The Greek Tycoon's Wife by Kim Lawrence Page A

pigs overhead, but had she been, she would definitely have challenged this outrageous sexist assumption that she needed permission…that she wasn’t capable of making her decisions.
    Oh, my goodness, wouldn’t I just! she thought grimly.
    Obeying another of those unwise impulses , Katie lifted her head and for a split second her eyes meshed with midnight-dark orbs. It was long enough to reveal Nikos seemed to be really steamed up. This struck Katie as particularly perverse; she was the one who’d been made to feel a totalfool. How dared he go around telling everyone she was his wife? As for the image the guy had drawn so vividly of a woman pushed beyond reason by an overriding compulsion to save her man, she had thought she would die from sheer embarrassment!
    â€˜Lean on me,’ Nikos wanted to throttle the woman, but felt obliged to put aside his natural inclinations and offer his assistance having watched her painfully hobble a few steps while maintaining the pretence every one didn’t hurt her like hell.
    â€˜I’d prefer to crawl on my hands and knees.’
    The air hissed through his clenched teeth as he exhaled. ‘As you wish,’ he replied stiffly.
    He made no concessions to her injury as he strode off, not that Katie wanted or expected any, but the grim smile pinned on her lips got harder and harder to maintain with each step.
    â€˜So were you so frightened for me that you were willing to risk your life in a futile attempt to rescue me?’ Nikos’s dark, sardonic voice observed somewhere above her head.
    Katie’s spirits, already badly mauled, sank to knee-level. Her worst fears were confirmed. This was exactly what she’d been dreading—he’d thought about her crazy rescue bid and come to the conclusion she’d acted that way because she was nursing some burning passion for him. Maybe he half expected women to fall in love with him? And maybe that expectation was usually justified, an ironic voice in her skull suggested.
    Actually, when you thought about it, it was quite funny.
    Despite recognising the humorous potential of the situation Katie found herself unable to laugh or even smile. She was, however, seized by a desperate need to establish that she was not one of the worshipping masses.
    â€˜It wasn’t like that…’ She paused and gave a frustrated sigh; how could you explain away why you did somethingwhen you didn’t know yourself? ‘I didn’t think…’ she revealed lamely.
    â€˜That I never doubted,’ he incised grimly. ‘For the past seven years when I have thought of you at all it has been as a shrewd, hard-headed young woman who, despite an extraordinarily innocent exterior, is capable of bending the rules ruthlessly to get what she wants. In short, a woman well able to take care of herself.’
    He exhaled and dragged a hand roughly through his dark hair. ‘That is what I expected, you understand? A woman like you should know how to negotiate. But what do I get?’ His revolted gaze came to rest on the top of her head, which had she been able to stand upright would have just topped his shoulder. ‘You…!’ He shook his head and, with an expression of rampant exasperation, began to list the traits he had discovered her to possess. ‘Not only are you opinionated to the point of derangement…’ he choked.
    Good grief , she thought, lifting her astonished eyes to his furious face. I needn’t have worried—he doesn’t think I’m in love with him, he just thinks I’m crazy! Could be he’s not far out, she thought, contemplating the firm contours of his mouth with an expression of dreamy speculation.
    â€˜Do not interrupt!’ he thundered, holding up his hand. ‘You are sentimental and you possess no sense of self-preservation whatever. I am a patient man…’ he revealed without a trace of irony.
    Too late, Katie clamped her hand