The Santorini Marriage Bargain

‘I hope so.’

‘I’ll support you if necessary,’ he said softly. Although everything that had happened was no fault of his, he felt a powerful urge to look after this woman who had had her world so swiftly turned upside down, who had experienced the worst day of her life, who was alone and vulnerable and needed a male figure to stand by her.

‘There’s really no need.’ Rhianne’s eyes flickered up towards his face, and there was a brief second when she held the contact, when something flowed between them, but he never found out what would have happened because the lift doors opened and she turned swiftly away.

He had briefly seen gratitude, but her back was to him now as she turned her key in the lock, hesitating for just a moment before pushing open the door, then, squaring her shoulders, moving inside. Zarek followed more slowly, glancing around the room with interest.

Rhianne had been dreading this moment, and her heart drummed loudly, echoing through her body in painful little bursts. All she could see in her mind’s eye was Angus and Annie. Together!

To her relief the flat was empty—she hadn’t checked the bedrooms, of course, but there was no sound save for the drum of her heart, and she glanced over her shoulder at Zarek, smiling faintly.

He gave a nod of understanding but remained near the door. He had closed it quietly behind him, not intruding, giving her space and time to do whatever she had to do. She was glad of his presence. In truth, she had been dreading coming back here for fear of what she might find.

But her sense of relief was short-lived when she saw Angus’s tie draped over the back of a chair. Angus was a rep for a pharmaceutical company and always wore suits and ties. Had he left in a hurry after she’d walked in on their lovemaking? Or was he still here?

Annie’s bedroom door was closed, and there was no sound, but Rhianne’s curiosity took her across the room. Without even stopping to think, she pushed open the door. The room was unoccupied, but as her eyes roved the space she saw further evidence that Angus had been here, perhaps even stayed. A pair of shoes in the corner, the sleeve of a shirt hanging out of the washing basket, and Rhianne knew instinctively that if she opened the wardrobe she would see one of his suits hanging there.

Actually, now that her initial anger and revulsion was over, Rhianne realised that she ought to have seen something like this coming. Angus had always had a reputation for being a womanizer, but she’d ignored that fact when he’d asked her to go out with him, believing him when he’d said she was special. And when he’d asked her to marry him, she had said yes immediately.

Only later, when their wedding arrangements were being made, had she begun to have doubts. There had been whispers that he was seeing other women; she’d actually tackled him about it, but he had convinced her that there was no truth in it, that he loved her and wanted to marry her, and, stupidly, she had believed him.

But to bed her best friend! Why, she asked herself, had she never seen the signs before? How had they managed to keep their liaison a secret?

She slammed the door shut, and immediately Zarek crossed the room and pulled her hard against him. He didn’t speak; he seemed to know instinctively that no words would make her feel better.

Rhianne felt his strength seep into her. It was easy to forget that he was a stranger whom she’d met only a few hours ago. He was her saviour, holding her strongly when she felt like collapsing, stroking her hair, murmuring in his native language, finally, tilting her chin with a gentle finger, compelling her to look into his face.

And suddenly he was kissing her—and she was kissing him back! Hungrily and deeply, taking and savouring, her body flooding with alien passion. How could it be happening? How could she react like this when she was still upset by Angus’s cavalier attitude? The truth was Zarek’s kiss meant a whole lot more to her than Angus’s ever had.

Angus had considered himself a lady’s man, God’s gift to women—which she had blindly ignored—but Zarek was in a whole different league. She sensed that immediately. He wasn’t taking advantage of her weakness, he was comforting her. And how!

Her head began to spin, and when he put her from him she clung to the doorpost for support. Wow! A raging heat consumed her, and she was in such a daze that it was impossible to move.

Whether Zarek knew that it was because of his kiss, or whether he thought it was still a reaction to her fiancé’s perfidy, she didn’t know. But, whatever, he took command.

‘Let me help you pack,’ he said. ‘Where are your suitcases?’

Rhianne ineffectively tried to clear her head. He must think her an idiot standing there with her mouth open and her eyes wide. She pointed across the room, and he dragged them from the cupboard.

‘Right, I’ll empty your wardrobe, you do the drawers.’

Never had she imagined that she would let a man, a stranger at that, fold her dresses and skirts and place them carefully into a case. She was mesmerised by the way he did it, by the way he stroked out the creases before putting the next garment on top. Until he looked at her, until his dark eyes smiled and teased. ‘Do I have to do everything?’

