by Marian Tee
So say sorry, her conscience urged. You know you were rude first.
Bobby stubbornly pushed the thought away. Rude or not, she just couldn’t make herself say sorry. She was too proud to do it.
When the girl didn’t even say sorry and simply glared up at him mutinously, Leandro found himself experiencing a strong urge to pull her across his lap and put a stinging slap to her backside. Girls in his homeland were not like this. They knew their place, and it was to respect and serve the men in their life.
His gaze swiftly scanned their surroundings and saw that everyone inside the cafeteria was looking at them. He knew he had to leave the table. It galled him to admit that she had indeed “claimed” the table first, but Leandro knew it was true.
However, he did not intend to let her have the last word.
He gestured to the table. “It’s all yours.”
“It really is---”
Leandro stepped forward, held her by the nape, and closed his lips over hers.
She froze, shock rendering her immobile. When her lips instinctively parted in surprise, Leandro did not hesitate to deepen the kiss, his tongue moving in to brand her with his taste, making sure that she would never forget him and his kiss.
Leandro meant to seduce her, but what he didn’t count on was being seduced in return. Her mouth was a unique blend of sweet and spice, their sexual chemistry combustible in its explosive heat. This close, he was suddenly and explicitly aware of her softness, her womanly scent, and when his cock rose, balls aching with need, Leandro tore himself away abruptly.
Even as his body protested the sudden absence of contact, Leandro managed to look into the red-headed virago’s eyes with a cold glare. “I’m on to you, mégaira. All that noise was for me to notice you, wasn’t it?”
As the words sank in, she let out a loud gasp, and Leandro added silkily, “Next time, you only need to ask.”
Chapter 2
After clapping each other’s backs in greeting, Derek said dryly, “You don’t waste time, do you? I heard about what happened yesterday.” They started walking down the red carpet, both of them pausing once in a while when a particular photographer was persistent in asking for a photo.
Tonight, Derek’s parents were hosting a prestigious event awarding the country’s youngest and most prolific philanthropists. It was not the kind of event Leandro normally graced back home, but he was a changed man now. This event should point him in the right direction and hopefully to the most boringly perfect woman to make his temporary girlfriend.
“It was an unfortunate incident,” Leandro answered Derek with a grimace. He was not particularly proud of letting his temper get the better of him during yesterday’s incident. But he had been in a foul mood to start with, and the girl’s shrewish temperament simply made him feel like lashing out.
When Derek had left him yesterday at the cafeteria, Leandro had received a call from home, and the news had not been good. His father remained in the hospital as there was a strong possibility he could suffer from another heart attack.
The first of which he had caused.
“I was in a bad mood. I received news about my father’s condition and it had not been…good. It’s no excuse, but I was not myself yesterday.”
Derek said gravely, “I’m sorry about Tio Orion, Leandro. But he is a fighter. He will pull through.”
Leandro simply nodded, not wanting Derek to know that a part of him believed God would take his father away as Leandro’s punishment.
“By the way, who was the girl?” Derek wanted to distract his younger cousin, the dark look on Leandro’s face making it easy for him to guess what the other man’s thoughts were. He didn’t bother telling Leandro that he was not to blame for what had happened. That was something Leandro had to learn on his own.
“You know what happened. There was no way I could ask for her name.”
Derek couldn’t help grinning at that. “She really did piss you off, didn’t she?”
“She was a shrew.”
“Ah.” Leandro’s mother, Elena, was the sweetest woman in the world, docile and biddable – a perfect wife for a traditional Greek. She had inadvertently caused Leandro to have somewhat unrealistic expectations of women today.
“Never had anyone been so rude to me,” Leandro confided stiffly. In Greece, everyone – man or woman – had treated him with the utmost respect, almost bordering on worship. He was after all a Christopoulos, and more than that, he was the son of Orion Christopoulos, one of the country’s greatest politicians in history. If anyone had the power to reinvent Greek politics and eradicate corruption from its system, it would be his father.
He wondered if he would have acted differently if the redheaded shrew had simply asked him nicely to leave. Perhaps so. But she hadn’t, and so that happened.
That being the kiss that had shockingly kept him awake at night. When Leandro had finally fallen asleep, it was only to dream of him kissing her – and not just her lips this time.
Leandro’s lips tightened at the thought. Why the hell did he keep thinking about her? She was nothing – nothing – like his type. He liked his women tall, stunning, sexy, and above all things, he wanted his women to know that his word was law. Was that too fucking much to ask?
An usherette led them to the front row, and she took off the labels that indicated where their seats were.
“Please let me know if there is anything else you need,” she said warmly as she handed the Christopoulos men their copies of the program. Wait until the girls found out about this, she thought excitedly to herself. She had no hopes with Derek Christopoulos – only someone living under a rock would not know about how much he loved his fiancée. But the other Christopoulos was a different matter altogether.
Leandro Christopoulos was so deliciously manly. It was hard to accept the fact that he was indeed only twenty-one years old and still in his last year of college.
