The Greek Tycoon's Love-Child

by Jacqueline Baird

  Theo gave her a curious look. ‘Are you sure they are what you want?’

  ‘Certainly.’ She tilted her head to look up at him, a patently false smile twisting her luscious lips. ‘As the wife of a filthy rich man, you said I have to look the part. And I just love them,’ she gushed, ‘darling.’ She thought he would be furious but to her astonishment his lips curved in an achingly familiar crooked smile.

  ‘Touché, darling,’ he drawled with rueful amusement, and bought the rings.

  Two days later Stephen sat on her bed and watched her dress. ‘I wish I was going to the party.’

  ‘When you are a bit older, but tonight you have to be a good boy for Marta and do as she says. Right?’

  ‘Right,’ he agreed.

  Willow grinned down at her son. ‘Well, what do you think, Stephen? Will I do?’ And with a shaky hand she smoothed down the strapless, long slim-fitting sheath of wild blue silk she had chosen from the clothes Theo had insisted on buying for her. She had pinned her long black hair on top of her head, and the severity of the style emphasised the perfect outline of her face and the white swanlike elegance of her neck. Her make-up was light as usual: moisturiser, lip gloss and a touch of mascara. On her feet she wore high-heeled sandals that matched the dress perfectly. She had painted her nails a light pink and she had never felt so dressed up in her life, or so nervous.

  ‘You look beautiful, Mum.’

  ‘And I second that,’ Theo said.

  She hadn’t heard him enter, and she lifted anxious dark eyes to his. The full impact of him attired in sophisticated dinner clothes sent every one of her senses haywire.

  His hooded gaze roamed over her with studied masculine appraisal, and the eyes he lifted to hers were glittering with a hot possessiveness that she could not fail to recognise. It hit her with the force of a lightning bolt. She had agreed to marry this man, and tonight was their engagement party. She must be crazy, and as he walked towards her she felt panic rising inside her. ‘Is it time to go?’

  His firm lips curved in a slow, sexy smile. ‘Some might say well past time, given we have a son,’ he drawled, and took her trembling hand in his. Turning to Stephen, he added, ‘Run along to your room. Marta is waiting, and she has a surprise for you.’

  Stephen held his little face up for Willow’s goodnight kiss with some impatience and then darted from the room.

  ‘Ready?’ Theo looked down into her blue eyes, and she nodded, too nervous to speak.

  The party had been Judy’s idea, and she had made no secret of the fact that she had an eight-year-old grandson called Stephanos. Her joy was unrestrained. But as Willow stood by Theo’s side to greet the guests she could almost feel the shock waves when he introduced her as his fiancée. She twisted the huge diamond ring nervously around her finger, and wished she had never chosen it. Her joke had spectacularly backfired, as guest after female guest demanded to see it, and was apparently awed by its magnificence, but she could sense their insincerity.

  She told herself she didn’t care about other people’s reaction, but it was hard when she had to suffer a few barbed comments about how wonderful it must be for her and her son to find Theo again, and how they would now never have to want for anything. They might as well have come out and said ‘gold-digger’. The huge diamond ring did not help her cause one bit.

  ‘Nice friends you have,’ she murmured with a sarcastic lift of one finely arched brow in Theo’s direction. ‘But if you will excuse me I think I need a drink.’

  He shrugged lightly, emphasising the width of his broad shoulders underneath the elegant dinner suit. ‘What did you expect?’ he said with a cynical curve to his expressive mouth. ‘Introducing a fiancée and a son in one evening was bound to cause gossip, and whose fault is that?’ There was something in his voice that sent a sudden unease sliding through her. ‘You surely didn’t expect me to hide you both away, darling. That was always your solution, but not mine, I will not allow it.’

  Sliding a casual arm around her waist, he pulled her into his side. ‘Don’t look so tense; you’re an incredibly beautiful woman.’ He scanned her exquisite features with glittering dark eyes. ‘More so than any woman here. Relax and enjoy the party.’ And he lifted her hand and raised it to his lips, pressing a lingering kiss against her knuckles. His dark gaze held hers with a compelling intensity. ‘As for the ring, the jeweller informed me when I paid for it that I was an extremely lucky man. You are one of the few women in the world with hands elegant enough and fingers long enough to wear it. These women here tonight are just green with envy, believe me.’ Strangely she did as he added, ‘Fortunately our marriage will be a nine-day wonder, if that, and then you and I can get on with our lives…together.’

