‘Of course,’ he said. He reached over across the table to take both her hands in his, look deep into her eyes. ‘It’s good to be here with you, agápi mou. I’ve had a long, stressful day.’
‘My day has been quite exciting,’ she murmured. ‘Especially when you found me without any clothes on and...’ He knew she was referring to the incident in his bathtub but, the way she murmured it, any person overhearing her would assume she was referring to something rather more intimate. If only they’d heard how she’d screeched at him.
‘Now we can relax over a good meal,’ he said. He released her hands, realising he had held them for a moment longer than was required for play-acting.
Ashleigh’s lips curved up into a smile that hinted at her dimples. ‘That’s more like it,’ she whispered. ‘The more practice we get in this evening, the less we risk seeming stilted tomorrow. What if someone you know saw us behaving like it’s a business meeting? Which I guess it is, in a way.’ Did she feel even the slightest stirring of what he was feeling?
‘Business? Yes, it is and the interplay between us must be believable,’ he said. But he would have to remain on guard against the attraction he felt towards her. He did not want any distractions from the main game, which was—as always—the business. ‘We have to get this charade right—it’s important I seal that deal with Tina Norris.’
‘Tina Norris? That’s the...the cougar’s name?’
He kept his voice low as he spoke. His business dealings were not for public broadcast. ‘She’s the CEO of a major distributor of domestic appliances and consumer electronic products to retailers, businesses, hotels, property developers and so on. Tina inherited the business from her father, then nearly lost it in a nasty divorce.’
Ashleigh’s face softened with sympathy. ‘The poor woman—how awful for her.’
Lucas put up a warning hand. ‘Don’t go feeling sorry for her. Tina Norris is a barracuda. But she is formidably effective in her business and I see a synergy between our two companies. I want to get on board with the Norris group.’
He thought of Ashleigh’s perceptive comment. On board with Tina but not in bed with her. He could not share with Ashleigh—or anyone—the scars of an old aversion that made even the thought of sexual advances from cougar Tina send shudders up his spine.
He’d been fourteen, already tall and well-built with a man’s body but still with the heart and soul and idealism of a boy. At one of his parents’ infamous parties, his mother’s friend had stumbled into his bedroom, drunk. He’d been too naïve to recognise she’d had seduction on her mind. When she’d made her intentions clear he’d been repulsed—and frightened. His shouts had brought his parents to his room. His mother—drunk herself—had found it amusing. His father had mocked him—he’d thought his son was a fool to pass up an opportunity for initiation by a skilled older woman. They had not protected him.
‘That’s what tomorrow night will be all about—securing a business connection, while playing down any personal relationship with Tina,’ he concluded.
Ashleigh nodded. ‘That’s good to know so I have an idea of what she’s like. Now I have to find out as much as I can about you. And you me, of course.’
He leaned over. ‘There’s one important thing you should know about me.’
Ashleigh quirked a perfectly arched auburn eyebrow. ‘And that is?’
‘I get irritable when I’m hungry.’
She smiled. ‘Is that a hint that you’d like to order? Because I can’t stop looking at that impressive antipasto display.’
By the time he and Ashleigh had returned to their table, their plates laden with a selection of Italian salami, prosciutto, marinated octopus, roasted vegetables, cheeses and olives, he was feeling more relaxed. The waiter took their orders for the next course and they settled back to eat.
Lukas noticed Ashleigh was hungry. Although she ate her starter slowly, he could see she was holding back, pretending restraint. If he wasn’t there, he suspected the plate would be emptied very quickly and she’d be back up at the antipasto table for a second helping. He wondered when she’d last eaten.
‘Why are you so short of money?’ he asked her. ‘You’re educated, you held a responsible job.’
Startled, she stopped with a spear of asparagus that had been wrapped in prosciutto halfway to her mouth. She put it back onto her plate with a look of regret. ‘Because I cancelled my wedding so close to the date of the ceremony. There were consequences. Hefty deposits on the venue and the catering that were not refundable. An unworn wedding gown to pay for. It was a considerable burden to bear on my own.’
