The Tycoon's Marriage Exchange (5 page)

Hector saw the tears and stiffened, furious that she would dare to cr
y at a moment like this.  He was
doing everything in his power to save her father’s damn company, to save thousands of jobs that were in dire risk of being dissolved because of one man’s greed and illegal activities.  The least she could do was pretend to like the damn thing!

He’d chosen the diamond
himself, wanting this to be special.  The square cut was elegant and exceptional with perfect fracturing of the light which made him think of her and her brilliant personality. 

So much for being sentimental, he thought with disgust for wanting her to like the ring. 

And then the crowd pressed forward, everyone wanting to offer congratulations so there was no time to pull her off to the side and give her the stinging words he so desperately needed to deliver to her lovely, tear stained face. 

He wouldn’t mind spanking her for being so childish and self-centered either.  Then cursed as his body reacted to her
lying across his lap
naked
,
and there would be no spanking with that scena
rio.  So many other things
would take priority
and none of those activities involved any kind of
castigation
.

He had to congratulate himself on his patience.  He waited at least an hour before he walked across the room to take her elbow, because of course she still wouldn’t stand next to him.  As politely as possible, he guided her into the library and closed the door. 

With his fury finally unleashed, he turned to face the woman who had been tormenting him for most of the night.  “Don’t you ever pull away from me again,” he snapped and walked towards her, uncaring that her eyes were terrified and she was backing away, doing exactly what he was telling her not to do.  His mind was controlled by his body right now, which was still riding on the desire she’d instigated when she’d first walked into his office before the party and had never fully abated.  “When I touch you in public, I expect you not only to accept my touch, but to pretend that you like it, that you enjoy it.  I’m doing this for your father because he’s a good man and because he needs help but I refuse to be publicly humiliated because of my efforts.  So figure out how to put on a good
facade
in front of others and do it fast because I will not endure another scene like the one after I put my ring on your finger.”

With that, he turned about and slammed out of the library, uncaring that her face had paled and she was
literally
shaking with reaction. 

Kallista
stood there,
quivering
and horrified that the man had dared to talk to her like that. 
How dare he make her feel as if she’d done something wrong when all she’d tried to do for the past several hours was make him proud, to ensure that he wouldn’t consider their engagement or marriage an embarrassment or burden. 

But then his words sunk in and she sat down.  Well, she
actually
fell onto the chair behind her.  He thought she had pulled away
out of revulsion for his touch
, and apparently that
had
really stung his ego. 
She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to think she’d pulled away, or that he had scared her with his touch.  Which would be worse? 

She wasn’t sure, and at this moment, she didn’t know what to tell him. 
She paced back and forth through the library, wondering what she could have done differently.  But her mind wasn’t in control when he was near.  The man was an intimidating panther, dangerous and terrifying with this crazy power he had over her body and emotions.  Surely he realized what he did to her.  Or didn’t he?

After several minutes, she was able to pull herself together and leave the library to rejoin the party.  She saw Hector across the room and she
found that she
didn’t want to hurt him.  He was doing so much for her family and if all he wanted was a bit of reassurance that she didn’t find his touch revolting, she could definitely do that.  He had a few business acquaintances here, but no real friends, which made her heart
melt just a bit more for the strong, powerful man.  Was he lonely?  Didn’t he have anyone he could talk to?  She had her college friends that she could always turn to, but right now, Sasha was struggling with
what to do with her husband
and was so out of touch with everyone, she couldn’t really burden her with additional problems.  And Dana had disappeared off the face of the earth, which was scary enough. 

No, this was something she needed to work out on her own.  And she could do it too.  She just needed to be a bit more sensitive to Hector’s feelings.  She’d thought he didn’t have any, that he was invulnerable.  But his fury a few moments ago was real, which made him much more human in her eyes. 

As she walked back into the party, she smiled to the guests and continued to act as the hostess, doing her best to make sure everyone was having a good time.  But in addition to that, she moved closer to Hector.  Every once in a while, she would pass by whatever group he was in and touch his arm or smile at him.  She rarely got much of a reaction, but she was doing her best to show that she could do her part
as well as prove to him that she wasn’t revolted by his touch
. 
She wasn’t sure she wanted him to know that it actually had the opposite effect so she worked on hiding her reaction, trying hard not to blush when he looked down at her after each of her passes. 

By the end of the night, she was exhausted from the strain of both the party, and trying to figure out this man she was about to marry.  It wasn’t easy since he was such a mystery and hid so much behind a cool mask of indifference.  But she was starting to suspect that there was a great deal more to him than she’d given him credit. 

Chapter
4

Hector hesitated in making the call, wondering what kind of reaction
Kallista
would have to his request.  It had to be done though.  He was in New York at the moment and there was a basketball game
this evening
he had to attend.  Being there without her, only a day after the announcement of their engagement
,
would look odd. 

