Heart Racer (2 page)

Why, the—

Without hesitation, Bobby kicked him in the shin.
Hard.

The sudden pain on his shin almost had Leandro cursing. His gaze snapped back to the girl, incredulity and rage lining his voice as he growled, “What was that for?”

“You have to ask?” she snapped back. He suddenly shot to his feet and Bobby almost took a step back. He really
was
tall. And
lethal.
There was an air of danger about him that she was only beginning to realize and the words
I take it back
hovered on her lips.
 

If this guy went berserk and Hulk-smashed everything in his sight, she was pretty sure she would be his first victim.

So say sorry,
her conscience urged.
You know you were rude first.

Bobby stubbornly pushed the thought away. Rude or not, she just couldn’t make herself say sorry. She was too proud to do it.
 

When the girl didn’t even say sorry and simply glared up at him mutinously, Leandro found himself experiencing a strong urge to pull her across his lap and put a stinging slap to her backside. Girls in his homeland were not like this. They knew their place, and it was to respect and serve the men in their life.

His gaze swiftly scanned their surroundings and saw that everyone inside the cafeteria was looking at them. He knew he had to leave the table. It galled him to admit that she had indeed “claimed” the table first, but Leandro knew it was true.

However, he did not intend to let her have the last word.

He gestured to the table. “It’s all yours.”

“It really is—”

Leandro stepped forward, held her by the nape, and closed his lips over hers.

She froze, shock rendering her immobile. When her lips instinctively parted in surprise, Leandro did not hesitate to deepen the kiss, his tongue moving in to brand her with his taste, making sure that she would never forget
him
and his kiss.

Leandro meant to seduce her, but what he didn’t count on was being seduced in return. Her mouth was a unique blend of sweet and spice, their sexual chemistry combustible in its explosive heat. This close, he was suddenly and explicitly aware of her softness, her womanly scent, and when his cock rose, balls aching with need, Leandro tore himself away abruptly.

Even as his body protested the sudden absence of contact, Leandro managed to look into the red-headed virago’s eyes with a cold glare. “I’m on to you,
mégaira
. All that noise was for me to notice you, wasn’t it?”

As the words sank in, she let out a loud gasp, and Leandro added silkily, “Next time, you only need to ask.”

Chapter Two

After clapping each other’s backs in greeting, Derek said dryly, “You don’t waste time, do you? I heard about what happened yesterday.” They started walking down the red carpet, both of them pausing once in a while when a particular photographer was persistent in asking for a photo.
 

Tonight, Derek’s parents were hosting a prestigious event awarding the country’s youngest and most prolific philanthropists. It was not the kind of event Leandro normally graced back home, but he was a changed man now. This event should point him in the right direction and hopefully to the most boringly perfect woman to make his temporary girlfriend.

“It was an unfortunate incident,” Leandro answered Derek with a grimace. He was not particularly proud of letting his temper get the better of him during yesterday’s incident. But he had been in a foul mood to start with, and the girl’s shrewish temperament simply made him feel like lashing out.
 

When Derek had left him yesterday at the cafeteria, Leandro had received a call from home, and the news had not been good. His father remained in the hospital as there was a strong possibility he could suffer from another heart attack.
 

The first of which
he
had caused.

“I was in a bad mood. I received news about my father’s condition and it had not been…good. It’s no excuse, but I was not myself yesterday.”

Derek said gravely, “I’m sorry about
Tio Orion,
Leandro. But he is a fighter. He will pull through.”

Leandro simply nodded, not wanting Derek to know that a part of him believed God would take his father away as Leandro’s punishment.

“By the way, who was the girl?” Derek wanted to distract his younger cousin, the dark look on Leandro’s face making it easy for him to guess what the other man’s thoughts were. He didn’t bother telling Leandro that he was not to blame for what had happened. That was something Leandro had to learn on his own.

“You know what happened. There was no way I could ask for her name.”

Derek couldn’t help grinning at that. “She really did piss you off, didn’t she?”

“She was a
shrew
.”

“Ah.” Leandro’s mother, Elena, was the sweetest woman in the world, docile and biddable – a perfect wife for a traditional Greek. She had inadvertently caused Leandro to have somewhat unrealistic expectations of women today.
 

“Never had anyone been so rude to me,” Leandro confided stiffly. In Greece, everyone – man or woman – had treated him with the utmost respect, almost bordering on worship. He was after all a Christopoulos, and more than that, he was the son of Orion Christopoulos, one of the country’s greatest politicians in
history.
If anyone had the power to reinvent Greek politics and eradicate corruption from its system, it would be his father.

He wondered if he would have acted differently if the redheaded shrew had simply asked him nicely to leave. Perhaps so. But she hadn’t, and so
that
happened.

That being the kiss that had shockingly kept him awake at night. When Leandro had finally fallen asleep, it was only to dream of him kissing her – and not just her lips this time.

Leandro’s lips tightened at the thought. Why the hell did he keep thinking about her? She was nothing –
nothing –
like his type. He liked his women tall, stunning, sexy, and above all things, he wanted his women to know that his word was law. Was that too fucking much to ask?

