Greek Tycoon's Mistletoe Proposal

by Kandy Shepherd

  ‘Were you happy with him?’ He hated the thought of her with another man yet he had to ask.

  Her mouth twisted. ‘If happy meant the absence of pain and angst. If happy meant comfortable and predictable. If happy meant being bored but telling myself that was the price for security.’

  ‘And Dan?’ The man had kept taking her back—and Lukas would bet he would do it again. It wouldn’t surprise him to find the Australian on his doorstep in Chelsea wanting to know where his bride was. Then he, Lukas, would be pushed aside.

  ‘Here’s the weird thing—he was the son of my mother’s best friend. When his parents split up it was like he moved onto family number two. It became like he wanted to marry into my family as much as he wanted me. The more certain of me he got, the more he bonded with my parents and sister. The teasing started again. I began to feel undermined, disrespected, ganged up on. They’d laugh off my protests as if I was a kid. In the end I’d had enough. You know the rest.’

  ‘Yet your family seem convinced you’ll go back to him. Again.’

  ‘Aaargh!’ She mimed tearing out her lovely red hair. ‘Even you don’t believe me. I will never go back to Dan. Ever. I started to drown in that safe harbour. And now... Well, now I want the wild sea. I want the passion. And I want a man who’ll ride those waves with me and only me.’

  Her eyes sparked that blue fire that excited him. She held his gaze. Was there a message there for him? Or was he seeing what he wanted to see? Eventually, she dropped her eyes. He remembered just days ago she’d sworn she wanted to stay single. Now she wanted a man to give her passion. Why had she changed her mind? Because of him? A tiny flame of hope flickered to life in his heart that had been so cold for so long.

  ‘So now you know why I will not be going back to Bundaberg for Christmas,’ she said emphatically.

  Lukas still wasn’t sure he believed her. She drained her hot chocolate. Picked up the remaining crumbs of her churro with her finger and licked them off with the tip of her pink, pointy tongue accompanied by a throaty little murmur of appreciation. Was she doing this to provoke him? Or did she just like churros?

  ‘What about you, Lukas? When do you fly to Athens?’

  ‘I don’t,’ he said. ‘I’m staying here in London.’

  Her eyes widened. ‘But you said you always spend Christmas in Athens.’

  ‘This year is the exception. Rather than endure another of my parents’ idea of a festive celebration, I decided to spend Christmas Day on my own in one of my favourite houses in one of my favourite cities.’

  ‘Oh,’ she said. ‘I was planning to travel to Manchester to spend the day with Sophie and her family but if you’re here on your own I’ll—’

  ‘Please don’t change your plans on my account. I’m happy to be here on my own. I want to be here on my own.’ But, once planted, the thought did not go away. Christmas Day with just Ashleigh and him in the house...

  ‘I don’t like the thought of you being in London all by yourself,’ she said. But he only saw friendly concern in her eyes. He could not read more into it—that would only lead to disillusion and the kind of pain he had protected himself against for so long.

  He glanced down at his watch. ‘I enjoyed today. Thank you for getting me away from my computer. It did me good.’

  She smiled. ‘I’m glad. You see, I’m on a mission for you to stop being such a workaholic and enjoy life. As I said earlier, what’s the point of being a billionaire if you don’t have fun?’

  ‘Work is fun—maybe you have yet to learn that,’ he said.

  She was right, but he wasn’t going to admit it. He was too used to guarding himself, to not admitting to anything that could be perceived as weakness. A kind of myth had developed around him in his country—the invincible young man who had modernised a product, turned around a company, transformed loss into soaring profit and created sorely needed jobs at a time of economic disaster. If the distribution deal with Tina worked out, and his marketing people did their work—which they would or they would lose those jobs—a new market meant more opportunities for his company and his people.

  ‘Perhaps,’ she said. ‘In the new year I’ll have to seriously think about what I’m doing here. Waitressing is all very well in the short term but it’s not a career.’ She dimpled at him. ‘Nor is being your maid.’ He wanted her as so much more than a maid. But the thought that she intended to stay in London further fanned the new hope in his heart.

