Pretending with the Greek Billionaire Read online

  He turned and began a slow swim back, enough energy burned that his dick had given him a break and stood down, for the moment anyway. All it would take was one look from Constance and it would be right back, ready for action. He didn’t think she even realized the effect she had on him, or that she looked at him like he was a sticky sweet piece of baklava she couldn’t wait to sink her teeth into. A few more of those looks and he’d have her up against the wall, no matter who was watching.

  He made it back to the shore, thrilled to see that Joe and his security had finally gotten rid of the photographers. Luca wasn’t naïve enough to think they were all gone, but the group on the beach had disappeared at least. He scanned the shore until he located Constance walking along the beach with several of the girls, gathering seashells. A couple more played in the sand, but Elena sat off on her own. Interesting child, though he could understand the desire to be alone.

  He hesitated before going over to her. He really had no business being anywhere near any child, let alone one with the issues that Elena had. The last thing in the world she needed was someone like Luca in her life, no matter how briefly. Trying to befriend her might do more harm than good, couldn’t it? He mentally snorted. Who was he kidding? Being associated with him did most people more harm than good. Which was one of the main reasons he’d decided he’d never have kids. Aside from the whole fact that he liked his freedom and kids were the fastest way to destroy that, Luca didn’t want the responsibility of being in charge of anyone else’s life. He’d screwed his own up enough.

  He looked at little Elena, thought about how it would feel to be responsible for her happiness and well-being. The thought filled him with a terror so strong it actually made him take a step back. She’d been through enough without subjecting her to his messed up world.

  Still, he hated to see her sitting there all by herself. It seemed so…lonely. Lonely was something he knew a little bit about, too. He walked over to where she sat and stared down at her. She barely paused in her sand castle building to glance up at him, but she didn’t protest him being there so he sat down beside her. She handed him a stick and kept on with her digging and building. He held it for a second and then shrugged. All right then.

  They worked in silence for a good half hour. She’d scurry off every now and then to bring back buckets of water or seashells to decorate their masterpiece. To his surprise, they not only worked very well together, but he enjoyed it. Maybe he needed a hobby. Sitting in the sand, sculpting it into some semblance of a castle, was cathartic in a way. Calming. A nice escape from his life. Best yet was when Elena looked up at him when they were finished and smiled. The sweet expression pulled at heartstrings he didn’t know he had. Then she climbed onto his lap and he froze. She curled up with a little sigh.

  “Hey now, what are you doing?” he asked. He couldn’t just shove her off his lap. But he wasn’t remotely comfortable with her being there. He’d never held a child before. Not even a baby. Well, except after Elena had fallen in the pool.

  She shivered and he automatically reached for the towel that lay just behind them and covered her with it. She cuddled into his chest and closed her eyes. Within minutes she was asleep. Luca looked around, helpless.

  “Luca, look over here!” someone called.

  He turned toward the voice, already shielding Elena from the camera he knew was snapping away. He would have yelled at the jackass, but he didn’t want to wake the child. Luckily, Joe hovered nearby as always.

  “Get them out of here, Joe,” he said.

  “But sir, isn’t this what we wanted? It’s a great photo opportunity. Shows your softer side.”

  Anger flashed through Luca strong enough that Joe blanched and stepped back. He was irritated a lot, but seldom truly angry, and Joe knew the difference.

  “This isn’t a photo op, Joe. I told you. No pictures of the children. Get him out of here. Now.”

  “Yes, sir,” Joe said, turning to mobilize security.

  Luca scooted around as best he could without jostling Elena. If there were any more lurking photographers, all they’d get were pictures of his back.

  He looked up to see Constance watching him, a soft smile on her lips. She came and settled down beside him, leaning over to kiss his cheek. Such tenderness filled his heart to the point he had to look away. What was going on? This was all supposed to be a sham. Sure, he’d hoped he could talk her into his bed for real, but these…emotions weren’t supposed to be part of the deal. Emotions made things complicated. He didn’t do complicated.

  “Here,” he said, passing Elena over to Constance before she could protest.

  “She likes you,” she said, nodding down at the sleeping child.

  He snorted. “I don’t know why.”

  “Oh come on, give yourself some credit. You aren’t that bad,” she said, her mouth twitching up.

  “What a rousing stamp of approval.”

  She ducked her head. “I meant it as a compliment.”

  “You might want to work on those.”

  Her smile grew bigger. “You aren’t as bad as I’d feared, let’s put it that way. Still, you could be better.”

  His eyebrow rose. “Oh really? Better how?”

  She shrugged. “Spend less of your time partying, more time doing some good in the world. With great power comes great responsibility.”

  Both eyebrows rose at that one. “Did you just quote Spiderman to me?”

  Constance ducked her head again with an embarrassed little chuckle. “Maybe, but the premise stands. You have all this power that you could be doing so much good with, but you do nothing with it.”

  “I don’t have power, I have money. There’s a huge difference.”

  She shrugged. “Not really. With money you have the power to change things, make people’s lives better.”

  “So, I should give all my family’s money to charity.”

