What The Greek Wants Most(5)

       
           



       

Hastily averting her gaze, she picked up her glass and took another sip.

Thankfully, the master of ceremonies chose that moment to climb onto the   podium to announce the first course and the first speaker.

Inez barely tasted the salmon mousse and the wine that accompanied it.   Nor did she absorb the speech given by the health minister about what   was being done to help the poor.

Her hyperawareness of the man beside her interfered with her ability to   think straight. The last time she'd felt anything remotely like this,   she'd wandered down a path she'd hated herself for ever since. She'd   almost given herself to a man who had no use for her besides using her   as a pawn.

Never again!

Six more weeks. She needed to focus on that. Once her father was on his campaign trail, she could start her new life.

She'd heard the rumours about her father's ruthless beginnings when she   was growing up; a couple of her school friends had whispered about   unsavoury dealings her father had been involved in. Inez had never found   concrete proof. The one time she'd asked her mother, she'd been  quickly  admonished not to believe lies about her family.

At the time, she'd assured herself that they weren't true. But the   passage of time had whittled away that assurance. Now, with each day   that passed, she suspected differently.

'You look as if the world is coming to an end, anjo,' the man she was   desperately trying to ignore murmured. Again the endearment rolled off   his tongue in a deep, seductive murmur that sent shivery awareness   cascading over her skin.

'I hope you're not going to ask me to smile again, because-' She gasped as he took her hand and lifted it to his mouth.

Firm, warm lips brushed her skin and Inez's stomach dipped in sensual   free fall that took her breath away. Desperately, she tried to snatch   her hand back.

'What the hell do you think you're doing?' she snapped.

'Helping you. Relax. If you continue to look at me like you want to claw my eyes out, this won't work.'

'What exactly is this? And why on earth should I play along?'

'Your brother and father are still wondering why Delgado left so   abruptly. Do you want to suffer the third degree later or will you let   me help you make it all go away?'

She eyed him suspiciously. The notion that there was something going on   behind that smooth, charismatic façade didn't dissipate. In fact, it   escalated as he stared down at her, his features enigmatic save for that   smile that lingered on his wide, sexy mouth.

'Why do you want to help me?' Again she tried to take back her hand but   he held on, one thumb smoothing over her inner wrist. Blood surged   through her veins at his touch, her pulse racing at the spot that he so   expertly explored.

'Because I'm hoping it would persuade you to have lunch with me tomorrow,' he replied.

His gaze flicked across the table. Although his expression didn't   change, she again sensed the tension that hovered on the edge of his   civility. This man didn't like her family. Which begged the question:   what was he doing here investing in their company?

He swung that intense stare back to her and she lost her train of thought. Grabbing it back, she shook her head.

'I'll have to refuse the lunch offer, I'm afraid. I have other plans.'

'Dinner, then?'

'I have plans then, too. Besides, don't you have business with my father tomorrow?'

'Our business won't take longer than me signing on a dotted line.'

'A dotted line that gives you a permanent controlling share in my family's company?'

His eyes gleamed. 'Not permanent. Only until I have what I want.'





CHAPTER THREE

'AND WHAT IS IT you want?'

'For now? Lunch. Tomorrow. With you.' Another pass of his thumb over her pulse.

Another roll of sensation deep in her belly. The temptation to say yes   suddenly overcame her, despite the warning bells shrieking at the back   of her mind.

She forced herself to heed those warning bells. Her painfully short   foray into a relationship had taught her that good looks and charm often   hid an agenda that would most likely not benefit her or her heart. And   Theo Pantelides had metaphorical skull and crossbones stamped all over   him.                       
       
           



       

'The answer is still no,' she replied, a lot sharper than she'd intended.

His lips compressed but he shrugged. As if her answer hadn't fazed him.

And it probably hadn't. He was one of those men who drew women like bees   to pollen. He could probably secure a lunch date with half of the  women  in this room and tempt the other married half into sin should he  choose  to.

With his dark, exquisite looks and deep sexy voice, he could have any woman he chose to display even the mildest interest in.

The thought that he would do just such a thing punched so fierce a reaction in her belly that she suppressed a shocked gasp.

What on earth is wrong with me? She needed to get herself back under   control before she did something foolish-like discard her plans for   tomorrow in favour of spending more time with this infuriatingly   self-assured, visually stunning man.

Giving herself a fierce pep talk, she pulled her hand from his grasp.

She folded her hand in her lap and wrapped her other hand over her wrist. But suddenly her own touch felt … inadequate.

She was saved from exploring the peculiar feeling when the lights dimmed   and the projector started reeling pictures of miles and miles of  rusted  shingle roofs that formed the world famous Rio favelas.

Her father climbed onto the podium to begin his speech.

The tale of despair-driven prostitution, violence, gang warfare and   kidnapping of innocents, and the need to do whatever was needed to help   was one she'd heard at many fund-raisers and charity dinners.

She clenched her fist. Knowing that half the people in here, dripping in   diamonds and tuxedos worth several thousand dollars, would've  forgotten  the plight of the favela residents by the time dessert was  served made  her silently scream in frustration.

The need to get up, to walk out almost overwhelmed her but she stayed put.

There would be no running. No walking away from the work she'd committed   herself to, nor walking away from the formative minds that were   depending on her.

Fierce pride tightened her chest at the part she was playing in the   young lives under her charge. And the fact that she'd managed to change   that part of her own life without her father or brother's interference.

She refocused as her father finished his speech to rousing applause. The projector was shut off and the lights grew brighter.

She reached forward for her glass of wine and noticed that she was once again the focus of Theo's gaze.

'Should I be offended that I'm being so comprehensively ignored?' he asked.

'It's not a state you're used to, I expect?' With her surroundings once   more in focus, she noticed the looks he was getting from women on other   tables. She didn't delude herself that any of them were interested in   his views on politics or world peace. No, each and every one of them   would vie for much more personal, much more physical contact with the   lean, broad-shouldered man next to her, whose hands casually caressed   his wine glass stem in a way that made her think indecent thoughts.

She noticed the young famous actress on the next table where Theo should   have been sitting gazing over at him, and again felt the sharp edge of   an unknown emotion pierce her insides.

His smile grew hard. 'You'd be surprised.'

Curiosity brought her gaze back to his. 'Would I? How?'

'That question makes me think you've formed an opinion of me.'

'And that answer convinces me that you're very good at deflecting. You may fool others, but you do not fool me.'

He stared at her for a moment before one corner of his mouth lifted.   Abruptly, he stood and held out his hand. 'Dance with me, anjo, and   enlighten me further as to what you think you know about me.'

The demand was silky and yet implacable. In full view of the other guests, her refusal would be extremely discourteous.

Her heart hammered as she slowly slid her hand into his and let him draw her to her feet.

Emotions she was trying and failing to suppress flared up at the warmth   and firmness of his grip. Fervently, she prayed for time to speed up,   for the evening to end so she could be free of this man. Her reaction to   him was puzzling in the extreme and the notion that she was being  toyed  with unsettled her more with each passing second.                       
       
           



       

As they skirted the table to head for the dance floor, her gaze met her   father's. Expecting approval for accommodating the man whose business  he  was so obviously keen to garner, she was taken aback when she saw  his  icy disapproval.