In the Australian's Bed: The Passion Price / The Australian's Convenient Bride / The Australian's Marriage Demand

He searched her face with thoughtful eyes. ‘What’s wrong, Angelina? Are you still angry with me for what happened sixteen years ago? I wouldn’t blame you if you were. I was thinking earlier today how much I wanted to say sorry to you for how things turned out that night, so if it’s not too late, I’m truly sorry.’

‘No need for an apology,’ she bit out. ‘I was as much to blame as you were.’

‘Then what’s the problem? Why snatch your hand away like that?’

Angelina could hardly tell him the truth. That just the touch of his hand fired up her hormones as no man had in the past sixteen years. Not even close. Even now, she was looking at his mouth and wondering what it would feel like on hers again; wondering what making love would be like with him, now that he was older and so much more experienced.

Jake would be only too happy to accommodate her, she knew. Angelina had seen the way he’d looked at her during lunch today. She’d been on the end of such looks from men a lot lately. Invariably, they were followed up by some kind of pass.

She wouldn’t mind betting Jake had organised leaving Dorothy behind for a while so that he could be alone with her. The realisation that he thought he could just take up with her where he’d left off all those years ago infuriated Angelina.

‘You look as if you’ve changed, Jake,’ she said sharply. ‘But you haven’t changed at all. You still think you can have any female you fancy.’

He smiled the most heart-stopping smile. ‘It would be hard not to fancy you, Angelina. You were a gorgeous-looking girl, but you’re one stunning-looking woman.’

Angelina gritted her teeth to stop herself from smiling back at him. Damn the man, he was incorrigible. And almost irresistible.

Wilomena arriving with the coffee and cake was a godsend. But she was gone all too soon.

‘This is great cake,’ Jake praised after his first mouthful.

‘Glad you like it,’ she remarked snippily.

He took another mouthful, followed up by some coffee. She watched him, her own appetite nil, her frustration growing. Who did he think he was? It would serve him right if she upped and told him right now the result of his last encounter with her. Finding out he had a fifteen-year-old son was sure to wipe that satisfied look off his far too handsome face.

But she didn’t tell him. She couldn’t be sure of his reaction, and there was no way she was going to upset Alex this year. Angelina aimed to delay Jake finding out about his son as long as possible.

‘So!’ Jake exclaimed, dabbing at his mouth with a serviette after polishing off his slice of cake and most of his coffee. ‘Is there a current man in your life, Angelina? Or are you footloose and fancy-free?’

Here comes the pass, she thought irritably. Well, he was in for a surprise because she intended to head him off at the pass. As much as Jake still had the power to turn her head—and turn her on—Angelina wasn’t about to fall for his smooth but empty line of patter twice in one lifetime.

‘Yes, of course there’s a man in my life,’ came her blithe reply. Alex was almost a man after all.

Jake muttered something under his breath before searching her face again with those hard, sexy blue eyes of his. ‘So what’s the score? Is it serious? Are you living with him?’

‘Sometimes.’

‘Sometimes.’ Jake looked puzzled. ‘What does that mean?’

‘He lives in Sydney most of the time. Comes up here for holidays and the occasional weekend. And I go down there to see him every once in a while.’

‘What about next weekend? Will you be seeing him next weekend?’

‘Nope. I’ll be attending the food and wine expo at Darling Harbour.’

‘You mean you’ll be in Sydney and you’re not going to see each other, not even at night?’

Angelina couldn’t decide if she found Jake’s shock amusing or annoying. Clearly, his priority in a relationship was still sex.

‘Alex will be away next weekend,’ she said coolly. Actually, Alex was going to a special swimming training camp in preparation for the big interschool swimming carnival the following weekend. He was the captain of the team. ‘I’ll be seeing him the following weekend.’ At the swimming carnival.

‘Where are you staying this weekend in Sydney?’

