The Mediterranean's Wife by Contract

Their eyes held for a moment.

Andreas noticed how she tilted her head up, an almost rebellious fiery light in her eyes. Obviously she’d been as uncomfortable with this situation as he had.

She was stunningly beautiful—Theo hadn’t been embellishing. But there was also an unusual fragility about her, and a reserve that fascinated him. Most young women flirted openly with him, but she hadn’t even tried to capture his interest, there had been no coy smiles, or false joviality. Just that proud tilt of her head as she looked across at him and when she smiled—really smiled, not in that polite way she was now—it blew him away.

But he didn’t have time for such things, he reminded himself firmly. He was in the midst of difficult business negotiations and now was not a good time for a dalliance. Besides, this situation could be a minefield. Theo was deeply involved with Carrie’s best friend and by contrast Andreas wasn’t looking for anything serious and never would be, so it was probably best to steer clear of muddying these waters.

‘I’ll leave you to enjoy your evening.’ He rose smoothly to his feet.

‘Damn!’ Jo muttered the word angrily under her breath as they watched him walk away. ‘I’m so sorry, Carrie…I really thought you two would hit it off!’

‘We did. We enjoyed a very pleasant drink together,’ Carrie hastily reassured her friend. ‘Don’t waste your time worrying about it!’

‘Andreas really is in the middle of a most gruelling takeover deal,’ Theo inserted quickly. ‘He’s just sold his publishing house and now he’s buying out shares in a newspaper company—playing for very high stakes. If his meeting is early in the morning he will have to take the late ferry to Athens tonight and stay at his apartment there.’

‘Theo, you don’t need to explain.’ Carrie was discomfited by how upset they both were and also touched by their staunch regard of her feelings. ‘Andreas and I had a lovely time chatting as we waited for you. I thoroughly enjoyed his company. But we both agreed that you two need time on your own, and to be honest I’m really glad of the opportunity to go back to the apartment and have an early night.’

‘You are not going anywhere!’ Jo said with a raised eyebrow. ‘You are having dinner with us—we insist!’

‘But honestly, Jo—’

‘I wouldn’t argue if I were you,’ Theo told her with a grin. ‘Because you won’t win.’

CHAPTER TWO

CARRIE was sipping water as she lounged on the sunbed reading her book. This was quite blissful, she thought as she stretched lazily to put her glass down. But in a moment she was going to have to work up the energy to move into the shade.

London felt like another planet away. There were only a few people around the apartment-complex pool—and the tranquillity of the setting amidst green manicured gardens was very relaxing.

Jo had just left to go and have a coffee with Theo at the dive shop. She’d asked Carrie to accompany her but after the embarrassment of meeting Andreas last night she definitely preferred to be alone. That had to be the most uncomfortable half hour of her life.

However, he had been incredibly good-looking. For a second she remembered the dark, searing intensity of his eyes, remembered the craziness of her thoughts—the weird feelings of longing. She was twenty-two years of age and no man had ever stirred that kind of reaction in her before.

In fact, men had chased her, flirted with her, even kissed her and hadn’t awoken that kind of response. She’d started to wonder if perhaps she didn’t have it in her to feel passion, because she always thought things through—analysed relationships to the utmost degree.

Jo had told her she had a trust problem when it came to men, and she knew deep down that her friend was probably right, that it was probably because her father had walked out on her when she’d been young. She’d even started to accept that about herself—accept the fact that maybe she would never allow herself to let go and just be swept away by emotions. And yet last night all Andreas had done was look at her and she had felt more alive—more turned on—than she ever had before!

Too much sun combined with holiday madness, she told herself swiftly as she switched her attention back to her book. Andreas wasn’t even interested in her—and she wasn’t interested in him!

Her phone rang and she quickly reached to answer it before it could disturb the peace and quiet of the afternoon. She couldn’t see whose name was flashing on the dial but she guessed it would be Jo ringing to see if she would change her mind and join them.

