Marriage At His Convenience

‘Good, good. I have been hearing great things about you from Clive here. Allow me to introduce you. Clive Thompson, my grandson’s friend, Amber Jackson.’

Amber didn’t have time to wonder why the old man had referred to her as Spiro’s friend as the name of the tall, elegant blond-haired man registered, and she was holding out her hand to him. He was a top manager with Janson’s merchant bank. He was only forty but already his reputation was legendary in the City.

She sensed rather than saw Lucas and Christina walk up and join the group, but she did not dare look. If she did she knew she would break down. Her hand was still held by Clive and she was grateful because it enabled her to find the strength not to tremble at Lucas’s towering presence beside her.

‘I have been longing to meet you as soon as Theo told me your name. Allow me to say you are as beautiful as you are brilliant, if not more so; a truly stunning combination.’ His bright blue eyes smiled down into hers, and, lifting her fingers to his lips, he kissed the back of her hand before letting go.

‘Oh, how gallant, Mr Thompson!’ Christina’s accented voice interrupted.

Amber glanced sideways and saw Lucas had moved closer to her with Christina clinging onto his other arm. Quickly she returned her attention to Clive, and saw his slightly raised eyebrows and brief polite smile at the young girl, before he returned his attention to Amber again and continued as if the other girl had not spoken.

‘Brentford’s are very lucky to have you, is the word in the City. Apparently you got your clients out of…’ and he mentioned a high-tech company whose shares were on the way down and out ‘…even better than I did,’ and he gave her an appreciative smile that Amber returned. They discussed the company in question in some detail. They were like-minded people.

‘I was lucky,’ she finally finished. Anything to do with business and she was not in the least intimidated. It was only in the love stakes she was a total idiot, it seemed.

‘People make their own luck, Amber—I may call you Amber?’ Clive grinned.

‘Of course.’ She heard what sounded like a grunt from Lucas, and felt the slight brush of his trouser-clad thigh against her hip.

Lucas did it deliberately. Inexplicably it angered him to hear Amber discussing business with the elegant Englishman, and he wanted to disconcert her, but she simply moved away. In that moment Lucas recognised the truth and his arm tightened around Christina. Amber did not need a man for anything other than sex and even that, as he knew to his cost, could be delayed because of her work. He had never been in love but his idea of it was to protect and care for his wife and family. Christina needed his protection and in return he knew that as she was a well-brought-up young Greek girl, her husband and children would always come first.

Amber felt as if she could feel Lucas breathing down her neck and carefully moved closer to Spiro as Clive slid one hand into the inside pocket of his jacket to withdraw a gold-edged card. ‘Here is my card—if you ever feel like changing firms, I promise we will offer you a much better package.’

A wry smile curved her full lips; she could not help it. The ultimate irony. From her surprising lunch on Thursday it had been like a roller-coaster ride of highs and lows, finally to this, the worst night of her life, when it was taking all her strength to simply keep standing, she was being head-hunted by Janson’s of all firms…

‘And would your chairman, Sir David Janson, agree to your proposition?’ she prompted with an enviable touch of cynicism, considering the tall, dark presence of Lucas was within touching distance; the familiar scent of him that filled her nostrils had her nerves at screaming-point.

‘It would depend on the proposition, would it not, Clive?’ Lucas’s deep voice queried sardonically.

‘Oh, I’m sure Amber and I could work out a mutually satisfactory arrangement.’ Clive’s blue eyes, gleaming with very male appreciation, didn’t leave Amber’s as he tagged on, ‘And Sir Janson, of course.’

‘I’m sure Amber does not want to talk business all night with you men,’ Christina inserted, smiling across at Amber. ‘I thought this was supposed to be a party.’ Then she added, ‘Let’s go find the rest room, and we can have a gossip. I love your dress, and your necklace and earrings are gorgeous; you must tell me where you got them.’

The bluntness with which Christina changed the subject stopped the conversation dead. Lucas’s black eyes clashed with Amber’s over the top of Christina’s head, and she saw the warning glint in their depths, but she ignored it. Boldly she held his gaze, contempt blazing from her hazel eyes. For the first time that evening she felt in control.