He frowned. ‘Surely your fiancé was also responsible for the debt?’
She shook her head. ‘It was my fault there was no wedding. He didn’t see that he should pay for my “rash” decision.’
‘He was unhappy you called it off?’
‘Very unhappy.’ She looked down at her plate.
Lukas could understand that. Even on this short acquaintance he could see how a man could be captivated by Ashleigh Murphy. Not him, of course. He was beyond being mesmerised by a beautiful woman. Especially a woman like this. In his assessment, he realised she was not the type for a no-strings fling—which was the only kind of relationship he did these days. Yet there was something appealing about her. There were attractive women everywhere in this restaurant. But none that caught his attention. His eyes were only drawn to Ashleigh, the backpacker he’d found in his bathtub.
‘Did your fiancé not try to get you to reconsider?’ he asked.
‘My ex-fiancé, you mean. He begged me to change my mind,’ she said, with a twist to her mouth that spoke not of regret but of something else. Irritation? Contempt, even? ‘But I wouldn’t. No one would believe me that I didn’t want to marry him. Not him. Not my family. Not even the marriage celebrant—whose fee I also had to pay, by the way.’
‘That seems unfair.’
‘I think so too. If Dan were the gentleman he claims to be, he would have paid his share. But it’s the house that has really crippled me.’
‘The house?’
‘It seemed a good idea to buy a house together for us to live in after the wedding. I put up my share of the deposit, signed the mortgage documents. My savings are all tied up in the house.’
‘Why don’t you sell the house if there is to be no marriage?’
‘Dan refuses to put it on the market. Why, I don’t know. I will never live in that house.’
Lukas had some sympathy for her faraway fiancé. To be so close to securing this lovely woman as his wife, only to have her run away. No wonder the man was unhappy. However, he doubted the break was as final as Ashleigh said it was. He had learned from bitter experience that a woman could claim to be free while still being very much entangled with another man. Lukas would not be surprised if this Dan turned up in London to take her back. ‘Perhaps he’s hoping you will return.’
‘He’ll be hoping for ever, if that’s the case. Ironically, it was buying the house that was the beginning of the end for me. I wanted to live at the beach. Can you believe when a house next door to my parents went on sale he wanted us to buy that? I had to fight for the beach house. Why I didn’t back out then I don’t know.’
She shook her head in disbelief and a strand of her bright hair worked its way free from its constraint and fell across her cheek. Lukas fought the urge to reach over and push it back off her face. If Ashleigh were a real date he wouldn’t hesitate to touch her in such an intimate manner—but this was all pretend. He kept his hands firmly on his side of the table.
‘In traditional Greek culture it would be seen as admirable for a woman to live close to her parents,’ he said. He chose to live in central Athens, in the shadow of the Acropolis, away from his parents in the leafy green suburb where the wealthiest families congregated.
Ashleigh scowled—an expression that, far from being forbidding, looked cute on her. ‘It doesn’t work like that where I come from. I want to be independent of my parents, not living in their pockets. And wouldn’t you think a husband would want his new wife to himself?’
Oh, yes. If he had a woman like this for his wife he would not share her with anyone. Not that he ever wanted a wife. The example of his parents and others in their social set had turned him right off marriage. The sickening hypocrisy of it all. That last summer of freedom on the islands, there had been a girl—a beautiful, vivacious French girl named Céline who had inspired in him thoughts of love and commitment and family. But the painful way it had ended had extinguished any such thoughts from his heart. Nothing and no one had since breathed life into those ashes.
‘Most men would want privacy with their bride,’ he said, in what he hoped was a non-committal manner.
