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  Eva worried her bottom lip. That’s if she had the time to pull off such a plan. It depended on how sick her father was.

  She rounded the car and popped open the trunk, stuffing her things inside.

  “Eva, I…I like your dress.”

  She swiveled to find Adam standing directly behind her. She was struck again by how very tall he was and how very…wide. He smiled and the dimple in his chin winked at her. She was filled with a momentary desire to slip the tip of her finger into that cleft, then run that fingertip along the edge of his jawline, tracing a path down to his smooth-skinned neck….

  Instead she cleared her throat and glanced down at the peasant-style dress she wore.

  “Yes, well, it’s not exactly office attire, but it’s what my parents would expect me to wear.” What her father would want her to wear. She slammed the trunk closed along with her runaway thoughts. “Speaking of my parents, we’re late.”

  Adam wrapped his fingers around hers, the burst of heat his touch caused making the day seem cool in comparison. “Here, why don’t you let me drive the rest of the way.”

  He pried the keys from her fingers. “All right.”

  She stared at him a moment. She didn’t know what it was, but there was something about Adam that didn’t add up. Just when she thought she had him figured out, he did something that threw her, something that didn’t seem in character with the nerdy, shy guy she was coming to like. Something that set off warning bells in her head and caused awareness to curl through her.

  “Are you ready?” he asked. “I don’t know about you, but I’m so nervous that if we don’t do this quick, I’ll be tempted to call off the whole deal and go back to New Jersey.”

  She grinned. She was being ridiculous, of course. Her occasional reactions to Adam as a man were little more than hormones run amok. Adam was exactly what he appeared to be: a nice guy who posed no emotional threat to her whatsoever. More brother than lover material.

  “You’re right. Let’s get this over with,” she said, heading for the driver’s side.

  Adam caught her wrist. “You’re over there.”

  “Oh. That’s right.”

  They climbed into the car and Adam started the engine.

  “Should we stop somewhere for a quick bite first?” Adam backed the car up.

  “Bite?” Eva shuddered, the mere mention of food sending her stomach hurtling into her throat. She’d had a difficult time forcing down plain toast and tea earlier that morning.

  “Aren’t you hungry? I haven’t seen you eat a whole heck of a lot since we got under way last night.”

  “No, I’m not.” She shoved her hair back from her face, wishing she’d had time to do something with it. “Anyway, I’m sure Yaya—that’s my grandmother—will have something for us at the house. Whether we’re hungry or not.”

  Adam slid a glance her way. “Ah, I see. You and the car still aren’t getting along very well.”

  “The car and I are getting along just fine, thank you. Besides, I don’t think car sickness is exactly what I suffered from last night. I might have a twenty-four-hour stomach flu or something.”

  Liar. Eva shrugged off the uneasiness clinging to her.

  “I like your hair down.”

  She jerked to stare at him. “What?”

  “I said I like your hair down. You always wear it up at work. It looks nice down, loose.”

  His gaze seemed oddly provocative.

  “Thanks.” She threaded her fingers through the soft strands. “Now, this is the last chance we have to get the details about my ex down for my family.”

  “Right.”

  “Tell me what you’ve got so far.”

  Adam tugged at his collar. “You mean aside from the fact that he’s an idiot for having left you?”

  Eva was unsure how to take his comment. “We’re talking about the time before he left.”

  “Right,” he said again. “Well, then, my name is William Burgess, Bill to my friends. I’m a stockbroker who commutes from my home in Edison, New Jersey, to New York.” He glanced at her. “Do I take the bus or drive?”

  “Drive.”

  “Isn’t that expensive?” he asked.

  Yes, it was expensive, considering the parking costs in Manhattan. Bill’s insistence on driving his new BMW to work had been the source of plenty of arguments. Though she realized it wasn’t the car but the man and his values she objected to.

  “That doesn’t matter. Actually, the question is moot, because my parents wouldn’t know whether he drove or not.”

