For Love or Money Bundle (Harlequin Presents)

by Sarah Morgan

  No, he’d find someone else in short order, and there was no chance she’d ever see Mr Loukas Demakis again.

  The rush of relief she felt at that prospect evaporated the instant she noticed the last person she wanted to talk to right now heading straight for her.

  ‘Oh, Jade,’ Grace said, casting her eyes all about the room. ‘You haven’t seen Mayor Goldfinch anywhere?’

  Jade stood blankly, her stomach lurching as she fought to raise her eyes above shoe level.

  ‘Only I wanted to show him the clinic’s latest plans for expansion, and he seems to have disappeared.’

  ‘I can’t help you,’ Jade insisted, her heart breaking for the older woman even as she lied. Grace would have to find out the truth at some time, but not now. Jade couldn’t bear to spoil her otherwise perfect night. ‘Have you tried the garden?’ she added, taking her by the arm and steering her towards the French doors to ensure she couldn’t stumble into the library and discover the Mayor’s sleazy betrayal herself. Because while half of her wanted Grace to find out what kind of man he really was, the other half wanted to protect her friend from the pain of knowing the whole sordid truth. ‘I’ll help you look.’

  The young girl looked up, her kohl-rimmed eyes hopeful and expectant as Jade entered the consulting room. While outwardly Jade acknowledged both Grace and the client, inwardly she sighed. Despite the heavy make-up, Jade knew the young waif-like blonde was barely eighteen years old—and yet already Pia Kovac was a regular customer at the clinic—too regular for her liking.

  ‘Thanks for stepping in, Dr Ferraro,’ said Grace. ‘Pia has asked us to consider doing a few extra little things for her. Seeing as a couple of them will require your deft touch with the laser, I thought you should sit in on this consultation.’

  ‘No problem,’ Jade responded, taking a seat in one of the velvet sofas surrounding the plush coffee table set-up when what she really wanted was to go back to her apartment at the mansion and let herself slip into a long soaking bath.

  How did Grace do it? She looked at her now, as she outlined the procedures Pia had in mind, and could only marvel at how fresh and bright-eyed she looked even while she still managed to retain an air of serenity and calm about her. No doubt about it—the woman was amazing. Jade would be up to her neck in bubbles right now if she hadn’t been called in to this consultation.

  Today had been too long—a full day of laser surgery punctuated only by an hour-long luncheon meeting with Grace to discuss the financial results from the Gala.

  As expected, the evening had been a runaway success in raising both funds and the profile of the foundation. Months of planning had paid off, and Jade was now feeling the anticlimax of masterminding and carrying off a successful event seeping through her bones.

  But that wasn’t the only anticlimax she was feeling. Ever since that night she’d felt strangely let down, and it all had to do with the larger-than-life memories of one tall, dark stranger. And yet nothing had happened between them, really. Nothing compared to what might have happened. Right now she could be filled with regrets about crazy actions and impetuous desires. She could be cursing herself for giving in to nothing more than base lust.

  Instead she should feel proud of herself for having had the strength to get out of the situation. She should be feeling relieved she’d come to her senses before it was too late—even if it had taken a philandering mayor to wake her up to what she was doing.

  So why did she feel as if she’d missed out? Why was she disappointed that she’d heard not a thing from Loukas Demakis when it was clearly to her advantage never to run into the man again?

  With a struggle she forced her could-have-been lover out of her mind and brought her focus back to the shopping basket of cosmetic goodies Grace was outlining. It was an impressive list; Pia had obviously been doing her homework.

  ‘Jade,’ Grace said at last, ‘would you agree that’s the best way to proceed? For you to do the minor laser surgery components before I’ve done the breast augmentation?’

  Jade drew in a weary breath and looked at the young woman sitting opposite—a teenager, certainly, but hardly flat-chested. She suppressed a sigh. This was one of the things that really grated about this business. It was one thing for the clinic to be helping people retain or reclaim their youthful looks, but it seemed another thing entirely to start with major remodelling of the looks of someone barely out of puberty.

