Page 45 of Marriage Masquerade

“Ah, the immigration inspector, if I’m not mistaken.”

He held out his hand and drew Gemma to her feet.

“Let’s go and get inspected.”

The agent from INS stayed only an hour, looked into every aspect of the apartment and asked numerous questions—some of which had been asked at their offices the previous morning.

When he left, he mentioned he thought everything was in order. There were a few more technicalities, but it looked in all likelihood that they'd recommend the resident visa.

Gemma waited until the door closed behind him and then clapped her hands.

“We did it.”

“Perhaps. Did you notice he never quite said it was a done deal? When I have the green card in hand, then we’ll know we did it.”

“I think it’s a done deal. And you know what tipped the scales, don’t you?” she asked when Nikos merely shrugged.

“What?”

“My looking terrible today. You’d have to love me to put up with this.”

He ran a fingertip along her cheek, tracing her jaw.

“I would, would I?”

Closing the distance, he kissed her.

The unexpected embrace caught her unaware. Gemma leaned back against the wall to keep from falling. After her initial surprise, she savored the feel of Nikos' lips against hers, relished the sensations that cascaded through her. She opened her lips to respond and was swept away in a vortex of sensations and swirling excitement.

When he straightened, she gazed up into his dark eyes, glad for the support of the wall, wondering if he could hear the thundering of her heart. What was he thinking? Did the kisses mean anything? Or was it just for the moment? Was she just convenient?

“Even though he reported it looks likely he’d recommend the permanent visa, I say we continue our vigilance until it's in hand,” Nikos said slowly, lightly tracing her jaw with a finger.

He met her gaze and cocked an eyebrow.

“I believe we need to keep up the devoted-couple bit—to fool the INS, of course.”

“I think they're fooled,” she said. “And I doubt they’ll be back here again.”

“Ah, you wish to make some change?”

Restlessly, she pushed away and paced the room. “I don’t think we need to continue sharing a bed. I can leave my clothes in the closet for a while, but we’ve been questioned twice. Do you really think they will do it again?”

Not meeting his eyes, she rubbed her arms and continued to pace.

She wasn’t sure she could resist the powerful pull of attraction being around Nikos provoked. She'd slipped off to bed before him for a couple of nights, but how long could she keep it up? How long before she rolled over in the night and snuggled against his muscular body? How long could she resist temptation before throwing caution to the wind and asking him to kiss her? To make love to his wife?

And what would happen if she was still wide awake when he joined her in that bed? Even though it was large, it was not that large. Look at how big the room was, yet she was acutely aware of Nikos' every move.

Risking a quick look, she found his expression bland. What did he think of her demand?

“Your choice,” he said.

Abruptly, he turned and left the room.

“Well, you got what you wanted,” she murmured, wondering why she felt so disappointed.

Chapter Seven

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