"For me, it has been exclusive."
Something in her that she had not even realized had gone tense, relaxed a little. "For me, too."
"Where did you think this relationship of ours was going, if not marriage?"
"I thought maybe first...to bed," she answered honestly. Did they even have a relationship?
Casual dating yes...but a relationship?
He cursed in Greek. She recognized the word from a summer she had spent studying ancient civilizations in his former homeland. It was a very nasty curse. "I don't believe you just said that."
That caught her up short. "Why?" To her, it was a perfectly natural conclusion to make.
"It is unlike you."
"Perhaps you don't know me as well as you think you do." It might not be considered appropriate to discuss such matters in a public place, but she didn't give as much credence to proper behavior as everyone seemed to think she did. Or as her mother thought she should.
Honesty was far more important to her.
And the fact was, he clearly did not know her all that well if he was shocked she'd had the temerity to mention sex. Marriage to a man who was that ignorant of her inner person was not a wholly appealing proposition. If it had not been him doing the proposing, it would hold no appeal at all.
"I do know you," he insisted.
Exasperated, she shook her head. "Not that way."
"I know enough to be certain of our compatibility."
"Because we've shared a few kisses?"
"We have shared more than kisses." His now molten gaze reminded her just how much more.
But as far as they'd gone, he always pulled back. Except once. The first time they'd kissed, it had almost gotten out of hand very quickly. Frightened by a wealth of emotion she wasn't used to experiencing, she'd pulled back. Since then, he had done more than kiss her, but he'd never let the passion flare so hot and he'd certainly never made love to her completely.
"Yes, we have, but it's the very fact that we've shared just so much that makes me wonder if we are as compatible in that way as you seem to think."
"Why should you wonder this? It is obvious that you want me." His Greek accent got thicker when he was upset. She'd noticed that during a heated business phone call she'd overheard once, but it had never happened between them before.
She couldn't feel badly that it was happening now. She was glad to know she could make him angry. She needed the assurance that she could impact his emotions because he certainly impacted hers. Though she would much prefer evidence of another sort of emotion and she didn't appreciate his sentiment at all.
"Yes," she said between gritted teeth, "I do want you, but I'm not so sure you want me. And I'm not going to spend my life married to a man who is going to look for his passion outside of our marriage bed."
"Who said I would do this?" he demanded, his voice guttural and so thick with accent she had to concentrate to understand the words.
"Who said you wouldn't?"
"I say."
"I want to believe you, but-"
"There is no but. My honor is not in question here."
"I wasn't talking about your honor. I was talking about sex."
"You brought up the possibility I would violate the bonds of our marriage...that is a matter of personal honor and one I do not take lightly."
She was glad to hear that, but it didn't answer the real problem gnawing at her. He was business associates with her mother, how much did that have to do with this marriage proposal? She simply couldn't convince herself that Nikos was suffering from shyness in admitting undying love. The man was far too confident...if he felt something for her, he would have said so. Yet, how did a woman ask if the man proposing was doing so as part of a business arrangement or if he wanted her personally? The blunt approach would probably be best.
Nikos wasn't the type to respond well to subtlety.
"Do you want me...I mean for my own sake, not simply because I'm my mother's daughter?"