The Tycoon's Marriage Exchange (8 page)

What would she do if he touched her in an intimate way?  Her body flushed and became heated at just the thought of Hector’s strong, elegant hands on her.  He was so strong, would he hurt her?
  Would he inadvertently touch
her too roughly? 

No.  He was too controlled, and he
’d been with too many other wome
n so he knew exactly how to touch a
female
and not bruise or mar the skin. 

She hated the thought of Hector being with all those other women, who had probably only been after his money.  Okay, so she was after his power and his ability to resolve this problem with her family.   She acknowledged a large share of hypocrisy in that statement.  But she was determined to be a good wife to him.  And she already cared a little for his feelings.  Hopefully, she could learn to love the strange, moody man who was so kind to her and her family.

Since Kallista had rejected the credit card,
Hector had arranged for someone to send over dresses or outfits so she thankfully didn’t need to shop for clothes for all the events, but it irked her that he’d gotten around the credit card issue.  She’d really wanted to pay for her own clothes, but at the time, she’d had no idea how many clothes she would need.  He had an event practically every night
and this file showed her the need for a different outfit if the press were photographing her so often
. 

Her cell phone buzzed and
Kallista
looked at the number, sighing
with resignation.  Hector was calling her once again.  Or more specifically, his secretary was calling.  Most likely to give her details about tonight’s function, whatever that was. 
Kallista
had a schedule that his secretary had e-mailed to her earlier but she didn’t remember anything being on tonight’s schedule.
  She’d really been hoping to have a free night. 

As she picked up her phone, she wished that he would call her
himself
every once in a while.  She loved his deep voice and she secretly enjoyed the authority in his
tone
.  Unfortunately, the only time she got to enjoy his voice was when they were together physically since he was so busy in meetings or whatever he did during the day. 
She’d never admit that to him, though.  The man had way too much confidence and telling him that she liked his voice might give him too much control over her.  She had little as it is. 

“Hello?” she asked cautiously, half wishing she could just ignore the call.

“
Kallista
, its Hector.  How is your day going?”

She straightened up at her desk, wondering what had initiated this call by the great man himself.  And
sure enough, that shot of excitement just zoomed through her body, making her heart accelerate and weird things start tingling inside of her.  Goodness, the man had a sexy voice! 

“
I’m doing well.  How is your day going?” she asked, just as
painfully
polite.  It was
exceedingly
odd they way he acted around her. 
He had a sort of old world charm with the manners to match, never acting casual or just tossing her a “Hey” or “How are things going?”  It was always the
decorous
language and
even that she liked somehow. 
What did that say ab
o
ut her? Was she a snob?  Or maybe she was just tired of guys being obnoxious fools who had no respect when addressing her. 

He
didn’t act this way around his peers, if anyone could really be considered a peer with Hector Christophe.  But when he chatted
with
the people he met while at social functions
, she’d noticed
that he was more laid back, more relaxed
.  He was friendly and polite, but definitely not this formal.  It was
as if
he created some sort of distance between the two of them by using a formal tone of voice and old world gentlemanly body language when she was near, like holding his hands behind his back when they were walking or tucking her arm into his elbow
whenever he escorted her from the car to the building or into her parents’ house or her apartment
.  It was sweet in a romantic kind of way, but it also made her nervous.  She sometimes wished she had the courage to reach up and mess
up
his
flawless
hair or see him without a perfect shave
and immaculate dress
. 
Did he ever spill coffee on his tie?  Or maybe just dump a glass of water on his lap accidentally? 
Couldn’t he just nick himself while shaving one morning, just so she would know that he was human? 

She doubted it.  Hector Christophe was very controlled, very dignified.  Extremely precise. 

She came back to the conversation, smiling secretly that he’d made the call himself. 
“Very productive.  Thank you for asking.”  There was a pause and
Kallista
thought that he might be trying to decide what to say next. 

“Was there an event you needed me to attend tonight?  I didn’t notice anything on the calendar your secretary sent me late last week.”

Hector heard her tone of voice and thought twice about issuing the invitation for tonight.  It seemed almost ridiculous now, but he’d wanted to spend some time with her.  Alone.  He wanted to understand this woman who always seemed eager to please him, acted attentive at all the events over the past couple of weeks, but whenever he touched her, she shivered and pulled back, if not outright cringed with his touch.  The few times he’d let his impatience show towards her reaction, she’d shrunk back even more, only to come out and change into the most gregarious, flirty woman he’d ever known.  She would touch him, caress him, look up at him with adoring eyes, but only in the presence of others. 

Tonight’s invitation was really just to understand better what he was getting into prior to the wedding.  He wouldn’t call it off.  He owed too much to Kallista’s father and all he’d done over the years.  Demetrius’ absolute faith in Hector’s intelligence and inherent goodness meant everything to Hector and there was nothing that he wouldn’t do to help
Demetrius
. 

Even if it meant entering into a hellish marriage where he wanted his wife with a desire that drove him insane and caused him to have vivid dreams about making love to her, having her voluptuous body wrapped around him and screaming out his name as he made her climax over and over again.  Only to wake up in a cold sweat almost every morning with an erection that was painful because he suspected there was no way he would ever find relief in his future wife’s arms. 