  His frown was apparent. “What do they know about him?”

  “Not much, other than I worked on one of Bill’s accounts, we became friends, then were married last year by a judge.”

  “You were friends first?”

  Eva waved, uneasy with her slip. She didn’t like admitting that she’d made the grave error of thinking that since she and Bill had gotten along so well, theirs would be a worry-free union. A comfortable one. A stable one. An easy-to-walk-away-from one.

  “Yes, but just tell them we dated. They only spoke once for a few minutes on the phone, but I doubt they’d remember the sound of Bill’s voice. Anyway, you don’t have to worry about emulating Bill exactly. I have something else in mind.”

  He was looking in the rearview mirror. “What about your family? Shouldn’t I know something about them?”

  “Turn here,” she said quickly, realizing they were near her family home. She searched for signs of change in the tall, pale-wooded cypresses and Spanish moss-nblanketed live oaks that pressed in on the narrow two-lane road. There was none. It wasn’t the lush green landscape that had changed. She had.

  “About my father…he’s, uh, from Greece. Immigrated here when he was a teenager. He’ll lapse into Greek sometimes, but don’t worry about it. He doesn’t do it to be rude.” Which wasn’t exactly true, but Adam didn’t have to know that.

  He quirked an eyebrow, raising it above the rim of his glasses. “Your mother?”

  “She’s Greek-American, born here. Yaya is her mother.”

  “I see.”

  “My father has a seafood company, Mavros Seafood. Oysters, mostly, but he does harvest some crabs and crawfish. I have a brother, Pete, and a horde of other relatives. Don’t worry, you probably won’t see them. Not if my father is as sick as I think he is.”

  She directed him to turn again. “It’s the last house on the lane,” she said, drawing a deep breath.

  “One more thing, Eva,” Adam said. “Is there any special way you want me to act? What I mean is, did Bill do anything like…” His gaze shifted away. “Like hold your hand, or something, when you were around people….”

  Eva managed a smile. “No. I just want you to act like yourself, Adam. That should work out fine.”

  ADAM CLIMBED from the car, looking at the road they had turned off of. Ever since the incident at the rest area, he’d been keeping an eye out for the Ford, unable to shake the feeling that something more than petty theft had been going on back there. He frowned. Unfortunately, it appeared half the population owned dark-colored Fords.

  He turned toward the sprawling villa-like structure before him. His gaze shifted from the red-tiled roof, the cool, white stucco walls, curved window arches and the sweeping front porch complete with columns. The lush yard was dotted with cypress trees and a huge, dripping willow with a swing hanging from one of the branches. Adam found his surroundings an interesting mix of the Mediterranean and the tropics smack-dab in the middle of the bayous of Louisiana. He closed the car door, shifting his gaze to Eva who stood smoothing the skirt of her dress.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, rounding the car. He touched her forearm, his fingers fitting nicely around the slender limb.

  Her eyes held a faraway look. “I’m fine. Just a little nervous, is all.”

  Hell, if he was just about to enter his family’s house with a complete stranger pretending to be his significant other, he’d be a little nervous, t
oo.

  “Should we go inside?” he suggested.

  “Yes, right. Inside.” She glanced down at where his hand still rested on her arm. He started to withdraw it when she grabbed his fingers. “Oh, God, the rings.”

  She opened her purse and took out a small velvet pouch. Emptying the contents into her palm, she slipped a plain silver band on, then took his left hand in hers. She tried to ease the other, larger band onto his ring finger. The feel of her touching him, even for this innocuous purpose, ignited awareness wherever her fingers brushed his. She pushed the ring up to the second knuckle, but it refused to budge farther. He felt marginally relieved. Wearing a wedding ring for any reason didn’t sit well with him.

  “I don’t understand. It fit Bill and you two are about the same height,” she said half to herself.

  “This is the real deal?” he asked, staring at the simple piece of jewelry. The guy had given up his wedding ring? He was coming to like Bill Burgess less and less.