Her scowl deepened. ‘It was when he tried to bulldoze me into buying that house that I realised how stultifying it would be to be married to Dan,’ she continued. ‘He eventually agreed to the beach house but I knew even as I signed the documents that I shouldn’t be. I’d be stepping straight into middle age. My dreams would be totally subsumed by his limited vision. I had to get away.’
‘So you came to London?’
‘And here I’m staying. Though of course my family don’t believe me. They think I’ll go crawling back to Dan.’
He frowned. ‘Why would they think that?’
She looked down at her plate. ‘Because I’d broken up with him before and gone back.’ She looked back up at Lukas, her mouth twisted. ‘More than once, actually. Mistake compounded by mistake, I see now.’
He paused. ‘Then perhaps you will return to him.’
‘Never,’ she said with such vehemence her eyes seemed to spark blue fire.
He didn’t believe her. A woman could lie so convincingly that the boyfriend or fiancé or ex-husband meant nothing. Never again would he let himself get caught up—even for the most casual of liaisons—with a woman who was still involved with another man. Not that Ashleigh’s ties to her so-called former fiancé back in Australia affected him at all. He wouldn’t see her again after tomorrow night.
Just then their main courses arrived—steamed sea bass for him and organic chicken with balsamic vinegar reduction for her. The meal was complemented with a dry white wine from Tuscany. Ashleigh’s eyes lit up at the sight of her plate. He doubted she would still be hungry after that.
When she pushed back her plate with a sigh of satisfaction and some food still left on it, he was pleased. She needed someone to care for her.
Ashleigh reached over and put her hand on his forearm in a gesture that to other eyes would seem affectionate and familiar. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I can’t remember when I had such an excellent meal.’
Any meal more like it, from the way she’d polished off that chicken. He couldn’t help but worry about her. How could she survive in one of the most expensive cities in the world on a maid’s income?
‘Would you like dessert?’
‘Not for me,’ she said.
‘Or me,’ he said. He was disciplined with his eating and exercise. And kept an iron-clad guard on his emotions. His heart had been battered once too often by the betrayal of the parents who should have protected him, by the careless cruelty of Céline.
Ashleigh treated him to her enchanting smile. ‘I noticed you sneaking a glance at your watch. I know you’ve had a big day. But there are a few more things I wanted to ask you about yourself.’
‘Fire away,’ he said.
‘Do you have brothers or sisters?’
‘I’m an only child.’ So often as a lonely, confused child he’d longed for a companion. Though it was as well his parents had not been entrusted with the care of a daughter. As an adult, he’d wished he’d had someone on his side to help sort out the mess of the once thriving business his parents had inherited from his grandfather. ‘You?’
‘An older sister. She’s six years older than me. When I was born she thought I was her baby. She still thinks I’m her baby.’ The edge of irritation to her voice hinted at ongoing conflict with her family. She was older than he had at first thought. But she seemed to have the desperate need for independence of someone younger. It intrigued him, but he did not want to be intrigued by her. She was here to serve a purpose and that was all.
‘How long have you been in London?’ he asked.
‘Three weeks,’ she said.
‘Good. That’s long enough,’ he said.
Her brow pleated to a frown. ‘For what?’
‘For us to have met and started to date—theoretically, that is,’ he said. ‘To try and pretend we’ve known each other for longer could be disastrous.’
She nodded. ‘Good point. As far as Tina Norris is concerned, we met shortly after I arrived in London. Were you actually in London then?’
‘No. But I could have been. She wouldn’t know otherwise.’
‘That’s the timing sorted. What about the place we met—theoretically, of course?’
She screwed up her face in a delightful expression of concentration. ‘I’m thinking about where I went as soon as I got here. All the tourist places, of course. The museums and art galleries. Big Ben. The Tower of London—I adored the Tower. Oxford Street. Not likely to be places where you would be.’ She paused. ‘I did a lot of walking around, just taking in the atmosphere, the Christmas lights, the shop windows. It’s feasible we could have bumped into each other.’ She smiled. ‘I’ve had a light-bulb moment. Didn’t you say you were at The Shard today?’
