Chapter 4

4

T hey were quiet when they got in the car, with Paige ruminating on what he'd said. Why would he tell everyone the truth? Didn't he want to make the break as painless as possible? She had no intention of telling anyone the truth and couldn't imagine why he would. She'd been too shocked to say anything at first and then the ma?tre d' had come back to chat so she'd remained silent. Now that they were in the car, she wasn't sure what to say but felt like she needed to tell him what she thought .

"Apollo, we have to talk about what you said ."

"Why? I keep certain parts of my life private—my sex life, for example—but in general, I think lies make things complicated. I don't want to be afraid I'll slip up, or someday when I'm about to get married, have my fiancée discover I was married in a drunken Las Vegas haze …"

She had to clench her jaw tightly at the thought of him being engaged to someone else—even though it was inevitable and she herself had almost gotten engaged. "But they'll probably think I'm some gold-digging bimbo and hate me! The idea was for us to part ways with happy memories, not ugliness from your family or hard feelings because I ruined your life or something ."

"You've in no way ruined my life," he said gently. "And no one would ever think you were a bimbo ."

She eyed him. "I may never have been to Greece, but I have several Greek-American friends and their mothers are super protective of their sons and extremely critical of the girls they married ."

"My mother will certainly be critical—but she won't think you're a bimbo. She might have a thousand other things to say, about language and cultural differences, religion—since I doubt you're Greek Orthodox—and much more, but she won't think you're a tramp. She knows me better than that ."

"She could definitely wonder about the gold-digger part, though ."

He paused. "I suppose that's a possibility, but that's the case with every girl I've ever dated. My country is struggling economically right now, so we're lucky to be making money and doing well financially. The chance someone is after me for financial stability is nothing new, but since you knew nothing about me when we met three years ago and you came here with divorce papers, that doesn't really make sense, does it ?"

"I just don't think we should tell anyone," she said quietly. "I'm only here for a few days and this thing with us—our adventure or whatever you want to call it—is private. I'd like you to respect that. Please ."

He hesitated, thoughtful, but finally nodded. "I can respect it while you're here, but I'll certainly tell my family after you've gone ."

"That's fair ."

"We have about an hour's drive to Sounion. Tell me more about your life ."

"I'm boring!" she protested. "You know where I live, what I do at my job and the reason I turned down my ex-boyfriend. What else is there ?"

"Your family ?"

"Oh. Well, my parents live about 20 minutes away in Henderson. My father is a college professor and my mother is a kindergarten teacher. My sister, Nicky, is a senior at UNLV and is going to be a teacher too ."

"Very academic," he said with a smile. "No education career in your future ?"

She shook her head. "It's not my thing ."

"Teaching doesn't sound that exciting to me, either ."

"Your turn," she said. "Tell me about your life ."

"Well, I'm kind of boring right now too," he admitted. "My father had his stroke a little over a year ago and I immediately took over the business. I work seven days a week most of the time because I don't trust anyone to do what I do, which is almost everything. The sales guys bring in business, but I negotiate the deals, make sure the contracts are right, take care of the legalities, and keep up with each shipment from the time it leaves port until it arrives at its destination. Once I know it got where it was going, I let the sales guys take care of satisfaction surveys and follow-up unless a customer asks for me specifically, but I handle almost every detail of every shipment ."

"That sounds exhausting ."

"It is, but I didn't want to disappoint my father and now I'm so deeply immersed in everything, I don't even know how to slow down ."

"You walked out today without a backward glance," she pointed out .

He nodded slowly. "It's the first time I've ever done that ."

"I feel like I should apologize ."

"Not at all—it's good for me to step back a little ."

"I assume you're close to your family ?"

He nodded. "Very. I have two older sisters; Sophia and Melina. Sophia is 29 and married with a little boy. Melina had just come in as we were leaving today—she's 27 and has been dating this guy on and off since high school but they don't seem to be in a rush to get married. She works at a clothing store part-time and helps out at the shipping company on days like today when we don't have a receptionist. My mother pretty much fusses over my father these days, although he's much better. He still has a little trouble with fine motor skills like writing, but the physical therapy is helping. And my father's mother, Yaya Thespina , lives with my parents—she'd love you! She's a pistol ."

"I'm sure." She paused. "So what do you do for fun ?"

He cut a glance in her direction. "Are you trying to ask about my sex life or whether I'm dating ?"

She laughed. "Not directly, no, but generally speaking—do you date ?"

"Sure." He made a face. "But not with any regularity. As we discussed, my family's name is well-known because of the company and every father of a marriageable daughter within 50 miles has approached my parents with some sort of dowry and a dozen reasons why we'd be a good match. I avoid that nonsense, and luckily, my parents aren't overly excited about it either. I have an ex-girlfriend I used to see on occasion, but she gave me an ultimatum about six months ago and I haven't seen her since. I'm busy and the idea of using my precious free time to make small talk feels too much like work, so mostly I don't bother ."

