The Greek's Surprise Christmas Bride

‘For you…’ the older woman said with warm appreciation, turning to study her flushed daughter with curiosity. ‘You’ve been keeping secrets. Who’s Leo?’

Letty grabbed the card. It just said ‘Leo’, but that was all it needed to say.

‘Leo?’ she repeated, her mouth running dry. ‘He’s one of the residents’ relatives at the care home,’ she fibbed in desperation.

‘Is he young?’ Gillian pressed.

‘Yes, and good-looking.’

‘Well, don’t freeze this one out, the way that you do when men show an interest in you,’ her mother urged worriedly. ‘Be nice to this one.’

‘Mum, I’m only twenty-four. I’ve got plenty of time to meet someone. Stop worrying about me,’ Letty said wryly, giving the older woman a hug. ‘I’m off to bed.’

She had hoped to climb into bed and go out like a light but her mind had other ideas: visions of her mother restored to mobility and no longer reliant on painkillers, her family in a home in a decent area with furniture that wasn’t worn and shabby and the boys clad in the sports gear of their dreams. Seductive images, she conceded ruefully, cursing Leo Romanos for tempting her before grabbing her laptop to look him up online.

The Greek billionaire, the shipping heir, consummate tycoon…giver of flowers, charming when he wanted to be.

Also a womaniser, she reminded herself, discovering a whole slew of images in which Leo appeared in company with various women but all of them were identikit brunettes. It seemed he had a type and his type was tall, curvy dark-haired women. Of what interest was that to her? Why was she even looking? Scolding herself, Letty returned to trying to sleep while attempting not to recall that Christmas was only just round the corner and that the coming festivities would be just as cheerless as the last.

Christmas was impossible to do on a strict budget and, what with the loan payments due every month and keeping up with the household bills, there was no room for treats or extras. Her brothers were still children and it was hard for them to do without what other boys their age took for granted. If she married Leo, a persuasive little voice whispered inside her head, she could give her family a fantastic Christmas. All their worries would disappear, wouldn’t they?

Of course, she would be taking on a whole fresh set of worries, striving to meet Leo’s high expectations of a wife and mother to four orphans, but if her family was happy and secure, did that really matter? She was good at coping with challenges, in fact the tougher a project was, the harder she worked to complete it. She did her best work under pressure…and Leo would put her under pressure, she had no doubt of that.

Letty pillowed her weary head on her hand and stretched out. Obviously, she would have to deliberate on his proposition because nothing more promising was likely to come her way. If she said no, she would be condemning her family and herself to their current lifestyle for the next few years, at least. That was depressing but it was a fact. Her moral scruples were in conflict with her practical nature. There were too many unknowns for her to reach a decision. What would happen when she wanted a child? Or he did? And how long was he expecting the marriage to last? And what about the medical studies she wanted to take up again?

That Thursday evening, thinking longingly of her approaching weekend off, Letty performed her usual round of the patients, checking who was settled, who might need the attentions of the doctor on call later on, while stopping to speak to regular visitors, who wanted information about their relatives or had requests to make. She returned to her office to take her break at eleven and on her path through the quiet reception area she was shaken to see Leo.

In the sleek cashmere overcoat and red silk scarf he wore over a dark suit teamed with a gold silk tie, he looked exactly like the legendary international business mogul he was. His dark carnal beauty flooded her with mesmerising force and momentarily she felt boneless and her knees wobbled, butterflies careening frantically in the pit of her stomach. Letty froze in reaction, disconcertingly aware of her hair in an unglamorous bun and the plain green nursing-type tunic and trousers she wore with a logo badge on her collar.

‘Time for a break?’ Leo murmured calmly. ‘You look tired.’

‘It’s been a busy week,’ she muttered, colliding warily with glittering dark golden eyes, her breath snagging in her throat.

‘I have coffee and tea out in my car… You didn’t phone,’ he censured.

Her cheeks warmed and she gave a little shake of her shoulders, unsure what to say because she hadn’t made her mind up yet and didn’t want to admit that. In her own head she was a very decisive person but there were too many unknowns attached to Leo Romanos. ‘I haven’t made up my mind yet,’ she admitted grudgingly.

‘Then discuss your concerns with me over tea. It’ll be very civilised and no doubt we can pretend we’re not sitting in a car park,’ Leo pointed out.

Letty went to inform her next in command that she was taking her break outside. A big black and unbelievably long and glossy limousine sat double parked.

‘Why are you here?’ she prompted as his driver pulled open the door of the car for them and stood to attention as though they were royalty.

‘I won’t introduce you to the children unless I know you’re planning to go ahead. I’ve never brought a woman home to meet them before and they’ve had enough upsets in their lives.’

Letty suppressed a sigh as he pressed a button and an incredibly well-stocked refreshment bar complete with refrigerator, hot water and china swung out. The limo was massive and the upholstery was palest pearl grey leather. Her seat was comfier than her bed and, keen to busy her restless hands, Letty selected a cup and a teabag from the wide variety available in a small drawer and added hot water.

