LITMIR.BIZ

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      Nikos would have liked to tell her. He could think of plenty of reasons why she should do exactly as he said. Kate O’Connor owed him—and in time he looked forward to making her see that. But not yet. If you were trying to land a wriggling fish it was best to turn the reel nice and slow.

      He drew in a steadying breath. ‘Let’s just say it will be to your advantage.’

      ‘I very much doubt it.’ With a scoff, Kate sat back down, folding her arms tightly across her chest. ‘Just say whatever it is you have to say, then get out.’

      Nikos arranged his body on the chair, deliberately taking his time. Steepling his fingers, he raised his eyes to find hers. ‘You may or may not know, but since we last met my fortunes have changed somewhat. I am now an extremely wealthy man.’

      ‘So?’ Kate glared at him. ‘If you’ve just come here to brag about how rich you are, Nikos, then save your breath. I’m not interested.’

      Nikos paused, taking a second to mentally erase her contemptuous remark. It was either that or teach her a lesson. And he knew exactly how he’d like to do that.

      ‘Luckily for you, I am prepared to invest some of that fortune to save your business.’

      ‘And, unluckily for you, I wouldn’t accept you as an investor if you were the last man on earth.’ Her answer came back with the speed of a bullet.

      ‘Really, Kate?’ She was starting to wind him up now. ‘Are you sure about that?’

      ‘I said so, didn’t I?’

      ‘So what sort of man would you take investment from, I wonder?’ Nikos narrowed his eyes, pretending to consider. ‘The sort of man who might be persuaded to overlook the dire state of the business in return for other, more personal favours?’

      ‘What are you insinuating?’ Choking with outrage, Kate was on her feet again. ‘How dare you?’

      Her hand flew out to slap his face but Nikos intercepted it with ease, standing up and holding it against his chest so Kate was forced to lean her body across the desk.

      ‘Tut-tut.’ He eyeballed her. ‘Violence is not the answer, Kate—you should know that.’

      ‘Then take back what you just said!’

      Her furious breath swelled her ribcage, pressing her breasts against the fine fabric of her sweater, accentuating the cleavage that Nikos found his eyes drawn to against their will.

      ‘How dare you insinuate such a thing?’

      ‘Because I saw you last night, Kate.’

      He felt her hand go limp beneath his grasp, slipping away as shock rendered her silent.

      She pulled back, dragging in a breath. ‘You saw me?’ Her skin visibly paled beneath the cruel strip light.

      ‘Uh-huh.’

      ‘Well, whatever it was you thought you saw, you were wrong. It was just a waitressing job—that’s all.’

      ‘A waitressing job that entailed squirming on the lap of that bloated banker? Assuming that you weren’t doing it for your own sexual gratification, I can only conclude you were doing it for other, more practical reasons. I liked the blonde wig, by the way. Very classy.’

      ‘I don’t have to explain myself to you.’ Kate valiantly fought to regain her dignity. ‘If it gives you some sort of perverted pleasure to imagine that I would have sex with a stranger for money, then go ahead—be my guest. Frankly, your opinion of me is of no interest. You can think whatever you damn well like.’

      ‘It doesn’t give me pleasure, Kate. Quite the reverse.’

      Slowly she scanned his face, and Nikos felt his facial muscles pull taut beneath the scrutiny of that dark green gaze.

      ‘Why, Nikos? Why does it bother you? Why would you care what I do?’

      She was taunting him. Nikos cursed inwardly. His voice had been too raw, had betrayed too much emotion, exposing feelings he had fully intended to keep concealed. Far from reeling her in slowly, he was in danger of letting her off the hook.

      ‘After all, we mean nothing to one another any more.’ Kate pressed harder. ‘We are free to see whoever we want, to do whatever we want.’

      ‘And this is what you want, is it?’ Anger fired through him. ‘To be free to sell your body to the highest bidder? To anyone who’s prepared to sling some money your way so you can prop up your pathetically failing business for a bit longer?’

      He saw her swallow, her throat moving in the long column of her neck. But she kept her head held high.

      ‘And what if it is? What’s it to you?’

      Nikos clamped down on his jaw, fighting to contain the hot sweep of masculine rage that threatened to consume him. He would not let her get to him.

      Circling the desk, he stood before her, his shoulders back, his breathing heavy. Capturing her eyes, he made sure there was no way she could escape the cruel intensity of his gaze. ‘To have a fiancée of mine behaving in such a blatantly wanton manner brings shame to my door. I will not allow it.’

      ‘Aren’t you forgetting something?’ Kate blinked rapidly against his stare, but still she stayed defiant. ‘I am not your fiancée any more. I haven’t been for the past three years.’

      ‘And that’s why I am here. To put that right.’

      ‘What?’ Confusion spread across her lovely face.

      ‘We are going to get engaged again, Kate. And this time we are going to see it through. This time we are going to be married.’

       CHAPTER THREE

      MARRIED? KATE STARED at him in open-mouthed astonishment. No, she couldn’t have heard right. Her brain was obviously still reeling from the discovery that Nikos had seen her at the Executives’ Club last night. Still burning from his hugely insulting accusation.

      Going to slap his face had been stupid—an instinctive reaction she now regretted. But like a cornered animal she had fought back, when she should have been trying her hardest to show Nikos she didn’t care what he thought of her. Even if she’d been dying inside.

      But now, with his dark eyes boring into her, studying her face with brooding concentration, it was clear that Nikos was indeed waiting for an answer, forcing Kate to accept that she really had heard right. Though technically, of course, it hadn’t even been a question—just a forceful statement of fact.

      Well, he couldn’t make her to do anything. He had no power over her, no matter how much those hypnotic eyes and that arrogantly held posture said otherwise.

      ‘Married!’ She tried for a contemptuous laugh, but it came out more as a strangled cry. ‘Are you crazy?’

      ‘No, not crazy.’ His voice was perfectly calm. ‘Far from it.’

      ‘Then why would you suggest such a ludicrous idea?’ Hers was bordering on hysterical.

      ‘Because circumstances mean that I am currently in need of a wife, and I think you would be the ideal candidate.’

      Kate gazed at him in stunned disbelief.

       What circumstances? And why her? And why was her heart thumping so wildly it hurt?

      ‘Well, you can think again.’ She battled against the heady power of his stare. Against everything he had ever meant to her and everything he still did. ‘I have no idea why you think that I would even consider marrying you.’

      ‘Then let me enlighten you.’ Nikos raised his hand, selecting his

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