  ‘Will you look for work as an accountant?’

  ‘Probably. You know Tina offered to help me?’

  ‘No. You didn’t tell me that.’ He felt uncomfortable at the thought that Ashleigh might step out of line. Dealing with Tina Norris was not her place. And he didn’t trust Tina’s motives.

  ‘Don’t look so annoyed,’ she said. ‘Of course I thanked her but obviously it will never happen. I won’t ever see her again.’

  ‘No,’ he said. And very soon he’d be saying goodbye to Ashleigh.

  It was not a happy thought.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  ASHLEIGH SPENT A delightful day on Sunday with Emma and the other two bridesmaids, Sophie and Grace. She also met Emma’s childhood friend and sister-in-law, Clare, who was to be Emma’s chief bridesmaid. Ashleigh liked Clare immediately. She felt she was building real friends—important if she were to stay indefinitely in the UK. Bundaberg seemed a long way away, a different world. And too far away from Lukas, an insistent voice from deep in her heart reminded her.

  They enjoyed the morning at Sophie’s tiny flat in the furthermost edge of Chelsea, trying on their bridesmaid outfits, exquisite vintage-style dresses in a dusky pink silk trimmed with antique lace. When the others marvelled at how quickly she’d got the dresses to fitting stage, Sophie explained she’d already had the fabric, purchased ages ago at a market.

  The four bridesmaids braved the Christmas crowds to shop for shoes in Oxford Street and had a delightfully girly lunch in the stylish café in Selfridges department store. Ashleigh couldn’t help contrasting Emma’s confidence and joy in making plans for her renewed marriage to how she’d felt planning her wedding to Dan.

  She’d been irritable, snappy, picking fault with the dresses, the caterer’s menu, with everything. Deep down she’d known marrying him wasn’t right. She should have listened to her instinct earlier. That same instinct that was telling her that if she ever had a chance to be with Lukas it would be earth-shatteringly wonderful—wild waves the like of which she had never imagined existed. If only she had even an inkling that he might feel the same.

  But when her friends asked her how things were going with the ‘pretend boyfriend’ she just described the Butterfly Ball and the show dance and told them how well the outfit they’d helped her buy had been received. Her feelings for Lukas were something to be hugged to herself.

  After she said goodbye to her friends she went back to Chelsea via Harrods, where she bought decorations for Lukas’s house—exquisite glass baubles and ornaments and a beautifully crafted artificial tree.

  He wasn’t at the house so she put them up alone, giving in to the indulgence of imagining how very different it would be if they were decorating his house together. Lukas and her getting into the spirit of Christmas, Lukas reaching up to help her put the star at the top of the tree, Lukas manoeuvring her under the mistletoe she’d hung in the hallway.

  Her sigh echoed through the empty living room. Wasn’t going to happen. But at least he would celebrate his solitary Christmas Day with some of the festive trimmings in his fabulous house. Maybe, just maybe, they might inspire thoughts of her.

  * * *

  The next morning, Ashleigh lay in Lukas’s guest bed for longer than she should have. She counted down the remaining days until she’d have to kiss its featherbed luxury goodbye and head for the dubious comfort of Sophie’s sofa with the br
oken spring. The plan was she would pack her bag on Christmas Eve, head up to Manchester with Sophie and then return to her London flat with Sophie the day after Boxing Day. All her borrowed finery would stay behind in this room. With one exception. There was just one thing she was determined to take with her—too bad the possible consequences.

  Her smartphone buzzed the presence of an incoming text message. If it was Dan or her parents or her sister begging her to reconsider her decision to come home for Christmas she’d throw the phone at the wall. But it was from Lukas, asking her to meet him in his study at her earliest opportunity. Her heart sank right to the level of the basement kitchen. So this was it. Eviction time.

  She got dressed with hands that shook so much she could barely pull up the zip on her jeans and drag a long-sleeved black T-shirt over her head.

  Then she was in his office, back where they’d started—him handsome and imposing on one side of the desk, her the intruder on the other.

