Jennifer Faye - The Greek's Ready-Made Wife

She eyed him up to see if at last he was being on the level. The guilty puppy look on his face was so cute and tugged at her sympathies. He must be in a real bind to suggest something so preposterous. “Apology accepted. Now I really should get back to work.”

“Aren’t you at least curious about my proposal?”

Of course she was. Who wouldn’t be? She studied the man a little more, noticing how the top couple of buttons on his slate blue button-down shirt were undone. It gave her the slightest hint of his muscular chest. She swallowed hard. To keep from staring, she diverted her gaze. On his arm, she spotted a fancy wristwatch. She wouldn’t be surprised to find it was a Rolex.

He looked every inch a successful businessman right down to his freshly polished shoes. A man who was used to getting what he wanted. A man who made calculated decisions. And somehow he’d decided she would do for his plan. Interesting.

“Yes, I’m curious.” She crossed her arms to keep from fidgeting. What would it hurt to hear him out? “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

“Wouldn’t you rather come inside and have a seat where you’ll be more comfortable?”

“I’m good here.” Until she had a clue what was going on, she was staying close to the open door. After all, she grew up in New York City. Her mother taught her at an early age not to trust strangers. Although, she didn’t know if her mother would extend that warning to dashing billionaires or not, but Kyra didn’t find wealth and class as important as her mother did.

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I realize we don’t know each other very well. But I enjoyed our conversation yesterday. You seem like a very interesting young woman, and you have a way of putting people at ease.”

She did? She’d never been told that before. “Thank you. But I don’t understand why you’re, uh, proposing to me.”

“I’m trying to secure a very important business deal. The problem is the seller is an older gentleman and a traditionalist. He has certain expectations that I currently fail to meet. Such as being a family man.”

He wants to play house with me?

No way. She wasn’t doing this. She didn’t even know his name. “I’m not the right person.”

“You’re exactly who I need.” His eyes gleamed with excitement.

She made an obvious point of glancing at the time on her phone. “I really need to get going. I have a lot of rooms to clean today.”

“You don’t have to worry. I’ll vouch for you.”

What an odd thing to say, but then again, this whole episode could easily be classified as bizarre. Just so she knew who to avoid in the future, she asked, “Who are you?”

His dark brows rose. “You don’t know?”

She shook her head. The only thing she knew about him was that no one had a right to look that sexy. “Would I have asked if I knew?”

“True. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Cristo Kiriakas.”

His name did ring a bell—a very loud bell. It took a moment until she was able to place it. Kyra gasped. He was her boss—the owner of the Glamour Hotel and Casino chain that included the newly built Blue Tide Resort. She would have known it was him if only she’d done her homework. This was, after all, the Governor’s suite—the best in the resort.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Kiriakas. I...I’m Kyra Pappas. I didn’t recognize you.”

“Don’t look so worried.” He spoke in a calm, soothing tone. “I didn’t expect you to recognize me. And please, call me Cristo. My father insists on going by Mr. Kiriakas. So every time you say that name, I’ll be looking over my shoulder for my father.”

“Sorry, sir. Um. Cristo. You can call me Kyra.” At this particularly awkward juncture, she supposed the wisest thing to do regarding her employment while in a foreign country was to reason with the man. “Does my job hinge on me playing along with your wedding plans?”

“No, it doesn’t. You don’t have to worry. Your job is safe.”

She wasn’t sure about that. “Surely you have a girlfriend—someone close to you—to marry.”

His jaw tensed and a muscle in his cheek twitched. “Yes, I could find someone to marry for real, but the truth is I don’t want to be married. Not for keeps.”

“Then why jump through all of these hoops? You seem rich enough to do as you please.”

“I wish it were as easy as that. But having money doesn’t mean things come to you any easier. Some things are still unobtainable without help.”

Kyra had lived with money and without money. She found that both lifestyles had their positives and negatives. But she didn’t know that other people had similar opinions. Her mother seemed to think that having money was the only important thing in life. And if you no longer had money, like her and her mother, then you pretended as if you did. Kyra didn’t subscribe to that way of thinking, but after going round and round with her mother, she knew trying to change her mother’s mind was a waste of time.

Kyra eyed up Cristo. “And you want my help to create a paper marriage so you can conclude a business deal?” She struggled to get this all straight in her mind. “And when the deal’s complete, we’ll go our separate ways?”

“Yes.” He smiled as though relieved that she finally grasped what he was saying. “But it’s not just any business deal. It’ll be the biggest of my career. It’ll change everything.”

The conviction in his voice surprised her. Even though she didn’t quite understand the importance of this deal, she felt bad for him. Why would anyone have to propose to a stranger in order to do business? No one should marry someone they didn’t love heart, body and soul. For any reason.

Perhaps he needed a bit of coaxing in order to see things clearly. “There has to be another way.”

He shook his head. “If there was, trust me, I would have done it by now.”

She paused for a moment and gave his predicament a bit of thought. “Well, if marriage is so important, why can’t you just have a fake fiancée? Wouldn’t that save you a lot of trouble?”

Not that she was applying for the position—even though his blue eyes were mesmerizing and his mouth looked as though it could do the most delicious things. The fact was she’d come to Greece with her own agenda. And getting caught up in someone else’s drama would only delay making life better for her and her mother.

* * *

This lady was sharp.

That was a definite bonus.

Cristo smiled. He knew from the moment he’d met Kyra that there was something special about her. And it went much deeper than her silky dark hair with long bangs that framed her big brown eyes. The rest of her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. He imagined how seductive she’d look with her hair loose and flowing over her shoulders.

However, his interest in her went beyond her good looks. From the moment they’d met, he’d noticed the warmth in her smile and the ease in her manner. Who knew she’d end up being the answer to his problems? He hadn’t—not until this morning when he submitted his final proposal to the Stravos Trust to purchase its hotel chain. It had been summarily rejected without review.

He knew then and there that he was going to have to play by the off-the-wall rules laid out by the reclusive billionaire Nikolaos Stravos, whether he liked it or not. And he most certainly did not like having his business deals hinge on his personal life.

Although, Kyra’s suggestion of an engagement might make the arrangement a bit more tolerable. An engagement wouldn’t necessitate the use of attorneys and an ironclad prenuptial agreement. It’d be all very neat and tidy.

His gaze met and held hers. He needed more information in order to make this work. “How long have you been working at the Blue Tide? I don’t remember seeing you around here before yesterday.”