The hesitation came from what he might expect from her.  After he’d bitten her head off for pulling away from his touch
last
night, she’d gone out of her way to touch him.  They were all casual touches
and he was furious that
she’d learned a new game. 
Acting the
tease was very effective at
paying him back for his
outburst
.  It was a game she knew how to play extremely well.  The small touch, the loving glance, the stroke along his back as she passed by him.  They were all touches meant to drive him insane with lust and it was working.  He never should have yelled at her
but
he
had
resisted calling her
over to him
to apologize
. 
Just as
he
’d
resisted pulling her into a room and making love to her
, uncaring of
the fact that his house
had been
filled with her friends and neighbors.  Every time she touched him she was paying him back for his words and his body still hadn’t calmed down from her torment. 

“This is Hector,
Kallista
.  I need you tonight, if you’re free.”

Kallista was startled by the sound of his voice.  She hadn’t been expecting anything from him today but he’d been on her mind ever since she woke up.  Well, she’d actually dreamt about him with his grey eyes and intensity, all of it focused on her and he was making love to her.  She blinked and forced herself back to the present and his request. 
“Of course.  What can I do to help?”

“I’m in New York and I have to attend a game tonight.  I need you by my side
if you don’t mind
.  I have a plane standing by but if you have something more important, I’ll make your excuses.”

Kallista
bit her lip and tried to figure out what he wanted from her.  Was he telling her she didn’t need to attend?  Was he only being polite?  She stared at the picture on her computer screen and tried to tamp down the jealousy she was feeling
at the image looking back at her
.  It was showing an image of Hector at various functions, all of which he had some gorgeous woman on his arm. 
Each one was more beautiful than the last and all
were
h
anging on
to his arm or leaning against him
as if they owned him
.  S
he hated the jealousy she was feeling, but it couldn’t be ignored.  If she didn’t go to this function, would he find another woman? 
Would
this unknown female
be draping her lovely figure all over his tall frame and staring up at him like he was
her
next delicious dessert? 

For some reason, she didn’t like that at all.  Taking a deep breath, she accepted his invitation, too afraid not to. “I’ll be there.  Is there anything special I should wear?”

Hector pictured her as she was last night, all glitz and softness with her long, sexy legs looking like every man’s dream and he sighed warily. 
“It’s a basketball game,
Kallista
.  You can wear whatever you want.”

Since
Kallista
had never attended a basketball game, nor had she ever watched one, she had no idea what was appropriate.  “Okay.  I’ll see you in New York.”

“Fine,” he snapped and hung up without a goodbye or even a thank you.  She was tempted to call him back and cancel since he was obviously
still
in a snit about something, but the images on her screen caught her eye again and she just wouldn’t allow him to cheat on her, even if they weren’t actually married yet. 

She looked up basketball games
on the computer
and surveyed the crowd.  Most of them were wearing jeans and some sort of sweater so she pulled on her favorite pair of jeans,
a pair of
leather boots that came up to her knees and made her legs look long and slender, then added a soft, purple turtleneck with
small, dangly silver
earrings.  She felt pretty and hoped she did a good job of fitting in with the c
rowd.  She took out a small bag
and added a few other outfits, not sure how long he intended to stay in New York or if he even wanted her to stay with him.  S
he just wanted to be prepared for
any situation. 

A driver arrived at her place to pick her up and she was driven right out to the waiting plane.  The flight was faster than normal and she landed in New York by early
evening.  Apparently Hector maintained
a penthouse in New York that he used whenever he was in town which was just as fabulous as his Athens
household.  In the back of her mind, she wondered how many places he owned but most
ly she
was too nervous about seeing him again after the engagement party.  He hadn’t spoken to her as she’d left, focusing all of his comments towards her parents.  She’d felt hurt after all of her efforts, but had resolved that she just needed time to understand him better. 

Tonight, she’d do a better job of trying to get to know him.  Basketball game or dinner, she’d do her best to get him to like her, to not be nasty to her.

“Ready?” he asked as soon as he walked in. 
S
he’d just arrived and was standing in the middle of his living room, looking confused and more than a little awed by the sight.  She was used to wealth, but Hector really wasn’t in her league. 
As she turned in a full circle, she was stunned at the glorious view of the city.  The décor was much more modern here, but everything still looked comfortable and livable.  Looking at the cream colored sofas with their straight backs, they could be stiff, but there were enough chocolate pillows with various textures to prop up one’s body and….well, curl up next to a tall, attractive man while sipping a glass of wine in front of the massive fireplace on that far wall, she thought dreamily. 

“I guess so.  Is the game starting already?”

“No, we’re going to dinner with some business associates.”  He was wearing a suit and tie and she looked at him nervously. “Should I change into something more formal?”

He looked over at her and finally noticed what she was wearing.  With grim determination, he pulled his eyes away from her lush figure
underneath that soft, fuzzy purple sweater
.  Damn her for wearing those boots!  What was she trying to do to him?  He was already losing sleep because he wanted to bed her with an intensity that was driving him nuts.  And now she showed up in a soft sweater and boots.  This was just more punishment for last night, he thought.  He wouldn’t let her know how she was getting to him, he told himself. 
God help him if she ever found out how effective her retribution had become.