Kathryn Ross - The Mediterranean's Wife by Contract

‘I will do whatever it takes, Andreas! Anything to make Lilly’s life more secure.’

‘Anything…?’ He leaned back against the counter and surveyed her lazily. ‘Somehow I don’t think a nun’s habit would suit you, Carrie. Maybe you need to rethink that.’

‘Joke all you want.’ Carrie tipped her head up defiantly. ‘But I am prepared to put Lilly first. Whereas you—at the end of the day it’s still going to be your staff who tuck Lilly into bed, while you’re tied up with the business.’

Andreas held her gaze. ‘Not if I take a wife.’

Kathryn Rosswas born in Zambia, where her parents happened to live at that time. Educated in Ireland and England, she now lives in a village near Blackpool, Lancashire. Kathryn is a professional beauty therapist, but writing is her first love. As a child she wrote adventure stories, and at thirteen was editor of her school magazine. Happily, ten writing years later, DESIGNED WITH LOVE was accepted by Mills & Boon®. A romantic Sagittarian, she loves travelling to exotic locations.

Recent titles by the same author:

KEPT BY HER GREEK BOSS

THE ITALIAN’S UNWILLING WIFE

BY

MILLS & BOON ® Pure reading pleasure ™

www.millsandboon.co.uk

A BLIND date wasn’t Carrie’s idea of fun. But since day two of their holiday together when Jo had met Theo she had been determinedly insisting that Carrie just had to meet his handsome older brother.

‘Honestly, the moment you see him you’ll know what I mean,’ Jo had told her seriously. ‘If I wasn’t head over heels about Theo I’d be interested in him myself. Andreas is absolutely gorgeous, and a really nice guy.’

‘Jo, if you are doing this because you don’t want me to be left alone then you really don’t need to worry. After the last few months working for my degree I’m perfectly happy to be left to do some serious relaxing, soaking up the sun and—’

‘Yes, I know, you said all that—but you really need to meet him, Carrie. He’s a real Greek Adonis—honestly. Just humour me; meet Andreas once for a few hours one evening. We’ll make it a foursome—how’s that? We’ll have pre-dinner drinks together at that lovely little taverna on the waterside. And if you are hitting it off you can stay and we’ll have dinner together—if you’re not, you can tell him you’ve already eaten and leave. But you will like him—honestly.’

On day four of the holiday in a moment of weakness Carrie had agreed. Now here she was sitting at a table by herself feeling more than a little apprehensive. Jo and her new boyfriend Theo had been delayed. And heaven alone knew where Andreas was. Possibly dragging his heels if Theo had strong-armed him as heavily as Jo had her.

She should never have agreed to this, Carrie thought with embarrassment.

At least the waterside taverna was an idyllic place to wait.

The sun was setting in a glorious shade of crimson, turning the sea a flame red, and giving a spectacular end to another long hot day on the small Greek island of Pyrena.

Carrie breathed in the warm evening air, fragrant with jasmine and the salt of the sea, and relaxed. With a bit of luck Theo’s brother wouldn’t turn up and Carrie could make a hasty escape and leave Jo and Theo to enjoy a romantic evening together. They needed to make the most of their time, because in another ten days the holiday would be over and she and Jo would be heading back to London. Jo would be devastated to leave—Carrie had never seen her so captivated by a guy. It was completely out of character. And Theo seemed to feel exactly the same way. They had just clicked immediately and now, even though they’d only known each other a few days, it was as if they had always been together.

Was that true love? Carrie wondered.

Darkness was stealing over the landscape and a waiter was lighting some candles on the tables nearby ready for the evening ahead. As yet the place was quiet, just one other couple dining at a table tucked away in a far corner. She glanced at her watch. Jo was now ten minutes late. Maybe if she wasn’t here in another ten Carrie could sneak away—because the more she thought about it, the more she didn’t want to be here. Jo and Theo needed to be alone, not wasting precious time needlessly matchmaking! Why couldn’t they understand that she was happy on her own reading her book? She didn’t want to meet anyone.

‘Are you waiting for someone?’

The question made Carrie look up and shock sizzled its way through her entire body.

If this was Andreas, then Jo hadn’t been exaggerating! He was absolutely gorgeous—in fact he was probably the most handsome man Carrie had ever set eyes on in her life.

He was tall yet powerfully built and he was wearing an expensive-looking dark suit with casual flare that only continental men seemed to achieve so effortlessly. A crisp blue shirt was open at the strong column of his neck. His thick dark hair was cut short accentuating chiselled features and a strong jaw. But it was his eyes that held her spellbound, they were the colour of dark molasses, intense, almost arrogant in their assessment of her.

Aware that he was waiting for a reply she tried to gather herself together with some difficulty. ‘Yes…some friends—’

‘You must be Carrie?’

She nodded. Was it her imagination, she wondered, or was the air electrically charged between them? Their eyes seemed to hold for a fraction too long before his gaze swept over her in a bold unconcealed scrutiny of her appearance from her long blonde hair and sweetheart-shaped face, down over the curves of her figure in the bright blue summer dress.