  Theo complimenting her, and reassuring her—that had to be a first. There was something in his tone that made her pulse race, and yet his arm around her waist gave her the oddest feeling of being protected and at peace with the world. It was a lethal combination and it worried her slightly. Swiftly lowering her gaze, she freed her hand from his, frightened that he would notice, and tried to slip from his restraining arm.

  ‘Wowee, Theo! No wonder you want to hang onto her,’ a deeply accented male voice said with a laugh, noting her struggle. ‘She is perfection; you must introduce me.’

  Willow stilled in the curve of Theo’s arm. She had been in serious danger of making a fool of herself in front of all the guests and this person in particular. She glanced at the man and her eyes widened appreciatively. Theo apart, he had to be the best-looking man at the party. Maybe an inch taller than her, and two or three years older, he had long black curly hair tied back with a leather thong in a ponytail. His dinner suit was a flamboyant rich blue, and yet it suited him, and the gleaming golden eyes smiling into hers were full of fun.

  ‘Leo, I am surprised you could make it,’ Theo said with a coolness that sent shivers down Willow’s spine.

  ‘You know me, Theo—I can’t resist a party.’ He smiled at Willow. ‘I think your fiancé is reluctant to tell me your name, beautiful lady. He is probably afraid of the competition.’ He grinned wickedly. ‘Moi—’ he lifted his hand to his heart ‘—your slave for life,’ and he winked.

  Willow laughed out loud. He was outrageous, but a welcome relief from the stiff formality of the rest of the guests.

  ‘That’s enough, Leo,’ Theo said grimly. Willow felt the tightening of Theo’s arm around her waist and the sudden tension in every muscle in his body beneath the immaculate dinner suit, and she looked at the other man with interest. A man that could get a reaction from the intimidating Theo Kadros had to be a rarity.

  ‘My fiancée Willow, and she is out of bounds to you.’

  ‘Why, Theo?’ she said sweetly, beginning to hugely enjoy herself. ‘Surely you can’t be jealous? Leo was only being polite.’

  Theo spared her a dark glance. ‘Maybe, but now it is time we mingled,’ and, ignoring the other man, he urged her towards another group of people.

  ‘What have you got against Leo?’ she asked.

  ‘Nothing at all. He is a good friend. I have known him for years. But he is also a notorious womaniser. For some reason women adore him, and I am taking no chances.’ Surprised, Willow glanced up at him and was stunned to see he was serious. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, she thought dryly.

  The buffet was announced, and Judy joined them as they made their way to the large dining room. Anna and her husband appeared and for the next hour they ate and drank together, with frequent exclamations by Anna: ‘I still can’t believe it. You, of all people, Willow!’

  Willow had met Anna and her two daughters yesterday when they had arrived at the house eager to meet the new addition to the family. Stephen had been an instant hit with the two girls, but Anna had been in a state of shock. She’d spent the morning giving her brother disapproving looks, until he had escaped to his office to put in a few hours’ work. Then she had taken Willow out for lunch and a girlie afternoon in Athens, and spent
most of the time apologising to her. She’d stated that he must have loved Willow all along.

  Theo was leaning against the wall at the party, watching his mother and sister, their faces animated as they ate and drank and gossiped. But his eyes narrowed on Willow as he caught sight of the flicker of strain in her expressive blue eyes, even as her carefully composed features creased into a smile.

  These three women were his family and it hit him forcibly that he felt the same protective instinct for Willow as he did for the other two women in his life. And inexplicably he felt angry with his guests for not immediately seeing Willow as he did.

  She was an exceptional woman in a hundred different ways. Proud, independent and a wonderful mother, not to mention the most exquisitely beautiful female he had ever seen. Yet there was no vanity about her; she seemed totally unaware of her own power. There wasn’t a man in this room who would not leap at the chance to be in his shoes, and she had been right before. He was jealous.