An usherette led them to the front row, and she took off the labels that indicated where their seats were.
 

“Please let me know if there is anything else you need,” she said warmly as she handed the Christopoulos men their copies of the program.
Wait until the girls found out about this,
she thought excitedly to herself. She had no hopes with Derek Christopoulos – only someone living under a rock would
not
know about how much he loved his fiancée. But the other Christopoulos was a different matter altogether.

Leandro Christopoulos was so deliciously manly. It was hard to accept the fact that he was indeed only twenty-one years old and still in his last year of college.

The invitation in the girl’s eyes was blatant, but Leandro simply nodded. “Thank you.” His days of one-minute stands were over – it had been the moment he found out that his wild antics had severely endangered his father’s life.

When they were left alone, Derek remarked, “I’m surprise you didn’t take her up on her offer.”

“It might get back to my father. The only girl I’m going to fuck while I’m here is my girlfriend.”

Derek sighed. “You’re insane.”

“No. Unfortunately, I’m not. I’m desperate.”

“Your father never asked you to—”

“His standings in the poll suffered because of me, and the quickest way to redeem myself in the public’s eyes is to let them know I have
changed.
No more underground races, no more women, no mor everything except whatever it is good guys do.” Leandro flipped the program over so he could see the awardees listed at the back in gold engraved letters. “This – whoever this is that won first place – this is the kind of girl I need.”

“Then you’re in for a disappointment. She is good friends with my mother, and what I know of her through Mother tells me that she is not going to agree to be your girlfriend.”

Leandro shrugged, not affected by Derek’s warning. He was not a good man, and he did not profess to know everything. But one thing he did know was women, and he knew enough that he could make them cry out in sexual release with a few flicks of his fingers. He knew where to bite, where to kiss, where
not
to touch to have them panting his name.

“She will say yes.”

An hour later, the ceremony had finally reached its end and the awardees were being called in front. Leandro straightened in his seat, impatiently waiting to see the one he had decided to make his girlfriend. He hoped she was nice enough to look at but even if she was not his type, it would not sway him from the path he had chosen to take.

“Ladies and gentlemen," Derek’s mother Samantha Christopoulos announced proudly, “I present to you our Young Philanthropist of the Year, Ms. Roberta Granger.”

A petite woman ascended the stage, dressed simply in a white blouse and slacks while the other awardees were dressed in sparkling dresses and high heels – everything that a philanthropist did
not
look like. More and more he was convinced that he had made the right choice.

She even wore glasses
, Leandro thought with approval.
 

The girl reached Samantha’s side and took the trophy from the older woman, their conversation too low for the microphone to pick up. She turned to face the crowd.

Fuck.

He said it again, this time aloud, and Derek looked at him sharply.

“What is it?” Derek asked.

Leandro said grimly, “You asked me a while ago what her name is. Well, I know now.” He nodded towards the stage. “Roberta Granger.”

It took a moment for Derek to react, and then he grinned. “Good luck, Leandro. You will need it. Badly.”

Chapter Three

“There’s a young man I want you to meet,” Samantha Christopoulos confided to her excitedly.

So that was why the older woman was holding on to her arm so tightly
, Bobby realized with a grimace. Even so, she tried to pull away. The hold tightened. Bobby sighed. “You know I adore you, Aunt Sam, but this has to stop. I’m not looking for a boyfriend.”

“You should.”

“Does my mom know you’re encouraging me to hook up?”

Samantha looked offended. “Of course!”

It was Bobby’s turn to be offended. “
She does
?”

“Oh, come on, don’t be mad at her. You know we’re both just worried about you.” Samantha squeezed the younger girl’s arm affectionately. “The problem with you is that you let the past affect you too much.”

Bobby shrugged.

“You didn’t use to be so lacking in self-confidence,” Samantha chided.

“I’m not lacking in self-confidence,” Bobby protested. “I do workshops all the time, public talks—”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it. You used to have more confidence in yourself as a woman.”

“Aunt Sam, I am confident as a woman. I’m just not as blind as I was in the past about who I really am.” Now, she understood perfectly that she was
not
the kind most men considered attractive. She was too pale, too curvy, and too smart for her own good.

She unconsciously straightened at the thought, as if preparing herself for the disdain of other people.
She didn’t care about what others thought
, Bobby told herself. What she cared most about was her charity and making sure the children who depended on her would be taken care of for the rest of their lives.

Bobby tried to pull away again, hoping she could take the older woman by surprise, but Samantha was still clinging to her tightly. “Aunt Sam, really?”

Samantha suddenly looked frail, but her voice was strong when she told Bobby, “If you leave me, everyone’s going to think you cruelly abandoned an old woman like me to party.”

Bobby groaned. “You are so sneaky.”

“Just do this for me please, Bobby. Just be nice to him and don’t let your prejudices show. I promise you’ll have fun with him.”

“I don’t have time to have fun.”

“You do. You just don’t want to.” Samantha nodded and smiled at those who greeted her but didn’t bother to stop for any of them. She had been lucky to get Bobby to cooperate with her this far, and she knew it. If she let her guard down even for a second, Samantha was sure the girl would make a mad dash for the exit.