Conveniently Wed to the Greek

by Kandy Shepherd

  * * *

  The next morning, Dell lay drowsing in the hospital bed, hooked up to a number of monitors. She felt a change, sensed a familiar scent. When she opened her eyes it was to see Alex sprawled in a chair that had been pulled over by her bedside. He was still wearing his wedding suit, crumpled now, and his jaw was dark with stubble. Even dishevelled he was gorgeous. He wore a wide gold band on his right hand in the Greek manner. The ring that was meant to bind him to her.

  Her ring—his mother’s ring—was sitting tightly wrapped in her handbag inside the hospital cabinet. She would never wear it again.

  ‘You’re awake,’ he said, his voice gruff.

  ‘Yes,’ she said.

  ‘I didn’t think you were ever going to wake up.’ She hadn’t been asleep the entire time. But she’d requested no visitors. Not even her husband. Until now.

  He went to kiss her but she pushed back against her pillow to evade him. ‘No need for that. There’s no one here we need to fool.’ Was that hurt she saw tighten his face? Surely not. She wanted his kiss, ached for his kiss. But she needed to keep her distance more.

  ‘I’m sorry about our honeymoon,’ she said. ‘Have you managed to cancel the booking?’ For appearances’ sake, they had planned a short break in the old port town of Chania on the southern island of Crete.

  His dark brows drew together. ‘Why would I care about that when I’m worried sick about you? I haven’t slept for fearing something would happen to you. And the baby.’

  His reference to the baby surprised her. ‘I’m okay,’ she said. ‘I don’t want a fuss. I’m not miscarrying.’

  He let out his breath on a great sigh of relief. ‘Thank God. Are you sure about that?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘But I need to stay in bed for a few days.’

  She didn’t want to discuss the intimate details with him. They hadn’t been intimate. Hadn’t made this baby together. It was nothing to do with him. As he’d made so very clear on several occasions.

  He leaned closer to her. She could smell coffee on his breath. Noticed his eyes were bloodshot. ‘Do you have to stay in hospital?’ he asked. ‘Or can you come home to Kosmima? I can organise nursing care for you.’

  Home. The island wasn’t home for her. Much as she had come to love it.

  She took a deep breath to steady herself, braced herself against the pillows. ‘I’m not coming back to Kosmima, Alex. Not today. Not ever.’

  She expected him to be angry but he looked puzzled. Which made this so much harder. ‘You want to go back to the villa? Why? That’s not part of our agreement.’

  ‘Not the villa. I’m going back to Sydney.’

  ‘What?’ The word exploded from him.

  Slowly she shook her head. ‘I can’t do this, Alex. I’m reneging on our agreement. I’m sorry but I just can’t live a lie. Your family are so wonderful. Aunt Penelope has been like a mother to me. Your mother too. I... I’ve come to love them. But I’m an imposter. A fraud. They’re all so worried about me losing this baby because they think it’s yours. Can you imagine how they will feel when they find out the truth?’

  ‘But we’re married now.’

  ‘In name only. It’s not a legal marriage.’ She couldn’t meet his eye. ‘It...it hasn’t been consummated, for one thing.’

  ‘That could be arranged,’ he said slowly.

  She caught her breath. ‘I know you don’t mean that,’ she said.

  ‘What if I did?’

  ‘I wouldn’t believe you,’ she said. ‘You’ve never given any indication whatsoever that...that you wanted this marriage to be real.’

  ‘Neither have you,’ he countered.

  ‘Why would I?’ she said. ‘This...this marriage is a business arrangement. I’ve signed a contract drawn up by your lawyers.’

  ‘A contract you would be breaking if you went back to Sydney.’

  ‘I’m aware of that,’ she said. ‘But the consequences of staying with you are so much greater than anything you could do to me by pursuing the broken contract. So sue me. I have nothing.’ She displayed empty hands. ‘The marriage isn’t registered yet. If a marriage in Greece is not registered within forty days, it becomes invalid.’

  He didn’t say anything in reply to that. His expression was immeasurably sad. ‘So it comes full circle, does it, Dell?’ he said finally. ‘Are we enemies again?’

  How could he be an enemy when she loved him so much her heart was breaking at the thought of not being with him? But she couldn’t endure a year of living with a man she loved so desperately in a celibate, for-convenience marriage. And then be expected to walk away from it with a cheque in her pocket, never to bother him again.

  ‘Never an enemy, Alex,’ she said with a hitch to her voice.

  ‘So why this desire to run away to Australia? Surely it’s not just about my family. So we keep to our deal and we break up after a year. Divorce happens all the time.’ He shrugged. ‘They’ll get over it.’

  She glared at him. ‘You don’t get it. You just don’t get it, do you? You can’t just play around with love, anyone’s love.’ My love.