"What do you do in your rare free time then ?"

He grinned. "If it's summer or early fall, I'm at the beach. My friend Xristos and I both have motorcycles and we like to take off and ride down in this direction until we find a place to stop. Sometimes we meet friends, other times it's just the two of us. We like to swim and lie in the sun, occasionally fish. Other times we head to downtown Athens and go to a couple of clubs, have a few beers. We haven't done anything like that in ages, though. I just don't have the time and he's broke. I tried to offer him a job at the company, but he's proud and doesn't want charity. It's tough right now ."

"What does he want to do ?"

"He went to school for computers, but there are no jobs right now and though he could probably get one in England, his mother is ill and he doesn't want to leave. Cancer, you know? Her chances aren't good so I think he'll stay until she's gone ."

"How sad," she said quietly .

"Yes. Anyway, that's my life. What should we talk about now ?"

She laughed. "Anything you want! Tell me about where we are and what I'm looking at ."

Apollo seemed enthusiastic about that idea and launched into a lengthy description of each of the little towns they passed and some of the historical highlights. There were hills and houses on the left and miles of clear, azure waters on the right. She longed to put her feet in and told him so .

"Let's go find you a suit," he suggested. "Then we can go for a swim. Mine is always in the car, along with towels ."

"I can't really afford — "

"I know," he interrupted gently. "Let me do this for you. I have the money and it was my idea for us to come down here ."

"I have a suit at the hotel. We can go to the beach tomorrow ."

"Tomorrow I have meetings in the morning I can't miss, and then I want to take you to Monastiraki ."

"What's that? I saw the name in the guidebook ."

"It's a touristy area, but it's in an old, historic part of the city right near the Acropolis. You could shop—there's a little of everything and some of it is dirt cheap. For a couple of dollars you can find Italian Murano glass pendants and items like real leather shoes and handbags for reasonable prices. Not to mention souvenirs. We can eat down there and later in the day, when it's not so hot, we'll climb the Acropolis. So today we should swim ."

She looked down. "Okay. But you can't buy me a lot of things. Tom was always buying me things and it made me feel like I owed him ."

"You owe me nothing except four days of your company and that beautiful smile ."

" Okay ."

"There's just one condition ."

She narrowed her eyes. " What ?"

"I pick the bathing suit ."

She shook her head. "I'm not wearing a thong or going topless or anything like that ."

"Not a chance in hell," he said gruffly. "While I appreciate a sexy woman's body, when that woman is mine , I don't want anyone else to see that much. Sexy is good, showing some cleavage maybe, but your ass and breasts? That's not for anyone but me ."

"Even though I'm not really yours ?"

He set his jaw and met her eyes. "Until I sign those papers, technically you're absolutely mine ."

She wasn't sure what to say, but had to look away, afraid he would see the flush of happiness that washed over her and warmed her from the inside out. "A lot of guys would go out of their way to take advantage of a situation like this ."

"That's not who I am, koukla mou ."

"What does that mean?" she asked softly .

"Literally, it means my doll , but the expression is a term of endearment like honey or sweetheart ."

"I wish I knew some Greek ."

"You will by the time you leave!" He pulled off the highway and into a little beachside area. "I think we can find something here. You ready ?"

"As I'll ever be !"

A n hour later they were chest-deep in water with the most spectacular view. There were mountains on one side where, if she looked up, she could see the Temple of Poseidon. Hills with white boxes that were actually houses were on another side, with the water's endless horizon if she looked straight out. The sea was warm and as smooth as glass today, and she let her body relax into a floating position, the salt content high enough to keep her buoyant .

Apollo had bought her a gorgeous turquoise one-piece bathing suit that was strapless and high-cut on the sides, well above her hips. It hugged her curves in all the right places, offering the slightest peek of cleavage at the top but covering everything else. She felt sexy and relaxed, and when his strong arms came up under her, pulling her upper body against his chest so that she could rest the back of her head on his shoulder, she didn't even try to hide her sigh of contentment .

"I haven't touched you in three years," he murmured against her temple. "I will absolutely respect your boundaries, but you have to tell me what they are ."

"Do I have to decide now?" she asked, covering his forearms with her hands. His arms overlapped just under her breasts, holding her close to him, and she nearly shivered with longing. In the three years since he'd touched her, no one had made her feel so sexy or aroused from such a simple gesture .

"Not about everything." He pressed a kiss to the side of her face. "But you'll probably need to decide about whether or not I can kiss you in the next five seconds ."

"I don't need five seconds to make that decision." She turned in his arms and tilted her face up to his. When his lips found hers, they were hesitant, nipping and tentatively caressing, as if waiting for her signals. They'd kissed a lot during their brief time together in Las Vegas, and time hadn't dulled the excitement she felt when he did it .

When his tongue slipped between her lips she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist so the water didn't move her away from him. Her arms closed around his neck and in that moment, as their tongues came together in a lazy tangle, she could all but feel him taking back what was his. Three years of longing came crashing down on both of them, memories of their intimacy washing over them in a tidal wave of arousal that hit them both at once .

