Greek’s Shotgun Wedding (The Diamandis Heirs #1)

Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

J ACE STUDIED G IGI with incredulity. As she stalked into the bathroom like an angry miniature Amazon warrior, he was momentarily stunned by her attitude.

What was the matter with her? It was the weekend. He already knew that she had no other plans. He had taken care of the pet problem and the clothes problem. Other women valued his attention to detail, his generosity and his talent for organisation. Why didn’t she?

He knocked on the bathroom door. It opened a mere crack. ‘Yes?’ Gigi enquired glacially.

‘I thought you’d be pleased,’ he admitted after a stark instant of hesitation, because in Gigi’s company occasionally he felt vaguely as though he were dealing with an alien. Her reactions were never what he expected, and her concerns were even more startling. He had devoted himself one hundred per cent to her entertainment. He had never done that for a woman before. Why would she then assume that he saw her as being only a one-night stand? Surely he had been obvious enough that she could read the writing on the wall?

‘How did you get into my house?’ she demanded.

Jace gritted his even white teeth. ‘The keys were lying loose in your beach bag. I helped myself.’

Gigi rolled big blue eyes at him in disbelief. ‘And you believed that doing that was all right? Sending strangers into my home?’

‘I went with them. The cat was hard to catch. He wasn’t for going anywhere. He hid under the sofa with the tortoise—’

‘He is a she called Tilly,’ she snapped. ‘Are you saying that you personally went through my belongings?’

Jace compressed his lips. What belongings? he almost quipped. There had been a very large rucksack and a couple of drawers of casual clothes in a room as small and unadorned as a nun’s cell. Even though that had been what he’d dimly expected from Gigi, he had still been taken aback by how little she owned and how very little she had personalised her surroundings.

‘Yes. I didn’t think you would like a crew member taking care of it.’

‘Or... you !’ Gigi stressed, slamming the door in his face, aghast at the idea that he might have rummaged through her underwear drawer or noticed that she hadn’t made her bed up because the bedding was in the washing machine.

She showered. She fumed. She made up long ranting speeches inside her head. Where on earth did he think he was taking her? She marched back into the bedroom, scooped her obviously freshly laundered clothes off the foot of the bed and disappeared back into the bathroom to get dressed in her denim shorts again. There was no bra. She hadn’t thought through that she would need one after she took her wet bikini off. What had he packed in her rucksack for her and where was it? The whole time, she thought anxiously about the way Jace made her feel. Feeling anything that powerful frightened her. Her mother hadn’t shown her love and neither had her father. It only made sense to Gigi that she should always keep her emotions under control and never expect too much from people and situations. That was how she protected herself. Only with the animals she loved did she let her guard down.

Another knock sounded on the door. She wrenched it open. Jace handed her the dress in the garment bag.

Gigi simply set it aside because she had no intention of wearing it. ‘You really don’t take hints, do you?’

‘Not when I don’t want to hear them,’ Jace conceded. ‘I promise that I’ll have you back at work on time on Monday morning. There won’t be any problems—’

Gigi dealt him a fulminating scrutiny. ‘You should turn the boat around and return me to Rhodes right now—’

‘I can’t do that. I’m taking you to my grandmother’s birthday party tomorrow. It’s her eightieth,’ he informed her. ‘If I turn back, I’ll be late and, as I’m the host, that wouldn’t be acceptable.’

Taken aback by that announcement, Gigi closed her hands into fists. ‘Why the heck would you take me to a family party? You hardly know me!’

‘I loathe Diamandis family gatherings but I believe it will be bearable if you are with me to lighten the atmosphere,’ Jace declared with grim assurance.

‘Why couldn’t you just wake me up and ask me if I wanted to go?’ Gigi demanded in annoyance.

‘You had already told me that you were free this weekend. I assumed you would spend it with me.’ Emerald-green eyes fringed by lashes stark black and lush as lace rested hungrily on her. ‘Particularly after this afternoon.’

A faint pink lit her cheekbones and a tugging sensation clenched between her thighs. Even the memory of being with him was shockingly physical. So, he fought dirty in a fight. How was that news? He was clever, manipulative and devious and, if she was honest with herself, he fascinated her because he was so different from her. But the fleeting vulnerability in his beautiful clear eyes when he admitted that he hated family get-togethers and that her presence would help touched something soft and tender inside her, something that made her shiver, something that made her feel weak. And she refused to be weak or sympathetic towards anything other than a voiceless animal, which depended on her for care. Jace was too risky. Dangerous energy and volatility ran through him like a life force.

