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‘I...’ Eleanor broke off. Part of her wanted to confide in her sister and explain that romance wasn’t on the cards in her marriage. She had become much closer to Lissa recently, but the memory of the conversation she’d overheard when Jace had likened her sister to a beautiful peacock andherto a dull sparrow still rankled.
‘You must wish that Mum and Dad were here,’ Lissa murmured. ‘It’s a pity that Mark couldn’t make it to the wedding, but hopefully he will get the help he needs at the rehabilitation clinic in Ireland.’ She squeezed Eleanor’s hand. ‘I’m glad we’ve got each other.’
‘So am I.’ Eleanor blinked back tears, hating herself for her silly jealousy of her sister. ‘You look lovely.’ Lissa’s bridesmaid’s dress was cornflower-blue, the same colour as her eyes, and her pale blonde bob framed her striking features.
Lissa grinned. ‘I hope the best man thinks so.’
‘He is Jace’s best friend, Takis Samaras.’
‘Takis...what a hunk. I’m going to flirt shamelessly with him at the reception.’ Lissa walked over to the dressing table and opened a box from which she carefully lifted out a bouquet of palest pink roses. ‘From your fiancé,’ she said as she gave the bouquet to Eleanor. ‘We had better go. The car is waiting.’
The rosebuds were beginning to unfurl and release their exquisite perfume. Eleanor swallowed the lump in her throat and reminded herself that Jace had sent her the bouquet for no other reason than he wanted to convince the guests, especially his mother, that their wedding was a love match.
But she must not forget that their marriage was a business deal. The previous day she had signed a prenuptial agreement which specified that the Pangalos Beach Resort would become a shared marital asset. In the event of a divorce, both parties would receive a fifty per cent share of the hotel. A second document stated that the entirety of Mark Buchanan’s debt to Jace would be cancelled when Eleanor became Mrs Zagorakis.
Everyone was happy, or so it would appear. If the bride’s heart felt as if it were breaking when she walked into the Town Hall where the groom was waiting, none of the guests who saw Eleanor’s serene smile would have guessed.
Jace was standing with the mayor, who was to conduct the wedding ceremony. But Eleanor only saw the enigmatic man she was about to marry, and her pulse quickened when she recognised the gleam of desire in his eyes as he watched her approach him. Jace looked impossibly handsome in a navy-blue suit that screamed designer. The superbly tailored jacket emphasised the width of his shoulders and Eleanor’s breath left her in a rush as she pictured his naked, muscular chest beneath his white silk shirt.
Trying to ignore the voice in her head that whispered,If only this was real, she stood beside Jace while the mayor spoke the words of the civil ceremony, which was much shorter than a traditional Greek church wedding. Before she could blink, it seemed, the mayor pronounced them husband and wife.
Eleanor stared down at the gold band Jace had slipped onto her finger and tensed at the realisation of what the wedding ring represented. She was legally bound to him for the next few months. She glanced over at his mother, who seemed to grow frailer every day. Iliana was smiling and clearly delighted to see her son finally married.
But then Jace lowered his head and every thought flew from Eleanor’s mind when he brushed his lips across hers. There had barely been any physical contact between them since he’d kissed her on the night of the storm, more than a month ago. A few times his arm had brushed against hers when they had been walking next to each other and once, when she had been chatting to his mother, Jace had sat down on the sofa beside her and casually looped his arm around her shoulders. She had been excruciatingly aware of the hardness of his thigh pressed up against her.
Now Eleanor’s heart pounded as he dipped his tongue into her mouth and the kiss became intensely sensual. Her senses went haywire when she smelled his spicy cologne and heard his low groan as her lips parted beneath his passionate onslaught. She clutched his jacket and felt the warmth of his body through the material. The taste of him lingered on her lips when he eventually lifted his head, and the predatory gleam in his dark eyes sent a quiver of longing through her.
But then he stepped away from her and she snatched her hand from his chest, her cheeks reddening when Jace said softly, ‘I’m looking forward to being alone with you later,omorfiá mou, but first we have to get through the reception.’