‘They were a birthday and Christmas present.’ Amber smiled down at Christina. ‘And, yes, I’ll come with you,’ she said, taking the young girl’s arm. Let the swine sweat, let him wonder if she would tell his innocent girlfriend exactly who had given Amber the jewellery, she thought bitterly. Her rage was the only thing that kept her going as she walked out of the party and along the quiet hall to the powder room.

‘Thank God we’ve escaped,’ Christina groaned as they entered the powder room together, and, walking across to the row of vanity basins and dropping her purse on the marble top, she admired herself in the mirror above. ‘An hour of my father and his friends and I feel like climbing the walls.’ Turning to Amber, she added, ‘You’re lucky Spiro is young and doesn’t take himself seriously. Lucas can be mind-bendingly boring, you’ve no idea.’

Shocked into silence, Amber watched the younger girl pull at the pink satin bodice of her dress. ‘I ask you, Amber, would you be caught dead in a dress like this?’

‘Well…’ How to be diplomatic? Amber pondered. ‘You must like it.’ A high-pitched laugh greeted her comment.

‘You’re joking. I hate it, but then you are not Greek so you would not understand.’

Slowly Amber crossed to stand beside Christina. Her eyes met the other girl’s in the mirror, and suddenly Christina seemed so much older and harder. ‘Understand why you wear a dress you hate?’ Amber prompted.

‘Because my father expects me to look like his innocent young daughter, and of course Lucas expects his fiancée to look like a shy young virgin, otherwise I would not be caught dead in pink satin.’

‘Your fiancé!’ Amber exclaimed, unable to disguise her horror.

‘Yes, didn’t Spiro tell you?’ And, not waiting for an answer, Christina continued, ‘Next weekend at our home in Athens my father is holding a huge party for my betrothal to Lucas and three weeks later we are getting married. He would have announced it tonight except it looks a bit too blatant even for a Greek to sign the business deal and sell your daughter in one afternoon.’

So it was all true. Amber’s brain reeled under the shock. Spiro had not been exaggerating. She looked into the face of her rival and asked the question uppermost on her mind. ‘Do you love Lucas?’

Christina laughed. ‘No, but he loves me, or so he says, and it does not really matter anyway. I want to get married, the quicker the better.’ Christina fiddled nervously with the clip of the small satin purse on the marble bench. ‘Once I am married, I’m free. I get the money my mother left me, and, to give Lucas his due, he is renowned as a shrewd operator, so I have no doubt he will greatly increase the wealth of the family company. Therefore mine,’ she said with some glee, and, finally noticing the look of shock and horror Amber could not hide, Christina laughed out loud. ‘Don’t look so shocked; it is a typical Greek arrangement.’

‘But…but…’ Amber spluttered ‘…you are so young.’

‘I have just spent a year in a Swiss finishing-school, and those ski instructors are something else again. I’m not that young,’ she offered with a very adult smile. ‘Though I know what you mean—Lucas is a bit old. But Spiro did me a favour this afternoon. I think he was trying to warn me, but actually I was delighted when he told me Lucas apparently keeps a mistress, so I don’t think he is going to be bothering me much in bed even when we are married.’

‘You really don’t mind?’ Amber said slowly, the callousness of Christina’s statement ringing in her ears. ‘You don’t care if your husband is unfaithful to you?’

‘Not in the least, why should I with a fortune at my disposal?’ And, picking up her purse, she opened it and withdrew some rolling tobacco. ‘Do you want a smoke?’

Amber looked at the girl and the tobacco. ‘No, I don’t smoke.’ Amber wondered why with her wealth she rolled her own.

‘Pity.’ Placing a hand on Amber’s arm, Christina said, ‘Don’t look so surprised, and do me a favour, go out and tell Lucas I will be another five minutes. He does not know of my little vice.’ She chuckled as she urged Amber towards the door.

Amber found herself out in the corridor without realising how she had got there.

‘Where is Christina?’ Lucas’s deep voice demanded. Amber lifted her head, her stunned gaze meeting his dark brooding eyes. He was standing in the middle of the hall, his large body tense, waiting… But not for Amber…

‘She said give her five minutes,’ Amber stated bluntly. ‘She also said you are her fiancé. How can that be, Lucas?’ she hissed furiously. ‘You live with me, it has to be a horrible mistake.’

