Adonis in Athens - Page 25

“What do you do, Ms. Carter?” Pio asked, genuine interest on his face.

“I work in the marketing department for a professional sports team in Las

Vegas,” she replied, grateful she could pick up her wine glass and take a sip.

“The new hockey team?” Fabrizio actually focused on her now. “They just won a championship, did they not?”

“They did.” She nodded.

“Ticket sales must be soaring.”

She nodded again. “Absolutely. It’s quite a feat for a team that’s only been in existence for two seasons.”

“Did you study marketing at university?” Clara asked, her English slightly more stilted than her husband’s or his partner’s.

“I did. I love it.”

“Don’t most American women go to college to find a husband?” Maria asked, her eyes almost pitying as she met her gaze.

“Maria…” Fabrizio murmured under his breath.

“It’s okay.” Paige pretended to think it was funny. “You’re right—a lot of women go to college with the hopes of finding a husband. I come from a family of academics, though, so I had a bit more pressure to get the degree.”

“We dated long-distance in college,” Apollo spoke up without warning, his voice completely level though a vein in his neck began to throb. “So she really didn’t have the chance to go husband-shopping since she had a boyfriend.”

“But you didn’t marry her,” Maria pointed out, a smile playing on her lips as she blatantly looked him over.

“We had a disagreement,” he shrugged. “I’m a year older and I was in an accelerated program, so I was finishing my master’s while she was finishing her bachelor’s. She had a job opportunity she wanted to take while I had to come back to Greece to start working in the family business. We were young and foolish, but I’m hoping to rectify that this time around.”

“Are you planning to move to Greece then?” Pio asked. “I’m sure your marketing background would be useful to Lakkas, International.”

“We hadn’t discussed it,” Paige began.

“She probably doesn’t know the first thing about international shipping,” Maria laughed. “And what woman wants to be involved in such a stodgy industry anyway? She’d be smart to get herself pregnant!”

“Actually, I find the industry fascinating,” Paige said sweetly, ignoring the sarcastic insinuation that she wasn’t smart enough to work for the company. “As I started to say before, we haven’t discussed my becoming involved in the company itself, but just yesterday I was telling Apollo about my ideas for a new marketing campaign that could modernize their branding and capitalize on the fixed prices of the modified repurchase structure…” That was a lie, of course, but Maria was rubbing her the wrong way and she wouldn’t stand for it.

Apollo almost choked on his wine, listening to her explain an idea she had to be coming up with on the fly. There was no way she’d had time to do any research and she’d spent maybe five minutes in the reception area of the office. Pio and Fabrizio were listening to her intently, obvious respect on their faces as Maria sat back in her seat with a huff.

After nearly 15 minutes of Paige holding court and completely selling his company—and her new branding ideas—to the businessmen, Apollo was ready to drop to his knees and ask her to stay with him forever. His spring break fling from Las Vegas was much, much more than a pretty face, sexy body and sweet personality. She was an absolute barracuda in business, and he knew without a doubt she’d just sealed the deal for him. Even though her ideas had nothing to do with their contract or the agreement they’d come to, it was beyond obvious that she’d impressed them enough to solidify the deal because he’d offered them a fair contract that came with a stellar reputation, and she’d somehow shown them that his company had a future.

“Can we talk about something else?” Maria muttered, raising her empty wine glass and looking at her husband pointedly.

“Of course, mi amore.” My love. Fabrizio hastily summoned the waiter and business discussion was dropped.

The waiter came to take their orders then and conversation turned to food and other topics. As everyone chatted, Apollo leaned over to whisper in Paige’s ear, “You have no idea how much what you just did means to me.”

She gave him a quick, confused glance. “Are you sure it wasn’t overkill?”

“It was so perfect I could kiss you…” He pressed his lips to the soft spot behind her ear and smiled as she shivered. He was going to enjoy making love to her tonight, and that was all he could think about as the evening wore on.

By the time they’d completed a five course meal, finished several bottles of wine, shared luscious desserts and sat around sipping brandy and cognac, it was clear that Pio and Fabrizio were on board for the deal. As they walked out to their waiting car and driver, Pio shook Apollo’s hand.

“It’s been a lovely evening. We are looking forward to working with you.”

“Thank you.” Apollo shook his hand. “I look forward to it as well.”

“Bella.” Beautiful. Clara smiled warmly at Paige as she hugged her and whispered in her ear. “Whatever is problem with Apollo—you fix. He is good man; you will have excellent life together.” She winked and got in the car.