Greek Mavericks: His Christmas Conquest. Cathy Williams

and she turned to look at him with an apologetic smile.

      ‘Sorry. You haven’t come here to take time out so that you can be bored by my problems.’

      ‘Is there no one who can guarantee you a loan until such time as you can pay them back?’

      Sophie thought of Robert and hesitated. ‘Not really…’

      ‘What does not really mean?’

      ‘Robert has said that he would be willing to bail me out. I mean, obviously that would depend on how much I end up owing…’

      ‘Where is he now?’ Theo frowned in frank dismissal. ‘Anyway, tell me, what’s the catch?’

      ‘Oh, no catch!’ Sophie waved a little too airily. ‘I’d make you some coffee but no electricity for the kettle. Are you all right with the heating off? It’s just a localised power cut. A few miles down the road and you can easily do some shopping, find somewhere warm to sit and have some tea…’

      Theo wondered why she was suddenly so desperate to change the subject. ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch, Sophie, and I can tell from the look on your face that whatever offer your friend came up with has some strings attached to it. So what are they? Hefty interest rate? The cottage as collateral? I’d be very careful about taking money from a loan shark.’ He felt himself getting hot under the collar at the thought of an opportunist taking her for every penny she had. And he would because Sophie, for all those forthright mannerisms that would send any normal man’s blood pressure soaring in irritation, was an innocent in the world of finance. It would have been no problem for him to give her the money but he knew that she would never accept it, not even if she knew the full extent of his massive personal fortune.

      ‘Robert’s no loan shark! Anyway, either he’s dull and insecure or he’s a clever opportunist. He can’t be both!’ Sophie objected hotly, already regretting her slip-up.

      ‘I never said dull…You just did. Interesting. Well, what repayment scheme does he have in mind?’ Theo asked, raising his eyebrows in a mixture of curiosity and cynicism.

      ‘Stop twisting my words. All I’m saying is that I’ve been offered a life belt if I think I need one. And if I mentioned the word dull it’s because that’s the picture you insist on conjuring up every time his name is mentioned! Never mind that you’ve met him for five seconds!’

      She was waffling, he noticed, without actually enlightening him, which sharpened his curiosity still further.

      ‘Well?’ he pressed. ‘I’m very experienced in all matters relating to money so I’m immune to surprises in that particular quarter.’

      ‘You do blow your own trumpet, don’t you?’ Sophie said tartly. ‘Is there any area you would admit to not being good at?’

      Writing, Theo considered, except of the most prosaic kind. ‘I’ve been clever at picking things up along the way.’ He spread his hands expansively, with an expression of don’t blame me if I’m good at everything.

      That, of course, was what did it. Sophie, never one to see the benefit of taking someone down a few notches just to watch the expression on their face, could not resist the temptation to wipe that smirk off Theo’s face. The devil inside her made her nod in a knowing way, totally understanding the hideous disadvantages of just being brilliant at everything, with the possible exception of mending central heating devices in old cottages. Yes, being that sharp would make him immune to surprises.

      ‘Well, I’ll confess what the catch is, although I don’t think anyone would really call it a catch. As such.’ She paused for a few dramatic seconds. ‘Robert has proposed to me.’

      ‘Proposed what?’

      ‘Proposed that we get married!’ Sophie said through gritted teeth. Was the possibility of someone asking for her hand in marriage such a difficult concept to take on board?

      ‘You’re joking!’

      ‘No. No, I am not joking. You might think you know everything because you’re so clever at picking things up along the way, but you obviously don’t know women that well or you would know that they never joke about marriage proposals.’

      For some reason, Theo was finding it hard to take in what Sophie had just said. Why, he had no idea. When he approached her revelation logically, he could see that, as solutions went, it didn’t get better. A man wanting to help his woman out of her financial mess because he loved her.

      So what if he had been temporarily attracted to the woman? He almost laughed aloud at his crazy overreaction to her news! As if there weren’t a million other fish in the sea! True, he had imagined that the strangeness of his circumstances had been responsible for opening up a chink in his protective armour, but really, thinking about it, that wasn’t the case at all. The change of scenery had been a catalyst. He would never forget Elena—indeed there would never be another woman to match her—but his body was responding once again. It was a bitter truth he would have to swallow. He was still a man with needs that had to be met.

      But this woman was not an integral part of that. He had thought that returning to London, getting back to his daily reality, would return him to the brooding workaholic that he had previously been, seeking out dangerous pursuits in an attempt to distract himself from his private pain. Now he considered the possibility of his life returning to some level of normality.

      ‘And…?’ he prompted. ‘Did you accept his kind offer? I suppose it would have been too much temptation to resist.’

      Sophie hesitated, already regretting the impulse that had seen her confess something that should have been a private matter. ‘I’m thinking about it,’ she mumbled.

      ‘I had no idea your relationship with the man was so serious.’

      Nor did I, Sophie thought, wondering how she could entice him away from the topic.

      ‘And all he wants is your hand in marriage?’ Theo quizzed, his brows knitted in a frown.

      ‘Amazing, isn’t it?’

      Theo focused on Sophie’s face and registered the smug expression—just the sort of smug expression that could well and truly get under a man’s skin and try his patience to the limits.

      ‘Not really, when you think about it. As I said, an insecure kind of boy—your plight is probably the one thing guaranteed to make him feel like a man…’ Okay, so it was an arrogant, incendiary statement, but for some reason Theo was finding it distasteful to think of Sophie and that wet rag having any kind of relationship.

      ‘Thanks for the compliment!’

      ‘Probably one of those men who can’t wait for the whole family deal…Well, it sure beats the hell out of playing a field they don’t feel very comfortable in…’

      ‘Oh, and that’s what every woman fights shy of——a family man! Because we all want a rampant womaniser!’

      ‘I am usually right when it comes to reading people.’ Theo shrugged.

      ‘Oh, right. Yet another one of those handy talents you picked up along the way.’

      ‘Very handy,’ Theo agreed readily, enjoying the way she bristled as he ignored the sarcasm. ‘Life’s a lot easier if you can read people accurately and the way I read it is that his proposal might have set you thinking, but is it enough to overcome the fact that you don’t actually love the man? Because if you loved the guy you certainly wouldn’t tolerate me describing him as a wimp…’

      ‘Your opinion doesn’t matter to me, actually. And what’s love anyway?’ she scoffed. She had been encouraged to think that it was tumultuous and wonderful. Her parents had had one of those passionate, enduring romances and had misinformed her that she, too, would one day have the same. Well, as far as Sophie was concerned, she was still waiting. So far, she hadn’t even had a broken heart. No one had come