‘Anna is not my concern,’ Rion finally responded. ‘Though commendably you have made her yours. What I find odd is why you need money so quickly. I gave you a generous settlement for a brief nine weeks of marriage … I’d be interested to know what you have been doing since the divorce to spend it all.’
He casually slipped his arm along the back of the seat and let his hand rest on her shoulder. He felt the slight quiver in her slender frame.
‘As you know I’m a businessman, and I don’t throw good money after bad.’ He watched her long lashes lower, masking her expressive eyes, and knew she was not as unaffected as she pretended. He waited …
Selina was no longer cool. She wanted to shrug Rion’s hand off her shoulder, but the past few years had taught her to show no weakness where men were concerned, and bluntly she told him the truth.
‘I went to university, as originally planned. Aunt Peggy called to tell me I had passed my exams the week before we married. I was offered a place at university. She suggested I accept and then talk it over with you later. I agreed simply to keep her happy,’ she said honestly. ‘I mentioned it to you the same night, but you barely listened in between taking calls and working on your laptop as usual …’ She shot Rion a scathing glance. ‘Anyway, when I returned to England at the end of September luckily I was in time to take up my place at university. Three years later I got my degree, and since then I have travelled the world as a translator. Mandarin and Arabic are very popular and always in demand. I make a good living. I gave the bulk of my settlement to a children’s charity.’
Selina did shrug her shoulder now, hoping to dislodge the disturbing warmth of Rion’s hand from her skin, but it didn’t happen.
Orion Moralis—a highly successful man of the world—was for an instant struck dumb. He’d had no idea Selina had accepted a place at university. He had naturally assumed that when she’d agreed to marry him she had given up the idea of further study. Had he really been so arrogant, so insensitive, he barely listened to her?
Yes, he had, he realised. Her willing body in his bed had been enough for him and he had never given much thought to anything else. Work had been his main priority at the time.
For a moment he was slightly ashamed. Then he remembered the divorce … and exactly how clever Selina was. He was not surprised she’d got her degree—but as for the rest …
He glanced down at her, his dark eyes narrowing as they met cool amber and then roamed over the beautiful face, the sultry pink lips that invited a kiss. ‘Very noble of you,’ Rion offered, but the cynic in him found it hard to believe she’d given that much money to charity.
She was a sophisticated lady, so she had travelled the world and enjoyed the high life till the money ran out, probably. But he had never met a more sensual woman. He only had to look at Selina even now to be turned on, and he knew he was not alone among the male population. Hell! Seeing a face and body like Selina’s, a host of men would queue up to employ her even if she spoke gibberish. The dress she wore was designer label, as were the shoes. He knew because he had bought a few in his time, and it was more than likely some man had provided them for her … Not that it mattered to him—in fact, it made it easier.
‘In that case, Selina, I am certain we can make a deal.’
CHAPTER FOUR
SELINA glanced up at Rion. His statement was music to her ears.
‘You are …? We can?’ she exclaimed with a relieved smile. ‘Thank heaven for that. I’ll go and tell Anna.’ She made to rise but Rion’s arm slid from the bench down her back, his hand gripping her side.
‘Not so fast, Selina. You have not heard what I am offering.’
Suddenly Selina was acutely aware of how close they were. Never mind worrying about Rion’s touch on her shoulder—she knew she was in much deeper trouble. The pressure of his long-fingered hand against her ribcage was perilously close to the underside of her breast. He moved slightly, his taut thigh pressing against her leg, and to Selina’s dismay she could feel an old familiar heat flooding through her veins.
How had that happened?
‘In any successful deal both parties have to be satisfied, you would agree?’ Rion queried, his dark eyes boring down into hers.
She would have had to be blind not to notice a different question in the black depths. Selina tensed as her stomach lurched, and she fought to break free from the hypnotic power of his intent gaze.
‘Yes.’ She nodded her head to break eye contact. An inner voice of reason was telling her she must get this conversation over with as quickly as possible, while her body was telling a different story. Her immunity to Rion was suddenly taking a stomach-churning nosedive.
‘Good. I’m quite happy to cancel the trust and buy back the shares you hold at their present value.’ Rion mentioned a sum of money that made Selina gasp. ‘You will easily have enough to take care of Anna and do whatever else you want to do.’
‘That’s very generous of you. I’ll—’
‘I haven’t finished,’ Rion cut in, his free hand sweeping back the long length of her hair from one shoulder to curve around the nape of her neck. A thumb seemingly idly stroked her throat, making each separate nerve end tingle and tauten in response. ‘To satisfy me, Selina, I want you to join me on the yacht for the next two weeks—as my lover.’
Fighting against the sensual awareness that his close proximity aroused, Selina thought for a moment she had heard wrong … Rion couldn’t have asked her to be his lover … Then she looked into his eyes and for a moment was transported back in time. The desire in the black depths was a potent reminder of what they had once shared.
Helplessly, she stared at him, her mind screaming that he was worthless, she hated him, even as her pulse accelerated like a rocket in shameful response to the promise of passion in his gaze, to the warmth of his hand curved around her neck.
Then he spoke, and as the import of his words sank in she snapped back to reality.
‘Think of it as the honeymoon we never had, Selina, but without the marriage. No strings attached. I buy back the shares, you get the money, and no further contact between us—business or otherwise—will be necessary.’
Her eyes widened and she glared with rising anger at his handsome face. He was smiling complacently. How dared the arrogant devil assume he could walk back into her life and insult her by trying to blackmail her into his bed when he had so spectacularly thrown her out before? It was too incredible to believe! And to actually suggest calling the trip a honeymoon was so callous—the man had to have about as much sensitivity as a block of granite. But why was she surprised? she asked herself. She already knew that …
They had spent their wedding night on the Moralis yacht, cruising back to Athens. Rion had promised to take her on a dream honeymoon a week later but it had never happened …