An Offer She Can't Refuse (11 page)

She frowned at him. ‘I’m a mother, Ari. That comes first. And isn’t it what you want from me, to be the mother of your children?’

‘Yes, but there are models who are also mothers. It can be done, Christina.’ He lifted his hand and gently stroked her hot cheek, his eyes burning with what seemed like absolute sincerity. ‘I destroyed two of your dreams. At least I can give one of them back to you. Maybe the other … with enough time together. ‘

She choked up.

It was all too much.

Her mind was in a total jumble. She wanted to believe him, yet he couldn’t give her back what he had taken. Whatever they had in the future would be different. And was he just saying these things to win her over? She’d trusted him with her heart and soul once and here she was being vulnerable to his seduction again. How could she believe him? Or trust him? She desperately needed to clear her head.

She stepped back from the tingling touch on her cheek and forced herself to speak. ‘I’d like a glass of water, Ari.’

He held her gaze for several moments, his eyes searching for what he wanted to see in hers—a softening towards him, cracks in her resistance. Tina silently pleaded for him to go, give her some space, some relief from the constant pressure to give in and take what he was offering.

Finally he nodded. ‘I’ll fetch you one.’

She stared out to sea, gulping in fresh air, needing a blast of oxygen to cool her mind of its feverish thoughts. It didn’t really work.

Despite her past experience with Ari Zavros, or maybe because of it, one mind-bending thought kept pounding away at her, undermining her resistance to the course he was pressing her to take.

Give it a chance.

Give it a chance.

Give it a chance.

CHAPTER NINE

T
HE
bridal waltz.

Tina took a deep breath and rose to her feet as Ari held back her chair. He’d been the perfect gentleman all evening. The speech he’d made preceding his toast to the bride and groom had contained all the right touches, charming the guests into smiling and feeling really good about this marriage. An excellent Best Man.

Maybe he was the best man for her, given that she’d not felt attracted to anyone else in the past six years. If she never connected with some other man … did she want to live the rest of her life totally barren of the sexual pleasure she had known with Ari?

Give it a chance …

As he steered her towards the dance floor, the warmth of his hand on the pit of her back spread a flow of heat to her lower body. The band played ‘Moon River,’ a slow jazz waltz that Cass and George obviously revelled in, executing it with great panache; gliding, twirling, dipping, making it look both romantic and very, very sexy.

Little quivers started running down Tina’s legs as she and Ari waited for their cue to join in. It had been so long since he had held her close. Would she feel the same wild surge of excitement when she connected to his strong masculinity? It was impossible to quell the electric buzz of anticipation when their cue came and he swept her onto the dance floor, yet she stiffened when he drew her against him, instinctively fighting his power to affect her so
physically.

‘Relax, Christina,’ he murmured. ‘Let your body respond to the rhythm of the music. I know it can.’

Of course, he knew. There was very little he didn’t know about her body and how it responded. And she had to find out what it might be like with him now, didn’t she?
If she was to give it a chance.

She forced herself to relax and go with the flow of the dance. He held her very close; her breasts pressed to his chest, her stomach in fluttering contact with his groin area, her thighs brushing his with every move he made. Her heart was pounding much faster than the beat of the music. Her female hormones were stirred into a lustful frenzy. She was in the arms of a Greek God who was hers for the taking and the temptation to take whatever she could of him was roaring through her.

Ari made the most of Christina’s surrender to the dance, hoping the sexual chemistry sizzling through him was being transmitted through every sensual contact point. She felt good in his arms. She was the right height for him, tall enough for their bodies to fit in a very satisfying way as he moved her around the dance floor. The sway of her hips, the fullness of her breasts impacting with their lush femininity, the scent of her skin and hair … everything about her was firing up his desire to have her surrender to him.

The waltz ended. She didn’t exactly push out of his embrace but eased herself back enough to put a little distance between them. Her cheeks were flushed and she kept her eyes lowered, their thick black lashes hiding any vulnerable feelings. He was sure she had been physically affected by the intimacy of the dance but whether that was enough to sway her his way he didn’t know.

