The Santorini Marriage Bargain. Margaret Mayo

looking forward to working with her, very much aware that it would give him the perfect opportunity to get to know her better.

      The block of flats where Rhianne lived were plain and ordinary, and as they went up in the lift to the third floor, standing silently side by side, facing the graffiti-covered doors, he wondered how she could have lived here. She was a classy lady and ought to be spending her time in an equally classy apartment.

      He tried not to imagine her living with him in the penthouse, or in his villa in Santorini, but somehow he couldn’t help himself. He could imagine her swimming in his pool, all her cares forgotten, laughing and happy, her amazing blue eyes alight with mischief, her white teeth flashing as she smiled into his face.

      Glancing at her, he saw the way her fingers were curled into her palms, the way her lips were clamped tightly together, a frown drawing her perfectly shaped brows down over her eyes.

      Without even stopping to think what he was doing, Zarek took her hands into his and turned her to face him. ‘Are you sure you’re up to this?’

      Rhianne stiffened, her eyes evading his. ‘It has to be done.’

      ‘Do you think he’ll be gone?’

      ‘I hope so.’

      ‘I’ll support you if necessary,’ he said softly. Although everything that had happened was no fault of his, he felt a powerful urge to look after this woman who had had her world so swiftly turned upside down, who had experienced the worst day of her life, who was alone and vulnerable and needed a male figure to stand by her.

      ‘There’s really no need.’ Rhianne’s eyes flickered up towards his face, and there was a brief second when she held the contact, when something flowed between them, but he never found out what would have happened because the lift doors opened and she turned swiftly away.

      He had briefly seen gratitude, but her back was to him now as she turned her key in the lock, hesitating for just a moment before pushing open the door, then, squaring her shoulders, moving inside. Zarek followed more slowly, glancing around the room with interest.

      Rhianne had been dreading this moment, and her heart drummed loudly, echoing through her body in painful little bursts. All she could see in her mind’s eye was Angus and Annie. Together!

      To her relief the flat was empty—she hadn’t checked the bedrooms, of course, but there was no sound save for the drum of her heart, and she glanced over her shoulder at Zarek, smiling faintly.

      He gave a nod of understanding but remained near the door. He had closed it quietly behind him, not intruding, giving her space and time to do whatever she had to do. She was glad of his presence. In truth, she had been dreading coming back here for fear of what she might find.

      But her sense of relief was short-lived when she saw Angus’s tie draped over the back of a chair. Angus was a rep for a pharmaceutical company and always wore suits and ties. Had he left in a hurry after she’d walked in on their lovemaking? Or was he still here?

      Annie’s bedroom door was closed, and there was no sound, but Rhianne’s curiosity took her across the room. Without even stopping to think, she pushed open the door. The room was unoccupied, but as her eyes roved the space she saw further evidence that Angus had been here, perhaps even stayed. A pair of shoes in the corner, the sleeve of a shirt hanging out of the washing basket, and Rhianne knew instinctively that if she opened the wardrobe she would see one of his suits hanging there.

      Actually, now that her initial anger and revulsion was over, Rhianne realised that she ought to have seen something like this coming. Angus had always had a reputation for being a womanizer, but she’d ignored that fact when he’d asked her to go out with him, believing him when he’d said she was special. And when he’d asked her to marry him, she had said yes immediately.

      Only later, when their wedding arrangements were being made, had she begun to have doubts. There had been whispers that he was seeing other women; she’d actually tackled him about it, but he had convinced her that there was no truth in it, that he loved her and wanted to marry her, and, stupidly, she had believed him.

      But to bed her best friend! Why, she asked herself, had she never seen the signs before? How had they managed to keep their liaison a secret?

      She slammed the door shut, and immediately Zarek crossed the room and pulled her hard against him. He didn’t speak; he seemed to know instinctively that no words would make her feel better.

      Rhianne felt his strength seep into her. It was easy to forget that he was a stranger whom she’d met only a few hours ago. He was her saviour, holding her strongly when she felt like collapsing, stroking her hair, murmuring in his native language, finally, tilting her chin with a gentle finger, compelling her to look into his face.

      And suddenly he was kissing her—and she was kissing him back! Hungrily and deeply, taking and savouring, her body flooding with alien passion. How could it be happening? How could she react like this when she was still upset by Angus’s cavalier attitude? The truth was Zarek’s kiss meant a whole lot more to her than Angus’s ever had.

      Angus had considered himself a lady’s man, God’s gift to women—which she had blindly ignored—but Zarek was in a whole different league. She sensed that immediately. He wasn’t taking advantage of her weakness, he was comforting her. And how!

      Her head began to spin, and when he put her from him she clung to the doorpost for support. Wow! A raging heat consumed her, and she was in such a daze that it was impossible to move.

      Whether Zarek knew that it was because of his kiss, or whether he thought it was still a reaction to her fiancé’s perfidy, she didn’t know. But, whatever, he took command.

      ‘Let me help you pack,’ he said. ‘Where are your suitcases?’

      Rhianne ineffectively tried to clear her head. He must think her an idiot standing there with her mouth open and her eyes wide. She pointed across the room, and he dragged them from the cupboard.

      ‘Right, I’ll empty your wardrobe, you do the drawers.’

      Never had she imagined that she would let a man, a stranger at that, fold her dresses and skirts and place them carefully into a case. She was mesmerised by the way he did it, by the way he stroked out the creases before putting the next garment on top. Until he looked at her, until his dark eyes smiled and teased. ‘Do I have to do everything?’

      Mentally shaking herself, Rhianne slid open drawers and threw her undies into the other case, going hot at the thought that if he hadn’t urged her into action, it would have been his hands lifting her intimate garments. And then the next time she wore them she would have remembered that he had touched them, maybe even covertly examined them. It didn’t bear thinking about.

      How one comforting kiss could have sent her into such a tizz she didn’t know. Because that was all it had been. He had meant nothing by it.

      ‘You shouldn’t have kissed me,’ she said, and then wished she hadn’t because it gave too much of herself away.

      ‘You were hurting, I wanted to kiss you better.’

      ‘I’m not a child,’ she shot back, knowing she was overreacting but unable to help herself. She had enjoyed the kiss! Enjoyed it, for heaven’s sake, and that scared the hell out of her! She felt awful. How could this be happening? But worse still, she had promised to work for him. They would be in close proximity for several hours each day. She couldn’t do it. Not with the memory of his kiss hanging between them like a tantalising fruit.

      ‘I’m very much aware of that fact,’ Zarek informed her, his voice suddenly terse. ‘I am merely here to provide support. What happened was unfortunate. If you can put it behind you then the job is still yours, if you cannot forgive me then I will take you to your friend’s house, and you will never see me again.’

      He paused for a moment, his eyes connecting with hers, cool brown fighting hot blue, and Rhianne knew that she had a hard decision to make.