The invitation in the girl’s eyes was blatant, but Leandro simply nodded. “Thank you.” His days of one-minute stands were over – it had been the moment he found out that his wild antics had severely endangered his father’s life.
When they were left alone, Derek remarked, “I’m surprise you didn’t take her up on her offer.”
“It might get back to my father. The only girl I’m going to fuck while I’m here is my girlfriend.”
Derek sighed. “You’re insane.”
“No. Unfortunately, I’m not. I’m desperate.”
“Your father never asked you to---”
“His standings in the poll suffered because of me, and the quickest way to redeem myself in the public’s eyes is to let them know I have changed. No more underground races, no more women, no mor everything except whatever it is good guys do.” Leandro flipped the program over so he could see the awardees listed at the back in gold engraved letters. “This – whoever this is that won first place – this is the kind of girl I need.”
“Then you’re in for a disappointment. She is good friends with my mother, and what I know of her through Mother tells me that she is not going to agree to be your girlfriend.”
Leandro shrugged, not affected by Derek’s warning. He was not a good man, and he did not profess to know everything. But one thing he did know was women, and he knew enough that he could make them cry out in sexual release with a few flicks of his fingers. He knew where to bite, where to kiss, where not to touch to have them panting his name.
“She will say yes.”
An hour later, the ceremony had finally reached its end and the awardees were being called in front. Leandro straightened in his seat, impatiently waiting to see the one he had decided to make his girlfriend. He hoped she was nice enough to look at but even if she was not his type, it would not sway him from the path he had chosen to take.
“Ladies and gentlemen," Derek’s mother Samantha Christopoulos announced proudly, “I present to you our Young Philanthropist of the Year, Ms. Roberta Granger.”
A petite woma
n ascended the stage, dressed simply in a white blouse and slacks while the other awardees were dressed in sparkling dresses and high heels – everything that a philanthropist did not look like. More and more he was convinced that he had made the right choice.
She even wore glasses, Leandro thought with approval.
The girl reached Samantha’s side and took the trophy from the older woman, their conversation too low for the microphone to pick up. She turned to face the crowd.
Fuck.
He said it again, this time aloud, and Derek looked at him sharply.
“What is it?” Derek asked.
Leandro said grimly, “You asked me a while ago what her name is. Well, I know now.” He nodded towards the stage. “Roberta Granger.”
It took a moment for Derek to react, and then he grinned. “Good luck, Leandro. You will need it. Badly.”
Chapter 3
“There’s a young man I want you to meet,” Samantha Christopoulos confided to her excitedly.
So that was why the older woman was holding on to her arm so tightly, Bobby realized with a grimace. Even so, she tried to pull away. The hold tightened. Bobby sighed. “You know I adore you, Aunt Sam, but this has to stop. I’m not looking for a boyfriend.”
“You should.”
“Does my mom know you’re encouraging me to hook up?”
Samantha looked offended. “Of course!”
It was Bobby’s turn to be offended. “She does?”
“Oh, come on, don’t be mad at her. You know we’re both just worried about you.” Samantha squeezed the younger girl’s arm affectionately. “The problem with you is that you let the past affect you too much.”
Bobby shrugged.
“You didn’t use to be so lacking in self-confidence,” Samantha chided.
“I’m not lacking in self-confidence,” Bobby protested. “I do workshops all the time, public talks---”
“That’s not what I mean and you know it. You used to have more confidence in yourself as a woman.”
“Aunt Sam, I am confident as a woman. I’m just not as blind as I was in the past about who I really am.” Now, she understood perfectly that she was not the kind most men considered attractive. She was too pale, too curvy, and too smart for her own good.
She unconsciously straightened at the thought, as if preparing herself for the disdain of other people. She didn’t care about what others thought, Bobby told herself. What she cared most about was her charity and making sure the children who depended on her would be taken care of for the rest of their lives.
Bobby tried to pull away again, hoping she could take the older woman by surprise, but Samantha was still clinging to her tightly. “Aunt Sam, really?”
Samantha suddenly looked frail, but her voice was strong when she told Bobby, “If you leave me, everyone’s going to think you cruelly abandoned an old woman like me to party.”
Bobby groaned. “You are so sneaky.”
“Just do this for me please, Bobby. Just be nice to him and don’t let your prejudices show. I promise you’ll have fun with him.”
“I don’t have time to have fun.”
“You do. You just don’t want to.” Samantha nodded and smiled at those who greeted her but didn’t bother to stop for any of them. She had been lucky to get Bobby to cooperate with her this far, and she knew it. If she let her guard down even for a second, Samantha was sure the girl would make a mad dash for the exit.
The afterparty of the award ceremony was doing very well, with twice the number of expected guests turning up. It was no doubt because everyone wanted to have a look at her nephew, Samantha thought fondly. The fact that there was another Christopoulos in their midst – and this one single – had everyone excited, from mothers looking for the perfect match for their daughters to younger girls and sophisticated women hoping for a chance to snag him before the whole country became aware of his presence.