  Her voice was rising but she couldn’t do anything to control it. A nurse came into the room. ‘Are you okay, Mrs Mikhalis? Is something upsetting you?’

  The nurse looked pointedly at Alex, who stood glowering by the chair. But Dell was too stunned at the way she’d so matter-of-factly referred to her as Mrs Mikhalis to really notice.

  Alex towered over the hospital bed, over the hapless nurse. ‘I am her husband and the father of her baby. I am not upsetting her. I’m here to take her home. To the people who love her.’ Now he completely ignored the nurse, rather turned to face Dell. ‘To the man who loves her.’

  The nurse knew exactly when to exit the room quietly.

  Dell pushed herself up higher in the bed. ‘Was that “the man who loves her” bit for the benefit of the nurse, Alex?’

  He came closer to the bed, took both her hands in his. ‘It’s purely for your benefit. I love you, Dell. I have for a long time. It just took me a while to wake up to it.’

  ‘Oh, Alex, I love you too.’ She gripped his hands tight. ‘I... I thought I had a silly crush on you but...but it was so much more than that.’

  ‘Aunt Penelope, the family, they saw it before we did,’ he said.

  He leaned down to kiss her, tenderly and with love. The same love she recognised now from his kiss in the church. Her heart started a furious pounding.

  ‘Alex, the wedding. The vows. You meant every word, didn’t you?’

  ‘Every word. I was hoping you would recognise that.’

  ‘I meant every word too,’ she breathed. He kissed her again.

  ‘That means we really are married,’ he said. ‘Registered or not. I want to take you home with me where you belong.’

  ‘But what about the baby? You said you could never take on another man’s child.’

  He frowned. ‘Somehow, I have never thought of the child as anyone’s but yours,’ he said. ‘Then when I felt your baby move beneath my hand, I realised it didn’t matter who was the sperm donor. The father will be the man who welcomes it into the world, who loves its mother, who truly fathers it, like my father fathered me.’

  ‘That’s quite a turnaround,’ she said, a little breathlessly. ‘Do you really believe that?’

  ‘Our little flower girl today, you know she is adopted?’

  ‘No, I didn’t know that.’

  ‘Neither did I, until Melina happened to mention it today. I was in Sydney at the time. She said she loved her little girl the minute she first held her in her arms. Her husband felt the same.’

  ‘She’s a very loved child, that’s obvious,’ Dell said thoughtfully.

  ‘That she is. So why would I not love your child, Dell? I lov
e you so that’s halfway there. I guess I won’t know how I feel exactly until I see him or her but I guess no parent does. I’ll be there at the birth if you want me to and be involved from the very beginning.’

  Dell put her hand protectively on her bump. She smiled. ‘He or she—I hate saying it—just gave me a hefty kick. I think he or she is listening and giving his or her approval.’

  Alex smiled too, his eyes lit with a warmth that thrilled her. ‘I think the baby is telling me to take you home and love you and make a happy life together.’

  ‘That baby has the right idea,’ she said.

  She swung herself out of bed so she could slide more comfortably into his arms. ‘We’re already married so I can’t really ask you to marry me, but I think I will anyway. Alex, will you be my husband for real?’

  ‘So long as you’ll be my wife,’ he said.

  She laughed. ‘I think we both agree on that. I love you, Mr Mikhalis.’

  ‘I love you too, Mrs Mikhalis,’ he said as he kissed her again, long and lovingly.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  One year later

  DELL RELAXED BACK in the shade of the pavilion near the swimming pool and watched as her husband played with their daughter in the water. Litsa squealed in delight as Alex lifted her up in his arms and then dipped her into the water with a splash. ‘We’ll have her swimming before she’s walking,’ he called.

  The baby gurgled her delight. At just six months old, she was nowhere near talking but she was very communicative, as she’d been in the womb. She and Alex had had endless fun making up meanings for her bump’s kicks and wiggles.

  Dell waved to her precious little lookalike. Litsa had been born with her mother’s auburn hair and creamy skin but with brown eyes. People often remarked that she had the best of both her and Alex. Husband and wife would look at each other and smile. Alex had legally adopted Litsa. They would choose the right time to one day tell her about her biological father.

  Alex need not have worried about bonding with the baby. As he’d promised, he’d been there at the birth and had adored his daughter at first sight. So had Dell. Motherhood was everything she had dreamed of. Even more as she was enjoying it buoyed with the love and support of the husband she grew to love more each day.

  She and Alex had debated whether or not to move back to Sydney but had decided to stay in Greece, at least in the short term. Pevezzo Athina had been such a success that it was already completely booked out for the season and beyond. They still lived in the pavilion but Alex had started building them a magnificent new house out of sight of the resort but within sight of the little church where they’d married and Litsa had been christened. Her blog had taken a slight change in direction but had not lost her any readers—rather she had gained them.