  ‘If you’re finished eating, Willow, perhaps you would like a breath of fresh air?’

  Willow lifted her head and met his dark gaze almost with relief. It was hot inside and the noise was making her head ache, not to mention her feeling the censure of all eyes. ‘You read my mind,’ she said with unaccustomed flippancy, and took the hand he held out to help her to her feet.

  Theo led her out onto the terrace, deftly fielding the many salutations from his friends as they passed. She drew in a lungful of the cool night air, a soft sigh escaping her.

  ‘Better?’ Theo asked quietly.

  ‘Yes,’ Willow murmured. Their hands still linked together, she smiled briefly up at him.

  ‘Good.’ Theo stopped and looked down at her, his expression oddly serious. ‘This party…’ He gestured with his free hand to the brilliantly lit rooms and the crowd of people spilling out onto the terrace. ‘You don’t need to worry—these people will very quickly accept your sudden appearance in my life. Any who don’t will have me to deal with, I promise you.’

  She lifted smiling eyes to his. Even when he was trying to be serious his inbuilt arrogance very quickly surfaced, she thought with wry amusement. ‘From kidnapper to white knight in four days, Theo,’ she quipped with a chuckle. ‘That is some going, even for you, but amazingly I think I believe you. None of this lot would dare argue with you.’

  The hand holding hers slid around her waist and he drew her closer. ‘So I amuse you, do I?’ His dark eyes lit with laughter and a deepening sexual gleam that promised retribution of the most basic kind. ‘You would dare laugh at me,’ he drawled huskily, and his dark head lowered, his warm breath brushing her cheek, ‘when all I am trying to do…’

  ‘I know very well what you are trying to do,’ she responded with a sharp intake of breath, and her whole body trembled as his grip tightened around her waist. He was going to kiss her, she knew it, and she swayed towards him.

  ‘Willow Blain, that’s it!’ A very English voice broke the simmering sexual tension between them. ‘I have been racking my brains all evening, trying to remember where I had seen you before. I never forget a face, and then it suddenly struck me.’

  Theo’s head jerked up and he looked at the fair-haired Englishman, standing not two paces away, grinning at Willow like a Cheshire cat, and he suddenly wished he could strike him again, in the physical sense. Instead he steadied Willow, withdrew his hand from hers and took a step aside. ‘Charles, nice to see you,’ he said blandly. ‘Enjoying the party, I hope.’

  ‘I am now,’ he said, not taking his eyes from Willow. ‘It is you, isn’t it? Your picture was in a British tabloid last week; we get them all at the embassy. J. W. Paxton the crime writer revealed as a woman. I am right, aren’t I? And to think I have read all his books and never guessed, I mean your books—they are brilliant,’ he ended, blushing.

  With ingrained politeness Willow acknowledged the fair, lanky man’s compliments, and discovered he was First Secretary to the British Ambassador in Athens. He finally left only after Willow promised to give him a signed copy of her latest book.

  ‘Another conquest, I see,’ Theo remarked as Charles vanished back inside. ‘And no doubt within minutes everyone will know who you are. Do you want to go back inside and face your public?’ he asked noncommittally.

  ‘Hardly my public. My first book only came out in Greek a month or so ago so no one will know me.’

  ‘Believe me they will once Charles has spread the news. If there is one thing that appeals more than money to a Greek, it is the Arts, and specifically the perceived intellectual pursuits like writing.’

  ‘Well, you are Greek so I bow to your superior judgement,’ she conceded and half turned to face him. ‘But if you don’t mind I won’t go back inside. I have had enough of people for one evening.’

  His hand closed around her bare arm. ‘Then come with me.’ She wasn’t prepared when he bent his head and kissed her firmly but sweetly.

  He had not touched her in a sexual way in two days. Willow had decided in her own head it was because he had already got her agreement to marry him and he was no longer interested. But now, reeling from the unexpected warmth of his kiss, she wondered if she was wrong, and unthinkingly followed him down the steps into the garden. Five minutes later she was standing in a small circular patio surrounded with sweet-scented blossoming shrubs with the sound of water tinkling over the centrepiece of the fountain that occupied the middle.

  ‘It is like a secret garden.’ She grinned, spinning around. ‘Quite magical and beautiful.’

