‘Maybe he’s not pretending. It could be that he’s very much an old-style, unreconstructed and thoroughly sexist Greek tycoon-’
‘Nik’s not an old-style anything!’
‘Isn’t he? Some would say that accepting an arranged marriage for family reasons was incredibly medieval but he did it. He also runs a stable of mistresses but still has no problem regarding you as his wife-’
‘Nik looks on me as a friend but I suspect that a few years back…’ Prudence ducked her head down, wishing Leo hadn’t mentioned the mistresses as her tummy always turned queasy when anyone referred to that subject. ‘…well, back then he had a fair idea of my feelings for him. I think that’s why he didn’t ask for a divorce the minute he was free to walk out of Demakis International.’
‘You certainly took the heat off Nik Angelis there,’ Leo mused, watching her take care of the cub with the minimum of fuss. ‘Didn’t your grandfather blame you for walking out on your marriage to come back to England and look after your mother?’
‘By that stage I don’t really think my grandfather gave two hoots what I did,’ Prudence countered wryly.
Just when Theo Demakis had been in the act of divorcing his estranged wife that same year, the lady had announced that she was pregnant. Jubilant at having fathered his own child, her grandfather had lost interest in the idea of Nik and Prudence providing the next generation. Sadly, however, the story had recently reached a most unhappy conclusion when DNA testing had revealed that Theo’s son and heir was not his child after all. A very bitter divorce had taken place and the older man’s response had been anything but gracious when Prudence had written in all sincerity to offer her sympathy.
‘But as your husband, Nik may well have a different perspective on your current plans,’ Leo warned her. ‘Just watch how you break the news about the sperm bank…’
Prudence turned an uncomfortable pink. ‘I wasn’t planning to mention that just yet.’
Nik was not due until one. But a couple who had adopted a dog from the sanctuary called back for a visit and by the time they departed Prudence was running exceedingly late. She pulled on the long grey skirt and a blouse and jacket that she currently reserved for special occasions and began applying polish to her short nails in a rush. When she dropped the brush and smeared peach polish over her blouse and skirt, she could’ve screamed. The clattering whap-whap of Nik’s helicopter was already sounding overhead. Raking through a wardrobe that offered no formal alternatives, she dragged out a flouncy cerise sun dress that she kept for the garden and hauled it on. It fell to her ankles but bared her shoulders and most of her arms. Grimacing at her reflection, she unfolded a lilac pashmina and wrapped it round her as tightly and thoroughly as if she was facing a blizzard.
She liked to cover up and hated wearing anything that might draw attention to her full figure. Her mother had once wept inconsolably in her disappointment at having an only child who had failed to inherit her slender blonde beauty. Having accepted that she was homely, Prudence gave very little thought to her appearance. She was five feet two inches tall with a big bosom and generous hips. Although the adolescent plumpness she had suffered had mercifully melted away as she left the teenage years behind, she knew that she had no hope of ever attaining the tall, skinny, long-legged look of her youthful fantasies.
The helicopter landed in the paddock next to the house. Nik, immaculate in his designer-cut charcoal-grey suit, sprang out and headed for the front door. A man emerged from the barn toting a bale of hay. The two men exchanged nods. Nik hit the doorbell. Just when he was about to try the back door instead, Prudence appeared, breathless and flushed. ‘Nikolos…’
‘Pudding…’ Nik bent down to kiss her on both cheeks. Her chestnut-brown hair swung forward, her delicate floral scent filling his nostrils. He stepped back from her again, feeling oddly awkward with her for the first time in years. He wondered if he should mention that pashminas were usually draped rather than tied and decided not to bother.
Her soft blue gaze whipped over him and then off him again. As always he dazzled her. Sunshine gleamed over his short, luxuriant black hair, highlighting his superb classical bone structure and dark, deep-set golden eyes. He was so incredibly tall and well-built. She felt a little breathless and that annoyed her. She could not bear to feel any response to Nik. Friendship was asexual and she had accepted that a long time ago.