And shockingly Carrie felt a thrust of sensual heat stir deep inside her at that slow, sexy deliberation.

‘Andreas Stillanos.’ He held out his hand and she took it, aware that as their skin touched she felt the zing of attraction deepen. She liked the strong firm touch of his skin against hers. She liked everything about him.

This was crazy, she thought with a mounting sense of panic. A man had never had this effect on her before; so, OK, he was good-looking—so what? She didn’t know him—how could she feel so intensely… turned on just by the way he was looking at her?

But the simple truth was that she did—there was something almost raw and primitive about it. Carrie couldn’t explain it; all she knew was that it was scaring her to death! She was a sensible person, grounded—realistic—this was a kind of madness that she didn’t want.

She watched as Andreas pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down.

For a moment there was silence, filled only with the relentless sizzle of the tide as it brushed over the stony beach beside them, a sound that seemed to echo the sensations inside her body.

‘Jo and Theo have been delayed,’ she told him, trying hard to pull herself together.

‘Yes, so I gathered.’ His lips curved in an amused smile.

She supposed she had stated the obvious! Carrie tried to compose herself, tried to think of something else to say, but as their eyes held she found the task increasingly difficult.

A waiter appeared next to them and Andreas spoke to him in Greek. The sound was deep and sexy and Carrie was even further entranced.

‘Can I get you another drink, Carrie?’ He switched effortlessly to perfect English again and looked over at her.

‘No, I’m fine, thank you.’ Carrie indicated her glass of wine that was almost full.

They were left alone again.

‘I think the delay is something to do with Theo’s dive shop,’ Carrie continued, trying to stay focused on anything except the feelings he was generating inside her. ‘Apparently he stayed open later than usual to accommodate some customers who are going home to England tomorrow.’

Andreas regarded her sardonically. ‘Personally, I think the delay is more to do with throwing us together on our own for a while.’

That thought hadn’t occurred to her until he suggested it so bluntly and Carrie felt a surge of red-hot embarrassment. ‘I don’t think so!’ But even as she rejected the idea she wondered if it were true—were Jo and Theo deliberately late? Honestly, it was too mortifying!

‘Don’t you?’ He seemed to be watching her with very close attention, and she knew that even though they were sitting in the semi-darkness of the star-lit evening he could see that she was blushing.

The knowledge and the way he was watching her made her flush even more. ‘Well, Jo rang me to apologise for their delay and she sounded genuinely agitated. She always likes to be on time.’

‘So you haven’t felt obligated to meet me, then?’ he asked with a mocking lift of one eyebrow. ‘Because to be honest Theo hasn’t stopped going on about you for the last few days.’

‘And you found yourself agreeing to this evening’s arrangements just to get some peace?’ Carrie wanted the ground to open up and swallow her. ‘It’s OK; I have to admit to a similar situation. Jo has been going on rather a lot about you too. I think she feels guilty about leaving me—but I keep telling her I’m perfectly happy.’

‘They’ve fallen in love and now they think that the whole world needs to follow suit,’ Andreas said wryly.

The waiter arrived with his drink and Carrie had never been so very glad of an interruption. It was obvious from his derisive words that Andreas had wanted this blind date even less than she had! And she noticed he’d ordered a Greek coffee—hardly a pre-dinner drink. He wasn’t even pretending that he might stay.

As they were left alone again he glanced up and their eyes met. ‘Unfortunately I have a business meeting back in Athens early tomorrow. So I can’t stay long.’

‘Well—I can’t stay long either.’ Carrie rallied herself, her pride rising to her defence. ‘I was just thinking before you arrived that we should get this over with as quickly as possible. Jo and Theo should be making each moment count, having a nice romantic time on their own.’

‘Yes, I suppose they should.’ Andreas looked over at her with a teasing gleam in the darkness of his eyes. ‘But I wouldn’t worry too much. I’m sure their time has been put to some good use.’

Meaning what, Carrie wondered, as opposed to their time?

‘So how are you enjoying your holiday on Pyrena?’ he asked as he sat back into his chair.

Now he was trying to make polite conversation. This was excruciating.

For her friend’s sake she forced herself to smile and answer courteously. ‘I’m having a lovely time, thank you. It’s a beautiful island.’

‘Have you been out to see the coral reef yet?’

Carrie shook her head. ‘Theo and Jo invited me to go out there with them yesterday but I don’t dive.’

‘You could snorkel.’

‘I’m not a strong swimmer and I don’t like to be out of my depth.’

‘You just need someone experienced alongside. You should try it—it really is beautiful out there.’ His mobile rang and he reached to answer it immediately. ‘Excuse me Carrie,’ he said politely as he flicked it open.

She listened as he spoke in Greek, his voice crisp and businesslike, and his expression serious.

He was far too attractive, Carrie thought as she allowed her eyes to drift over him. Dangerously so.

She wondered what it would be like to feel those sensual lips exploring hers, those hands touching her skin.