  ‘So are you,’ Theo murmured in a deep, husky drawl. ‘Unbelievably so.’

  Willow stilled, his unexpected compliment taking her breath away. She looked at him standing in a patch of golden light created by strategically placed lamps, and he looked so good she could not take her eyes off him. Tall, dark and handsome did not do him justice. He was a feast of all the senses. The sound of his voice, the masculine scent of him. The taste and strength of him, and every magnificent inch of his six-foot-four frame, naked or clothed, delighted her eye. She felt her breasts harden and swell, and her tongue flicked out to lick her suddenly dry lips. She needed him in the most wanton, basic way, and her blue eyes widened in shock at the realisation.

  ‘Willow. What is it?’ He stepped forward, his gleaming dark eyes fixed on her. The air between them was heavy with sexual tension.

  She shook her head and strands of her silken hair were flying free from the precariously placed pins to fall in soft rippling waves around her face. She didn’t recognise the purely sensual being she appeared to become whenever she was alone with Theo, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. It smacked of weakness, but she was utterly helpless to deny her feelings. ‘Nothing…’ she murmured unsteadily.

  But there was nothing unsteady about the arms that reached out and enfolded her or the way he kissed her. She wound her arms around his neck at the first taste of his tongue on hers and her legs went weak.

  He broke the kiss and she groaned and then sighed her pleasure as she felt the hot warmth of his mouth trail down her throat. With a primitive growl he pulled down the front of her dress and found her breasts. His tongue flicked the engorged nipples and her back arched in a curve of incredible excitement.

  She raked one hand through his hair and the other reached for the buttons of his shirt. She tore one free and slipped her hand beneath the silk, and let her palm stroke up over the hard wall of his chest. She could feel the thundering beat of his heart beneath her palm, and she rejoiced in the discovery that he was as helpless as her to control the wild, wonderful urge that kept them locked together. But she was wrong…

  His dark head lifted. ‘You have the most amazingly sensitive breasts,’ he breathed, his smouldering eyes gleaming down into hers as he adjusted her gown, ‘but here is not the place.’ And he brushed her hand from his chest.

  Willow stared at him in shock, every nerve in her body vibrating with raw sensation, and then shame hit her. He had led her on deliberately
.

  ‘No, no, Willow.’ As if reading her mind, he swiftly denied her assumption, and enfolded her into his arms, holding her firmly against him. ‘Anyone might find us here,’ he murmured against her ear. ‘That is all I meant.’ And with his strong hands stroking soothingly up and down her spine Willow began to relax. ‘Believe me, this is as hard for me as it is for you.’ He slowly eased her away from him, and, resting his hands on her shoulders, he added, ‘More so for me,’ and he smiled ruefully down into her flushed face. ‘But we are getting married on Thursday, and even if I have to spend the next three days in a cold shower, I am determined to do it right this time and we are going to wait until our wedding night.’

  CHAPTER TEN

  THEY were married in a civil ceremony three days later in the garden of Judy’s home. To Willow’s amazement Tess and her husband Bob appeared, as did Stephen’s young friend Tommy, courtesy of Theo’s private jet.

  In a strapless cream satin dress that moulded her figure to perfection and with her hair swept off her face by two diamond clips, a wedding gift from Theo, Willow stood like a tall, beautiful statue posing for photographs with her new husband in the hot summer sun.

  The professional photographer called to them, ‘Okay, one more, with all the family, and that should be enough to show the grandchildren.’ With his use of the plural Willow wondered anxiously what would happen if she did become pregnant again. On her lunch date with Anna a couple of days ago, the talk had got around to children, and with Anna’s help Willow had visited her doctor. A simple test had confirmed that she was not already pregnant and she was now equipped with the pill. The first month was not guaranteed but hopefully it would never happen.

  Still, with luck she would be okay, she thought, worriedly chewing her bottom lip. Much as she would love another child, she dared not take the risk. This marriage was for eight years only, not a commitment for life, she constantly reminded herself. She saw no reason to tell Theo of her precautions. He had taken over her life almost completely, but in the most personal areas of her life she was determined to retain control, and she slanted a wary glance up at her husband.