Adonis in Athens - Page 31

“I turned off roaming,” Paige rolled her eyes. “Geez, it’s expensive. But I’ve got Wi-Fi at Apollo’s house and I can check in via email every day.”

“Tell me what happened at work,” Raegan said excitedly. “And whether or not you got lucky with your Greek stud!”

“Oh, I definitely got lucky, in more ways than one,” Paige giggled. She told Raegan about her conversation with Steve and then Becca’s subsequent email. “So I’ll be here an extra 10 days.”

“Do you want me to call your parents?”

Paige grimaced. “No, I’ll call my mom tomorrow. I still can’t believe Tom actually went to find you at work.”

“He’s pretty freaked out,” Raegan said slowly. “I think you need to sit down with him when you get back and let him know it’s really over. I don’t think he believes it, like this is another one of your stall tactics.”

“I should have ended it after the first time he proposed.” She looked up with an appreciative stare as Apollo came back out in a pair of khaki shorts and a polo shirt.

“Well, you’re going to have to deal with it now, I guess,” Raegan said. “Especially since you’re technically married to someone else.”

“Yeah.” Paige sighed. “Anyway, thanks for holding down the fort for me. I’ll email Tom and tell him to knock it off.”

“Don’t worry about Tom—I’ll handle him until you get home—just call back sometime when you can give me details!”

Paige laughed. “I will—promise!”

“Love you! Have a blast!”

“I will! Love you too!” Paige hung up with a grin.

After sending an email to Becca and another to Steve, Paige got dressed and they headed into Athens. They were going to the place he’d mentioned before, Monastiraki, where she could do a little shopping and they could eat the big midday meal. She wasn’t used to the schedule in Greece but found it interesting that they ate their big meal of the day just a bit later than Americans ate lunch, usually around 2:30 or 3:00. Then, later in the evening, often as late as 10:00 or 11:00, they would have a lighter meal. Apollo said some people ate two large meals, but because he was often up early, he didn’t like to eat that much right before bed.

“Last night was a bit of an exception,” he explained as they parked in a pay lot and then walked down the winding streets. “If I eat a big meal at 2:30 or so, I like to eat something light around 8:00. If I’m in bed at midnight, I’ve had time to digest. Otherwise, it can keep me up.”

“How does everyone else do it?” she asked curiously.

“Well, the lifestyle here is interesting. Except for small children and the elderly, most of us are up late. We go out at 10 or 11 for coffee or drinks and dancing… You’ll see the restaurants and cafes are always packed, no matter what day of the week it is. Especially in the summer.”

“On nights when the team is off or out of town, I’m usually in bed by 11,” she said. “Kind of boring, I guess.”

“Different lifestyle, different culture.”

“How did you adjust when you went to the U.S. for college?”

He grinned. “I was 18 and full of piss and vinegar—getting ready for a four-year party! It was great. I loved living in the U.S.”

“But you were anxious to get home, too,” she said, glancing up at him.

“The whole reason my parents paid for my fancy education was so I could take over the business. Otherwise, I could have gone to the university here in Greece.”

“Is the education you got in the U.S. so much better?”

“I went to Yale,” he shrugged. “So yes, that’s a big deal even here, but besides that, I spent a lot of time making contacts, especially in grad school. My father has always wanted to expand the business and by sending me to school in the U.S., he not only expanded my understanding of the language, he immersed me in the culture so that I could mingle with businessmen from both Europe and North America.”

“That’s smart.” She paused. “Are you still looking to expand the business into America?”

He hesitated, not wanting to mislead her about the chances of him moving to the U.S. They were trying to expand into either Los Angeles or San Francisco, but so far the logistics had been a nightmare and he didn’t have a good grip on what was going to happen. “We’d like to, but the expense doesn’t seem like a worthwhile risk right now. We have a steady income with what we do now, but I’d have to invest everything we have to open a branch in the U.S. With the economy the way it is here, I’m not sure that would be wise.”

“No, probably not.” She looked around at the busy streets, trying to ignore the disappointment that washed over her. Athens was bustling with energy all the time—it reminded her a lot of Las Vegas. Except the buildings were a lot older and there was the most gorgeous beach she’d ever seen nearby. Not to mention a green-eyed hunk who rocked her world in more ways than one. A tiny voice inside of her asked why she couldn’t live here. She would miss her family but she would have Apollo. Of course, just because he was gorgeous, rich and absolutely everything she’d ever dreamed of in a man, that didn’t mean he felt the same way about her. Sure, he was interested and there was this thing between them, but this was his country, his home, his family. If she moved here and something went wrong, she’d have no one to turn to, no one she could count on. How could she take a risk like that?

She was startled back to the present when he stopped walking and pointed. “That’s the Church of the Pantanassa. I can’t remember dates and such, but it’s the cathedral from the monastery for which this area got its name. The monastery is gone, but this building remains.”

“Built in the tenth century,” she giggled. “I looked up Monastiraki before we left this morning so I had an idea what I would see in the area.”