She had been fifty per cent certain that what they had shared was a once-only encounter. She refused to have expectations of him. But Jace was changing the game, suggesting possibilities that were disconcerting.

‘OK...you win. I’ll make a large donation to the animal shelter where you work,’ Jace announced without warning.

Gigi blinked in surprise and looked daggers at him. ‘Is that how you buy yourself out of trouble?’

‘You’re not being reasonable—’

‘You’re not being reasonable. Why should I be?’ she demanded.

‘We can work it out over dinner,’ Jace told her with an irreverent grin. ‘I’m starving.’

‘I want to see my pets first,’ she told him briskly.

Tilly was strolling along a deck and wound herself round Gigi’s ankles with a purr before moving on to investigate Jace’s. Hoppy was nestling in a tiny corner of Mo’s giant basket in the main saloon while Mo reclined in front of the basket as though he were guarding the smaller dog. Snowy was in the saloon as well.

‘You don’t choose your pets on the strength of their appearance,’ Jace remarked.

‘Snowy is moulting, so don’t be rude. He’ll look much better in a few weeks. Most of my pets are the no-hopers from the shelter. Hoppy’s a street dog and he’s a mixed breed. Add in his disabilities and there was nobody interested in adopting him. Snowy’s owner just wanted rid of him because he’s not a very good talker. Where’s Humphrey?’

Humphrey was munching in a sizeable cage in a cargo compartment.

‘What do you deem a large donation?’ Gigi could not resist asking Jace as he guided her back to the upper deck.

He quoted a sum that left her bereft of breath. ‘Think of all the good that money could do—’

A steward yanked out a dining chair for her and she sank down, unnerved as he shook out her napkin and placed it as well. She felt surrounded, inhibited by the presence of the crew. She lifted the wine glass that had already been filled. Jace hadn’t needed the assistance of alcohol to get her into bed; she had done that all by herself, surrendering to that addictive chemistry, she reminded herself ruefully. She was trying not to think of what he had said. But cash would rebuild the outdated animal housing at the shelter. She could not deny that his money would do a lot of good and it infuriated her that he was making her think that way.

‘I am thinking of the good,’ she told him abruptly when they were finally left alone. ‘But I don’t like the fact that you’re buying yourself out of trouble...or that you’re trying to bribe me.’

‘Squeaky-clean morals,’ Jace groaned with a reproving appraisal. ‘Doesn’t it matter that it would improve the facilities for both you and the animals you tend?’

‘Of course it matters. But I don’t own or run the shelter and I don’t know what the board of directors would do with such a big donation.’

‘I could give it on the assurance that you must have a say in how it’s spent because I know that you will put your patients first. I’m trying to say sorry, Gigi...but you don’t make it easy.’

‘Because if I make it easy it’s like patting you on the back and encouraging you to do something like this again!’ Gigi shot back at him, clean out of patience. ‘And I will not be bought or bribed or blackmailed by your wealth! That’s wrong , Jace. And you still haven’t apologised.’

‘I apologise.’ Glittering green eyes held hers fast and her heart began to beat very, very fast, her mouth running dry because the power and intensity of his gaze burned her. ‘But I did genuinely believe that you would freely agree to accompany me to the party. I also thought you’d be relieved that I’d considered the care of your pets and what you would wear.’

‘Other women would be relieved, wouldn’t they?’

‘But I enjoy being with you because you’re not the same as other women I’ve known,’ he pointed out.

Gigi wrinkled her nose. ‘But sometimes, like now, when I’m being awkward, you wish I were the same,’ she guessed.

Jace laughed, a husky, sexy sound that brushed over her skin like the soft smooth brush of velvet. Goose bumps erupted on the skin of her arms, a warmth flowering at her feminine core.

‘So, you’ll come to the party.’ Jace regrouped with that statement and disconcerted her afresh.

‘Your presence will take the attention off me, at least a little,’ he pronounced with satisfaction, draining his wine glass, a movement of his hand dismissing the steward who had moved forward from the far side of the room to refill it.

‘I don’t enjoy being the centre of attention. I’m a backroom girl.’

‘No, to me you’re something much more,’ he contradicted. ‘I want to show you off.’

Gigi tensed at the concept.

‘I’m proud of you. Why wouldn’t I be? You’re an intelligent, independent and compassionate woman with a career you love.’