"Fuck," he growled, pulling his mouth from hers. "If sex is off-limits, this has to stop now, because another few minutes and I'm going to be inside you, right here in front of the whole beach ."

"That might not be a good idea," she panted, her breath coming in little gasps. "I don't think I'll like Greek jails ."

He gave her a sexy grin. "Most likely not, but it'd be worth every damn minute for me ."

"Oh, Apollo." She buried her face in his neck, letting her legs drop down and float out behind her .

"What is it, koukla mou ?"

"I don't want to say no—I don't want to set any limits ."

" But ?"

"But we have to." She raised her head to look into the liquid emerald of his eyes. "Don't we? We're picking up right where we left off and that's just going to make saying goodbye even harder. I cried when you left ."

"Did you?" He put his hand on her cheek and used his thumb to stroke it .

"For a week ."

"I'm sorry, koukla ."

"I think letting you make love to me would take that to a whole other level of longing… This trip was about closure, not reopening the wound ."

"Was it a wound?" he asked softly, staring into her eyes with so much tenderness she nearly started to cry .

"Maybe not for a 22-year-old guy on spring break, but for a girl like me? You took a piece of my heart with you when you left, and I came here to get it back. If you keep touching me…looking at me like you are now, I'll be lost in you all over again ."

"Even horny 22-year-old college students recognize something special when they find it," he said, his eyes never leaving hers. "I missed you. I kicked myself for weeks for just handing you that stupid business card and walking away—why didn't I just ask for your number?—as if a shy, sensitive girl like you was going to come after me!" He rolled his eyes in disgust. "I was so fucking stupid ."

"You missed me too?" Her voice was a tiny whisper, her eyes unable to be torn from his smoldering gaze .

"For months," he said. "I kept trying to think of a reason to get back to Las Vegas, but I didn't have your number or know where you lived. I had finals and then there was some family drama.... My parents came for graduation and it seemed like it was better—or at least easier—to let it go ."

"Tell the truth," she said intently. "All this time—did you believe we were married ?"

"In my heart, I did. I wasn't sure, but since I never heard from you, I told myself I was being silly, that we obviously weren't. I kind of hoped so, though ."

" Why ?"

"Because then I'd have a reason to see you again ."

"You're making this really hard," she whispered .

"Stay with me," he whispered back. "You must have more than four days of vacation. Spend a month here with me. Let's get to know each other. Let's find out what drove two otherwise rational, level-headed college students to walk into a Las Vegas chapel and elope after knowing each other for only a few days ."

" Alcohol ?"

He shook his head. "I've never known alcohol to change a person's heart. Lower inhibitions? Yes. Make you more daring? Absolutely. Take away a filter? Undoubtedly. But to change who you are at your core? I don't believe it. You see it happen all the time…the guy who's always been in love with the girl but would never admit it for fear of rejection? Then he gets shit-faced and shouts his feelings from the rooftops. The alcohol made him braver, but it didn't change him—he already loved her. So we had a reason for doing what we did. Let's figure it out, Paige. Stay longer ."

"I can't afford — "

"Shh." He put a finger over her lips. "I have a house. You can stay with me—in the guest room if you want. No pressure, no sex if that's a hard limit, and enough time for us to reconnect ."

"I, I can't…my job…" she faltered .

"It's summer," he protested. "Hockey teams can't be busy right now ."

"The team isn't, but I sell a lot of season ticket packages in the summer ."

"I have a plan on my landline that allows unlimited calls to the U.S. for one flat fee—both at home and at the office—you could work for a while every day to keep up with that. You can use my computer and do what you need to do. Give me a month, Paige ."

"I…" She didn't even know how to say no. She wanted him so bad it hurt, and his selflessness made her heart yearn for him even more .

"Thirty days," he whispered against her ear, his lips gently sucking the lobe into his mouth, earring and all .

"Apollo…" His name came out choppy, gooseflesh breaking out on her skin despite the heat .

"I know, koukla …I want you too." He brought her legs up around his waist again, adjusting her so that his erection pressed against her crotch. "Look what you're doing to me—you can't leave in four days, Paige ."

"I don't think they'll give me a month," she murmured. "I can try to get a couple of weeks ."

"We'll take care of that tomorrow," he said, gently untangling their bodies and putting a few feet between them in the water. "Right now, I have to get my dick under control. Later, when we're not in public, we'll talk about this again ."

"Apollo…" She reached out a hand and he immediately grasped it in his, pausing to look at her quizzically. "I went three years without your touch—I don't think I could stand not touching you while I'm here ."

His eyes darkened with a plethora of emotions she couldn't quite identify, and then he was yanking her against him again, his mouth taking hers like a man possessed. "Keep this up," he growled, "and after I get done with you, we'll be spending your vacation in that Greek jail we talked about ."

"I'm beginning to think you were right about it being worth it ."