Free The Andreou Marriage Arrangement by Helen Bianchin Page B

this.
    I want my life back…the one I carefully rebuilt for myself. No emotional ties, no room for disappointment and heartache.
    â€˜I think we’ve managed a sufficiently convincing display,’ Alesha offered evenly, and wondered if Loukas had any idea of the effort it had cost her not to tear herself away from him.
    â€˜You’ve had enough?’
    Enough of what ? Being held intimately close to him? Playing pretend? Why not go for broke and include both , with emphasis on the former?
    He sounded mildly amused, and she deliberately stood on his foot.
    â€˜I’m so sorry,’ she said sweetly.
    â€˜No, you’re not.’ He eased her to the edge of the dance floor, then began leading the way to their table.
    The ‘goodnight’ thing took a while, and it was a relief to leave the ballroom and descend the stairs to the hotel foyer.
    The concierge summoned their car, and within minutes the Aston Martin appeared in the forecourt.
    Alesha slid into the passenger seat, fastened the seat belt, then she eased her head against the cushioned rest and closed her eyes.
    Home, bed. And, mercifully, a restful sleep.
    Except home was no longer her apartment, and it was late, which meant Loukas probably was unlikely to run an electronic check of the world markets before heading for bed.
    â€˜Headache?’
    Her eyelids lifted and she turned towards him. It would be so easy to say yes , and she almost did. Except honesty had her shaking her head.
    The night cast the car’s interior with a shadowy light, throwing his profile into stark angles.
    He was something else. Sophisticated, powerful…yet beneath that persona lurked a man she found difficult to fathom. Content, apparently, to enter a loveless marriage and sire progeny sans emotional involvement.
    What was it with that?
    She knew all the issues. Hadn’t she agreed to them? Although agree didn’t enter the equation. Choice had weighed heavily against her.
    A situation that pushed her to the edge and kept her there.
    â€˜You handled the evening well.’
    His silky drawl curled round her nerve-ends and pulled them to breaking point.
    â€˜While you excelled.’
    â€˜A compliment?’
    She looked at him carefully. ‘Of course. What else?’
    â€˜I doubt your foot’s deliberate aim was accidental.’
    â€˜Really?’ Alesha managed sweetly.
    Loukas smiled. She was a refreshing change from the women who formed part of his business and social entourage. Women who knew how to please and were forthcoming in offering to share his bed.
    Easy pickings, he reflected without shame. Aware few, if any, had any thought beyond the advantages of his wealth, the gifts, the travel, the media attention his presence gained.
    It was after midnight when he garaged the car and reset the security system.
    Alesha made for the staircase, reaching their suite ahead of him, and she slipped off her heels, removed her ear-studs and reached for the clasp holding her pendant in place.
    Stiff, it still refused to release, and she muttered an unladylike oath beneath her breath.
    â€˜Let me.’
    She hadn’t heard him enter the room, and she held her breath as his fingers brushed her nape. Within seconds he freed the recalcitrant clasp and dropped the pendant into her palm.
    â€˜Thanks.’
    His eyes were dark, slumbrous, as he laid a finger beneath her chin and tilted it. ‘So…thank me.’
    The wayward pulse at the base of her throat began its rapid thudding beat, and her eyes flared as he lowered his head down to hers.
    â€˜Don’t—’
    Whatever else she meant to utter didn’t find voice as his mouth took hers in a kiss that grazed her lips with sensual promise, warm, caressing with deliberate intent as he sought her response.
    One hand shifted to cup her nape while the other slid to the base of her spine and he drew her in against him.
    Awareness flared as he deepened the kiss, his tongue an