  Eva nodded and stared at his hand for a moment longer, then tugged the ring back off. “Never mind. I think I told my mother about the rings when we…when Bill and I got married, but if anyone asks, we’ll just say you lost yours.”

  She swiftly moved her hands away from his. Adam couldn’t help wondering if she felt the same hot thrill he did whenever they touched.

  “We could always say I gained weight and we haven’t had a chance to get the ring enlarged yet.”

  Eva lifted her gaze to his and smiled softly. “Yes. I like that idea better.”

  She turned away from him and started for the door.

  Adam joined her on the porch. He pushed up his glasses and tugged on the tight collar of his shirt. Was it him, or had the already sweltering temperature nudged up a couple degrees? How was it that he felt more nervous facing a family than he’d ever felt infiltrating armed-to-the-teeth militia groups? “You know, I’m still not exactly clear on how you want me to act—”

  The door opened inward before Eva could touch the handle. Adam stared at a short, round woman who smiled warmly.

  “Eva!”

  Adam frowned. She’d said the name with a short E instead of the long E he and everyone else used. He turned the new pronunciation over in his mind, liking the sound of it.

  “Mama.” Eva hugged the woman tightly, then drew slightly away. “How’s Papa?”

  “Come in, come in, and see for yourself.”

  Eva hesitated. “Mama, I’d like to introduce my…husband.”

  Adam squared his shoulders and looked at Eva. He questioned the wisdom of something he’d had in mind ever since she told him to be himself. At any rate, there was nothing much she could do about it now, was there?

  He stepped forward and thrust a hand forward. “Hello, Mrs. Mavros. I’m Adam.”

  4

  ‘’ADAM?” Eva’s mother repeated, an I’m-sure-I-misheard-you expression creasing her face.

  Eva wanted to die. Right then. Right there. Everything would be perfect if she could keel over now and never have to explain what she had done…what she was doing.

  “Actually, it’s William Adam,” Adam said, digging a deeper hole, Eva was sure. A gigantic hole. A hole that would open up and swallow them whole any second. “Most people call me Bill, but I personally prefer Adam.”

  Eva stared at him, wondering if he’d broken more than his glasses back at that rest area in Virginia. She took in her mother’s curious expression. Not much got past Katina Mavros.

  That was it. The plan was foiled even before it got off the ground.

  “Adam,” her mother repeated, trying out the name and visually taking in the man on her front porch. “Yes, yes, Adam.” Her dark eyes sparkled at Eva. “I prefer it, too.”

  Adam and Eve. Eva rolled her eyes. She didn’t need to hear her mother say it aloud. The smile on her face said it all.

  “Come in, come in.” Katina Mavros warmly hugged him, then kissed him on both cheeks. “Welcome to the family, Adam.”

  She grasped his arm and practically dragged him inside the foyer, giving Eva a second to gather her scattered wits. Now she knew why she’d taken accounting in college rather than acting: she couldn’t play a role to save her life. Obviously, neither could Adam even if he had fooled her mother.

  This was all one huge, misguided mistake.

  Dragging in a deep breath, Eva lay a hand against her stomach. She reminded herself that what she was doing wasn’t entirely selfish. Besides, if she was right and her father was as ill as her mother had told her, this might be the last chance she had to try to make things right between them.

  She closed the door behind herself, then moved toward the living room, where she was sure her mother had taken Adam. She froze at the sound of a familiar voice. A familiar, very robust voice that was saying something to her mother.

  Eva entered the room to find Apostole Mavros looking much the same as the last time she’d seen him. Maybe even a little better, a weather-roughened cross between Marlon Brando and Anthony Quinn. His gaze met hers and his green eyes softened briefly. It was a moment Eva wished she could multiply and fill their entire strained relationship with. If not for her sake, for—

  “Tolly,” her mother reprimanded. “Is that any way to greet your son-in-law? Where are your manners?”