“Unlike Derek, my nephew is 100% Greek.”
“Which makes him a chauvinist.”
“Very protective of the women in general, yes,” she agreed smoothly. “He’s pretty famous in Greece because he has won a lot of races.”
“Horse racing?”
“Err---no. Motorcycles.”
Bobby sighed. “It’s just getting worse, Aunt Sam. You should really just quit before this gets embarrassing for all of us. I’m a nerd and he races bikes. How in the world do you think we’re going to deal together?”
“Like fire meets fire,” a dark voice answered.
Bobby’s jaw dropped at the unexpected response, but before she could figure out who it was, she almost bumped into a wall of rock-hard muscles.
“Leandro!”
It was Samantha’s nephew then?
She looked up, and her jaw slackened even more. “You?”
Almost as if on cue, the orchestra playing at the stage started a new song, and Leandro answered by taking her hand and sweeping her into the dance floor.
From behind them, Samantha called out cheerfully, “Enjoy!”
Leandro expected Roberta Granger to try to escape him, and she did. But of course he was ready for her, and his arm simply tightened around her waist. For good measure, he also pulled her close to him, taking her again by surprise. She ended up completely plastered against his body, and as he whirled them around, he looked down at her.
She was spitting mad.
That was…expected, too.
“Try to smile,” he suggested. “Everyone’s looking at us.”
“Let go of me.”
“No.” He whirled them around again.
“I’m serious.”
“I’m just as serious. Before you can make a scene, I’ll be kissing you. Again.”
Her eyes flew back to him in angry disbelief. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.” And his cock rose, as if to affirm how serious he was. His body’s instant reaction towards her proximity and the mention of their kiss required Leandro to reluctantly put a little distance between them. This was not the right place and time for Roberta Granger to realize how much she turned him on – for what reason, even Leandro didn’t know.
Looking down on her, the mutinous look on her oval face made Leandro mentally sigh. “I’m sorry for what happened yesterday,” he forced himself to say.
“Really?”
He said impatiently, “Has no one taught you to be gracious when accepting an apology?”
She flushed. He was right in that score, but she didn’t want to admit it. She shot back, “I’d be gracious if I thought you were being sincere.”
It was his turn to flush. “You never know when to shut up.”
Her eyes flashed. “Is that your way of telling me to shut up? Because let me tell you---”
He kissed her.
Again, he had shut her up by kissing her.
This time, she managed to remain conscious enough to try to struggle. Try being the operative word because her efforts were completely wasted. He was so strong that he made it look like she was not refusing his touch at all. He had stopped in the middle of the dance floor, his arms around her like chains made of burning-hot steel.
She opened her mouth to scream, but stupid her, she forgot that was the one thing she should never do.
His tongue went in for the kill.
And that was…the end. Of her sanity.
Now, her reeling senses took over.
The impact of his kiss, his touch, the heat of his presence – it all hit her at once, and she was left silently gasping against his mouth as he deepened his kiss. They were no longer dancing, and she honestly had no idea where they were. All she knew right now was that this second kiss of his was even more mind-blowing, more earth-shattering, and she couldn’t think of anything else except him.
His lips were soft and firm at the same time, demanding and gentle, the way it moved never leaving any doubt in her shaken mind that he was in control.
His tongue was skillful – too skillful, the way it moved
inside her mouth, leaving a lasting impression on every inch it tasted and touched. It sought to mate with her tongue, and she was helplessly drawn into this seductive and passionate dance, her tongue following his command, dancing to his tune.
His hands had first been meant to keep her in place, but now it was meant to support her, to keep her from falling, and they both knew it. One hand clasped her neck, fingers digging into the thick length of her hair while his other hand was settled possessively on the curve of her hip, fingers tightening around her flesh as he leaned forward and she bent backward, the kiss never-ending.
Someone cleared her throat. Several times.
“I’m glad you two get along very well, but you are starting to make a scene, children. Do you think you could continue this somewhere more private?”
The words took a while to penetrate her mind.
And when it did---
Bobby let out a load moan of shock and embarrassment, this time struggling in earnest, forcing Leandro to slowly lift his head and let her go. He at least appeared as dazed as she was, as if he could not believe that they were not somewhere private, with an opportunity to take things further.
She had the strongest urge to slap him for some reason. She knew it was unfair to feel like he had taken advantage of her. He might have had at the start, but in the end she had kissed him back. Even so, she had this strange need to hit him and her hand actually started to move.
His face became dark and a warning glinted in his stormy blue eyes. “Don’t.” He said the word in a low murmur, but there was a lethal tone to it.
Hit me and I will do more than kiss you.
The silent warning made Bobby tremble. With a choked gasp, she whirled away to leave but instead bumped into another person – this time a waiter holding a tray filled with several glasses of wine. They all tumbled down, liquid sloshing past the tray and onto…her.
People around them gasped. Some even dared to laugh. And Bobby could have sworn she heard someone mutter viciously, “Doesn’t she have any shame? She’s provoking him so he'll kiss her again.”
