The Hot-Headed Virgin: The Virgin's Price / The Greek's Virgin / The Italian Billionaire's Virgin

‘I’d love to,’ she said. ‘I cut my run short. I only ran as far as Winch Cove as I was getting so hot. I came back through the bush.’

‘We can walk to Alexandria Bay for a swim if you like. There are usually less people there, as it’s a bit further along the circuit.’

‘That sounds good.’

‘Wait here while I get us some water to carry,’ he said as they came to a shop.

Mia waited as he purchased some bottled water and they were soon on their way, walking in silence under the shade of the eucalypts that fringed the walkway to the national park.

They were not far from Boiling Pot when Bryn took her arm to stall her. ‘Look,’ he said, pointing above their heads.

She looked up and saw a mother koala perched in the fork of a eucalypt, a tiny baby clutching at her back.

‘Oh, wow!’ she said excitedly. ‘Aren’t they adorable?’

Bryn smiled at her. ‘This is a natural habitat for them. I occasionally see them in my garden but they generally avoid suburbia if there are dogs about.’

‘It’s so wonderful to see them out in the wild instead of behind bars at the zoo,’ she said as they continued walking along the path.

‘Zoos have their place,’ he said. ‘Think about all the breeding programmes that have been set up specifically to protect endangered species.’

‘I know but it seems so sad that animals can’t run free as they are meant to do. My sister Ellie is a bit of an animalrights campaigner. She’s told me horror stories of what some people do to animals for financial gain. I had no idea people could be so cruel. I wonder if their conscience ever bothers them at night.’

‘It takes all types, I guess,’ he agreed, suppressing an inward frown.

They walked on a bit further until they came to Dolphin Point. Mia joined some other tourists who were peering over the cliff to see if there were any dolphins about, but as far as she could tell there was no sign of any in amongst the rolling waves.

‘Have you seen any there before?’ she asked Bryn as they continued on.

‘Sometimes—that’s why it’s called Dolphin Point. There are several whale-watching tours you can take on the Sunshine Coast, and you often can see dolphins on them as well as humpback whales.’

‘I went on one of those the last time I came here,’ she said with a wry grimace. ‘I was seasick the whole time. I had to be taken to hospital to be rehydrated. Ellie was totally disgusted with me for spoiling the trip.’

‘Well, I guess I’d better strike that off the entertainment list for this week.’

‘Oh, I’m much better now,’ she said. ‘I’ve been out sailing with friends lots of times and haven’t had any trouble.’

‘You sound like you have a very busy social life.’

She sent him a reproachful little glance from beneath her brows. ‘Yes, well, I used to.’

‘Just because we are married doesn’t mean you can’t have friends.’

‘But no male friends, right?’

He stopped walking, snagging her arm before she could go on without him. He turned her around to face him, his fingers sliding down to the slender bones of her wrist. ‘Male friends are fine if they remain platonic, although I still find it hard to believe any man could look at you without thinking how it would feel to make love to you.’

Mia felt her skin lift as his dark eyes ran over her, all her senses going on full alert at the feel of his long fingers around her wrist, where she was sure he could feel her pulses already leaping.

‘Not all men have an insatiable appetite for sex,’ she said. ‘And the ones I associate with would never dream of tainting our friendship with repeated attempts to get me into bed.’

He gave a little grunt of cynicism. ‘That’s only because they’re probably gay or already involved with someone else. Anyone else would have to be dead from the waist down not to notice you and want to have you as soon as they could.’

Mia felt as if the hot summer air was alive with bristling tension as she held his gaze. His desire for her was like a living, breathing entity. She could feel it burning through her skin where his fingers encircled her wrist, and she knew if it hadn’t been for the sound of other hikers coming towards them on the track he would have pulled her into his arms and kissed her senseless. And what was more—she wouldn’t have stopped him.

He released her wrist and stepped aside to make room for the tourists, the frustration at being interrupted evident to her in the way his jaw was set, even though he offered the group a polite greeting in response to theirs.

He waited until the group was well ahead before he resumed walking, asking after a few more strides, ‘Were you disappointed none of your family could make it to the wedding?’

Mia quickly averted her gaze to look at Granite Bay, a small, rocky beach below them. ‘No, why should I be? It wasn’t as if it were real. Who knows, our marriage could even be over before they get back? I could probably have got away with not telling them at all.’

He gave her another sideways glance, a small frown settling between his brows. ‘When did you tell them?’

She met his eyes briefly before turning to concentrate on stepping over the tree roots on the sandy pathway. ‘The day before the ceremony.’

‘Hardly enough time for them to get back,’ he observed. ‘Why did you leave it until then?’

‘I hated lying to them. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull it off in front of them on the day. A last-minute telephone conversation was much easier to handle. I figured there was no way they could get back in time and see the truth for themselves. I can act in front of strangers, even some friends, but my family is another thing entirely.’

Bryn frowned as she walked ahead, her back stiff as she strode out to put as much distance as she could between them. His fairly limited experience of family life had made him insensitive to what she might have felt lying to her family and friends about their relationship. He’d assumed the money he was offering her would settle any of her misgivings, but it was clear she was having a hard time of it now.

His conscience gave him another sharp nudge. He had sought a quick-fix solution to his own problems without truly considering the impact on her. Yes, he’d achieved his goal of fulfilling his great-aunt’s dream for him, also securing her considerable estate, but what about Mia’s hopes and dreams? He’d crushed them with a few ill-chosen words, got her removed from the company, dropped by her agent and practically blackmailed her into a temporary marriage with him.