  Recovering her own manners, Eva kissed her father’s left cheek, then his right, then offered him her right cheek. She feared he was going to refuse returning the traditional greeting, then his dry lips brushed her cheek like a bayou breeze. She relaxed slightly.

  “Hello, Papa.” Eva moved back a couple steps. “How are you feeling?”

  “Feeling?” he repeated, his ruggedly handsome face lined with a frown. “How should I be feeling?” He turned and slowly paced away, then returned, looking as surprised and confused as she felt. “My daughter comes home after not having visited for over a year, with no warning, telling me…” He gestured toward Adam who stood near the doorway. “Telling me this is the husband she married a year ago. A man we don’t even know.” He looked oddly sad, despite the small tinge of anger to his words. “How should I be feeling, Eva?”

  With no warning? Eva sought her mother’s gaze. Katina looked altogether too guilty.

  Eva went still, a sick feeling settling into her stomach. She realized her own attempt at deception had placed her in the middle of another.

  “You’re not sick?” Eva turned back to her father.

  “Sick?” her father said, repeating her words. “Why? Is this something you wish?”

  “Of course he’s not sick.” Her mother rushed to Eva’s side and whispered, “We’ll talk about it later,” before offering a louder, “What would make you think such a thing?” Katina Mavros stared at Eva meaningfully and took her arm. “You must be tired after your long trip. Why don’t you and…Adam wash up before dinner?”

  “Adam?” Her father repeated, eyeing the man standing in his living room.

  Eva darted a glance in her “husband’s” direction. She nearly groaned when Adam stepped awkwardly forward. She wanted to tell him no, not to offer his hand, but she was too late. Adam already had his arm out.

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. Mavros. Eva has told me a lot about you.”

  Her father was silent, staring at the proffered hand Eva knew he would refuse to shake. Tolly Mavros was a man whose passions ran deep. Eva had seen him laugh more heartily than any person she’d ever known. She also knew he could be equally brusque when he was upset about something. And he was definitely upset.

  Her father scratched his chin, looking Adam up and down. “What do you have in your hair that it looks so…sticky?”

  “Sticky?” Adam repeated. “Oh, you must mean the gel. It’s something I use to style my hair.”

  Tolly Mavros’s stare was unwavering as he nodded his head.

  Eva was glad her father didn’t say anything more. Like make some fish-oil comparison or something else equally mortifying.

  Funny, she’d never thought of Adam
as genuine husband material, but now she couldn’t help wanting to defend him as a wife should. That was good considering her short-term plan. Bad because her long-term one didn’t include ever marrying again.

  Adam dropped his hand and her father started from the room. He stopped halfway to the door, glanced at Eva, then at Adam, hmmphed and left.

  Eva frowned. Patching things up with her father wouldn’t be as easy as she had hoped. She supposed part of the reason was that their problems went back farther than her marriage. Much farther. Back to when she’d returned from college to find her accounting degree meant nothing to him. He had fully expected her to marry and bear him a dozen grandchildren. She shivered. After one month, she’d turned tail and run back to Jersey, where a few years later she had married someone she’d thought respected her for her mind, not for the birthing size of her hips.

  Eva’s mother waved her hand in the direction of the door. “Leave him be. He’s not in a good mood today.”

  “He’s never in a good mood.”

  Her mother raised her eyebrows and Eva tried to look a little repentant.

  Unlike the strained relationship she shared with her father, she and her mother had kept close. In fact, it was likely as a result of that close relationship that Eva found herself in the middle of the bizarre situation she was in right now. She wanted to groan. She knew the instant she let it slip to her mother that she and Bill were having problems, she’d live to regret it.

  Eva cringed to think what else her mother had planned.

  “Mama, tell me right now what’s going on,” she said.

  True to form, her mother ignored her first appeal. “Come now, and wash up. Everyone is waiting to see you and your husband.”