The Master of Ceremonies invited all the guests to dance to the next song which had been especially requested by the bride. Ari instantly understood its significance when the band started playing the tune. He and Christina had heard Stevie Wonder’s version of it on the car radio on one of their trips together.

‘You are the sunshine of my life,’
he said, recalling how he had applied the words to her. ‘It’s your father’s favourite song.’

‘Yes,’ she said huskily. ‘Cass misses him, too. He would have been very proud of her today.’ Her lashes lifted and she gave him a wry little smile. ‘I’m surprised you remembered.’

‘Special songs can be very evocative. You
were
the sunshine of my life while we were together, Christina.’

The smile twisted into a grimace. ‘There’s been a long night since then, Ari. Though I’m sure you found plenty of sunshine elsewhere.’

‘Not of the same quality.’

Her gaze slid away from his. ‘We have to dance,’ she muttered.

She allowed him to hold her close again without any initial resistance. It was
some
progress, he thought, though he savagely wished she wouldn’t keep harping on the other women who’d been in his life. The past was the past—impossible to change it. If she’d just set her sights on the future, that was the progress he needed.

He bent his head closer to hers and murmured, ‘What you and I can have
now
is what matters, Christina.’

She didn’t answer.

Hopefully she was thinking about it.

Tina fiercely wished she could forget everything else but
now,
pretend she was meeting Ari for the first time, feeling all that he made her feel, her whole body brilliantly alive to exciting sensations. She wouldn’t care about the other women if this was her first experience with him. She’d be blissfully thinking that he was the man who could make her life complete.

Maybe he would if she set the pain he’d given her aside. He’d said he wanted to give her back the dreams he’d destroyed. Yet it was a terribly risky step, trusting his word. If he didn’t keep it, she would hate herself for being a fool, hate him for his deceit, and end up a totally embittered woman.

But she could make him pay for it.

He would lose Theo and any other children they might have if he broke his promise of fidelity. She wouldn’t have to worry over the custody issue. All rights would be hers. In which case, it was worth taking the chance, wasn’t it?

Her father’s favourite song came to an end. She saw Cass go over to her mother who had danced with Uncle Dimitri and give her a hug and a kiss. It caused a painful drag on Tina’s heart. She knew her father would have wanted her to marry Ari. It might have made him proud of her if she did.

She looked up at the man who was her son’s father, and the seductive amber eyes instantly locked onto hers, simmering with the promise of all the pleasure they’d once had together. Her heart quivered over the decision she had made but it
was
made and she wasn’t going to fret over it any longer.

‘Let’s go where we can talk privately,’ she said firmly.

He nodded, quickly obliging her by steering her off the dance floor, then taking her arm and walking her out to the large open patio where they’d been before the reception dinner.

‘Would you like to sit down?’ he asked, waving to the wooden tables under the pergola.

‘Yes.’ Her legs were feeling wobbly. Besides, sitting across from him at a table would be more comfortable for laying out the deal she would accept.

They sat. Ari spread his hands in an open gesture, inviting her confidence. ‘What do you want to say, Christina?’

Her hands were tightly clenched in her lap. This was it—the moment when her life would begin to take a totally different direction. A wave of trepidation mangled her vocal chords. She looked hard at him, forcing her imagination to see him as a caring and committed father and husband. If she could believe it, maybe the marriage would work out right. She desperately wanted it to.

The first step was to say the words.

Say
them.

Just do it and have done with the whole nerve-wracking dilemma.

‘I … I …’

‘Yes?’ Ari encouraged, leaning forward, giving her his concentrated attention.

A surge of panic had made her hesitate. Her mind was screaming
wait! Don’t commit yet!
But what would she be waiting for? The situation wasn’t going to change. This man was Theo’s father and she had loved him with all her heart once. If he was serious about forging a good relationship with her, shouldn’t she give it a chance?

‘I’ll marry you,’ she blurted out, sealing the decision.