A marriage she couldn’t wait to get out of.

He drew in a breath that felt like pain at the thought of their marriage ending soon. He’d become used to having her around to spar with him. He’d also become a little too used to having her soft mouth beneath his. But the terms he’d laid down were temporary. As soon as his great-aunt passed away Mia would be free to move on.

But what if their marriage was no longer temporary? What if their relationship was no longer just an act, but real and vibrant and passionately fulfilling for both of them?

She said she hated him but he knew in spite of it she was attracted to him. What would it take to get her to agree to a more permanent relationship with him?

He lengthened his stride and caught up with her. ‘Do you remember when I said no one thought I’d ever go through with marriage?’

She turned to look at him. ‘Yes…’

‘The truth is, Mia, if you hadn’t come along when you did I probably would never have married.’

Mia wasn’t sure where this was leading. ‘You have something against marriage?’ she asked.

‘Not entirely,’ he said. ‘I recognise that it occasionally works, but close to fifty per cent of marriages end in divorce, often acrimoniously. I wasn’t sure I wanted to add to the stats.’

Her forehead creased in a frown as she pointed out, ‘But you’re going to add to them anyway now that you’ve married me temporarily.’

His dark gaze was trained on hers. ‘If we divorce we don’t have to do it acrimoniously.’

‘If?’ She gave him a startled look. ‘What do you mean, if?’

‘When you think about it there’s at least a fifty per cent chance of things working out between us,’ he said.

‘One has to really admire your optimism but I’m afraid in this case it’s totally inappropriate.’

‘What? You don’t think we could make a go of it? Arranged marriages are conducted all over the world where the couple neither like nor know each other initially and yet many of them go on to live very happy lives together.’

‘Arranged marriages are an insult to women!’ she said, beginning to stomp along the path once more. ‘It’s utterly barbaric to be forced into a marriage with a perfect stranger or someone decades older than you.’

‘Marriages have been arranged for centuries,’ he countered as he worked hard to keep pace. ‘In fact, the notion of a couple falling in love and marrying is a very recent one. Before about two hundred years ago couples married for political reasons or for the sake of securing family property and asset-building or to strengthen community relationships. Of course, affection often occurred in ages past but it wasn’t a given.’

‘I always knew you were living in the Dark Ages. Where exactly did you get your doctorate in chauvinism?’

He smiled at her sarcasm. ‘I’m just quoting history, Mia. Our marriage has just as much chance of being successful as any other; in fact, it may even have more chance.’

‘I can’t imagine how you came to that conclusion,’ she said as she pushed a broken melaleuca branch out of her way. ‘I dislike you intensely and I can’t see that changing unless you undergo some sort of immediate character reconstruction.’

‘As I said previously—you might think differently after a few days alone with me.’

‘If the last twenty-four hours is any indication I’m afraid you’re in for a big disappointment if you’re expecting me to subscribe to your fan club.’

‘Look, Mia, I’m just asking you to try and get to know me as you would any other person. You’re so prejudiced against me you can’t see me for who I am.’

‘Here we go again.’ She rolled her eyes expressively as she turned back to face him, her hands on her hips. ‘The replay of the I’m-nothing-like-my-public-persona speech. Give me a break.’

‘Damn it, Mia,’ his voice rose in frustration, ‘why won’t you just give us a chance?’ His dark eyes held hers. ‘Will you at least consider the possibility of our marriage becoming a little more permanent?’

‘Define what you mean by a little more permanent. Are you talking months or years?’

‘I’m talking about you sleeping with me.’

It was a moment or two before she could get her voice into gear. ‘I see.’

‘I want you, Mia. You know that. I’ve wanted you from the moment I met you.’

The silence of the bush surrounded them, closing in on them until Mia felt as she was being cut off from the rest of civilisation.

She was alone with him, alone with him and her unruly, traitorous desire for him, which was getting harder by the second to control.

‘You only want me because I’m the first woman to have said no to you.’

‘That’s not true,’ he said. ‘It’s much more than that.’

‘You’re surely not going to tell me you’ve suddenly discovered you’re in love with me,’ she said with a brittle look. ‘That would be about as low as anyone could go.’

He took a moment to answer, his expression giving little away. ‘I have some feelings for you, yes.’

‘No doubt lust is at the top of the list.’

‘It’s up there, yes, but so too are admiration and respect. That’s more than I’ve felt for anyone else in the past.’

‘Wow, I feel really honoured,’ she said mockingly. ‘I bet you say that to all the girls when you set out to seduce them.’

‘I’m not trying to seduce you for the heck of it, Mia,’ he said. ‘I really want a relationship with you.’

‘A temporary relationship,’ she put in. ‘Where you get to wave the chequered flag when it’s all over—when you get bored or find someone else a little more interesting.’

He didn’t answer immediately and it made Mia wonder if he did in fact care something for her. She unconsciously held her breath as his eyes shifted away from hers to stare out to sea. He turned back to her after a moment and handed her one of the bottles of water he was carrying. ‘I can’t promise you forever, no one can.’

‘What exactly are you offering?’

‘A relationship for as long as it works for us.’

‘So at the first rocky patch we encounter you’ll be off to find your next candidate.’

‘All I’m asking is for you to think about it, Mia. We’re in this marriage for the time being and it makes sense to put in some kind of effort to see if it could work out between us.’

‘I can’t see how two people who hate each other can make a go of marriage, especially considering the way ours came about.’

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