to her friends before the ceremony. The off-the-rack dress had been all she could find to resemble a wedding dress on short notice, she’d said.
His usual dark blue business suit, white shirt and blue-and-white striped tie suited him just fine. But, what was embarrassing had been the duplicate floral wreaths Melina had produced for them to wear on their heads during the ceremony. He’d been tempted to beg off, but considering how much of a traditional Greek wedding Melina had given up by agreeing to today’s ceremony, he’d caved in.
Girls seemed to be made of more than sugar and spice, he thought as he gazed at his bride out of the corner of his eye. They were the weavers of dreams and the stuff that could hold a marriage together—if their husbands were willing to cooperate. With one failed marriage behind him, he was afraid this marriage, real or not, wasn’t destined to fare any better than his first.
He couldn’t remember ever having seen a more beautiful bride than Melina, he thought as she laughed at something Arianna said, blushed then glanced at him. He tried to look as if he hadn’t noticed, but it didn’t take much imagination to guess that the remark had been about the wedding night.
If this had been a real marriage, he would have been looking forward to the wedding night and the short honeymoon. Instead, since he was an honorable man, it was going to have to be hands off his bride, with an annulment somewhere down the line. He didn’t need the complications of having to go through another divorce. One had been bad enough.
One step at a time, he told himself. One step at a time. What he had to do was to somehow get through the rest of the evening and the brief honeymoon without touching his new wife. It wasn’t going to be easy, he thought ruefully when his body stirred at the sound of Melina’s fresh burst of laughter.
Maybe it was just as well the marriage was temporary, he mused wryly. He wasn’t husband material. A woman deserved something more than a husband who spent two out of four weeks on the go. At least, that’s what his ex had said when she’d asked for a divorce.
In spite of his attempt at pragmatic rationalization, the idea of a temporary, unconsummated marriage didn’t sound as sensible now as it had before. Not when the bride had already made giant inroads to his psyche.
He told himself Melina would get something out of the marriage—a green card. In fact, he’d already started the paperwork to get one for her as the wife of an American citizen. The way bureaucratic red tape usually inched along, he was afraid that the two-year mandatory wait was going to be trouble.
“Congratulations, my friend,” Peter said after he’d rejoined Adam. “Who would have thought an unromantic and pragmatic American like yourself would fall in love with a romantic Greek woman, and at first sight?” He stood back and regarded Adam with a quizzical look. “And even to agree to wear the traditional wedding wreath.”
Adam shrugged and glanced at the beribboned wreaths Melina now held in her hand. “It was Melina’s idea. I understand the custom brings good luck to a marriage,” he said, knowing he’d been a fraud to have agreed to wear the wreath.
Peter was right about him, Adam thought as he studied his beautiful bride. He always prided himself on being honest and straightforward to a fault. His friends had accused him of being overly cautious, straitlaced and without a sense of humor.
If they could only see him now.
“Wait a moment,” Melina called, rushing to his side. She took a rose out of one of the wreaths and tucked it into the buttonhole in his lapel. “There,” she said with a shy smile. “Something for you to remember this day.”
Adam looked into Melina’s intriguing lavender eyes—and all his nerve ends began to tingle. Real marriage or not, he wouldn’t need the rose to help him remember today’s wedding. Or that she was his wife. She was the kind of woman a red-blooded man would never forget.
Melina saw a fleeting look of regret flit over Adam’s eyes. If he was having second thoughts about their marriage bargain, she hoped it wasn’t because of her. She intended to be a good wife to Adam even if their bargain called for sleeping on separate pillows.
“Is something wrong?”
“Not really.” Adam made a show of glancing at his watch. “I was just thinking it’s about time to set off on our honeymoon.”
Melina’s mind whirled at the word “honeymoon” and all its usual connotations. The way Adam had kissed her and the way he was looking at her now made her hormones stand at attention. He had to be the temptation her strict father had warned her against, but at the moment she didn’t care. Too bad she’d asked for a no-touching rule, she thought as she thrust temptation behind her for now. “Where are we going?”
“I have a friend, Yannis Alexacki. He’s offered to lend us his villa on Corfu.”
Melina felt herself blanch and her stomach roil at the mention of Corfu. Any sensuous thoughts she might have entertained at the thought of really honeymooning with Adam flew out of her mind. “Corfu?”
“Yes. Yannis has become a good friend over the years. He’ll be able to swear we’re in love and on a real honeymoon.”
“A witness? To our honeymoon?”
Adam fought back the smile at the look on Melina’s face. “Don’t worry. Once he gives us the key, he’ll leave us alone.” And so will I, he added to remind himself this was to be a platonic marriage. When Melina didn’t look convinced, he tried to reassure her. “I arranged a honeymoon for a reason. When the United States Immigration department investigates us for your green card, Peter can swear he witnessed our wedding and Yannis will be able to swear we honeymooned at his villa.”
“But, Corfu is an island!” she blurted.
Adam looked confused. “Right. Any problem with that?”
Melina was too embarrassed to tell Adam she became seasick just thinking of a boat. “We go by boat?”
“Don’t worry,” Adam assured her. “The voyage to Corfu doesn’t take too long.”
“Long enough,” Melina muttered.
“You’re not having second thoughts, are you? I’m afraid it’s a little too late to cancel now.”
“No. It’s just that I tend to get a little seasick,” Melina said bravely. What man wanted a seasick bride on a honeymoon, even if the honeymoon wasn’t going to be a real one? She’d come this far to escape her father and an arranged marriage—now was not the time to think of turning back. “I’m ready to leave whenever you are.”
Adam motioned to the wedding guests. “We’ll leave just as soon as we say goodbye.”
“You can’t leave now,” Eleni protested when she heard Adam’s plans for a honeymoon. “It’s a custom in our country for the bride and groom to share a meal together at their wedding.”
Melina glanced at Adam. “Do we have time?”
By now Adam had had all the Greek customs and promises he could handle, including Melina’s no-touching rule. He tried to look like an eager bridegroom. “Thank you, but we have a boat to catch.”
With a dramatic sigh, Eleni dug into her purse and pulled out little paper bags filled with rice and tied with ribbons. After passing them to Peter and Arianna, she blew air kisses at Adam and Melina and, shouting, “Hopa!” she tossed the rice into the air. “May you be blessed with many children!”
Melina’s smile faded as she glanced at Adam and saw a startled look come over his face. He was right. With the no-touching rule, there would be no chance of their having children. The idea of a son that resembled Adam made her ache with a longing she’d never taken the time to dwell on before. Even though the rule had been her idea, after promising to love, honor and cherish Adam, she was almost ready to change her mind if he asked her to.
Adam swallowed hard as a grain of rice hit him above his right eye. He wasn’t going to stick around to hear