  But he got up to greet her with the biggest smile she’d seen on his face. Her heart seemed to flip inside her at how handsome he looked, his dark eyes lit with excitement. ‘Good news. Tina has signed our agreement. We’ll be doing business.’

  ‘That’s great news,’ she said, forcing enthusiasm into her voice. ‘Congratulations.’

  ‘Our strategy paid off,’ he said.

  Now he had no need for her—she was meant to be delighted about that? ‘So it’s over. The pretend boyfriend and girlfriend thing, I mean,’ she said dully. In truth, she was glad about that part. Keeping up the charade had become too difficult. Not when she wanted it to be something unscripted and genuine.

  ‘Not quite,’ he said. ‘Tina has invited us to celebrate with her tonight at her Mayfair apartment for drinks.’ How casually he included her as the other half of the us equation.

  Panic threatened to choke her reply. She couldn’t do this. Not now. She could no longer pretend feelings for him that had become so painfully real. Her gaze darted around the room, to his rows of books in both English and Greek, the blue paperweight on his desk that was a Greek charm against the evil eye—intrigued, she’d looked it up when she’d first dusted his desk—anywhere but at him. ‘I...I can’t...I just—’

  ‘Just one more time, Ashleigh. Please.’ Finally, she faced him to see an expression she hadn’t seen before on his features. A subtle shift. Not pleading. Not demanding. Just asking a favour of an equal. ‘Because we’re friends now,’ he said.

  How could she refuse when he played that card? She nodded, still having difficulty with her words.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said, with a sincerity that was new to her. ‘This deal is important. Not just to me and my company. But to my country, which needs the employment and the tax revenue it will bring. These are troubling times.’

  Again she nodded. There was so much more to this man than she had imagined on that first meeting in this room when he had threatened her with jail. She ached to know him better. Would she ever get the chance?

  ‘This will mean more shopping, I’m afraid,’ he said.

  She managed a wobbly smile. ‘You’re afraid?’ she said. ‘When you’ve just uttered words that are magic to a woman’s ears?’

  He smiled back and for a long moment her eyes locked with his. Surely there was something new there. Amusement? Affection? Whatever it was, it warmed her. Even if it was only friendship.

  She would love to be able to hand him back his credit card and tell him she would buy her own new clothes for the drinks with Tina. But she needed every penny for when she had to find accommodation in the new year. And he wanted her to look the part of his consort. She looked down at her jeans. ‘So I guess I’d better get into my shopping outfit,’ she said.

  ‘You’ll enjoy it more if you do,’ he said.

  She held her breath, hoping he would say he would accompany her. When he didn’t, she let it out on a sigh that was disappointment edged with relief. Maybe it was for the best. Having him there with her, assessing her choices through narrowed, sexy eyes would only make her life more difficult than it had suddenly become. In love with her billionaire boss. How could she have been so foolish to let this happen?

  ‘A dress, do you think?’ she asked.

  ‘You’ve done everything right so far,’ he said. ‘I’ll leave it to you.’

  Now that her use to him was nearly at an end he didn’t care. She forced a smile on her face as she thanked him.

  * * *

  Of course Ashleigh had got it right, Lukas thought that evening as Tina welcomed them to her apartment. As she’d done from the get-go. Poised and elegant, Ashleigh wore a fitted black dress with strategically placed sheer panels that sent a man’s imagination into a frenzy but didn’t actually reveal anything. She’d bought new shoes too—sexy black stilettos with a flat bow on the front and laced around her ankles. With his mother’s coat flung over the top, she looked perfect for the part she was about to play for the last time.

  ‘Welcome,’ Tina effused. ‘I’m so glad you two were available to toast the sealing of our deal.’ As if he’d had a choice—this deal was too important to risk offending her.

  Tina air-kissed Lukas on each cheek then did the same to Ashleigh. ‘I’m so glad we’ll be doing business together,’ Tina said.

  But Lukas wasn’t sure if she was directing her words to him or to Ashleigh. Both of them, he supposed, as Tina made such a big deal of vetting people’s spouses. He didn’t trust the way the older woman had suggested she could help Ashleigh find a job. That was not part of the remit. It could be ulterior motive on her part, but then again she seemed to genuinely like Ashleigh.

