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earlier—was enough to warn her that she needed to be careful.
    Very careful.
    These were dangerous feelings. This marriage wasn’t going to be for real. She mustn’t let herself get carried away and lose all sense of direction. It was for one year. Twelve months. Three hundred and sixty five days. That was all.
    If she wasn’t sitting right next to him and her mind was working properly she could have divided it into hours and minutes, seconds even. And afterwards it would end. She and Vidal would go their different ways. The job would be done.
    The job! How had she got herself into this? How was she going to go through with it?
    ‘What are you thinking?’
    ‘That I must be crazy,’ she answered without thinking.
    ‘If you’re crazy then I’ve never seen a more beautiful crazy woman.’ During the few days that he’d been away Vidal hadn’t been able to get Elena out of his mind. She had danced before his eyes night and day. The meetings he’d attended had held his attention for a few hours at a time, but once they were over the amazing Elena had been back in his thoughts.
    He couldn’t wait to make her his bride and take her to bed. He actually wanted to make love to her this very minute, but he knew that if he took things too quickly she might very well back out of the whole thing.
    She smelled gorgeous. He didn’t know what the perfume was called, probably Aphrodisiac. If it wasn’t it should be. He hadn’t felt like this since—since when? The truth was he had never felt like this in his whole life.
    Elena had an inner beauty, an untouched air about her, and he desperately wanted to find out what made her tick. It was the biggest wonder in the world that some other guy hadn’t snapped her up. Would she be hot in bed? Experienced? Or a total novice? His groin ached at the very thought. So many questions, so much he needed to discover about her. But where to begin? How to make her feel at ease?
    At this moment she looked as though she wanted to be anywhere but here. Her incredible eyes were shaded by long silky lashes, her full and tempting lips pressed tightly together. He was not used to women backing away from him.
    ‘Are you scared of me, Elena?’ It wasn’t what he’dwanted to say, but the words had slipped out before he could stop them.
    With a toss of her head her thick black fringe fell over one eye, making her look coquettish, though he knew that that was the last thing she would want. Coquettishness was not Elena’s style.
    ‘Is that what you think? Actually, I was wondering why we need to talk. Our families can arrange the wedding. There’s nothing that you and I need to do. Just turn up,’ she added bitterly.
    ‘Not so, Elena.’ He felt a flash of anger at her apparent indifference. ‘You need to choose your wedding dress, your bridesmaids, and we should shop together for rings. Then there’s the guest list—we should have a say in that. There’s a whole host of stuff to do. I’ll happily leave some of the organising to our parents, but there’s still plenty for us if we’re to make this marriage look genuine.’
    ‘But it isn’t genuine,’ she retorted with another flash of her spectacular eyes.
    ‘No one is going to know that,’ he cautioned, his silver eyes growing fierce. ‘No one. Do you understand?’
    Elena nodded. Nevertheless her eyes warred with his. ‘I should tell you now that I’m not a good actress.’
    ‘You won’t need to be,’ he growled, and forgetting the warning he had given himself earlier, he hooked a hand lightly behind her neck and lowered his head to hers.
    Elena had known what would happen when he kissed her again. It was why she had kept her distance, why she had not let him see by the merest movement of her eyes that she was turned on by him. And now it was too late.
    The instant his mouth touched hers she went up in flames. Without conscious thought her lips parted and the feelings that raced through her were volcanic. It was as though