Page 43 of Her Secret Heir
Ava had never beenone of those girls who’d had big dreams of her wedding day, mainly because she’d always known her father wouldn’t pay for her to marry any man. But this was something out of a fantasy.
Once Christos had told her to take control of the wedding, she’d decided to do just that. She’d combed the society pages for wedding details so she’d have an idea of what the Theakis family were used to and then used her two weeks to plan an event that wouldn’t embarrass them.
The end result was a ceremony and reception that she felt confident people would be talking about for a long time tocome. Butshestill felt like a fraud. She felt as though the entire ceremony was one big lie. She put her head down in her hands.
“Don’t do that, Ava, you’ll smear your makeup,” Laurette said. As promised, Christos had flown her and Paul in from Florida to help Ava prepare for the wedding, and Laurette was serving as her maid of honor.
“What am I doing?” she asked.
“Getting married to your very handsome Prince Charming,” Sheri Donnelly said. Sheri worked for Tristan and had agreed to be in the wedding party as a favor to him. Guillermo’s youngest sister, Augustina, was also serving as a bridesmaid. Augustina was sixteen and so beautiful that Ava had a hard time looking at her. She was also sweet and very shy.
“Prince Charming? Only if Prince Charming was arrogant and bossy,” Ava said. Christos was definitely the only man for her, but she had to wonder sometimes why she’d fallen for such an opinionated man.
“There’s no accounting for taste,” Laurette said, fluffing her short blond hair. Laurette was the one woman in the world whom Ava actually felt comfortable with.
“Very funny,” Ava said, finally smiling.
Sheri shook her head. “I’m in the same boat. In love with a guy I shouldn’t be in love with.”
“Tristan?” Ava asked. Though Sheri was dressed in a gown the same as the other bridesmaids’ she still looked…well, plain. She blended into the background and was easy to ignore. But she was spunky, and Ava had noticed that the other woman was different when she was around Tristan.
Sheri flushed and looked away. “God, please tell me it isn’t that obvious.”
So glad to have someone else’s problems to deal with instead of her own, Ava walked over to Sheri, putting her arm aroundthe other woman’s shoulders. “Only to someone in the same position.”
“We’re not in the same position. Christos is marrying you and he watches you with an intensity that makes it clear that he wants you.”
“Wanting is not the same thing as loving. Christos is marrying me because…I don’t know why he’s marrying me. I think I’m making a horrible mistake.”
Augustina left the mirror where she was fixing her lipstick. “Passion is never a mistake, Ava. That’s how love starts.”
“Who told you that?” Ava asked the younger woman.
She shrugged her delicate shoulder. “I’m Spanish. We know about passion.”
She ruined her sophisticated moment by giggling after she said it. “Actually, Guillermo told me that.”
“I can believe it,” Ava said.
Augustina offered to help Sheri with her makeup and the two women moved to another corner of the room.
“Are you sure about this?” Laurette asked. “There’s still time to call it off.”
No, there wasn’t. She wanted to marry Christos, had wanted to from the very first time she’d made love with him over five years ago. And though she’d never had any childhood dreams of a wedding, as soon as she’d held him in her arms, she’d had dreams of a marriage. Of having Christos as her husband.
“I’m not sure, but I can’t call it off.”
“Are you still worried about Theo?”
“No. Christos is a great father and I believe that if I said I couldn’t stay here, he’d find a way to work something out between us. I’m not marrying him because I have to.”
Laurette hugged her close. “Good. I like him. I think he’s good for you.”
“Ha, he’s bossy.”
“So are you. You need a man who will take care of you.”
She wondered sometimes if that wasn’t part of the appeal of Christos. He was so different from every other man she knew.
