Needed: One Convenient Husband(8)

Kyle muttered something short beneath his breath. Eva pulled free of  his grasp, her legs as limp as noodles, embarrassed warmth burning  through her. Not only had she practically thrown herself at Kyle like  some love-starved teenager, she had actually climaxed just because he  had kissed her.

Dragging damp tendrils back from her face, she snatched up her bag and  noticed that the champagne flute had broken at the stem and was in two  pieces. Jaw set, she found the cake napkin and wrapped the base of the  flute.

Kyle crouched down beside her and handed her the rest of the flute but,  with her whole body still oversensitive and tingling, Kyle helping,  Kyle intruding any further into her life was the last thing she wanted.                       
       
           



       

"Eva-"

She straightened, desperate to avoid him, but he rose lithely and blocked her path.

Too late to wish that she'd searched for her compact and checked her  makeup. Her mascara was probably running. She must look a total mess-

"You wanted to know why I vetoed the grooms you chose. Two reasons.  None of them were good enough. And I couldn't let you marry anyone else  because I want you."





Five

Eva stared at Kyle.

I want you.

A small, sensual shiver zapped down her spine. Not good! She should be  annoyed at the way Kyle had gotten rid of all the men she had chosen,  not turned on and reveling in the fact that he had done so because he  thought none of them had been good enough. "Let me get this right. You  proposed because you want sex?"

Suddenly irritated beyond belief, she rummaged in her handbag, found  her cell and stabbed a random icon. "Wait just one second. I'm sure I  have an app you need called Sex Slaves Are Us."

Impatience registered in his gaze. "I proposed because you need a husband."

Somehow that was the wrong answer. "So sex would just be an optional extra?"

There was a small, vibrating silence. "Whether or not sex would be part of the deal is entirely up to you."

The anger that rolled through Eva was knee-jerk and confusing. She had  been angry that Kyle wanted sex from her. Now she was even angrier  because, evidently, he could take it or leave it. In her book, that  brought them back to square one. She just wasn't that important to Kyle.  And didn't that just feel like a replay of the past?

She jammed her cell back in her bag. Until that moment she hadn't  realized how much Kyle's defection all those years ago still hurt. He  had been a friend when she had needed one. She hadn't just wanted him at  age seventeen; she had liked and trusted him. He had walked away  without a backward glance then fallen in love with and married someone  else.

She should have let this go a long time ago. It was neither healthy,  nor balanced. But then, balance had never been her strong point. She had  always been passionate and a little extreme. Of course, letting go of  the hurt of Kyle's rejection was difficult, because in her heart of  hearts she had felt sure that they had been on the verge of something  special.

On the heels of that thought, suspicion flared. "Did Mario suggest you should marry me before he died?"

Kyle's gaze turned wary. "He did."

Now she really was embarrassed. Mario had been convinced that, despite  her disorder, as an heiress she could have the same kind of happy  married life he'd had with his wife, if she would only follow the old  recipe and marry someone wealthy, trusted and close to home. He had  relentlessly tried to marry her off in that way to Kyle's older brothers  and, to her everlasting relief, he hadn't succeeded in raising even a  flicker of interest. "I know for a fact that he asked Gabriel and Nick  and they both turned him down."

Kyle shrugged. "That was a given, since they were both in love with other women."

Eva swiped at a renegade trickle of water sliding down her neck,  suddenly incensed. "And who would buy into that crazy kind of medieval  stuff, anyway?"

Kyle dragged his gaze from the creamy line of Eva's neck and the tantalizing hint of cleavage in the vee of her suit jacket.

He would.

Although, obviously, that did not reflect well on him. "If you're so  set on a marriage of convenience, then I don't get why you're so against  taking the second option in the will."

"And marry you?" Eva's chin came up. "Because, while Messena and  Atraeus men may look and sound like modern twenty-first century guys,  they aren't. Underneath that veneer every one of you is just as medieval  as Mario was. And I don't want children. Ever."

The flat certainty of Eva's statement hit Kyle in the solar plexus.

Children. He had a sudden mental image of his small son, Evan, who had been just three months old when he had died.

His stomach tightened on the kind of grief no parent should ever feel  as memory flickered. Evan, soft and warm on his shoulder, well fed and  smelling of soap and milk as he had relaxed into sleep. The way he had  used to crow with delight every time Kyle had picked him up...

When he spoke, he couldn't keep the grim chill out of his voice.  "Children won't be an issue, because I don't want them, either. But in  any case, we're only looking at an arrangement that will last two  years."

He logged the flare of shock in her gaze. He had been too abrasive. But  when it came to the issue of marriage and kids, he couldn't be any  other way.                       
       
           



       

His own family didn't understand him. But then, none of them had seen  his wife and child disappear in an explosion that had killed five others  and destroyed the barracks gatehouse. None of them understood that  moment of sickening displacement, the knowledge that Nicola and Evan  would be alive now if it wasn't for his insistence that they join him in  Germany for Christmas.

The shock of their deaths and the weight of grief and guilt still had  the power to stop him in his tracks. It was the reason he avoided  friends who had kids and family occasions that, increasingly, overflowed  with babies and small children. It was the reason he steered clear of  anything approaching a conventional relationship, because he knew he  couldn't be that person again. Just the thought of taking on the  responsibility of a wife and child made him break out in a cold sweat.  His oldest brother, Gabriel, who had arrived in Germany just hours after  the explosion, was the only one who had an inkling about how he felt.  He unlocked his jaw and tried to soften his tone. "If you agree to  marriage, you set the terms."

She crossed her arms over her chest, her stance combative. "Let me see,  everything but children, and you would prefer sex as an additional  extra."

His gaze narrowed at the way she phrased the same kind of  straightforward marriage deal she had personally negotiated at least  three times in the past six months. Except for the sex. And he couldn't  help a savage little jolt of satisfaction at that fact. "Yes."

She took a half step toward him. He registered the fiery glint in her  eyes as she came to a halt in front of him and trailed her finger from a  point just below his collarbone to the midpoint of his chest.

"Marriage to you? Now, let me see..." Her gaze locked with his, and he  knew very well that she didn't intend to kiss him. "That would be a  clear...no."

And with a shove she sent him toppling back into the pool.

* * *

The following night Eva prepared to go to a trendy singles bar with a  couple of girlfriends. She hated singles bars and normally would never  go to one but, after the debacle with Kyle, she was determined to make  one more attempt at locating a husband.

Kyle's proposal was an unexpected goad. The fact that she personally  wanted him had somehow made the situation even more fraught. Her  response to his kiss had been a case in point. She'd never been able to  resist him, and now he knew it. If they married, even if she said no to  sex, would she be strong enough to hold out against him?

She flipped through her wardrobe for something to wear. She needed  something that was sexy but reserved enough that she could attract a man  who was reasonably good-looking, intelligent and down on his luck. She  doubted she would find the type of man she needed at a singles bar,  since most men who went there just wanted sex, but she had to try.

She chose a little black dress and pumps that weren't too high, because  she was already medium height and she didn't want to narrow her options  by being too tall. After putting on makeup, she combed her hair out  straight so that it swung silkily around her shoulders. Affixing tawny  earrings to her lobes, she spritzed herself with perfume and she was  good to go.

The bar was packed. After ordering a drink, she sat at a cozy sofa and  coffee table setting. Feeling like a wallflower, Eva sipped the iced  water she had ordered. Seconds later, she had her first approach, a  handsome dark-haired guy who looked like a lawyer and proved to be. She  sent him on his way when she found out he was married.