Angelina almost laughed. Obviously, Jake didn’t aim to go quietly off into the sunset. She should have known.

‘I’ve booked a room at the Star City Casino for Saturday night,’ came her composed reply. ‘It’s the closest hotel to the expo.’ In truth, she wasn’t strictly needed at the expo. The marketing agency who now handled the Ambrosia Estate account had hired professional sales people for the weekend. But she thought it wise to check personally on how her money was being spent. This venture hadn’t been cheap.

But Angelina knew you had to invest money to make money these days. It had been her idea for the winery to get a web site two years ago. Her father had argued against the idea, but she’d had her way and it had brought them in a lot of business.

‘Are you planning to marry this Alex one day?’ Jake asked abruptly.

‘No.’

Jake shook his head, his expression bewildered. ‘That’s what I don’t get with you, Angelina. Why haven’t you got married? I thought marriage and children were a must with Italian girls.’

‘Not with me. I have other priorities.’ Like our son. ‘Now that Papa’s gone, I’m solely responsible for the running of this place. That’s a lot of work. But enough about me. What about you, Jake?’ she asked, swiftly deflecting the conversation away from her own personal life and on to his. ‘Are you married?’

The corner of his mouth tipped up in a wry smile. ‘Come, now, Angelina. I told you way back when I was seventeen that I would never get married. I’ve had no reason to change my mind on that score.’

Her heart sinking at this news annoyed her. What had she subconsciously been hoping could happen here? That he would fall madly in love with her this time, marry her and they would live happily ever after, the three of them?

Dream on, Angelina.

‘What about children?’ she couldn’t resist asking. ‘Haven’t you ever wanted a son? Or a daughter?’ she added quickly.

‘God, no. I’d be a simply dreadful father. Just the thought of being responsible for a child’s upbringing gives me nightmares.’

Oh, great, she thought. He’s going to be thrilled when he finds out about Alex. It was as well Alex was almost grown up, if that was Jake’s attitude.

‘Why do you say you’d be a dreadful father?’ she asked, though she suspected it had something to do with his childhood. He’d never told her specifics all those years ago, but she’d been left with the impression of serious neglect.

Angelina’s father had always been a right pain in the neck, but he’d never left her in any doubt that he loved her.

‘I’m way too selfish for starters,’ he confessed. ‘And damaged, Dorothy would say. You know the theory. An abused child often becomes an abusive parent. But let’s not talk about life’s little nasties,’ he swept on, brushing aside any further explanation. ‘Let’s talk about you instead. OK, so you don’t want the traditional role of wife and mother. I can accept that. I guess you have got your hands pretty full running this place. A lot of women these days are into the business scene. And careers. Don’t go imagining I’d ever judge you harshly for that.’

‘How generous of you,’ came her caustic retort.

He just smiled at her again, as though amused by her impertinence.

‘So when are you going to dump that loser you’ve been seeing and go out with me?’

Now Angelina did laugh. The man had the hide of an elephant. Exasperated, she decided to prick his ego some more. ‘Alex is no loser. He’s just as good-looking as you are. And just as successful, I might add. In fact, he’s the only son and heir to a veritable fortune.’ Besides being worth millions—property-wise—the Ambrosia Estate ran at a tidy profit each year, with their resort and restaurant very popular, and their wines in high demand over in America and Europe. If Angelina’s plans for expansion into more markets bore fruit, profits could be even higher in future.

‘Not impressed,’ Jake countered confidently. ‘Money is nothing. Attitude is everything. He’s a loser. Because if you were my woman,’ Jake said, and leant closer to her across the table, ‘I’d make damned sure I wasn’t away if you were going to be in Sydney next weekend. You wouldn’t be staying at some hotel on Saturday night, either. You’d be staying at my place.’

His eyes locked on to hers and for the life of her, she could not look away. In the end, she laughed again. It was the only way she could safely draw air into her suddenly starving lungs.

‘But I’m not your woman, am I?’