Emma Darcy - Ruthless Milllionaire, Indecent Proposal

Could she stand a lifetime of that with Ari?

Would he always stay at her side?

She felt sick from all the churning inside her. Any distraction from it was intensely welcome. Hopefully Cass would provide it for a while. She and Ari joined the celebrity group and were quickly introduced around. One of George’s friends, another photographer, took the opportunity to give Tina his business card.

‘Come to me and I’ll turn you into a model as famous as your sister. No disrespect to you, Cass, but this girl has quite a unique look that I’d love to capture.’

Cass laughed and turned a beaming smile to Tina. ‘I’ve always said you don’t have to be a homebody.’

‘But I like being a homebody.’ She tried to hand the card back, embarrassed by the spotlight being turned on her. ‘Thank you, but no.’

‘Keep it,’ he insisted. ‘I mean it. I would love to work with that wonderful long neck and those marvellous cheekbones. Your short hair sets them off to perfection.’

‘No, please, I don’t want it. I have nowhere to put your card anyway.’

‘I’ll keep it for you. You might have second thoughts,’ Ari said, taking the card and sliding it into his breast pocket. He smiled around at the group. ‘No disrespect to any of you lovely ladies, but I also think Christina is unique. And very special.’

Which was virtually a public declaration of his interest in her, putting off the interest that any of the lovely ladies might want to show in him.

Tina’s marvellous cheekbones were instantly illuminated by heat.

Cass leaned over to whisper in her ear. ‘Mama is right. Ari is very taken by you. Give him a chance, Tina. He’s rather special, too.’

A chance!

Even Cass was on Ari’s side.

Tina felt the whole world was conspiring to make her take the step she was frightened of taking.

‘I think I need some cool air,’ she muttered.

Ari heard her. He took her arm. ‘Please excuse us, everyone. We’re off to catch the sea breeze for a breather.’

He drew her over to the stone wall along the cliff edge. Tina didn’t protest the move. It was useless. She was trapped into being Ari’s companion at this wedding and he was not about to release her.

‘Why did you take that card?’ she demanded crossly.

‘Because it was my fault that you didn’t continue the modelling career you might have had. It’s not too late to try again, Christina. You actually have a more individual beauty now. If you’d like to pursue that path you’d have my full support.’

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

THE 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.