  ‘Pia,’ she said gently, ‘are you sure you’ve thought this all through? A breast augmentation isn’t something to take lightly. Are you sure you really need it?’

  Pia’s expression dropped like a stone. ‘But I have to do something. Kurt says the only thing wrong with me is I don’t have enough up top.’

  Jade glanced over her notes. ‘Then why the liposuction?’

  ‘Kurt hates fat.’

  It was hardly a surprising answer. Kurt hadn’t liked her nose or her lips either, when Pia had first appeared on the clinic’s doorstep six months ago, a newlywed with a massive inferiority complex and a demanding would-be celebrity husband. Without a doubt the failed reality TV contender had had more than a little to do with her recent cheek implants as well.

  ‘And what do you like? What do you really want, Pia?’

  ‘I want to keep Kurt.’ Her words came out like a sulky child threatened with the loss of her favourite bedtime toy. Which was probably how she felt, given the rumours that Kurt was already tiring of his hastily arranged Las Vegas marriage.

  ‘And of course you will,’ crooned Grace, sending daggers to Jade as she shifted next to Pia on the couch, taking her hand and stroking it gently. ‘And we’ll do everything to help you. Won’t we, Jade?’

  ‘What was that all about?’

  Jade was just collecting her purse and jacket when Grace paced purposefully into her office. ‘It sounded very much like you were trying to talk Pia out of surgery back there.’

  Jade rubbed her brow and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. ‘I’m sorry, Grace. I just think she’s too young to be doing all this. Especially when she doesn’t need it. If it wasn’t for Kurt—’

  ‘Kurt’s her husband. Of course she wants to please him! Our job is to give the clients what they want. Not to talk them out of it.’

  ‘But she’s so young—’

  ‘She won’t be young for ever. Satisfy her now and we’ll have a client for life.’ She arched one eyebrow high, accentuating her bright eyes. ‘Think about that. Your future is with people just like Pia. Sow the seeds now, and reap the harvest for life.’

  Jade recoiled at her words. When had Grace become so cynical?

  ‘I didn’t think the clinic was so desperate for money that we had to go recruiting teenagers.’

  ‘She came to us. We didn’t “recruit” her. And don’t sniff at the money. It pays you well enough, doesn’t it? I’ve tried to make you feel welcome here, and I’ve tried to support you while you become established. Haven’t I opened my home up to you, giving you your own space? I thought you enjoyed working here,’ she continued. ‘I thought we were part of a team. But then, if you’re not happy…’

  The older woman’s eyes clouded over suddenly, and her unfinished sentence was enough to sting Jade with remorse.

  Grace was right, of course. Grace was more like a fairy godmother than a colleague—making her dreams come true not just once in her life, but twice.

  Because it had been Grace’s removal of her ugly facial birthmark that had given Jade the inspiration and the courage to enter the same field and pursue the quest for excellence. She wanted the chance to make such amazing differences to other people’s lives too. She wanted the chance to put something back. And Grace had given her that opportunity too, when she’d approved her application and given her a place at the clinic.

  She owed everything to Grace—her job, her success, and most of all the chance to be accepted as a normal human being. Nobody had ever done so much for her. Nobody else had made her life so worthwhile.
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  So Jade wouldn’t let her down—especially not now, when it was clear that Grace was already in for a rough ride when she discovered the truth about Mayor Goldfinch.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘Of course I’m happy working here.’

  ‘Then don’t let me hear any more about you trying to talk people out of surgery. You have a gift, and these people need you. They’ll do anything to look better.’ Grace reached out and grasped her forearm, squeezing it so hard her acrylic nails bit deep into Jade’s flesh. ‘You, more than anyone, should appreciate that.’

  She’d been so close. If he’d taken her somewhere else, if he’d found somewhere private, she would have been his. Even now, leaning against the door of her champagne-coloured Mercedes convertible in the palm-tree-lined car park behind the Della-Bosca Clinic, he could still feel her in his arms, feel her shuddering response to his touch.