  “No, of course not, but instead of buying another car you won’t drive or more clothes you won’t wear, you could be putting some of it toward something worthwhile. You wouldn’t even miss it, yet it could change someone else’s life.”

  Luca frowned, but he couldn’t really argue with her. There were six cars in his garage at the house on a small island where it was easier to walk or ride a motorcycle than drive. And he had more at the other houses he owned in other countries. Someone could easily sell half of what he owned and he probably wouldn’t even notice.

  “I wasn’t talking about your money though,” she continued.

  He frowned. “Then what were you talking about?”

  She nodded at the retreating photographers still fighting to get through security on the other side of the beach. “You say you have no power, but you do.”

  “The vultures?”

  She gave him a faint smile. “You say you hate them, but you’re willing to use them when it suits your purpose. You use them to change people’s opinions, to manipulate the way they think.”

  Luca’s frown deepened. He didn’t like her assessment, but again, she wasn’t wrong.

  “You wanted to be seen differently. So you found a fake fiancée and a bunch of children and let the vultures loose, and already the tide’s turned. The party boy has become the responsible family man, someone people would be comfortable with running their company. Like it or not, what you do matters to people. What you do influences their decisions and actions. So how would it be if the party boy turned family man becomes the philanthropist, championing those in need?”

  Luca stared at her, not sure how to respond. She was right. Not a fun thought to admit to, but there it was, and it had been something he’d been feeling for a long time—a desire to have more to show for his life. To have something associated with his name that his mother would have been proud of, something worthwhile.

  “You have power, Luca. More than perhaps you know. You have the power to lead by your example. What you need to decide is which example do you want people to follow?”

  Her
eyes searched his with an intensity that made him want to squirm. He stood and brushed the sand off his ass. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to speak with Joe for a minute.”

  She looked like she was going to say something but he didn’t give her the chance. He needed to get out of there before he did something really ridiculous like pledge his fortune to charity and vow to become a monk.

  Joe fell into line with him the moment he walked by.

  “Joe, no more photo ops. Cancel the rest of the sessions we had scheduled.”

  “Sir?” Joe asked, his eyes wide.

  Luca almost snorted. All the things this man had seen him do and he’d never batted an eye, but this shocked him.

  “I’m done. I don’t want the photographers around anymore. They’ve gotten enough pictures. Call them off.”

  “Yes, sir,” he said, still frowning. “Will Miss McMurty be leaving then?”

  “No,” Luca said, too quickly. A slight twitch of Joe’s eyebrow indicated he’d caught the panic in that word. Shit.

  “No,” he said, more calmly. “We’ll keep up the engagement story for now. But we don’t need an audience anymore.”

  Joe nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  Luca nodded and turned back to look at where Constance sat, gently rocking Elena. His heart jumped again and he turned his gaze out to the sea for a moment before addressing Joe again.

  “Make sure Constance and the kids get back safely. I have a few things I need to take care of.”

  “But sir…”

  “I’ll take security with me.”

  “Yes, sir,” Joe said, his brow furrowed.

  Luca didn’t bother to explain himself. He had too many thoughts and long-forgotten emotions running through him. He needed a little space to sort them all out. Hopefully when he came back, he’d have everything under control again.

  Because God help him if he didn’t.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Several hours later and Luca still didn’t have his shit pulled together. Coming home only made it worse.

  Walking in the door, he tripped over a Barbie doll but kept his swearing to an internal monologue in case any of the children were running around. There were signs of them everywhere. Sweaters and shoes and toys and crayon drawings. He didn’t even know where it all came from, although it seemed Joe always had a new toy in his hand when he’d come back from wherever he disappeared to during his off hours. And yes, Luca may have been guilty of that, too.

  Still, he hadn’t thought they’d accumulated so much. Signs of himself in the house had dwindled. The spear from over the mantel had been removed to storage along with the bottles of liquor that Constance had confiscated the first day and anything else that could remotely do any harm to the kids.

  Coming home to a house changed by the eight females currently in his life didn’t bother him. But shouldn’t it have? He should have been irritated that his space had been invaded, that they had come in and changed everything. But he wasn’t. If anything, it was comforting to come home and know the house was full and he wasn’t alone.

  He tried to shake off whatever was going on with him. He just needed some sleep. He’d wandered the island for hours, riding his motorcycle as fast as the streets and trails would allow. He’d ignored every attempt his so-called friends had made in drawing him back into the party life, with relatively little effort. In fact, it was surprising how little he missed that scene. The slow seduction going on was killing him but the growing closeness with Constance had made him happier than anything else in his life ever had. A realization that terrified him more than he’d like to admit.

  Now there he stood, looking down at her while she slept. Having her back in his bed sent a thrill through him that was only partially due to the possibilities it presented. The fact that she was curled around his pillow sent a happy little spark straight to his heart. That she slept in the tiny cami and shorts ensemble sent a stronger spark a little farther south. He couldn’t go on with her in his bed night after night while he slept on the sofa, never being able to touch her. Especially after what had happened the last time they were alone in this room. He’d go mad.