‘Thank you. On the strength of your silver tongue, I agree to pretend to be plus one tomorrow,’ Gigi conceded, smiling as she settled her cutlery down on the plate. ‘I’ll fake it until I make it—’

‘Why should you have to pretend?’ Jace demanded.

‘Well, I’m not your girlfriend so of course I’ll be pretending—’

Jace closed a lean brown hand squarely over hers. ‘You are my lover. There is no need for you to fake anything.’

‘I know next to nothing about you!’

‘You know enough. My education? My birthday? My favourite colour?’ Jace imparted those details. ‘And what do those extraneous facts tell you about me? Precisely nothing.’

‘Although if I were an astrologer, the birthday might be helpful,’ she told him deadpan.

‘Droll...’

The rest of the meal passed at speed. Gigi’s anger had faded or Jace had charmed it away. He was great company, lighter in heart than her friends back in the UK. Of course, why wouldn’t he be? Born rich, handsome and destined for success, he could have little in life to complain about, aside from a cruel, selfish father and, possibly, an equally egotistical mother, both of whom were now past history. Jace didn’t need to worry about student loans or rent or saving up to buy a first home. In short, the world was pretty much his oyster.

‘We’ll have our coffee out on deck,’ Jace decreed. ‘We have something more serious to discuss.’

Frowning, Gigi glanced at him but there was nothing to be read in his lean, strong face. They sank down onto a wonderfully comfortable couch, a faint breeze lifting her hair and playing with the strands. She lifted her coffee and sipped, relaxing back into the upholstery. ‘The something serious?’ she prompted tautly.

‘The condom ripped,’ Jace spelt out grimly. ‘I’d be less worried if you were on birth control.’

Shaken, Gigi set the cup and saucer down again with a slightly jarring crash. ‘My word... I wasn’t expecting that .’

‘Neither was I. It hasn’t happened to me before. I’m very careful.’

‘I should have stayed on some form of contraception for my own protection. The trouble is, I wasn’t counting on meeting you and I hadn’t met anyone in so long that I decided that there wasn’t any realistic need for it.’ She sighed, contemplating the risk of an accidental pregnancy with a sinking heart. ‘I’ve always wanted children but not this way, because I was an unplanned baby and I think my mother found me a huge responsibility and resented me for getting in the way of her work.’

‘But from what I understand your mother was alone. You won’t be. If there’s a pregnancy, we’ll handle the situation together ,’ Jace insisted, closing a lean hand over hers in emphasis. ‘In spite of the way I may strike you, I’m not even a little irresponsible—’

‘Only occasionally guilty of kidnapping sleeping women and unsuspecting animals from Rhodes!’ Gigi chipped in with a rueful giggle. ‘I’m not going to worry about what you’ve told me until there’s something to actually worry about.’

But Gigi did feel embarrassingly guilty because she had urged him on when, had he gone slowly as he had clearly intended, the contraception might have worked fine. Unfortunately, she had been in a hurry to move past the potentially painful part to hopefully the more pleasurable conclusion.

‘Come here,’ Jace urged, stretching out to remove her coffee cup from her hold and settle it back on the table. ‘I need to kiss you right now.’

He tugged her closer and then lifted her bodily over him, so that her legs fell either side of his. And as she came down on him, she could not miss out on the reality that he was hard and ready, his perfectly tailored trousers unable to conceal his arousal. She assumed that he didn’t think that there was much chance of her falling pregnant because their discussion had failed to distract him.

‘We’re in a public area, Jace. I won’t risk an audience,’ Gigi warned him.

Jace groaned in her ear, the warmth of his breath fanning her jaw. ‘You drive me insane!’

‘It’s your own fault. You’ve got a cast of thousands on this boat as crew and they are everywhere —’

‘I only want to kiss you.’

‘So you say, but I’m not sure you can be trusted,’ Gigi confided, shifting back off him again and kneeling beside him instead.

Jace bent his proud dark head and dropped a brief kiss on her parted lips and then he sprang upright and scooped her up into his arms before she could even guess what he was intending.

‘Let me down!’

‘We have to go to where we won’t have an audience,’ Jace decreed, laughing as she punched his shoulder with an exasperated fist.

‘Jace!’ she protested as he finally slid her down onto her own feet in his bedroom.

‘I’m succumbing to an overpowering need to get you horizontal.’ As he spoke, Jace undid the button at her waist and ran down the zip on her shorts and then he lifted her up into his arms again, his big hands gripping her hips, and he crushed her mouth under his with such a surge of burning hunger that answering heat roared through her like a bonfire.