A marquee in the garden at his house provided seating for the fifty guests, most of whom Eleanor had not met before. A few were business colleagues. Many of Jace’s friends were entrepreneurs like him, successful men who worked and played hard. Some had glamorous wives and others, like Takis Samaras, were lone wolves who had no desire to settle down.
Jace had been the leader of the wolf pack, Eleanor surmised. During the wedding dinner she was aware that several women sent him overt or even quite blatant glances. The idea that the sophisticated socialites were his ex-mistresses, or they were candidates for the position, evoked a corrosive burn in the pit of her stomach which she assured herself was not jealousy. She discovered that drinking a glass of champagne made her feel less tense, and by her third, or possibly her fourth glass, she really didn’t care if Jace had a different mistress for every day of the week.
When dusk fell the garden was illuminated by hundreds of fairy lights that danced in the faint breeze like golden fireflies. The air was filled with the scents of jasmine and orange blossom and fragrant roses that had been twined around the supporting pillars of the marquee.
The wedding was everything Eleanor had dreamed of when she had been in love with Jace, but it was all fake and she was suddenly tired of trying to keep up the pretence. Her jaw ached from smiling, she had a thumping headache and she was desperately thirsty. But when she beckoned to a waiter and reached for another glass of champagne from the tray, darkly tanned fingers closed around her wrist and pulled her hand down.
‘I think you have had enough alcohol.’ Jace’s gravelly voice made Eleanor’s stomach muscles tighten. He sent the waiter to bring her a glass of water. When they were alone she glared at him.
‘Have you been keeping tabs on how much champagne I’ve drunk?’
‘No, but I noticed you didn’t eat much at dinner, and it’s never a good idea to drink on an empty stomach.’
‘You’re not my keeper.’ She hugged her arms around her, fighting an urge to wrap them around his waist and rest her head on his big chest. Guests were starting to leave at the end of the reception and soon she and Jace would be alone. She felt vulnerable and out of her depth.
‘I am your husband.’ The possessiveness in his voice made her temper flare.
‘That doesn’t mean you can tell me how to live my life. Or were you planning to keep me barefoot and pregnant during our temporary marriage?’ she asked sarcastically.
His eyes narrowed. ‘If youwereto conceive my baby, our marriage would not be temporary. I believe strongly that a child deserves to grow up with both its parents.’
Eleanor was startled by the intensity in his voice. ‘Fortunately, there’s not a chance that I’ll fall pregnant by you,’ she muttered, glad of the darkness that hid her hot cheeks as she thought of the contraceptive pills she’d been prescribed by her GP before she’d left Oxford. It wasn’t that she planned to sleep with Jace, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Eleanor heard her sister calling her name and was thankful for the excuse to hurry away from Jace. In truth, she did feel a bit light-headed and it was probably a good thing she hadn’t drunk another glass of champagne, but she resented him treating her like a child. Inexplicably, tears stung her eyes. Her wedding day was over, and she was on her way up to bed on her own. She would have to ask Lissa to unbutton her dress with the excuse that she wanted to change into the sexy nightgown her sister had persuaded her to buy.
‘I just wanted to say goodbye and good luck,’ Lissa said when Eleanor met her on the terrace. ‘I’ve managed to persuade Takis to give me a lift to the Pangalos. It turns out that he is staying at the hotel too.’ She glanced over at the devilishly attractive man with jet-black hair and an unsmiling face. ‘So far, he hasn’t reacted to my subtle hints that I fancy him, but it’s a two-hour drive to Sithonia and, fingers crossed, he’ll stop playing hard to get.’ She hugged Eleanor. ‘I’ve got to go.’
‘Just a minute...’ Eleanor began, then sighed as she watched her sister scoot after Takis. She continued into the house and at the top of the stairs she walked along the corridor to the room she had been given when she’d arrived from England. It was connected to the master bedroom but the door between the rooms could be bolted from her side. Jace had said that for their marriage to be believable they must appear to sleep together.