‘Would you like anything?’ she enquired politely.

‘No. I’ve just had dinner,’ he responded with an impatient sigh.

Letty sipped her Earl Grey tea and reluctantly glanced at him, encountering the devastating eyes that she would’ve preferred to avoid, hating his effect on her. He was a force of nature, his temperament lava-hot and dangerous. ‘I’ve spotted four major stumbling blocks to your proposition,’ she admitted, her heart suffering a sudden thud as he tensed and his stunning golden eyes narrowed.

‘Four?’ he stressed in disbelief.

‘Yes, you really haven’t thought this marriage idea through thoroughly enough,’ Letty informed him gently. ‘What happens when you decide you would like a child?’

‘I’ve already got four of them. That’s not going to happen at any time in the near future,’ Leo contended dismissively.

‘Unfortunately, I don’t have as big a window of fertility as you will have,’ Letty pointed out quietly. ‘I am likely to want a child of my own some time in the next ten years. I don’t want to leave it too long and risk missing my chance to become a mother.’

Leo frowned, level black brows pleating. ‘So, we use a laboratory and give you what you want when you want. I don’t see a problem.’

Letty noted that he wasn’t suggesting that they consider sex for her to conceive, not that she would’ve agreed to that while he was sleeping with other women, but it really bothered her to recognise the faint sense of disappointment rising inside her. Disappointment allied with curiosity, she acknowledged ruefully. He made her curious in a treacherous way. Letty was not in the habit of looking at a man and thinking of sex but Leo made her think of sex, wonder what it would be like, wonder what it would be like with him. And in that thought progression lay one very good reason why she shouldn’t marry Leo Romanos.

Her breasts were peaking inside her bra, her thighs pressing together in reaction to the dull ache that was infiltrating her. She couldn’t possibly marry a man who awakened her long dormant sensuality but who planned to break his marital vows on a weekly basis, for all she knew even on a daily basis. It would be a recipe for low self-esteem and unhappiness because she would feel rejected.

‘That’s two stumbling blocks dealt with,’ Leo proclaimed briskly. ‘What are the other two?’

‘As soon as possible I would like to return to studying medicine,’ Letty admitted.

‘Why not? When I told you that I wanted a wife to be a mother to my sister’s children, I didn’t mean to suggest that I expected you to become a stay-at-home wife. I employ an ample staff to take care of the children on a day-to-day basis. You would be free to return to your studies,’ he assured her levelly. ‘I am not an unreasonable man, Juliet.’

‘Don’t call me that… I’ve always been Letty.’

‘I don’t like the name,’ Leo declared calmly. ‘To me, you will always be Juliet and I don’t know how it ever got shortened into something as ugly as Letty.’

‘My mother called my father, Julian, Jules and, although she named me for him, she could never stand to call me Juliet because it made her think of him. That’s how I became Letty.’

‘But you’re not a Letty, you’re a Juliet,’ Leo told her stubbornly.

Letty shrugged a shoulder in dismissal. She had no intention of changing her name back to please him. Having drunk her tea, she set the cup back tidily on the cabinet top. ‘I have to get back to work.’

‘You still haven’t told me the fourth stumbling block,’ Leo protested, dark glittering eyes full of frustration pinned to her.

‘My sex life,’ Letty said bluntly, abhorring the heat she could feel warming her cheeks.

‘Your…sex life?’ Leo demanded as if those two words were an incompatible combination. ‘You won’t have one, unless it’s with me.’

In the act of climbing out of the car, Letty came to a sudden halt and scornful green eyes slammed back into his. ‘That won’t be happening as long as you have other interests in your life,’ she assured him tartly. ‘And while I’m not currently in a hurry to have a sex life, I imagine the time will come when I feel differently.’

Leo was transfixed. It was a major obstacle and he hadn’t foreseen it. In fact, he had been so wrapped up in his own selfish desire to maintain his usual lifestyle and boundaries that he had utterly ignored the obvious. Obviously, Juliet would have the same needs as he did. He wasn’t one of those outdated men who believed that women had a smaller appetite for the physical pleasures of life. But the thought of his wife getting into bed with another man, the thought of another man touching and enjoying what Leo instinctively saw as his property alone, genuinely appalled him. He paled below his bronzed skin. It was hypocrisy, complete hypocrisy, and he knew it and sealed his wide sensual mouth closed before he said something he knew he should not say. That feat of control established, he breathed again.

‘We’ll discuss that on Saturday,’ Leo informed her with finality, knowing he had less than forty-eight hours in which to come up with a miraculous alternative that would prevent her from seeking sexual satisfaction outside their marriage.

‘I thought you might say that,’ Letty confided, a wry little smile curving her generous mouth. ‘I can’t believe you didn’t think of that angle.’

And with that final mocking little sally, Letty walked back into the nursing home, her head held high while Leo tried to work out how the hell she had contrived to become the very first woman to turn the tables on him.

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