Constantinou's Mistress by Cathy Williams
Harlequin Presents # 2340 - August 2003
The Greek Tycoons themed series

Lucy had been in love with her boss for some months now. Having had too much to drink the evening of his estranged wife's funeral, Nick finds himself in his office and there's Lucy reaching out to comfort him. When morning comes they both agree to fall back to their working relationship and set their evening of passion aside. Only eight months later, Nick finds himself thinking of Lucy all the time and he starts to plot how he will convince her into an affair. So he takes her on a business trip and the seduction begins. Lucy's no match to Nick's charisma, and she finds herself wanting however much time he's willing to give her. Things get rocky when Lucy tells Nick something that makes him certain that she's been deceiving him all along, and has been scheming to get his money.

Ms. Williams gives a great look into Nick when he battles his fears that he has somehow taken advantage of Lucy that first night when he was not himself. Nick's a very alpha hero but we get wonderful glimpses at his heart even though he doesn't know his true feelings. Lucy is a great match for Nick. Loving him from afar, she's learnt to mask her feelings behind walls of cool efficiency. But her passion is just as wild as Nick's. They have a very sizzling chemistry. This is a first for me by Ms. Williams. I enjoyed it very much.

I enjoyed this book and would have given it five stars, but to be honest, I just didn't like the hero, Nick Constantinou very much. He just came across to me as not a very nice or pleasant person and I thought the hero, Lucy deserved a much better man. To me, she was a much better person that he was through the whole story.
Quickly the plot reads like this: Millionaire businessman Nick's wife has died in a car crash right, and right in the beginning of the story, we find out that their marriage was far from perfect(although no one knows that except Nick) and she had been having an affair at the time of her accident.
After her funeral, Nick gets drunk and turns up at his office late at night and surprises his secretary, Lucy, who is working late. She's always had a huge thing for Nick but never told anyone and never acted on it because he was married and off limits. On this night, she tries to comfort him and one thing leads to another and they end up sleeping together. Both decide to forget the incident and not mention it again. Neither of them seem to be able to do that(surprise, surprise!)
Several months later, even though Nick has by now dated a string of beautiful women and frequently ends up in the news as a now very eligible bachelor about town, he can't seem to get his one night with Lucy out of his mind and gets more and more anxious to pursue her.
Lucy tries to honor her word about putting their tryst behind her and dates another man, but secretly she can't forget about Nick.
Nick decides to go after her and takes her away on a trip by telling her it's a business trip. Naturally, they end up together while they're there, but the consequences of their actions is a big surprise, especially for Nick.
As I said, this was a good story, but Nick just came across as too overbearing and obnoxious and self involved. It was always about what he wanted. Granted his marriage was a miserable experience and the woman he was married to could hardly be called a good wife to him and he did honor it still by staying faithful to the end, but it was almost like he was just trying to make up for lost time or something.
Yes, all these heros have more than their healthy share of arrogance and ego(which I usually love!) and most of the time, it suits them just fine, but for some reason, I just didn't warm up to Nick. He came across as a jerk to me and I found myself wondering why Lucy would waste her time on him. Ok, so the other guy she was dating also left alot to be desired, but he never stood a chance anyway. It was never a fair fight.
Still, despite that, Lucy was a great heroine and the story moved along well. I was always rooting for her. She was a strong character

Back Cover description: Lucy had a crush on her boss, Nick Constantinou. Then one evening while working late, her dreams came true-Nick arrived at the office unexpectedly and before thy knew it, passion had taken over!
Now that Nick had discovered what lay beneath Lucy's efficient exterior, he could think of nothing else! However, despite his growing feelings for Lucy, he was unprepared for her shocking news....

Their one time fling happens during his wife's funeral. They put it behind them, until Lucy starts to date someone. Then Nick gets her to go away with him on business, and you can guess the rest. The end is one I've come across before, he thinks he can't have kids, so he doesn't believe the baby is his. Not bad.