The Greek Bachelors Collection. Rebecca Winters

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       CHAPTER THIRTEEN

      FOR A MAN who had never wanted a wife and children, Theo was surprised how quickly he settled into marital bliss. Not that any of it was easy, but it wasn’t hard in the way he knew life could be hard. It was little blips of leasing his New York apartment—it was too good an investment to sell outright—being away from Jaya and Zephyr because of a crisis in Sydney and managing child-care until the au pair arrived since Jaya was already getting her feet wet in her new job.

      The flip side of these minor wrinkles was a smart, warm, stunning woman on his arm and in his life.

      He wasn’t a man who’d ever needed to bring the prettiest woman to the dance. Nevertheless, he’d had a roster of style conscious women who hadn’t minded an evening out on short notice. He’d given them a shopping spree and they’d relieved him of the burden of conversation for a few hours.

      Jaya elevated what he used to think of as endurance events to a new, very bearable level, bringing personality without getting too personal. Her people management skills made her the perfect hostess when they were forced to entertain. As a result, he found himself in the remarkable position of enjoying this evening’s dinner.

      Now that they were settled, she’d taken a job with the family business, choosing an upgrade project that would allow her to work closely with him. While some considered that a recipe for disaster, he had more faith. They tended to work like two halves of a whole and today had been no different, despite being a grueling one over all. However, they’d put their team in place and were kicking off the project with a dinner for spouses. It was also a soft opening for the revamped dining room in their centerpiece New York hotel.

      “There will be times when we’re asking your husband or wife to work late, so we wanted to let you know up front that we appreciate the sacrifice,” Jaya was saying, her graceful fingers resting lightly on the edge of the white tablecloth. If she was nervous speaking to the long table of nearly thirty people, her boss included, she didn’t betray it.

      “We won’t always be eating like this. I’m sure there will be sandwiches at midnight more often than not, but today was a very productive meeting and if we can keep up that momentum, we’ll be enjoying another celebration like this at the end of a very successful project.” With a teasing smile that impacted like a heart punch, she added to Theo, “Provided we’re on budget, of course.”

      “You will be.” Maybe he was biased, even a bit dazzled. He certainly wouldn’t let her fail, but he had every confidence she’d pull this off beautifully.

      “They’re so in love,” the wife of their IT specialist said, then pressed fingertips to her lips as everyone turned to look at her. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to say that so loud.”

      She was mortified and everyone else seemed amused, but Theo felt as though he’d been stripped naked in front of all of them. Was that what this was? Love?

      His sense of vulnerability, of having his deepest desire revealed, was so threatening he couldn’t look at Jaya. It would only reinforce how much she meant to him, allowing others to wield his feelings for her as a weapon. He cut an instinctive glance to the place he’d always been able to count on for cover when he was at his least guarded.

      Adara was already watching him and smoothly drew everyone’s attention to her end of the table. “We’re very excited about this pairing. Even if they weren’t married, I would have wanted Jaya to head this project, but having them so closely connected should help you all get the answers you need so you can keep moving forward.”

      Gideon made some remark about the newlyweds curtailing their honeymooning to review software code, but Theo didn’t absorb it. The luminescent curtain that surrounded them in this private dining area was supposed to give a waterfall effect, but he was drowning under the rapids at the moment. The pressure in his chest suffocated him while he tried to discern which way was up. Pressure in his ears made the room’s music sound muted while the clink of crystal tableware was like shattering glass.

      He was falling apart internally while he had to maintain an unaffected front, exactly as he always had.

      Jaya was pretty sure she’d never be able to eat here again. She couldn’t eat now, when an amuse-bouche arrived in the form of a tiny fried noodle nest with a grape tomato egg and a herb leaf feather floating in a spoonful of consume. She wanted to run away and hide from the terrible lie that she was allowing to prevail.

      Her husband didn’t love her. She wished he did. Every morning she woke next to him hoping today would be the day he’d find the words. In six weeks of marriage, no matter how happy they seemed on the surface, he had yet to speak of his feelings.

      But she had to sit here and smile at a table of mostly strangers, reminding herself that her life was actually very fulfilling. Theo did care for her in his way. He had overturned his life for her and their child, provided for them in a way that was ridiculously extravagant and always made time for them.

      Then there was the sex. As a couple, they might not be given to public displays of affection, but behind closed doors they were the clichéd newlyweds who couldn’t keep their hands off each other. They started most of their days locked in orgasm and fell asleep sweaty and tangled together.

      So what did it matter if people assumed they were in love and it was only true on one side? She was still happy, wasn’t she?

      Don’t be impatient, Jaya. Don’t ruin it.

      That was a bitter imperative to swallow when she’d spent the beginning of her life telling herself, Go after what you want. Don’t settle.

      The evening turned into the longest of her life and only became more intolerable when they said good-night to their guests at the coat room. Theo held her wool wrap and asked near her ear, “You okay?”

      This from the man who had become Robot Theo for the last two hours, tense and barely able to string two civil words together, leaving all the talking to her. If she’d found the love remark disconcerting, he’d found it insufferable.

      “I’m fine,” she mumbled as she clutched the edges of the wrap across her aching breastbone.

      Across the room, Gideon lifted Adara’s hair out from beneath the collar of her jacket. His gaze on her was tender as he cupped her face to give her a light kiss. Her smile when he drew back was radiant.

      Jaya wanted to cry. She’d settled and could never back out now, even if she hadn’t loved her husband so much she thought she’d die of it.

      “Don’t lie to me, Jaya,” he said beside her with quiet ferocity. “Even if you think it might be easier for both of us.”

      She met his gaze, but it was painful to hold. He’d see how much regret filled her. Funny how she’d thought the worst thing in the world had been being a financial burden on her uncle. No, it was far worse to be an emotional burden. She didn’t want Theo to know she loved him when he couldn’t love her back. It would be more weight on his conscience than he deserved to carry. It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t love.

      “Adara,” he called, startling Jaya with his sharp tone.

      His sister turned back from exiting with her husband.

      “Is СКАЧАТЬ