‘Hi, Jo—will you stop fussing? I’m by the pool doing nothing and loving every minute,’ she told her breezily.

‘Well, I’m glad to hear it.’ The amused male voice sent so many disconcerting waves of shock rushing through her that she almost dropped the phone. She knew instantly who it was; there was no mistaking that deeply sensual almost lazy intonation. And it was so weird hearing his voice after she’d just been thinking about him. As if dark forces had conjured him up!

Trying desperately to dispel the ridiculous thoughts, she sat up on the sunbed, her book falling to the ground, and said the first thing that came into her head. ‘Andreas, where on earth did you get my phone number?’

‘Well, now, you can have two guesses,’ he replied teasingly, ‘but if you’d like a hint, I’ve just seen Theo at the shop. He wanted some advice on this equipment he’s buying—’

‘And you allowed him to talk you into calling me! Andreas, I know you think a lot of your brother, but this goes beyond the line of duty—’

‘Hey, can I just stop you right there?’ he cut across her firmly. ‘For once Theo didn’t even mention you—I asked him for your number.’

There was a moment’s silence and Carrie wondered if she had misheard him. ‘Why did you do that?’

‘Because I have some free time this afternoon, and I wondered if you’d like to go out to the coral reef with me.’

The invitation was deeply tempting but she forced herself to take a deep breath and think sensibly. ‘Thank you, I appreciate the kind offer, but I’m busy—’

‘I thought you just said you were doing nothing?’ He sounded even more amused now.

‘Yes, I’m busy doing nothing and loving it.’

‘So come and be energetic with me and you’ll love it even more.’

The teasing husky words made her adrenalin surge wildly.

‘I’ll pick you up in about ten minutes.’

‘Ten minutes! I thought you were in Athens this morning!’ Her voice rose slightly.

‘I was, for an early breakfast meeting. That finished early enough for me to catch the ferry over, so now I’m just down the road from your hotel—I told you, I’ve been out to see Theo.’

‘Andreas, I won’t be ready—’

‘Then I’ll wait—but not for long, so get a move on.’

The phone went dead and Carrie held it away from her ear and glared at it as if it were a living entity.

How dared he take her acceptance for granted? Did he think that just because her friend had been so keen to set her up with him that she was some kind of sad charity case? Well, she would soon put him right about that! She wasn’t going to go out with him! He would arrive and she would still be lying here reading her book.

Carrie picked it up and adjusted her floppy hat down over her eyes and tried to focus back on the page.

But all she could think about was Andreas. Why had he suddenly phoned her like this? She really had thought she would never hear from him again.

Should she swallow her pride and go out with him? She had to admit she was more than a little curious about the feelings he had stirred within her last night—had it just been some flight of fancy on her behalf?

She glared at the printed page, hating herself for weakening. Andreas had made it abundantly clear he wasn’t interested in her last night—so this was probably some kind of sop to his brother’s feelings, because Theo had been as upset as Jo when he’d walked out.

She glanced up over the pages of her book as she heard a car pulling up outside. A few moments later she saw Andreas strolling in through the front gates of the property. He looked magnificent. There was no other word for it. His clothes were casual, a white linen shirt and sand-coloured trousers, yet he looked incredibly sophisticated and stylish—or was that simply the air of confidence that he wore like a well fitting cape?

Carrie immediately wished she’d rushed inside to get changed. Not that she had many stylish clothes with her. The dress she’d worn last night was it—everything else was shorts, tee shirts and jeans. But it was too late to even think about that now, she realized with a rapidly beating heart as he glanced over and caught her eye.

‘Ah, there you are.’ He cut away from the path and walked across the grass towards her and she noticed the interested glances he received from some attractive young women nearby.

She tried to pretend that she was engrossed in her book, only nonchalantly glancing up as he reached her side. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she too found it hard to take her eyes off him.

He seemed to tower over her, and that combined with the fact that she was only wearing a bikini made her feel suddenly extremely self-conscious.