With a sigh of determination, he pushed those dreams, or night
mares depending on how one looked
at them, out of his mind and focus
ed on the phone conversation. 
“Nothing urgent.  And the absence of any official event is actually the reason I called.  I was wondering if we might have a quiet dinner together tonight.  Just the two of us so we can get to know one anot
her a little better.  Maybe have a
conversation that isn’t overheard by three hundred of our closest friends,
”
he joked and was relieved to hear her soft laughter. 

Kallista was surprised by his teasing but sincerely appreciative of
the invitation. “It does seem a little odd to be contemplating marriage to someone and we barely know each other.”
  And if the truth were told, she was extremely tired of the
seemingly
endless functions this man needed to attend.  It was astonishing how much business he was able to conduct during these social events so she didn’t begrudge him the time spent.  And if it helped him to have her there with him, she was willing to attend as well, but a night off was needed. 
H
is invitation sounded perfect
after the round of social events they’d attended lately
. 

“Exactly.  So are you available?”

“Of course.  And I appreciate the gesture.”

“Good.  I’ll pick you up at seven o’clock if that’s convenient for you.”

“That would be fine,” she replied
, her voice automatically
mimicking
his formal responses
.

“I’ll see you later then,” he answered and disconnected the call.

Kallista
almost laughed at the conversation.  If any other engaged couple had spoken to each other like that, she would have told both parties to run in opposite directions as fast as possible.  But in their situation, it was probably expected.  Hopefully, they could break through that formality tonight with a quiet dinner. 

Well, a dinner that was most likely prepared by one of his chefs and served on a silver platter by one of his many servants
might not be exactly what she was hoping for, but it was probably as close as she was going to get
.  The man entertained a great deal for his businesses so he needed a large staff on hand, but she couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have them there when not entertaining.  In her mind, she pictured an old fashioned dining room with footmen standing at attention near the side
buffets
while the lord and lady of the household dined at opposite ends of a long, polished table. 

She shook her head, dismissing the fanciful picture and refocusing on her
report
.  She had to get this one finished and submitted to her editor before the deadline, whic
h was fast approaching.  That meant specifically not fantasizing about a tall, attractive male that she only wished she could understand. 

Besides, she might as well get used to that type of
formal
dining.  After she married the man, she suspected that formal meals, even Saturday or Sunday breakfasts would no longer be a pajama type experience. 
She’d never give up the occasional night eating pizza on the couch and watching a movie though!  He’d just have to do something else or learn to cope. 

Two hours later, she looked in the mirror and smoothed the dress down over her stomach and hips, her hands shaking with nerves.  It wasn’t the idea of seeing Hector again
that was making her nervous
.  It was the idea of seeing him alone that seemed to bother her. 

Okay, bother her was the wrong word.  Being alone with Hector…terrified, fascinated, excited and made her shiver with dreaded anticipation.  She wasn’t sure if she would be able to eat tonight, sitting across the table with him, no one to distract her from his intimidating presence or those
intense, grey eyes. 

Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to worry about
all those things
and tried
to
calm down since the doorbell was ringing, indicating that he was already here.  She glanced at her watch and groaned with frustration.  Did the man have to be so prompt?  Couldn’t he be just a few minutes late once in a while?
  Didn’t he know that a woman needed to primp and fuss for a moment before her man came calling?

She was walking to her apartment door and hesitated.  “Her man”?  Hector wasn’t anyone’s possession but it was certainly nice to think of him as her own. 

Or was he?  Did he possibly have another woman on the side?  Someone who was giving him the things she was too afraid to give him?  Like sex
?
  Or even simple affection? 

He probably had a mistress, she thought and wondered why that idea bothered her so much.  She was so angry at the idea that he could be cheating on her even before they were married.  She hated the idea of someone touching Hector, of doing things with him that…okay, so she was afraid to do with him but that didn’t mean she wanted someone else to do those things with him! 

She
angrily
picked up her coat and purse, then met him at the door.  She pasted a smile of greeting on her face and stepped out of her apartment. “Hello,” she said politely as he stepped
back and let her lock her door, all thoughts of a mistress were gone simply by his enormous presence outside her apartment.  He was so handsome and so large.  Why did she forget his size each time she was away from him?  Why couldn’t he be a bit smaller so she didn’t feel so tiny and breakable around him? 

“You look nice,” he replied, his grey eyes taking in her lemon colored dress that hugged her hips and breasts snuggly, making his palms itch to feel her figure, to learn more about her curves and what made her gasp with pleasure. 

She looked him up and down with his dark suit, noticing for the first time that he wasn’t wearing a tie.  And it wasn’t a suit this time around but a sports coat and slightly more casual slacks.  “Wow!  No tie?” she teased and was glad when he took it in the humorous way she’d intended.

“I lighten up occasionally,” he countered.  He took her coat and held it up for her and
Kallista
realized that she probably should have let him into her apartment for these niceties.  She hadn’t because there was just something too intimate about having him in her personal domain.  He was a very large man and her apartment wasn’t that big because her salary as a journalist wasn’t significant.  At least not yet, she thought with relish.