Married For The Greek's Convenience. Michelle Smart
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he had no regrets on that front. He’d disconnected the call from his mother and looked at the woman he’d married five days before and understood what a terrible mistake he’d made. His world was cut-throat and ruthless. If a woman raised in it like Ana couldn’t cope, what chance would a dreamer like Elizabeth have? She would never have been accepted or fitted into it.
It wasn’t long before they arrived at the LuLu Beach restaurant.
A waitress led them out to the terrace and to a table overlooking the beach. They sat opposite each other, both getting a good view of the tranquil surf lapping at the fine white sand like a loving puppy.
‘Water for me,’ Elizabeth said when asked what she wanted to drink.
‘Water?’ Xander queried.
‘Water.’
He shrugged and turned to the waitress. ‘One water and one bottle of beer.’
Once they were alone again he openly studied Elizabeth. The setting sun made the honey of her hair look like spun gold. ‘You look as though life has treated you well.’
He wished she would take those damned sunglasses off so he could see her eyes and gauge what she was really thinking. The sun was now set so low its glare reflected directly off them.
* * *
‘Thanks.’ Elizabeth resisted the urge to say she knew life had been treating him well. After all, Xander’s life had been all over the news and Internet for weeks.
She took a breath to calm the unexpected rage shooting through her.
Xander was her client and her clients’ private lives were none of her concern. The salacious stories about the other three men hadn’t bothered her in the slightest and she would not allow the burn that ravaged her brain whenever she imagined Xander acting out some of the described racier acts to cloud her judgement or control her emotions.
She’d thought she was prepared for this and for seeing him again but the racing of her heart and the dampness of her palms proved it to be a lie. She could have had a month to prepare and she still wouldn’t have been ready.
The waitress returned with their drinks then pulled her notepad out to take their food order. Elizabeth ordered the Yellowfin Tuna Tartare appetiser. She wasn’t hungry but it would be good to have something to nibble on, a distraction. Like most of the restaurants on the island, LuLu’s menu was a mixture of French and Creole. She’d adored the fusion when she’d been here before. She’d actively avoided both since. She’d avoided anything that would bring the memories back.
‘Why did you want to meet here?’ she asked, glad the sun was still strong enough to warrant keeping her shades on. She’d read once the eyes were the gateway to one’s true emotions. She couldn’t bear to think of Xander looking into hers and seeing the pain all the bittersweet memories were evoking.
‘It bothers you?’
‘It bothers my pride. I have no issue finding a life partner for you but I do think you could have shown some sensitivity and chosen somewhere neutral for us to meet.’
‘I don’t require a life partner. I require a wife.’
‘Is that not the same thing?’
‘A life partner suggests permanency. I only need a temporary wife.’
Removing her professional notebook from her bag, Elizabeth wrote ‘temporary marriage’ in it and circled it so heavily the nib of her pen bent.
Determined as she was to keep things on a professional footing, she couldn’t help but say, ‘Using your ex-wife to find you a new wife is one thing, but conducting the preliminary interview on the very island we met and married screams insensitive jerk to me. You have the money and resources to travel anywhere your heart desires so why here? Was it to rub my nose in it?’
When she finally looked at him, he was staring at her with a look she couldn’t interpret.
‘I had a number of reasons.’
She forced herself to remain poised. If he wanted to play mind games he could play them on his own. She was here to do a job and nothing else. ‘Tell me what kind of woman you have in mind to marry. Are there any turn-offs I need to avoid, like smokers or bearded ladies?’
Or five-foot-eight blondes with a pedigree your mother wouldn’t approve of.
She wished she had a chain-smoker with the world’s worst halitosis on her books to fix him up with.
Elizabeth waited for him to answer but his gaze remained on her, the same unfathomable expression on his gorgeous face.
Uncertainty crept up her spine. The way he was looking at her...
He took a swig of his beer then set the bottle steadily on the table.
‘I don’t need you to find me a wife, Elizabeth. I already have one.’ He leaned forward and lowered his voice. ‘There is no easy way for me to say this but you’re still my wife. Our marriage was never annulled. We’re still married.’
* * *
Xander watched the blood drain from Elizabeth’s face.
Long moments passed before she gave a quick shake of her head and finally removed her shades.
The dazzling amber eyes Xander had never forgotten finally met his, flecks of gold and red firing at him, disbelief resonating. Not even a professional actress could fake shock that well. It put the last of his doubts to rest. She hadn’t known.
Although the compression in his chest loosened a little at this, it made no difference to how things needed to proceed.
‘Elizabeth?’
Her throat moved. Her words came out in a croak. ‘Our marriage was annulled.’
‘Our annulment was rejected by the judge at the last hurdle.’
Blinking rapidly, she put her sunglasses back on and pushed them up to sit atop her head. ‘You’re not joking, are you?’
He shook his head and watched her slump in her chair.
She inhaled heavily. ‘I don’t get it.’
Xander had a two-week heads up on it and he still didn’t understand. ‘Did you ever receive official confirmation?’
Her eyes were wide and bewildered before she put her elbows on the table and rubbed at her forehead. ‘I received confirmation of the paperwork. I remember that. I remember it saying it would be rubber-stamped within a month, or whatever the time frame was.’ She looked back at him. ‘It was ten years ago. I don’t remember all the details.’
‘But you don’t remember receiving the official annulment?’
‘I...’ She slumped some more. ‘I moved out.’
‘Moved out from where?’
‘My mother’s. I left home soon after I received the confirmation letter. Mom was supposed to forward all my mail to me but she didn’t. I ended up having to redirect it myself.’ She straightened and let out a forced shaky laugh, muttering, ‘I can’t believe her.’
Their marriage had been too short-lived to get to the ‘meet the parent’ stage. They’d both been so wrapped up in each other they’d hardly spoken of their families. All he’d known of hers was that her parents were divorced and she was an only child. She’d taken a vacation to St Francis on the back of an inheritance she’d received from her paternal grandmother.
Elizabeth shook her head, trying to clear it of all the noise crowding in it. She felt as if she could explode. She shoved her chair back and got to her feet. ‘I need to walk.’
He stayed seated, a set look on his handsome face, his blue eyes turning to steel as they held hers. ‘You can walk later. Right now we need to talk.’
Her stomach clenched and there was