‘It is not a mistake.’ The dark-lashed brilliance of his eyes clashed with hers; she was too upset to try and hide the hurt and anger in her own gaze. His expression hardened. ‘I regret you had to find out this way. But then I had no knowledge of your continued association with my nephew or that he would bring you here tonight…’

Amber’s mouth opened but no sound came out. The colossal arrogance of the man! Lucas was as good as saying it was Spiro’s fault, that she had discovered his wicked betrayal.

‘Look, Amber—’ he laid a large hand on her arm, and furiously she brushed him off ‘—we have to talk.’

‘A bit late for talk,’ she snapped.

He straightened, squaring his broad shoulders. ‘Keep your voice down,’ he commanded, his dark eyes narrowing on her flushed, furious face. ‘I will call tomorrow morning as arranged and explain.’

‘My surprise,’ she whispered, realising the full horrific extent of his betrayal. ‘Christina was going to be my surprise!’ Her voice rose an octave.

‘Someone talking about me?’ Christina came sauntering out of the cloakroom, her dark eyes almost feverishly bright, her smile brilliant.

Immediately Lucas curved a protective arm around Christina’s shoulder, making it very clear where his loyalty lay. ‘We were just discussing the engagement party next weekend. It was supposed to be a secret, you’re very naughty.’ He chided the young girl with such indulgence Amber felt sick.

Spiro sauntered up and slipped an arm around Amber’s waist. ‘What’s all this? Plotting in corridors now.’ He chuckled, and Amber clung to him like a life raft in a storm-tossed sea. Her knees were buckling and she thought she would faint; there was only so much hurt one body could stand and she was at the limit. Spiro, sensing her desperation, tightened his grip on her waist and listened as Christina, seemingly inexhaustible, went on at great length about the following weekend and extended an invitation to the party.

Finally when the young girl paused for breath Spiro leapt in. ‘Well, on behalf of both Amber and I, our heartiest congratulations to you, and we hope you both get the happiness you deserve!’ he drawled sarcastically. ‘Now, you will have to excuse us, but we have a prior engagement.’ And within minutes Amber found herself out in the foyer of the hotel.

‘I’m sorry, I am truly, truly sorry, Amber, I should never have brought you here.’ But Amber wasn’t listening. She’d been functioning on shock and adrenalin for the past hour, and now she was as spent as a burst balloon—she wanted to curl up and die.

‘Take me home, Spiro.’ And he did.

Sitting in the back seat of the cab, with Spiro’s protective arm around her, Amber asked bleakly, ‘Why, Spiro? You said your grandfather invited me. Why would he do that knowing Lucas and I…?’ She broke off, to swallow the lump rising in her throat, her lashes wet with tears. ‘How could he be so cruel?’

‘You still don’t see it,’ Spiro said ruefully. ‘I’ve avoided the subject for too long. I should have told you at the time, Amber, but it seemed a harmless enough deceit.’ He glanced apologetically down at her tear-stained face. ‘Remember the first time you saw Lucas, when he arrived at my party madder than hell? Well, it was because he had just discovered I was taking Tim to our villa in Greece for the Easter holiday and I was about to confess to Grandfather that I was gay. Lucas tried to talk me out of it, saying it would kill the old man if he thought his only grandson was gay. Which is why he asked you out to dinner, and asked you to accompany Tim and I on holiday. Lucas is not above using anybody to protect the old man. Consequently, he subtly let Grandfather know you and Tim were like brother and sister. But you and I had a much closer relationship; after all, you had been living in my house for four years. Lucas can be very convincing, as you know.’

‘You mean all this time your grandfather has thought you and I are a couple? But that’s impossible…’ But was it? she asked herself. Lucas had made no approach to her until they had returned to England, and she had never met his father again until tonight.

Then she remembered their very first dinner date. When Lucas had invited her to the villa, he had also asked her to do him a favour. He knew she was close to Tim and Spiro, and he had asked her to use her influence on the pair to tone down their behaviour in front of his father when they were all at the villa. The old man was rather old-fashioned that way. Of course, Amber had said yes.

Now it all made a horrible kind of sense. Lucas would do anything for his father, including marrying a suitable rich little Greek girl. Spiro was right…

‘Think about it, Amber. Has Lucas ever taken you anywhere in public where Grandfather was likely to hear about it? No. While you thought you were building a relationship, a home, with a thoroughly modern man, Lucas had no such intentions.’