‘My meeting this afternoon with Tina was there, yes.’
‘How about we met in the bar at The Shard? One time I went there with Sophie. There were guys like you in suits, guys who—’
‘Wanted to buy you a drink?’ Of course they did.
‘Exactly. Why couldn’t one of those guys have been you?’
‘Did you accept a drink from one of them?’ This could not be an inexplicable surge of jealousy.
‘No. I’d just run away from my wedding and was in no mood to meet men. Getting picked up by a guy in a bar—even such a salubrious bar—was the last thing I wanted.’
‘And now?’
‘I want to be single. Being half of a couple for so long was like being caught in a trap that was slowly strangling me. I’m happy to pretend to be your date. In real life, I’m not interested in dating anyone. I just want to be me.’
More and more, Ashleigh sounded like the ideal pretend date. He couldn’t have found anyone more suitable if he’d gone looking. She would not make any demands on him. Not want to turn fake into real. There’d be no dramas and wounded feelings when he ended things with her. He would take her to dinner tomorrow night, let her stay the night at his house and then goodbye, Ashleigh.
‘Meeting at The Shard is an excellent idea for a cover story,’ he said.
‘That’s settled, then,’ she said. ‘Next step is to get things straight about how it all went down.’
He thought for a moment. ‘I was visiting London and met a business associate for a drink. He went home. I noticed you with your friend.’
‘You asked me would I like a drink.’ Whether unconsciously or not, Ashleigh had adopted a flirtatious manner, eyes widened, head thrown back, lips pouting. Enticing. That was the word for her.
‘And you immediately said yes.’
‘How could I refuse?’ she said. ‘I was so impressed by your Greek handsomeness and charming manner.’ The flirtatiousness came naturally to her. He could see how a man could become ensnared. Lucky this charade was only for two nights.
He smiled. ‘Is handsomeness actually a word in English?’
‘If it isn’t it should be. You are very handsome. In real life if you
’d asked to buy me a drink I might even have said yes.’
‘I’m flattered.’ Oddly enough, he was. He tried to think of a compliment he could return to her without seeming overly effusive. Whatever he came up with sounded either mundane or too much.
She tilted her head to one side. ‘I’m waiting.’
He frowned. ‘For what?’
‘I’m giving you a prompt: now you’re meant to say you were smitten by my beauty.’
He hadn’t thought of that. ‘I was smitten by your beauty,’ he repeated in a monotone, fighting the smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.
‘Not like that! With meaning,’ she said, a little crossly. Then stopped. ‘You have to take this seriously, you know. It won’t work if you don’t. After all, it was your idea and it’s your business deal at stake.’
He was grateful for the reminder. This was just a business deal. He leaned across the table to her. So close their heads nearly touched. He looked deep into her incredibly blue eyes, purposefully made his voice a tone deeper and seductive. ‘I was smitten by your beauty, your gorgeous hair, your perfect skin, your shapely body. Then intrigued by your Australianness.’
‘I...er...don’t think that’s an actual word,’ she said and her voice wasn’t quite steady.
‘It’s a word now,’ he said.
Then he reached out and smoothed the errant lock of bright hair from her face, his fingers lingering on her smooth skin as he tucked it behind her ear. She flushed and shivered at his touch. Her eyes glittered all shades of blue. He couldn’t help but remember how she’d looked in his bathtub, naked but for those bubbles. At the powerful rush of awareness, he withdrew his hand as if he’d come much too close to a flame.
‘Th...that’s more like it,’ she said. ‘I think we can...can make it look like we are actually attracted to each other without too much trouble.’
‘Indeed we can,’ he said. It would be hiding his attraction that would be the problem. He leaned back in his chair, still shaken by his reaction. ‘One more thing,’ he said. ‘What were you wearing when I met you in the bar at The Shard?’
Greek Tycoon's Mistletoe Proposal Page 5
