The Hot-Headed Virgin: The Virgin's Price / The Greek's Virgin / The Italian Billionaire's Virgin

Mia’s eyes went out on stalks as she sat forward on her chair, her stomach tripping over itself in alarm. What on earth was he doing?

He gave her a quick, confident grin and his voice continued, ‘So call me after the news, all you lovers out there in listener-land, and tell me about your most romantic meeting.’

‘On air in three minutes,’ the producer informed Mia as he flicked another switch on his console.

‘But I—’ She clamped her mouth shut when she saw Bryn’s lazy smile. All right, she thought. I’ll do it. I’ll go on radio and tell him exactly what I think of him. You just see if I won’t.

She was led into Bryn’s soundproof studio, fitted with a pair of headphones and seated opposite him in front of a microphone. She could hear the news segment coming to an end and then Bryn smiled as he spoke into his mouthpiece.

‘Thank you for joining me in the studio this afternoon, Mia. This is Hot Spot FM and I have with me here the beautiful Mia Forrester, whom I met by accident this morning. And I can tell right my life will never be the same again. I’ll take caller number four, who wants to tell us about how she met the love of her life. Hello, Jennifer from way out at Campbelltown. Tell us about your romantic meeting.’

Mia swallowed as a young woman’s voice sounded in her ears. ‘Hi, Bryn and Mia. I met my husband when he ran into the back of my car at the traffic lights. I was so furious with him but after I’d vented my spleen I suddenly realised how gorgeous he was. He asked me out and the rest, as they say, is history.’

‘Thanks, Jennifer, what a great story. Now we have Andy from Castle Hill on the line. Hi, Andy; how did you meet the love of your life?’

This time a male voice sounded in Mia’s ears. ‘I met my fiancée when she waxed my legs in preparation for a triathlon I was competing in.’

‘No kidding?’ Bryn said, winking at Mia. ‘So how many waxes did it take to ask her out?’

‘Five, but it was worth the pain.’

Bryn laughed. ‘Way to go, Andy. Who says men have no sense of romance? Now I think it’s Mia’s turn to tell you about how she met me this morning. Mia?’

Mia met his dark blue gaze and tightened her mouth. ‘I met Bryn Dwyer in the café where up until this morning I was employed part-time. But as a result of my—er—spilling a cup of coffee in his lap I lost my job on the spot and—’

‘And lost her heart as well, isn’t that right, sweetheart?’

‘I—’

‘You know the number.’ Bryn cut her off as he addressed his listeners. ‘Call in and tell us if you agree with the concept of love at first sight.’ He took the first caller.

Mia listened with one ear as she tried to make sense of what was going on. Was this some kind of joke? What the hell was he playing at, pretending he’d fallen in love with her?

The switchboard was buzzing with incoming calls and the producer gave Bryn a thumbs-up sign from the studio next door, his face beaming.

‘Now we have Sharon from sunny Seaforth, who has a question for Mia,’ Bryn said. ‘Go ahead, Sharon.’

‘Mia, did you feel an instant attraction for Bryn or did it take a few minutes before you realised you were falling in love with him?’

‘I…’ Mia caught the gleam in Bryn’s dark gaze and sent him a blistering glare. ‘No, not instantly…it was more of a slow realisation that here was a man who would stop at nothing to get his way and—’

‘See how well she knows me already?’ Bryn cut her off again. ‘How about a question from Corinne? Go ahead, Corinne.’

‘Mia, I was wondering if you are worried about falling in love with one of Sydney’s notorious playboys. What if he lets you down?’

‘I don’t think he’ll let me down,’ Mia said, finally catching on and hatching a vengeful little plot of her own. She gave Bryn a beguiling smile and added, ‘Not now that we’re planning to get married as soon as possible. He proposed to me this morning and I said yes.’

Within seconds the switchboard was jammed with calls and the producer gave the signal for the next bracket of music to be played.

Mia waited until she was sure they were off air. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing? I’m not in love with you!’

‘I know,’ Bryn said, leaning back in his chair to survey her outraged features. ‘But the listeners don’t know that and neither does my producer.’

‘You mean…’ she glanced at the still beaming producer in the studio next door and then back at Bryn ‘…you mean they think it’s…real?’

‘Of course they think it’s real.’

‘Are you crazy or something?’

‘Not crazy, just hungry for more ratings.’ A segment of advertisements began to play as he continued, ‘I thought since you ruined a pair of Armani trousers this morning the very least you could do was give my ratings a boost by pretending to be in love with me for a week or two.’ He pressed another button. ‘But that bit about marriage was total overkill. It’ll be all over the papers tomorrow.’

Mia felt her heart give an extra beat. ‘The papers?’

‘Yep. Journalists love this sort of stuff. Celebrity playboy meets perfect match.’ He smiled a white-toothed smile. ‘But we can go along with it for a while. What do you think?’

‘I think you’re a jerk, that’s what I think. I lost my job because of you.’

‘I told you you’re wasted in the café; you could do much better than that.’

‘Not the café, although that was bad enough,’ she bit out through clenched teeth. ‘I was dropped from Peach Pie Productions this morning. Theodore Frankston saw your review and decided to pull me out completely. Then I spoke to my agent who told me she was too busy to represent me properly but I know it was because of your stupid review.’

‘Too bad.’

‘It’s worse than bad. I have bills to pay.’ And I need a heck of a lot of money to get my sister out of trouble, she wanted to insert but stopped herself just in time. ‘I’ve not long moved into a flat with a friend. How am I going to meet my commitments when I no longer have a job and no agent to find me a new one?’

‘Ah, but you do have a job,’ he said. ‘I just gave you one.’

She frowned at him in confusion. ‘What are you talking about?’

He leaned forward in his chair until his knees were almost touching hers. Mia hadn’t realised how very dark his eyes were until that moment and she felt her tummy do a funny little moth-like flutter as she was pulled into their deep, oceanblue depths.

‘I want you to act the role of my devoted fiancée,’ he said. ‘I would have settled for girlfriend but, since you mentioned the M word in front of two-point-four million listeners, I’m afraid we’ll have to run with that role instead.’

‘Your fiancée?’ She gasped. ‘You want me to pretend to be your fiancée?’

He flicked a glance at the monitor and pressed another button before he sat back in his seat. ‘You’re an actor, right?’

She gave him a resentful look. ‘Yes, but according to this morning’s paper not a very good one.’

‘Here’s your chance to prove me wrong,’ he said. ‘If you can convince the Press and my listeners that you are indeed in love with me then I’ll take back everything I said. I’ll pay you, of course. What was Frankston’s company giving you?’

She told him and he gave a snort. ‘What a joke. No wonder you didn’t put your heart into that role. I’ll pay you four times that much, plus expenses.’

‘Expenses?’

‘Hang on a minute.’ He turned his headphones back on and began to speak on air. ‘You heard it first on Hot Spot FM. Bryn Dwyer the confirmed bachelor is in love with a little lady who has promised to be his wife. You know the number. Give me a call to congratulate me. This is one very happy man.’

Mia sat silently fuming. This was getting ridiculous. Surely he didn’t expect her to take him seriously?