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A marriage on paper only...
...until long-hidden desires reignite!
Kate O’Connor is stunned when her ex-fiancé, self-made billionaire Nikos Nikoladis, storms back into her life with a shocking demand: to complete their previously abandoned trip down the aisle! He’ll gain the wife he requires to secure his goddaughter’s adoption and save Kate’s ailing company. In desperation, she agrees. But on an opulent honeymoon across Europe, these heated adversaries don’t anticipate their still-smoldering flame to explode into irresistible passion...
Discover this passionate reunion romance
ANDIE BROCK started inventing imaginary friends at around the age of four, and is still doing it today—only now the sparkly fairies have made way for spirited heroines and sexy heroes. Thankfully she now has some real friends, as well as a husband and three children—plus a grumpy but lovable cat. Andie lives in Bristol, and when she’s not actually writing she might well be plotting her next passionate romance story.
CHAPTER ONE
KATE FROZE, THE bottle of champagne foaming in her hand. Oh, please no! Not him—not here! She screwed up her eyes, praying that when she opened them again he would have miraculously vanished. But, no. He was still there, and the shock of his presence was ringing in her ears, blotting out everyone else in the room.
Watching as if in slow motion horror, Kate saw him lean back to address the overly attentive waitress. Broodingly handsome, all sculpted features and olive skin, his broad shoulders and towering height were carried with that familiar, athletic grace. Nikos Nikoladis. Her first love. Her ex-fiancé. The man who had broken her heart.
‘Hey, honey, careful with that champagne.’ A diner at Kate’s table reached out to steady her hand. ‘If you knew what it cost you might treat it with a bit more respect.’
As the other men snickered in agreement Kate forced herself to apologise, holding a rictus grin that threatened to break her jaw as she refilled their glasses. She didn’t know exactly what it cost, but she did know it was a vastly over-inflated price, designed to feed their self-importance rather than please their palates. The enormous egos and choking testosterone of the herd of fat-cat businessmen here tonight made it hard to breathe.
But that was why she was here. Why she had signed up to this agency specialising in corporate hospitality. Why she had wriggled into a short black skirt that barely covered her butt and the horrible faux leather waistcoat now pulling tight across her bust. Because if there was the slightest chance that she might be able to persuade one of these arrogant jerks to invest in her ailing family business then she was going to take it. And if that meant she had to play waitress at this godawful event, flirt a little with these people, massage their massive egos, then so be it. As long as they knew that was the only thing she’d be massaging.
Because desperate times called for desperate measures. And, boy, was Kate desperate. And that had been even before the mortifying reappearance of her ex-fiancé.
Lowering her head, she let a curtain of blonde hair fall across her face, then took another peek in his direction, refusing to acknowledge the quickening of her heart. Engrossed in conversation with the CEO of a major corporation on his left, Nikos didn’t appear to have spotted her. That, at least, was some consolation. And he wasn’t seated at one of her designated tables in this vast hotel dining room, for which she was supremely grateful.
With a bit of luck she might be able keep her back to him and avoid being seen. Her new hairstyle would help her—the tumbling blonde curls were very different from the sleek mane of chestnut hair belonging to the Kate he had once known.
Refusing to panic, Kate squashed down her instinct to turn tail and run. Much as she wanted to tell the agency what they could do with their sleazy job, its degrading outfit and its horrible, predatory guests, the fact was that even if trying to persuade one of them to invest in Kandy Kate was a ludicrously naïve idea, this was still well-paid work with the potential for healthy tips and she needed the money.
There were over three hundred diners here tonight, and at least thirty waitresses. As long as she kept her wits about her she should be able to avoid Nikos. She would avoid him. Because coming face to face with him when she was dressed like a backstreet hooker was one humiliation she could firmly do without.
