Adonis in Athens - Page 10

She shrugged. “Money. Time. Responsibility. Our whole generation is in a hurry to make the big career moves, find the right person, get married, have babies and plan for retirement. It feels like no one wants to enjoy the present because they’re so worried about the future.”

“I can understand that,” he said slowly. “Sometimes you have to worry about the future because the world is a scary place. As the head of the family now, I don’t want to have to worry that my parents won’t have anything to eat or access to the medicine they need because we didn’t plan for the future. However, here in Greece we tend to have a more relaxed attitude about working. Siesta in the afternoon, shorter hours some days of the week…you’ll notice that the beaches, cafés and restaurants are packed, despite the struggling economy here right now. It’s a different mindset.”

“It’s lovely,” she said. “But I get the feeling that you don’t have that relaxed attitude.”

“That’s not an option for me because of my father’s stroke. If I hadn’t stepped in immediately, and learned everything I could as quickly as possible, we could have lost everything. After more than a year, I’m still learning, still testing new business models to see what will help us grow in a terrible market.” He looked out at the water. “I was just thinking earlier today that I missed the beach and having time to myself once in a while to enjoy life. Then you walked through that door with your silent plea for adventure—and here we are.”

“Well, I’m going to need food if you want to adventure me around Greece,” she teased.

“Let’s go.” He threaded his fingers through hers and they walked a few hundred meters to the restaurant. A middle-aged maître d’ raised a hand and welcomed them warmly. They were immediately led to a table near the water and Paige just smiled happily as the men chattered in Greek.

“I ordered for us,” he said hesitantly. “If you don’t like what he brings, we can get other things, okay?”

“Okay.” She brushed her hair back from her face, running her fingers through it and letting it fall where it would. Staring out at the sea, she felt as carefree as the wind. She didn’t know exactly where she was, what she was going to eat or even what she should say, so she didn’t even try. She just watched the waves fizzle out on the shore and the birds swoop down to find food.

Watching her, Apollo wondered what she was thinking that brought such contentment to her face. What was her life like back in Las Vegas that had her yearning for adventure? “So, tell me about your life,” he said after they had drinks.

“Well, there’s a new NHL team in Las Vegas now, the Sidewinders, and I work in the sales and marketing department, essentially selling ticket packages to companies.”

“So the NHL expanded to Vegas,” he said thoughtfully. He’d spent five years in New England getting his bachelor’s degree and then his MBA, so he was well versed in hockey, though it wasn’t a Greek sport. “I thought for sure it would be Seattle.”

“That still might happen, but you know how political it can get.”

“Do you like working for a sports team?”

“It’s a great organization…I work with fun people and my boss is nice.”

“And your friend…the one with the pink hair? I can’t remember her name.”

“Raegan.” Paige flushed with pleasure that he remembered her. “She’s still my bestie. We’re roommates now, share an apartment about 20 minutes from the Strip. She’s a waitress at a casino, getting her MBA.”

He nodded. “Good for her! What about you? Are you done with school?”

“I got my bachelor’s in marketing, but I needed to get a job because I was tired of being broke. Of course, now my student loans are killing me, but that’s a way of life in the U.S. Unless you’re really lucky, you wind up with student loans.”

“It was expensive,” he agreed, “but the education I got made it worthwhile.”

“I don’t regret getting my degree,” she said. “I just wish it hadn’t cost so much. It won’t be so bad if I start getting more bonuses. I got one in January for reaching 150% of my sales goal and that’s how I bought the flight to Greece. I’d put it away for a rainy day, but after some things that happened two weeks ago, I decided this was a worthwhile expense.”

“What happened two weeks ago?” he asked as the waiter brought a salad, a basket of bread and a dish of tzatziki.

“What’s that?” she asked, breaking off a piece of bread and dipping it in a plate of some sort of white dip.

“It’s called tzatziki,” he explained. “Essentially yogurt, cucumbers, dill and garlic—a lot of garlic!”

“Oh my God.” She closed her eyes as she chewed. “I’m having a foodgasm.”

“A what?” he laughed.

“Foodgasm—combines food and orgasm.”

He grinned. “I guess I never thought of it that way, but the food here is truly excellent.”

“So far I agree.”

“Tell me more about two weeks ago,” he said.

“I don’t want to talk about me,” she said.