“And a green card?”
“You got it. It’s all or nothing.”
Melina hesitated while she silently tallied the factors in Adam Blake’s favor.
He wasn’t exactly a stranger to her. A respected businessman, she’d seen him come and go through the embassy for the past two years.
His aura whenever she’d caught a glimpse of him, until today, had been clearly businesslike and above reproach.
He also appeared to be a close friend of Peter’s. That alone was enough to persuade her.
Her inner voice cautioned her to go slowly. Why was he offering to marry a woman he didn’t know instead of hiring her on as a housekeeper or nanny?
“How much of a wife did you have in mind?” she asked cautiously.
Adam blinked. He hadn’t thought that far, nor had he thought that she would accept his ridiculous proposition. All he had thought about was a way to get rid of her by suggesting the impossible. Now what would he do if she were truly serious about taking him up on his off-the-wall alternative?
And why had he listened to Peter, anyway?
He shot Melina a suggestive smile deliberately calculated to change her mind and to get them both off the hook. “Let’s just say it wouldn’t only be a marriage of convenience.”
Melina regarded him warily and rapidly considered her options. Reared to marry young, to have children and to raise a family, she was within a heartbeat of achieving her heart’s desire of going to the United States. Most women would jump at the chance to marry a man like Adam Blake instead of entering an arranged marriage. At least Adam was handsome, successful and an attentive father.
Would she come to love him? That was another story. She didn’t know him well enough to judge. Still, he had to be better than what awaited her at home. And wasn’t a marriage of convenience what her father had actually had in mind when he’d told her he would find a husband for her if she didn’t find one for herself?
Was there any difference between a stranger her father might choose for her and a man she chose for herself? she mused as she regarded Adam. Marriage and children had been her ultimate goal, hadn’t it?
Her body tingled at the thought. She had a few reservations, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn back. She held out her hand. “As they say in your country, Adam Blake, it’s a deal.”
Adam swallowed the lump in his throat. Desperate times called for desperate measures, he thought wildly, or he was going to wind up a married man again. He had to give Melina a few things to think about before the situation got out of hand. For sure, he couldn’t afford to encourage her by taking her outstretched hand. Or to tease himself. Not when he knew he had to come clean or never be able to live with himself.
“Miss Kostos,” he said after he took a deep breath. “I have to be honest with you. I’m afraid I was out of line when I said I needed a wife. My offer was impulsive, and, now that it’s out in the open, incredibly stupid. The truth is, I don’t really want a wife. I’ve been married before and I wasn’t a good husband, or so I was told. However, I do need a housekeeper or a nanny. And I do need to get one as soon as possible.”
Melina regarded him thoughtfully. Still, if he was that honest with her, she had to be honest with him. “That’s too bad, because I think I need a husband.”
“You think?” A cautious look came into his eyes.
“Well, yes,” she said with a wry smile, “but it’s not what you think. I meant it when I said I wanted to go to America and to get a green card to work there. The only way I know how to get the card is to find a sponsor and to apply through the proper channels. That might take forever.” She sighed. “Or—” she looked at him in a way that made his heart race “—I could marry an American citizen and then apply for a card. I think that would be easier. Of course,” she added, afraid he might think she was mercenary. “I promise I will…what you Americans say, pay my way by taking care of your home and your daughter.”
Adam’s mind boggled at the thought she still wanted to be his wife even after he’d confessed he wasn’t good husband material. “Just like that?”
“Yes, just like that,” she agreed. “As for my qualifications, you should know I am the oldest child in my family, with two younger brothers. If you knew my brothers, God bless them both, you would know I am well qualified to care for a little girl. As for taking care of you—” she blushed at the possible interpretation of her words and pushed forward “—I have been well trained in keeping a home.”
Adam felt bewildered…until he realized the scheme she was suggesting might work. If he didn’t want a real wife, she obviously didn’t want a real husband. She wanted a green card and a chance to see his country. A marriage certificate would, in the long run, get them both what they wanted.
“Okay. It’s a deal. Of course,” he went on, “you should realize we have to make things look legitimate or the immigration authorities at home will never buy our sudden marriage.”
Melina’s gaze turned wary. “What do you have in mind to make the marriage look real?”
“We’ll have to look as if we fell in love at first sight and couldn’t wait to get married,” he said with a hint of laughter in his voice and a twinkle in his eyes. “I’ll even get in touch with Peter and ask him to back us up. From what I know about him, he’s a real romantic. By the time I get through, he’s bound to believe I fell for you like a ton of bricks. Of course, the real reason for the marriage will have to remain between us. How does that sound?”
It was the twinkle in his eyes and the beguiling crooked smile on his lips that gave Melina pause. If Adam had been attractive and sexy when he was serious, he was even more so when he poked fun at himself. Too bad they hadn’t had time to really get to know each other, she thought wistfully. Adam Blake was the type of man she would have liked to have for a real husband.
“What did you have in mind to show we have a real marriage?” she finally asked.
“Easy. We’ll get married and go on a honeymoon. How does a weekend in Corfu sound to you?”
Chapter Two
Melina blushed. She’d agreed to go through the motions of getting married, but a honeymoon? He was talking about pretending to share the ultimate intimate interlude when they hardly knew each other! Of course, it was true that she could hardly control her attraction to him. Was it his broad shoulders, the laughter in his eyes or the strong reach of his hands set alongside hers on the table? Whatever the attraction, it was working. “A honeymoon? You’re joking, aren’t you?”
“No,” he said with a quirked eyebrow. “That’s what people do when they get married.”
Melina wasn’t sure she was comfortable with the way he was looking at her. The expression in his eyes made her feel as if he were actually imagining her in their marriage bed on their wedding night. The picture was so vivid, she instinctively warmed at the thought of his arms around her, the taste of his full, masculine lips on hers. Of heated skin gliding over heated skin and her hands running through his thick sandy-brown hair.
What might happen next if she wasn’t careful, was what bothered her. As a virgin, she could only imagine such a scenario.
Another woman might have been overwhelmed by the anticipatory gleam in Adam’s eyes, but Melina was too intelligent to believe what she saw there was real. Nevertheless, she had to admit that he was wonderfully sexy.
At the moment she felt as if he was