Amber’s face was bleak, her mouth bitter and twisted as the full import of Spiro’s revelation sank in. She tried to speak and found herself shivering compulsively. She could not believe she had been so blind, so stupid…

CHAPTER THREE

AMBER knew once she let the first tear fall that she would never be able to stop. Kicking off her shoes, she locked the door and padded across the polished wood floor to the spiral staircase. Grasping the rail, she ascended to the galleried sleeping area like an old woman. Spiro had asked her to go back to his place, but she’d refused. He had done enough for her for one night, she thought bitterly.

Stripping off her clothes, she walked into the huge bathroom. She glanced at the circular white marble Jacuzzi sunk into the floor, and quickly away as too many memories flooded back. Skirting the bath, she stepped into the double shower. She turned the tap on full, and stood under the power jets and let the water pound her slender body. She closed her eyes, but she could not block out the image of Lucas naked on his knees in the shower with her. Soaping every inch of her tender flesh from the tips of her toes to her head in what she had thought was complete adoration.

Why? Why had Lucas done this to her? her mind screamed, and the iron control she had exerted over her emotions all evening finally broke. The tears slowly squeezed from her eyes to slide down her cheeks. The trickle became a flood as she wept out her pain and grief, the tears mingling with the powerful spray until Amber fell to her knees, her arms wrapped around her middle, her head bowed, completely broken, defeated…

Her body shivering, Amber slowly opened her eyes. She was huddled on the floor of the shower. When had the hot water run out and turned to icy cold? She had no idea. She was freezing, her limbs numb. Slowly she staggered to her feet, turned off the tap and stepped out of the shower. Pulling a large bath towel from the rail, she wrapped it toga-style around her shaking body. She caught sight of her reflection in the mirror above the vanity basin—her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, her skin pale and cold as death.

She was still wearing the emerald necklace and earrings. Carefully she removed both, and, walking out of the bathroom, she dropped them on the dressing table, then pulled out the seat and sat down. Picking up the hair-dryer, she switched it on and methodically began drying her long hair.

Lucas had loved to see her naked with her hair smoothed silkily over her breasts. Her eyes filled with moisture at the memory, and, leaping to her feet, she staggered across the room and flung herself down on the bed. She turned her face into the pillow, shaken by another violent storm of weeping.

When it was over she felt curiously calm, and as it was just dawn she got to her feet and began to dress. She did not bother with a bra, she had no need for one, but slipped into skimpy white lace briefs. She withdrew grey-and blue-checked trousers from the wardrobe and a V-neck button-through matching blue cashmere cardigan, and put them on. She slipped her feet into soft leather loafers and descended the spiral staircase. She crossed the vast expanse of the living area to the kitchen, and opened the door just as the first rays of sun shone though the window.

Amber switched on the kettle, made herself a cup of instant coffee, and, taking it back with her into the living room, she sat down on one of the soft-cushioned sofas. She picked up the remote control for the television and switched it on. It was the twenty-four-hour news channel. She watched and waited…

Amber heard the key turn in the lock, and, switching off the television, she stood up and slowly turned to face the door.

To the man entering the room, she looked cool, calm and collected, and beautiful. ‘Amber, I am glad you are here. I thought you might have gone back with Spiro after last night,’ Lucas said smoothly, closing the door behind him and striding towards her.

Amber watched him approach. He was casually dressed in faded denim jeans, a cream-coloured roll-neck sweater and tan leather jacket. His black hair was windswept; he had never looked more attractive to her, or more out of her reach.

Her heart hardened against his masculine appeal. ‘Why would I do that, Lucas? This is my home,’ she queried coolly. A bone-numbing anger had replaced her earlier grief.

‘Good, I hoped you would be sensible.’ His long legs slightly splayed, he stopped about a foot away from her, his dark eyes sweeping over her long hair falling loose to her waist, and back up, lingering for a second too long on the proud thrust of her breasts against the soft cashmere sweater.

Amber saw his pupils darken, and the sudden tension in his broad frame. He was not immune to her, that much was obvious, and it simply fuelled her anger. ‘Sensible is not the word I would have chosen,’ she declared bitterly. ‘I don’t feel in the least sensible after last night, I feel madder than hell, and demand an explanation. I thought you were my boyfriend, my partner. We live together, for God’s sake!’ she cried, aware of the consuming bile rising in her throat as she studied his hard features.