  She’d wanted him that night!

  She’d melted into his arms like warm syrup and he could have had her. If it hadn’t been for the Mayor and his young bimbo beating them to it, he would have had her. She’d been his for the taking. Ripe and luscious and so hot to touch that he was aching to have another chance to unleash the passion he knew was lurking beneath that polished exterior.

  He smiled to himself as he pocketed his sunglasses. If she thought her rapid departure meant she’d escaped him, she had another think coming. He wasn’t done with this strategy just yet.

  So far he’d accomplished none of the things he’d set out to do to comply with his father’s request to keep his sister safe; he’d found out none of the information he needed to pull the rug out from underneath Dr Della-Bosca’s Manolo-clad feet. But there was still no better way to find out what he needed to than to coax it out of her young colleague.

  And next time he’d make sure there was no chance for her to change her mind. Next time she wouldn’t get away.

  His body hummed with anticipation of the hunt. The information couldn’t come more enticingly gift wrapped. The idea of extracting what he needed to know couldn’t possibly give him more of a charge.

  She might be as plastic as the industry she worked for, and the celebrities she practised on, but at least she was making his quest more entertaining than he’d ever imagined possible.

  He pulled one hand from his pocket and glanced down at his watch, but it only confirmed what the sun was already telling him as it dipped lower in the sky—the doctor kept long hours. The nip and tuck business was obviously booming.

  Then a movement at the side door caught his eye. It was her. As she stepped from the door her hand went to the back of her head, and with a toss she pulled a clip from her hair, releasing it. He growled his approval as the wave swung around her face and tumbled over her shoulders like a sweep of honey.

  He liked the way she looked with her hair down. Even more than how it looked, it appealed to his sense of economy.

  One less thing for him to remove.

  She couldn’t wait to get into that bath. Grace might be content to stay and deal with paperwork till all hours, but Jade had had enough for one day. And there was absolutely no need for Grace to stay back. They had enough staff that Grace need never bother herself with administration, but she’d always been hands-on, always been involved, even with matters as mundane as the accounts. She was a total inspiration.

  Her neck and shoulders aching, Jade unclipped her hair as she stepped from the building, already mentally unwinding as she shook her hair free. She took two steps into the car park and froze.

  It was him. He was leaning against her car and looking for all the world as if he owned it. Did he know it was hers? In the same instant she asked herself the question she’d already answered herself in the affirmative. Of course he knew. Why else would he be sprawled all over it? How he knew wasn’t even an issue. This man didn’t strike her as the sort who would have trouble getting anything—least of all information.

  But what the hell was he doing here? Even in the gathering twilight the foolishness of her actions at the ball came back in stark detail to taunt her. And she didn’t want to be reminded of that night. Didn’t want to be reminded of what had nearly happened. Didn’t want to be reminded of how his firm body and his sultry mouth had made her feel…

  She swallowed down an urge to turn around and walk the other way. She’d run from him once before, and be damned if he’d see her bolt again. It was her car he was leaning on. He was the one who was going to leave.

  So she forced her legs to move once more, forced herself closer to where he stood so casually regarding her approach, his hands in his pockets, one leg bent over the other, while she wound tighter and tighter inside like a coiled spring.

  She stopped two metres shy, wondering how the hell she was going to get into her car while he leaned against her door.

  She nodded. ‘Mr Demakis.’

  ‘Loukas,’ he corrected. ‘How are you, Dr Ferraro?’

  If he thought that was an invitation to ask him to call her Jade he was very much mistaken. ‘You seem to be blocking my car door.’

  He looked around as if surprised. ‘This is your car? Now, there’s a coincidence.’

  ‘An unbelievable coincidence, I would have thought,’ she said, making it clear she knew it was no accident of fate that had brought them together today.

  ‘It seems we have a mutual liking for this particular marque,’ he continued, indicating the car alongside hers. Another sleek Mercedes Sports, although so clearly the top of the line it made her smaller soft-top look like a basic city run-around. ‘I wonder what else we have in common?’