  Tina might even be disappointed when, after a decent interval, he informed her that Ashleigh had decided he was merely a rebound guy and had moved on. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Forget Tina. He would be gutted when she was no longer around.

  A pleasant-looking young man offered them champagne flutes from a silver tray. Lukas grabbed one. He needed a drink. Lukas took the guy for a waiter. He was shocked when the waiter took a glass for himself. Even more shocked when Tina smiled and introduced him as her boyfriend, Gary.

  Lukas caught Ashleigh’s eye. She discreetly raised her eyebrows, obviously as surprised as he was. Lukas’s first reaction was relief. So the cougar had found herself a toy boy. That took him completely off the hook. He still shuddered at the memory of that older woman friend of his mother’s invading his bedroom.

  But then, when both couples were seated together on the cream sofas in Tina’s small but elegantly appointed living room, he noticed the body language between Tina and Gary and wondered what was really going on. There was something genuine there. Not something to make fun of.

  ‘Your apartment is beautiful,’ said Ashleigh to kick off the conversation.

  ‘Couldn’t afford it now,’ said Tina with typical bluntness. ‘My father bought it as a pied-à-terre back in the nineteen sixties. These days Mayfair is a cosmopolitan outpost of Moscow and Dubai and prices are astronomical.’

  ‘Indeed,’ said Lukas. He didn’t like to discuss his personal finances with anyone other than his bankers. In fact he felt uncomfortable discussing anything personal with anyone.

  Gary squeezed Tina’s hand and got up from the sofa. ‘I’m sure you’d like some food,’ he said. He shared Tina’s Liverpudlian accent.

  ‘Gary is a chef,’ Tina explained as her eyes followed the younger man from the room. ‘He works for the catering company I use in Liverpool. But he’s cooked for us tonight as my man.’ She seemed to take extraordinary pleasure from the words my man.

  ‘He seems very nice,’ said Ashleigh diplomatically.

  ‘That he is,’ said Tina. ‘I’ve known him a while. Always liked him. He liked me. But he’s twenty-five and I’m forty-five. It seemed impossible.’

  ‘No one would blink
an eyelid if your ages were reversed,’ Ashleigh said. ‘Why should it matter? Besides, you don’t look older at all.’ Well done, Ashleigh, Lukas thought. Though she was only stretching the truth a little. No way did Tina look forty-five.

  ‘I began to realise that,’ Tina said. ‘But it was you who finally made me see it.’

  ‘Me?’ said Ashleigh.

  ‘Ashleigh?’ said Lukas at the same time.

  Tina addressed Ashleigh. ‘The night we met for dinner when you said love comes when you’re not looking for it. When that person comes along who makes you feel only half alive when you’re apart. That’s how I felt about Gary. And, happily, how he felt about me. I didn’t invite him to the Butterfly Ball, too worried what people might think. I missed him so much all night. Seeing you two so happy, so in love, made me realise there was no running from what I felt any more.’

  We’re not in love. Lukas had to stop the words from blurting out. He noticed Ashleigh frown. Because she didn’t like the idea of him being in love with her? Or because he didn’t acknowledge Tina’s words?

  ‘That’s such a lovely story, Tina,’ said Ashleigh with a warm, genuine smile. ‘I’m glad I was of some help, even inadvertently.’ Not only was Ashleigh beautiful, she was kind and warm and supportive—everything he’d thought he would never find in a woman.

  One thing was for certain—he intended to politely eat some of Gary’s superb hors d’oeuvres and then get the hell away from this place. He had to be alone with Ashleigh. Once and for all, he had to see if there was something real between them.

  * * *

  It was as if all Ashleigh’s fantasies had come to life. As soon as she and Lukas reached the pavement outside Tina’s apartment, he turned her to him, looked deep into her face. She thrilled to the intensity of his eyes, the way they narrowed as he searched her face, the sensual half curve of his mouth. Then, without a word, he pulled her close to him.