  Luca went to the closet and stripped down, this time throwing on a pair of soft pajama bottoms. They’d already slept together. He wasn’t going to be banished again to his sofa. But he needed the extra barrier between them. He had every intention of finishing what they’d started, but he wasn’t going to wake her from a dead sleep to do it. She’d had a few rough nights with Elena. She needed her rest, though if he was going to be noble, he probably should head back to the sofa. His control was tenuous at best.

  He slipped into bed, scooting much closer than she’d allow if she were awake. The movement made the mattress dip and Constance let go of his pillow and rolled toward him with a sleepy murmur. He froze. She didn’t. She snuggled closer, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her nose in his neck. It tickled like hell but he held his breath until the urge to laugh and squirm passed. He knew he should wake her, but he was too curious to see what would happen next, not to mention the fact he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

  “Luca,” she murmured.

  Her face tilted upward, searching, but her eyes were still closed. As far as he could tell she was still asleep. She threw a leg over his hip with a little moan and he was a goner. Her lips found his and she pressed closer, rubbing against him. Her tongue darted between his lips and he groaned, rolling her beneath him.

  She met his passion with an enthusiasm he’d only caught glimpses of before. They rocked together, hands roving, mouths devouring. And then suddenly she pulled away with a gasp. If she hadn’t been awake before, she was now. She looked up at him with bewildered, passion-clouded eyes.

  “Hey there,” he said.

  …

  Constance took a quick inventory of the situation. She’d been in the middle of the most amazing dream. Then again, judging by the look of things, it hadn’t been a dream. She was wrapped around Luca like he was a life preserver, lying half beneath him. Her cheeks stung from the pleasant after effects of an intense make out session with a sexily stubbled man. And the delicious ache building low in her belly left no doubt she’d been enjoying herself immensely.

  The rock-hard length of him pressed against her belly, leaving ample evidence of how Luca felt about the whole thing. Now what were they going to do about it? She knew she should pull away. Apologize and retreat back to the other side of the bed, or send him back to his sofa. Or better yet, to a guest room. It was obvious they couldn’t be trusted in the same room any longer, let alone the same bed. She had serious doubts, however, about her ability to tear herself away from the mountain of delicious Greek godhood currently poised between her thighs. The thought made her want to scream in frustration. She didn’t want to run—she wanted to rip his pants from him and impale herself on the impressive piece of manhood that was currently straining toward her.

  “Since when do you wear pants to bed?” she asked, latching onto the most coherent thought in her head.

  He chuckled. “You wake up to find us tangled up in the sheets, halfway to the Promised Land, and that’s what you want to know?”

  She smiled and ducked her head, the sudden streak of shyness a bit odd considering her current position. It was now or never. Time to make a decision. Keep running away or give in to what they both wanted. The thought of making herself vulnerable terrified her. But maybe it didn’t have to be that way. Luca was…well, he was Luca Vasilakis, heir to one of the biggest real estate moguls in the world. She was a nobody who took care of foster children and orphans. In a couple weeks, their arrangement would be over and they’d both go back to their lives. There was no second-guessing anything. No need to wonder where the relationship was going. She already knew where it was going, which meant she couldn’t get hurt. There would be no abandonment down the road because she knew going in exactly when their arrangement would end. If ever there was a time to give in to every woman’s fantasy, it was
right then. Why shouldn’t she seize the moment and do what her body begged her to do?

  She squirmed, deliberately rubbing her hips against him. Luca sucked in a ragged breath. “Stanzia, if you’re going to walk away, you better do it now.”

  She looked back into his passion-dark eyes and stroked a hand down his cheek.

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  That was all he needed to hear. His lips were on hers, their tongues intertwining until they were both breathless. In one smooth movement he had her shirt over her head and on the floor. He paused for a second to gaze at her.

  “Aphrodite,” he murmured, before bending to suck a tight nipple into his mouth.

  She gasped, her hands tangling in his hair to hold him captive. He wrenched away, only to pay homage to the other breast while she writhed beneath him.

  “Luca,” she whimpered.

  He kissed his way down her body, dragging her shorts off as he went down. When she finally lay totally naked before him, he sat back, his eyes shining with admiration and desire.

  “You are so unbelievably beautiful,” he said. He moved back over her, lightly dragging his body up the length of hers. He’d lost his pants at some point and every exquisite, burning inch of him seared into her body.

  “I want to take this slow, but I don’t know if I can,” he said, moving between her legs.

  She shook her head and raised her hips, grinding against him. “We have all night for slow. I want you inside me. Now.”

  Luca captured her lips again, kissing her until she panted and trembled beneath him. He left her for a brief second to fumble in the drawer beside the bed, coming back with a foil packet. She watched him roll the condom on, inch over delicious inch. He saw her watching and paused, a slow smile stretching over his lips, letting her take in the full vision of him. His black hair brushing his shoulders, those dark eyes burning into hers, knowing exactly what she was thinking, feeling, desiring. His chest, shoulders, and arms rippled with barely contained strength. He could probably tear her apart if he wanted. Instead, those large, warm hands of his trailed down her body so gently, waking every nerve ending, making her crave him.