LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

his getting drunk and telling all in such a girly fashion, Apollo reflected grimly, had crowned the disaster. She had tolerated it all and in spite of everything that had gone wrong she had still lain back trustingly for him to claim her body even though she had feared that consummation.

      Taken aback, Pixie stared down in astonishment at the case and then carefully opened it. A breathtaking bracelet ran in a river of glittering diamonds across the velvet inset. ‘For me?’

      ‘Wedding present,’ Apollo pronounced with relief as he leapt out of bed with alacrity and headed for the shower, convinced that he had done the very best that he could to be thoughtful and decent.

      ‘It’s gorgeous and I suppose I need some jewellery to make me look like a proper rich wife,’ Pixie murmured uncertainly, battling to rise above hurt feelings she knew she had no right to experience. ‘But this was a bad time to give it to me.’

      Apollo’s long lashes fanned down in disbelief and he gritted his white teeth before he swung back to her. ‘How so?’

      Pixie contemplated him as he stood there, buck naked, bronzed and very Greek godlike in his physique. He was without a doubt the most physically beautiful male she would ever be with but, time and time again, he confounded her and wounded her. ‘I’m not some whore you have to pay for a one-night stand.’

      ‘I’ve never been with a professional,’ Apollo said icily. ‘I gave you a gift. Thanks would have been the appropriate response.’

      ‘It’s just the way this makes me feel,’ Pixie began, struggling to verbalise what she didn’t quite understand herself.

      ‘We have a business arrangement,’ Apollo shot back at her unapologetically. ‘Think of it as business.’

      ‘I can’t think of my body as business. I’m not sure what that would make me,’ Pixie admitted unhappily. ‘But I need more respect than you’re giving me if we’re going to be stuck together like this for months. I don’t think that’s too much to ask. Obviously you can’t even bring yourself to put your arms round me after sex. I’m not going to turn clingy or needy, Apollo. I’m not about to fall in love with you or the things you can buy me either. I know this marriage isn’t real.’

      A whine sounded from below the bed.

      ‘Shush, dog,’ Apollo groaned in raw frustration. ‘You’ve been walked, you’ve been fed and watered. Stay out of this…she’s enough to handle without your input.’

      Pixie had to bite her tongue not to comment on the reality that she had overlooked her beloved pet’s needs and Apollo had not. Instead she forced herself to continue. ‘Couldn’t we try friendship if we can’t have anything else that might make you feel threatened?’

      Apollo flung back his arrogant dark head and green eyes radiated emerald fire in the sunlight. ‘You do not make me feel threatened.’

      Pixie surrendered and said exactly what was on her mind. ‘Don’t punish me because you talked too much for your own comfort last night.’

      And there it was in a nutshell, what Apollo Metraxis absolutely couldn’t stand about Pixie. Somehow, Thee mou, she saw beyond the surface and saw right through him and it was the most unnerving experience he had had in many years. Without another word, Apollo strode into the shower, hit every dial, turned up the pressure and refused to think by blanking out everything, a trick he had learned as a child to stay in control. He held himself straight and taut until the confusion and bewilderment and seething frustration drained fully away with the swirling water.

      Suppressing a groan of equal frustration, Pixie tunnelled back down into the bed and made no objection when Hector jumped up to tuck himself in next to her body. Hopefully Apollo would think she was sleeping in. Instead of sleeping, however, she was counting pluses, a habit she had formed as a child to make a grey day look sunnier. Number one, she enumerated, they had done the sex thing and it had been…amazing. Number two, Apollo was damaged but at least he had explained why, even if he did regret it. Number three, he was trying to make the marriage work but he hadn’t a clue how to meet such a challenge. Female partners who whooped over his financial generosity and who only lasted for a two-week session of nightly sex didn’t provide a man with much of an education on how to make a woman feel happy, respected and secure. Was she expecting too much from him? This was supposed to be a business arrangement, she reminded herself ruefully. Maybe she was being unreasonable…

      Pixie breakfasted alone on the polished deck with Hector at her feet: Apollo was working. He had phoned her to make that announcement in a very detached voice that suggested he suspected he could be dealing with a potential screaming shrew. As far as avoidance techniques went, Apollo had nothing whatsoever to learn. When her phone went off again she answered it unhurriedly, assuming there was something he wished to tell her, but this time it wasn’t Apollo, it was Holly.

      ‘Vito and I are flying out to join you this afternoon!’ Holly exclaimed excitedly. ‘What do you think?’

      Pixie rolled her eyes. ‘The more the merrier,’ she quipped, oddly hurt that Apollo had to bring in other people to create yet another barrier between them within a day of the wedding. Was she really that unbearable? She flexed her fingers against her flat stomach and prayed to get pregnant fast. The sooner she and Apollo escaped the situation they were in and separated, the better it would be. If they weren’t living together and sharing a bed, it would be easier to stick to a businesslike attitude, she reasoned, wondering why her heart now felt as heavy as lead.

      ‘We’re all heading to some nightclub on Corfu tonight,’ Holly told her. ‘Of course, you’ll already know that…sorry, I’m talking a mile a minute here.’

      Quite unaware that yet another attempt to please Pixie had bombed dismally, Apollo stayed in his office on board until he got word that their guests were arriving.

      * * *

      ‘I promise not to ask any awkward questions,’ Holly whispered as she settled on the end of the bed in Apollo and Pixie’s stateroom. ‘But you don’t look happy and I can’t imagine we’d be getting hauled in last minute if you were. Am I allowed to ask about that?’

      Pixie grimaced. ‘No. I’m sorry.’

      ‘No need to be sorry but you sound attached…and the weird thing is Apollo is sounding attached too—’

      ‘No, that’s definitely not happening,’ Pixie cut in with confidence.

      ‘Apollo told Vito he wanted us here because he thought it would please you. Vito’s never known him to make that much effort for a woman.’

      Unimpressed, Pixie shrugged and watched Holly pet Hector while Angelo explored the room in the vain hope of finding something to play with. Bending down, she scooped her godson up intending to get reacquainted with the adorable toddler.

      ‘So, what are you wearing tonight?’ Holly prompted, taking the hint.

      Relieved by the change of subject, Pixie showed off her outfit.

      ‘My goodness, I’ll look so old-fashioned next to you. What time are you getting your hair done?’

      ‘I’m doing my own hair,’ Pixie countered in surprise.

      ‘You’ve got a beauty salon on board and you’re still going to do it yourself?’

      As soon as Holly had realised that Pixie hadn’t even known the Circe had a full-time grooming parlour for guests and had commented bluntly on Apollo’s deficiencies as a husband and a host, the two women set off on an exploration tour designed to satisfy both and entertain Angelo.

      Hours later, after a convivial dinner during which Apollo contrived to ignore the reality that he had a wife seated at the same table, which resulted in Pixie going to even more extreme lengths to ignore him, Pixie emerged on the lower deck, fully dressed and ready to board the motor boat waiting to whisk them out to the island of Corfu.

      Apollo studied his wife in consternation, his lean dark face taut and cool. ‘I don’t like the clothing,’

Скачать книгу