His face broke into a happy grin. His eyes sparkled with pleasure. Or was it triumph, having won what he wanted? ‘That’s great, Christina!’ he enthused. ‘I’m glad you’ve decided it’s the best course because it is.’

He was
so
positive it instantly raised doubts in Tina’s mind. Was she a fool for giving in? She had to put a high value on the marriage so he would treat her as he should.

‘Give me your hand,’ he pressed, reaching across the table to take it.

She shook her head, keeping both hands tightly in her lap. ‘I haven’t finished what I want to say.’

He frowned at her reluctance to meet his offered hand. He spread his fingers in open appeal. ‘Tell me what you need from me.’

‘I need you to sign the prenuptial agreement you offered me,’ she threw back at him, determined that those terms be kept. It was her safeguard against being used to give Ari a stronger paternal position than he had now.

He drew back, his mouth twisting into an ironic grimace. A sharp wariness wiped the sparkle from his eyes. Tina’s stomach cramped with tension. If he retracted the offer, she could not go ahead with the marriage, regardless of any pressure from any source. It was risking too much. He might walk away from her again and take Theo with him.

She waited for his reply.

Waited … and waited … her nerves stretching tighter with every second that passed.

Ari’s mind was swiftly sifting through Christina’s possible motivations. She didn’t trust his word. He understood where she was coming from on that score. What concerned him most was if she had a vengeful nature.

The prenuptial agreement he’d offered gave her everything if he didn’t remain a faithful husband. What if she planned to be such a cold, shrewish wife, he would be driven to find some pleasure in other company? If she was secretly determined not to be responsive to him, he’d be condemning himself to a hellish marriage. He needed more than her public compliance to a couple of dances to feel secure about winning her over in bed. Out here alone together, she wouldn’t even give him her hand.

What was in her mind?

What was in her heart?

A totally selfish revenge on him … or hope that they could make a happy future together?

He was risking a lot.

He decided she had to meet him halfway before he tied a knot which could not be undone.

‘I am prepared to sign it, Christina,’ he said, his eyes burning a very direct challenge at her as he added, ‘If you’re prepared to spend one night with me before I do.’

She stared at him, startled by the provision he was laying down. ‘Why? You’ll have all the nights you want with me after we’re married.’

‘I want to be sure that I will want them. I won’t sign away my right to my son to a woman who’ll turn her back on me. I need you to show me that won’t happen, Christina. Right now your attitude towards me is hardly encouraging. You won’t even give me your hand.’

Heat surged up her neck and scorched her cheeks. Her eyes glittered a challenge right back at him. ‘I think it’s a good idea for us to spend a night together before either of us commit ourselves to anything. Maybe you’re not as good a lover as you used to be, Ari.’

Relief swept through him at her ready acceptance of a sex-test. He smiled. ‘And maybe you’ll warm to me once I prove that I am.’

Again her lashes swept down, veiling her feelings. She heaved a sigh, probably relieving tension. ‘We’re scheduled to leave Santorini the day after tomorrow,’ she muttered.

‘That can easily be changed.’

She shook her head. ‘I’ll spend tomorrow night with you.’ Her lashes lifted and there was resolute fire in her eyes. ‘That can be the decider for both of us.’

She would bolt if he didn’t satisfy her. Ari was confident that he could if she was willing to let it happen.

‘Agreed,’ he said. ‘However, our other deal ends tonight, Christina. Tomorrow you tell your mother and Theo that I am his father. Whatever happens between us, this has to be openly acknowledged.’

She nodded. ‘I’ll do it in the morning.’

‘Make sure your mother understands the circumstances, that I was not told you had my child until we met in Dubai. I would have come back to you had I known, Christina.’

She made a wry grimace. ‘Since I’ve decided I might marry you, naturally I’ll put you in as good a light as possible to my mother.’

‘It’s the truth,’ he rammed home as hard as he could, wanting her to believe at least that much of him.

‘And my truth is you left me and I didn’t want you back,’ she shot out, her eyes glittering with angry pride. ‘Don’t you start harassing me, Ari. I’ll do what I have to do to smooth the path to a workable future.’