  The best news was that Alex’s father, George, had gone into remission and was a devoted grandfather when he visited Greece, which he did more often. He and Eleni even talked of buying a house nearby when they retired and living between both countries.

  Much to Dell’s surprise her mother had become the most doting of grandmas—after she’d got over the hurt of being excluded from the wedding. When Dell had taken her into her confidence and explained why, her mother had forgiven her. She’d surprised Dell by telling her that she and her father had always disliked Neil but hadn’t wanted to criticise their daughter’s choice of husband. When they’d flown to Greece to meet their new son-in-law, her parents had given their full approval. Alex had taken to them too.

  There was a friendly rivalry between her mother and Eleni over who would spend the most time in Greece with their granddaughter. When the grandmothers had met after Litsa’s birth, they’d realised they’d met each other before at a pharmaceutical conference and a genuine friendship had formed.

  Who knew? Dell now mused. She would have to figure out a time to tell both the grandmas her news at the same time.

  Alex gave Litsa a final plunge in the pool and swung her up into his arms to a peal of baby giggles. As her husband walked out of the pool, his lean, powerful body glistening with water, Dell felt the intense surge of love and desire she always felt for him.

  ‘Are you feeling okay?’ he asked. ‘Need more dry crackers, more lemonade?’

  ‘Ugh,’ she said. ‘No, thanks.’

  No one had been more surprised than Dell when she’d fallen pregnant. For so long she’d thought herself the problem in her battles with fertility. Turned out she’d been married to the wrong man. Or that was what Alex said anyway. She could only agree.

  * * * * *

  If you’ve enjoyed this book, look out for

  THE BRIDESMAID’S BABY BUMP

  by Kandy Shepherd. Available now!

  If you want to treat yourself to another

  second chance romance, look out for

  A MARRIAGE WORTH SAVING

  by Therese Beharrie.

  Keep reading for an excerpt from

  HIS SHY CINDERELLA by Kate Hardy.

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  His Shy Cinderella

  by Kate Hardy

  CHAPTER ONE

  ANGEL FLICKED THROUGH the pile of mail on her desk.

  Bills, bills, circulars and—just for a change—bills. Bills she really hoped she could pay without temporarily borrowing from the account she’d earmarked for paying the company’s half-yearly tax liability.

  And there was still no sign of the large envelope with an American postmark she’d been waiting for, containing the contract for supplying the new McKenzie Frost to feature in the next instalment of Spyline, a high-profile action movie series. Triffid Studios hadn’t emailed to her it instead, either, because Angel had already checked her inbox and the spam box. Twice.

  Maybe she’d send a polite enquiring email to their legal department tomorrow. There was a fine line between being enthusiastic about the project and coming across as desperate and needy.

  Even though right now Angel felt desperate and needy. She couldn’t let McKenzie’s go under. Not on her watch. How could she live with herself if she lost the company her grandfather had started seventy years ago? The contract with Triffid would make all the difference. Seeing the McKenzie Frost in the film would remind people of just how wonderful McKenzie’s cars were: hand-made, stylish, classic, and with full attention to every detail. And they were bang up to date: she intended to produce the Fr
ost in an electric edition, too. Then their waiting list would be full again, with everyone wanting their own specially customised Frost, and she wouldn’t have to lay anyone off at the factory.

  Though she couldn’t even talk about the deal yet. Not until she’d actually signed the contract—which she couldn’t do until her lawyer had checked it over, and her lawyer couldn’t do that until the contract actually arrived...

  But there was no point in brooding over something she couldn’t change. She’d just have to get on with things as best as she could, and hope that she didn’t have to come up with plan B. And she didn’t want to burden her parents with her worries. She knew they were enjoying their retirement, and the last thing she wanted was to drag them back from the extended vacation they’d been planning for years.

  She’d grin and bear it, and if necessary she’d tell a white lie or two.

  She went through the post, dealing with each piece as she opened it, and paused at the last envelope: cream vellum, with a handwritten address. Most people nowadays used computer-printed address labels, or if they did have to write something they’d simply grab the nearest ballpoint pen. This bold, flamboyant script looked as if it had been written with a proper fountain pen. Disappointingly, the letter itself was typewritten, but the signature at the bottom was in the same flamboyant handwriting as the envelope.

  And her jaw dropped as she read the letter.

  It was an offer to buy the company.

  Selling up would be one way to solve McKenzie’s financial problems. But selling McKenzie’s to Brandon Stone? He seriously thought she would even consider it?

  She knew the family history well enough. Her grandfather had set up in business with his best friend just after the Second World War, building quality cars that everyone could afford. Except then they’d both fallen in love with the same woman. Esther had chosen Jimmy McKenzie; in response, Barnaby Stone had dissolved their business partnership and left with all the equipment to go and start up another business, this time based on making factory-built cars. Jimmy McKenzie had started over, too, making his hand-built cars customisable—just as McKenzie’s still built their cars today.