Bought: The Greek's Bride

She laughed. Sometimes, she got the impression that, like her father, Sandor considered the security at the Denver Mint no more than routine. “I picked out the apartment in a secure building to help Dad make the transition to me no longer living at home. That wasn’t good enough for him. He gave me a security system installed by Vitale Security for a housewarming gift.”

“I have used that firm before myself. They are very good.”

“I’ll say and the installation expert was to-die-for gorgeous.”

“Was he?” Sandor asked in a rough voice.

“Totally delicious.” She licked her lips. “But too short for me. He came all the way from the head office in Sicily. Dad demanded the best.”

“I must then be grateful I inherited some tall genes somewhere, hmmm?”

She eyed his six-foot-four frame. “I bet that’s one good thing you got from your father.”

Sandor frowned, but he didn’t deny it. Considering the fact that his mother was barely over five feet, maybe he couldn’t.

“We all inherit things from our parents, and we hope they are the best things,” she said as she led him into the living room. “I got my dad’s stubbornness. Just ask him.”

Sandor waited until she sat down on the bright yellow leather retro sofa before settling right beside her. “I have no need, having seen ample evidence of it myself.”

She laughed again, loving just being there with Sandor at that moment in time. She kicked off her sandals and curled her feet under her, turning her body slightly so she faced him.

He wasn’t smiling in response to her laughter. Instead he was looking at her like he was trying to piece together what made her tick. “You’re very understanding of George’s need to protect you.”

“I love him.” She sighed. “And I understand that as the sole heir to a man as wealthy as he is that I’m a good candidate for a kidnapping.”

“Yet you insist on living alone.”

She barely stifled the urge to snort. “I don’t exactly live alone, do I? His security team has the next apartment over. They monitor me as well as my apartment while I am gone.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to simply live in your father’s home?”

“Maybe, but while it may not be perfect, I have a lot more independence than I would have if I had stayed at home.” It was also easier to convince herself that the reason she saw so little of her father was that they lived apart, not because he didn’t care enough to make any time for her. “Besides, I really don’t want my dad’s money dictating every aspect of my lifestyle.”

“You would prefer to be able to live without the security detail.”

“Yes.”

“But you make the concession to George’s feelings—to his fears for you.”

“And to practicality. But don’t you do the same, for your mother?”

He smiled, laying one arm along the back of the couch. “Touché.”

His scent enveloped her, the subtle fragrance of his spicy aftershave mixed with his own essence. She’d read that a woman’s sense of smell was more refined than a man’s but it was the first time she’d ever noticed the individual scent of another person. Maybe it was because to her senses, Sandor was infinitely unique. In every way.

His warmth and sexy masculinity called to her and she forced herself to speak instead of closing the distance between their bodies. “I bet you find it as difficult to carve time out of your work schedule to have the family dinners and the excursions Hera insists on as I do to allow my dad to keep a security detail watching over me.”

“I think you are right, though I never considered it in that light. I only know that since I was a small boy I was determined to give my mother the life my father should have.” Something in his expression said his words surprised him as much as her.

He was an intensely private person, that he had shared as much of himself as he had with her was incredibly special.

Allowing herself one tiny touch, she brushed his arm and smiled. “Well, I’d say you surpassed that goal and then some.”

“You think?”

She smiled with emotion shining in her eyes because it sounded like he really was asking the question. As if there could be any doubt. “I doubt your dad is a hugely wealthy tycoon and I’m certain he wasn’t as a teenager. You’ve surpassed anything he could have done for her, even if he had stuck around.”

“I think you may be right.” The wealth of satisfaction in his voice told Ellie something else about this enigmatic man who wanted to marry her.

He had things to prove to himself…to his grandfather…and to the father he’d never met.

Remembering her role as hostess, she asked, “Would you like coffee…or an after dinner drink?”

“Neither, thank you.”

Now, why did the way he said that make shivers dance along her nerve endings? “It was your idea to come up,” she reminded him.

“To settle one of your concerns in regard to marriage, not because I crave more liquid refreshment.”

“You plan to settle my fears?” How very noble of him. “In what way?” Though she thought she could guess.

He leaned forward, invading her personal space completely and his body heat called to her while his dark eyes mesmerized. “Guess.”

“What about the no sex before marriage integrity thing?” She’d meant to ask the question in a sarcastic tone, but her voice came out breathless and much too inviting. Darn it.

“I plan to marry you. It is up to you to set the date.” He might as well have shrugged, he sounded so casual in that pronouncement.

And right then she realized he really did plan to marry her. Not hope. Not want. But the man had a plan and was fully confident in his eventual success.

“So, it’s okay to seduce a virgin if you intend to marry her?” Again that breathless voice that was really starting to get on her nerves.

She sounded like she wanted his reassurance, but she didn’t. Did she? Not this way…not planned. But Sandor was a planner and he worked best with a schedule. She’d known that since the beginning. She just hadn’t expected it to dictate this part of their relationship.

“You have said you are not a virgin.” He didn’t sound like he was bothered either way.