‘Oh, my goodness, I forgot to tell Leo something…excuse me,’ Prudence gasped, hurrying across the yard in pursuit of the man whom Nik had seen earlier.
Leo? But Leo was an old guy, wasn’t he? The frequency with which she mentioned that name had made it familiar to Nik. He rested his shrewd scrutiny on the handsome blond man. He tensed when Prudence rested her hand on the guy’s arm in a revealing gesture of ease and trust and laughed at something he said. A frown line drew Nik’s well-shaped ebony brows together. Who the hell was this joker? Prudence could be dangerously naive.
‘Who was that?’ Nik enquired on the way back to the helicopter.
‘Leo…My word, I forgot you hadn’t met each other! I should have introduced you-’
‘Never mind that now. I understood that Leo was about seventy-five…’
‘That was his father, Leo senior. He was a lovely old man. He used to call in every day.’ Prudence loosed a regretful sigh.
‘I remember you mentioning it…so what happened to the lovely old man?’
‘He died about eighteen months ago.’
‘You seem very friendly with his son.’
‘I ought to be…he’s been living practically next door for ages and he’s probably my closest friend on this planet! I’m very fond of him,’ Prudence confided without hesitation.
Nik’s lean, strong face clenched. Of course, there was nothing going on; he knew that. Prudence wasn’t the type. She was very honest and downright prudish. She was more interested in animal welfare and her garden than in men. With the exception of himself, of course. On the other hand, Nik had never believed that true platonic friendship was possible between men and women and he was suddenly conscious that she had been alone for a long time.
The helicopter delivered them to an exclusive country-house hotel. A table embellished with exquisite china, crystal and candles awaited them in a private room. French windows stood open on a stone balcony that overlooked the river. Having chosen her meal, Prudence wandered outside with a glass of orange juice to take in the view of the lush countryside. Too warm in the sunlight, she untied her wrap. Nik always made such an occasion of their meetings. She suppressed a pang of sadness, for she knew that she would really miss his presence in her life. But then, making things special for a woman came easily to Nikolos Angelis. Her soft eyes hardened to a surprisingly steely hue. When a guy kept three mistresses he had loads of opportunities to practise his womanising charm.
Nikolos strolled out to join her. ‘Happy birthday.’
‘Let’s not mind that now. I’ve something important to say to you and I’d just as soon say it before we sit down to eat.’ Prudence lifted her chin and smiled just a touch woodenly. ‘We got married because it was the practical thing to do…’
Nik was startled, for their conversations always remained safely rooted in the uncontroversial present. He stilled. ‘That’s not how I would put it-’
‘Does it matter how I put it?’ Prudence wrinkled her nose. ‘I only want to say that I think it’s time we divorced.’
The sudden silence seemed to rush like the unearthly quiet before a storm in Prudence’s ears.
‘Divorce?’ Nik studied her with fiercely narrowed dark eyes. ‘What is this? Where is this nonsense coming from?’
Disconcerted in turn, Prudence blinked. ‘I don’t understand. Nonsense…how is it nonsense?’
‘In my family we don’t do divorce.’
‘Don’t you?’ Unimpressed, Prudence raised a brow. ‘Well, thank goodness I’m not part of your family!’
Nik lounged back against the balustrade and surveyed her steadily. ‘You are angry with me…very angry.’
‘Anger would be too strong a word. I’m irritated. You’re making a quite unnecessary big deal out of something trivial-’
‘Since when was marriage a trivial matter?’
Although Nik was laying himself wide open for a counter-attack, Prudence valiantly resisted the temptation. ‘I don’t think I could comment on that when we’ve never had a normal marriage. Whatever, I would like a divorce now.’
Shimmering dark golden eyes lit on her like torches. ‘Why?’
The atmosphere was leaping and jumping with hostile vibrations. Thinking about her maternal ambitions,
