You are looking though,sim?”

“I—”Damn it, no. And he didn’t intend to.

“I had a good marriage with your grandfather,” she reminded him. “If he had lived, maybe Xanti—” And then her voice trailed off. “No matter,” she said briskly after a moment. “Xanti is who he is. But you—you will find her, Christo,” she assured him, her voice strong again. “Or I will find her for you.”

Since he’d turned thirty, two years ago, she’d been offering to do that regularly.

“Nāo é necessário,” he assured her again now.

“Alicia, she would be good for you. She is going to be a lawyer, too,” his grandmother went on as if she hadn’t heard. “So you will have something to talk about.”

Christo let her talk. He didn’t discourage her ever. He’d tried that, but it made her despondent and led to despairing comments like, “What have I done wrong? It’s not just your father who can’t settle down. Now you, too!”

“You want to meet her?” his grandmother asked hopefully.

Not really. “I’m busy,” Christo said. “I don’t know when I’ll be back to Brazil.” He was in no hurry to go down for a visit if Avó was planning to set him up with dates when he did.

“Sim, I know.” She sounded sad now. “It has been a year.”

“I’ll get there, I promise.”

“As Xanti promises.”

He heard a weary resignation in her tone. Christo’s jaw tightened. “Yes, but I keep mine,” he reminded her.

“I know you do.” Her voice was gentle. “So you will come.”

“I will,” Christo said firmly. “Before Christmas. I’ll call you in a couple of weeks and we can talk about it.”

“Of course we can. You are my favorite grandson.” It was what she always said.

“I’m your only grandson,” he reminded her with a grin.

“That is so,” she agreed. “I love you, my Christo.”

“You, too.Tchau, ’Vó. Beijos.”

He hung up, slumped in his chair and tipped his head back. Now visions of his doting grandmother overlaid those of Natalie in his mind. Avó would like Natalie. Natalie would like his grandmother as well.

It didn’t bear thinking about.

CHAPTER THREE

THERE were no hot looks from Christo on Monday morning. No glances that lingered. No politeness even.

Well, Natalie supposed he was polite enough. But he was absolutely businesslike, curt and remote every time he spoke to her. The intense awareness she’d felt on Friday was more like a determined deep freeze today. He didn’t even meet her eyes, but looked out the window all the time he was giving her instructions.

She remembered her mother saying more than once, “Christo is such a pleasure to work for. He’s always so even-tempered.”

Even-tempered, as in his range of emotions went from stern to dour? He smiled enough at his clients. But he scarcely looked at her.

He wouldn’t even take the time after his nine-thirty appointment left to come and look at a scan of a handwritten document she had up on the computer screen.

“You can figure it out,” he said curtly and stayed at his desk, not looking up as he flipped through papers and sorted them into folders. Natalie knew he had two pre-trial conferences in L.A. in the afternoon. She supposed he was preoccupied with them.

He saw two more clients, then came out of his office shortly before one. “I won’t be back until late.” He was shrugging into his suit coat and his tie was once more neatly knotted, his hair just combed.

“Anything else I should do while you’re gone?” Natalie asked.

“Take a lunch break.”

She blinked.

“You didn’t on Friday. You went out and grabbed sandwiches.” It sounded more like an accusation than a comment. “So today, go eat. I won’t be back until late,” he went on. “So I don’t need you bringing me sandwiches.”

So the sandwich had offended him, had it? Why? Had it made him think she was making another bid for attention? As if! She had simply done what she knew her mother would have done.

But she didn’t say that. She gave a light shrug, as if it didn’t matter one way or the other to her. It didn’t. It really didn’t.

Christo opened the door, then looked back over his shoulder. “You don’t need to stay late, either.”

Natalie didn’t even deign to reply to that.

She would stay late if she had work to finish. If she didn’t, she’d leave. And he could take his handsome face and his bloodymindedness and go stuff them both where they’d do some good.

“Whatever you say, boss,” she muttered. But he was gone and didn’t hear her.

Just as well. She finished the letter she was working on, then at quarter past one, took her lunch break, as ordered. She didn’t leave the office, but ate her tuna fish sandwich sitting at her mother’s desk. She did, however, spend the time catching up on her own work for Rent-a-Wife.

Sophy had done the scheduling this week, but Natalie still had the billing to do. If Mr. Stickler Savas wanted everything in businesslike boxes from here on out, that was fine with her. She’d do her work now and start back on his after lunch.