  His easy banter grated on her nerves, especially as his eyes gave her different messages entirely. In what remained of the light of day they were nowhere near as dark as they’d seemed in the evening lighting, more a rich chestnut colour—though right now they contained a noticeable absence of warmth. And yet she felt a heat emanating from them that burned into her senses and touched parts of her deep down inside, where the humming his touch had set in train Saturday evening was coming alive once again.

  How could he do that? Look so cold and imperious in the same instant he was setting her skin aflame?

  She shifted her stance, trying to quell her mutinous flesh and disguising her purpose by digging through her purse for her keys.

  ‘Who can say?’ She took a step closer, holding her keys pointedly. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me?’

  He didn’t move an inch, still leaning against the car door, and she was left wondering about the wisdom of moving closer to him.

  ‘You’re not curious enough to find out?’

  She tilted her head up to his face, taking in the challenging glint in his eyes and the crooked smile. Why was he here? Did he see her as an easy target? Did he expect her to fall into bed with him the moment he reappeared in her life and take up where they’d left off in the library?

  Or was there just the remotest chance he was really interested in getting to know her?

  Oh, yes, she was curious all right. And it had nothing to do with what they had or didn’t have in common. But, whatever he wanted, there was no chance she’d be swept away by irrationality again. Once was more than enough.

  And, if he was honestly interested in getting to know her better, he’d soon work out that ambushing someone in the car park after a long day was hardly the way to win friends.

  She forced what she hoped would pass as a smile to her face. ‘Not in the least bit curious,’ she lied. ‘And I really have to be leaving now, so if you’ll kindly sprawl over your own car instead, I’ll get going.’

  He laughed out loud, pushing himself upright, away from her car. At last, she thought, sensing escape was near at hand. But still he didn’t move his feet. And now he was even closer. Close enough to bring memories of that night, of being next to his body, held by his arms against his muscled torso, crashing over her. Close enough that if she just reached out her hand she could once again touch him, could feel his heated skin through h
er fingertips, feel the beat of his heart pulse its way into hers.

  ‘Are all Australian women as refreshingly direct as you?’

  His words broke into her consciousness, snapping her out of the crackling tension of her imagination. What the hell was she thinking? Another moment and she would have been imagining tumbling him into bed. She had to get out of here, and fast.

  She raised her chin. ‘Are all sons of Greek success stories as frustratingly obstinate as you? I asked you very politely to get out of the way.’

  He stood surveying her for what seemed like for ever, his brown eyes frosted and unreadable, a twitching muscle in his jaw his only movement. Finally, when she’d all but given up hope of ever getting into her vehicle and was contemplating hailing a cab instead, he suddenly moved to his left. It gave her enough room to pull the wide door open, but not enough to ensure she wouldn’t have to brush past him as she sat down in the driver’s seat. But it would have to do.

  She stepped forward, hoping to get by as quickly as possible, steeling herself against the prickle of sensation that she knew would come with passing so close to him.

  ‘You haven’t even asked me why I’m here,’ he said, once she was safely in her seat.

  ‘You’ve had more than enough opportunity to tell me,’ she replied, turning the key in the ignition and gunning the engine for effect.

  He hunkered down alongside her, ignoring her blatant desire to get out of there as quickly as possible, one elbow resting on the window, the other above her on the roof and his face perilously close to her own. Instead of feeling in a position of strength, suddenly sitting down in the car made her feel more vulnerable than ever. He dwarfed the sports coupé’s entry, his limbs spread wide like a spider about to encompass its prey.

  ‘So humour me for one more minute,’ he urged, his warm, masculine scent beckoning like a drug. She could almost feel herself being drawn further and further into his web. ‘Let me explain why I’m here.’

  Her eyes looked longingly through the windscreen to the car park exit and the main road beyond, her hands grimly clawed on the leather-covered steering wheel. She was so close to escape, so close to getting away. But would one minute matter? Why not let him say what he wanted to? Then she could be out of here. Then she would be able to think straight again.