Abruptly Lucas stepped back a pace, and she had the satisfaction of seeing his face darken with suppressed anger, or was it embarrassment? He didn’t appreciate being called to account for his behaviour. ‘I agree,’ he said curtly. ‘And I apologise—last night should never have happened. Christina should not have told you we were getting engaged next weekend. But then you should not have been at the party. You have Spiro to thank for last night’s fiasco, not I.’

‘Oh, no, you can’t blame this on Spiro, you lying swine,’ she shot back furiously. ‘You told me you could not get back from New York until Saturday—pressure of work, you said. What a joke!’ Blazing golden eyes clashed with his and what she saw in their obsidian depths sent an icy shiver down her spine.

‘I did not lie. I said I could not meet you until Saturday, which was perfectly true. I had a prior engagement for Friday evening,’ he drawled cynically.

‘An engagement for the rest of your life, if Christina is to be believed. I have never been so embarrassed or humiliated in all my life, and I want to know why? You owe me that much,’ Amber demanded, her voice rising stridently.

Lucas stepped forward and closed a powerful hand over both of hers. ‘Calm down and listen to me,’ he snapped back, his black eyes hard on her lovely face. ‘I had no desire to embarrass or hurt you in any way. I had every intention of telling you our affair was over before announcing my betrothal. I have never in my life begun a sexual relationship with a woman without first divesting myself of her predecessor. It is a rule of mine.’

‘Bully for you!’ she snorted inelegantly, but just the touch of his hand on hers made her pulse race and she despised herself for it. ‘You are so moral,’ she managed to drawl sarcastically. ‘Is that supposed to make me feel better that you are dumping me?’

‘Dumping…’ a grimace of distaste tightened his hard mouth ‘…is not how I would have put it. Our affair has reached its conclusion, and I hope we can part friends.’

This is not happening to me, this cannot be happening to me, Amber told herself over and over again. The blind, arrogant conceit of the man was unbelievable. Friends—he wanted them to be friends… Didn’t he know he had broken her heart, destroyed her dreams, her life? She looked up and saw the flicker of impatience in his dark eyes, the aloof expression on his handsome face, and she had her answer. It was obvious he was wondering how to extricate himself as quickly as possible.

‘And what about me?’ Amber asked quietly, amazed that her voice didn’t break.

‘Amber, we have had some great times together, but now it is over, it has to be. I have reached the age—’ he walked away from her, pacing the length of the room ‘—when it is time for me to settle down. I want a wife, a family, a home, and Christina is going to give me all that.’ Then, spinning on his heel, he walked slowly back towards her.

‘You’re bright and ambitious, I know you have a brilliant future ahead of you. But, for me, Christina is the answer. You understand.’

The numbness that had protected her for the past few hours vanished. He was ripping her heart to shreds with every word he spoke. ‘No, no, I don’t.’ She raised her eyes to meet his. ‘I thought we were a couple, and that this was our home.’ Even as she said the words, she saw the gleam of cynical amusement in his dark eyes as he glanced around the room and back at Amber.

‘Oh, come on, Amber, don’t play the innocent, it does not suit you. This was never meant to be a home, a living area with an open-galleried bedroom and a sybaritic bathroom. Could you see me entertaining my family and friends in this place?’ One dark brow arched sardonically. ‘I think not…’

Amber exploded; her hand swung in a wide arc and smashed across his face. ‘I should have done that last night,’ she yelled. ‘You arrogant, conceited, two-timing bastard.’

Lucas raised a hand to his cheek, and rubbed where she had hit him. ‘Perhaps I deserved that, so I’ll let you get away with it, Amber, but only once,’ he declared grimly. ‘Accept it is over between us and move on. I have.’

She watched the dark stain appear on his cheek where she had hit him, and immediately regretted her action. Involuntarily she raised her hand, intending to stroke the side of his face, but her wrist was caught in an iron grip. ‘No.’

She moved forward and lifted her other hand to rest on the soft wool sweater covering his broad chest. ‘I’m sorry,’ she murmured. But the familiar feel of his hard muscles beneath her fingers sent shivers of delight arcing though her body. She loved this man with all her heart, and helplessly she tilted back her head and looked up into his darkly attractive face. ‘Please, Lucas.’ She felt him stiffen, and she moved even closer, and slid her hand up over his chest and around the nape of his neck.