Mentally shaking herself, Rhianne slid open drawers and threw her undies into the other case, going hot at the thought that if he hadn’t urged her into action, it would have been his hands lifting her intimate garments. And then the next time she wore them she would have remembered that he had touched them, maybe even covertly examined them. It didn’t bear thinking about.

How one comforting kiss could have sent her into such a tizz she didn’t know. Because that was all it had been. He had meant nothing by it.

‘You shouldn’t have kissed me,’ she said, and then wished she hadn’t because it gave too much of herself away.

‘You were hurting, I wanted to kiss you better.’

‘I’m not a child,’ she shot back, knowing she was overreacting but unable to help herself. She had enjoyed the kiss! Enjoyed it, for heaven’s sake, and that scared the hell out of her! She felt awful. How could this be happening? But worse still, she had promised to work for him. They would be in close proximity for several hours each day. She couldn’t do it. Not with the memory of his kiss hanging between them like a tantalising fruit.

‘I’m very much aware of that fact,’ Zarek informed her, his voice suddenly terse. ‘I am merely here to provide support. What happened was unfortunate. If you can put it behind you then the job is still yours, if you cannot forgive me then I will take you to your friend’s house, and you will never see me again.’

He paused for a moment, his eyes connecting with hers, cool brown fighting hot blue, and Rhianne knew that she had a hard decision to make.

CHAPTER THREE

TURNING down Zarek’s job offer would be both pointless and senseless, realised Rhianne. She needed a job, she needed something to take her mind off recent events, and work would be her salvation. Feeling vaguely guilty now for saying that he shouldn’t have kissed her, she said quietly, ‘I’d still like the job.’

‘Then it’s yours,’ answered Zarek, his voice calm now, his eyes steady on hers, one eyebrow rising in a crooked arc. ‘Although I must warn you that I’m a hard taskmaster. I shall work you long hours, probably longer than you’ve ever worked in your life, but the rewards more than make up for it.’

Rhianne’s eyes widened. ‘Rewards?’ She needed to know exactly what those rewards were.

‘I pay well for good work and loyalty.’

She breathed a sigh of relief, chastising herself for thinking that he might have meant rewarding her by taking her out to dinner, for instance. Or to the theatre. Or even suggest a weekend away. Her mind had run amok at the kind of rewards Zarek might offer her.

If he hadn’t kissed her, she would probably never have thought along those lines, and even though she had explained away the kiss to her own satisfaction there was one tiny part of her that knew she must be on her guard at all times. Not from Zarek, but from the feelings that had amazingly risen inside her when their lips had touched.

It didn’t take long to finish packing, to drop her toiletries into a holdall, and her shoes into carrier bags. When she was finished, she looked around the room. She had shared this flat with Annie for three years. It wasn’t sadness she felt, though, but anger that her friend had cheated on her.

‘I’m ready,’ she announced crisply.

Zarek’s eyes met hers, and he looked at her steadily, saying nothing, simply picking up her bags and carrying them down to his car. He wished that there was something he could say or do to make Rhianne feel better. Her face was deathly pale, and he was afraid she was going to pass out. But he knew that to even touch her again would be a mistake.

She was proudly beautiful in her unhappiness. Her long eyelashes shading her incredible blue eyes, her chin high and haughty, her mouth—well, he preferred not to think about her mouth because he wanted to kiss it again. He wanted to feel its softness; he wanted to encourage a response. Because he had felt a tiny one, even though she had told him off.

Give her a few days, a week or two at the most, and she might return his kisses. Not that this was his prime aim. He felt inordinately sorry for her; he didn’t want to see her walking the streets looking for work.

But that earlier kiss had told him that she wasn’t immune, and he liked the fact that she was fighting him. In fact, it had been a long time since he had met anyone who intrigued him as much as she did.

The journey to her friend’s house was accomplished in silence. Rhianne did not seem disposed to talk, and Zarek respected that. Karen was already home from work, and as she welcomed Rhianne, she looked curiously at Zarek.

But Rhianne didn’t introduce them. She simply turned to him and said, ‘If you give me your business card, I’ll see you at nine sharp in the morning.’

Zarek bowed his head, plucked a card from his wallet and silently handed it to her. ‘Do not be late,’ he warned.

‘Who the hell was that?’ asked Karen the moment he had driven off.

‘My new employer.’

‘You’re changing your job?’

Rhianne nodded. ‘I’ve been forced to. I was told this morning to clear my desk and get out.’

‘Are they allowed to do that?’ asked Karen curiously. ‘How does that guy fit into the equation? How did you meet him?’