As he dropped her down on the bed, Gigi kicked off her shorts and canvas shoes and reached for him.

‘I want you too,’ she murmured intently, an electrifying thrill thrumming along every nerve ending as their eyes collided. ‘I don’t know what you’ve done to me.’

Halfway out of his shirt, Jace paused and braced both hands on either side of her flushed face. ‘I wanted you the minute I laid eyes on you with my dog in the street—’

‘I didn’t look at you until we were indoors—’

‘And what did you think?’

It was amazing the rush she could get from one hungry, demanding glance of those scorching green eyes of his.

‘I thought you were too good-looking to be real and now I like you best when I’ve messed you up a little,’ she quipped, ruffling his soft silky hair until it was thoroughly untidy.

And when he slowly tasted her parted lips again with sensual expertise, she gave herself up to the pleasure of it. She felt happier than she had ever felt. She felt wanted, appreciated, special for the first time in her life. It was a crazy infatuation and she refused to agonise over it. It wouldn’t last for ever. Such insane flights of fancy as put two such different people in a relationship never did last. But while it was current, she planned to make the most of it.

Tossing a handful of condoms on the nightstand, he curved a possessive hand to a small, pouting breast, his thumb rubbing across the prominent peak, watching her spine arch and lowering his mouth there to hungrily tease. Her hips rolled, that insane desire twisting inside her, no more easily ignored than a tornado. Her restive hands laced into his curls and then slid down to his wide shoulders, smoothing over his skin. He traced the heart of her where she was warm and wet and, oh, so willing to be touched. She rolled over onto her side and found his sensual lips for herself.

His tongue darted and dallied while his fingers played and toyed with her most delicate flesh, pushing her closer to the edge. The hunger she was struggling to control leapt higher and higher like a runaway flame. She felt almost frantic as he repositioned her writhing body and sank into her with potent strength. She climaxed instantly, unforgettably, and she was shocked. Fireworks shot up in multicoloured sparks behind her lowered eyelids while a whoosh of pure sensation seized her convulsing frame. She trembled and blinked rapidly in the aftermath, stunned by the power of the experience.

‘Now let’s see if you can do that again,’ Jace murmured thickly, excited by the way she had lost control in his arms.

‘Doubtful,’ she mumbled shakily, barely able to think straight after that shattering flood of all-encompassing pleasure.

And the second time it was a slow, steady climb to those same heights, the very last word in sensual pleasure. She was drowning in the emerald-green depths of his eyes when he pushed her out of the comfort zone into a much faster rhythm and her body reacted as if it had been waiting all its life to experience that overwhelming excitement. Her heart thudded at an insane rate, her body jolting, wild elation grabbing her as she hit the heights again.

Afterwards, she was limp and on the path to sleepy exhaustion.

‘So...’ Jace murmured huskily as he leant over her and dropped a kiss on her damp brow, long fingers threading her hair back from her cheekbones in a slow, sure movement. His green eyes glittered as though someone had scattered stardust in them. ‘You’ll wear the dress I got you for the party...’

Gigi heaved a sigh. ‘I suppose, since I really don’t have anything else—’

‘And wear the shoes—’

‘I guess,’ Gigi framed drowsily, snuggling into the pillow.

‘And there’s some jewellery—’

Gigi surrendered the pillow in dismay. ‘I don’t own any jewellery—’

‘I have my mother’s jewellery. I’d like you to wear a couple of the diamond pieces.’

Gigi made a face. Her mother had had no time for such frivolous items as jewellery and had left her nothing in that line. When she was barely welcome in her own family, the idea of wearing his family jewellery made her feel horribly uncomfortable. ‘No, thank you. I’m not showing off family jewellery when I don’t belong to the family,’ she told him tartly. ‘That would make me look like a very ambitious companion as well as being one who lacks good taste.’

‘It’s mine to do with as I wish. It would only be on loan for the day—’

‘Doesn’t matter. I don’t want to borrow anything,’ Gigi said squarely.

‘You can think about it—’

‘I’ve already thought and the answer is no, Jace. No! ’ she slung back at him with furious stress, snatching up her shorts, climbing into them by the side of the bed and grabbing her T-shirt to pull it on as well.

‘It was only a suggestion. There’s no need to lose your temper,’ Jace breathed tautly.