Adonis in Athens - Page 34

“What choice do we have?” she asked in a helpless voice. “I’m not ready to decide to move to Greece, and you can’t move to the U.S. We were supposed to have two weeks to see if we even wanted to work that hard, but now that your family is involved…”

“So you’ve already made your decision? Were you going to tell me?!” He glared at her.

She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t put words in my mouth! I haven’t made any decisions but you already hurt me once—even though I was equally responsible for how dumb we were! But now? After last night? What do you think it’s going to do to me to go home knowing I’ll never see you again? I don’t know how to make this work but I’m staying because I can’t imagine living with the knowledge that I didn’t even try! Dammit, I love you, Apollo!”

9

The words had come out in a rush and she blanched as soon as she said them, taking an inadvertent step back and closing her eyes. “Shit.” She blew out a breath and practically ran towards the stairs; she had to get away from him quickly.

“Paige.” His voice was quiet but held a command she couldn’t ignore.

She stopped, though she didn’t turn around.

“Why are you walking away from me?”

“What else am I supposed to do when I just committed the cardinal sin of relationships?”

“Paige. Turn around, please.”

She hesitated, warring with the humiliation burning through her.

“Please turn around, koukla mou.”

She swallowed and slowly turned to face him. His face was emotionless, but his green eyes burned with so much intensity she was rooted in place as she watched him struggle to say whatever was on his mind.

“I love you, too.” He hadn’t known that’s what he would say until the words came out, but once they did, it felt right. Raised as a strong, proud Greek man, showing this kind of intimacy and vulnerability was unheard of, but he didn’t care. He was secure in both his manhood and his feelings for her; showing her the way he felt didn’t make him less of a man in his mind.

“Three days!” she whispered, tears pooling in her eyes. “Three days together, then three years apart, and today marks the second time we’ve spent three days together—how can we feel like this?! It’s…it’s…it’s stupid!”

“Is it?” He approached her slowly, reaching out to wipe the tears that were spilling down her cheeks. “Why is it stupid?”

“No foundation! No history! We still don’t even know each other!”

“Sure we do.” He smiled. “You have a degree in marketing, speak Spanish in addition to English, and work for a professional hockey team. I know what your parents do for a living, that you have one sister and that you love Greek food. You’re 24 and were born and raised in Las Vegas. Your best friend is Raegan, your ex-boyfriend is Tom Malone, your sister is Nicky, and this is your first trip to Europe.” He paused, running tender fingers along her cheek. “You’re smart, classy and independent. You like to giggle and you snore very softly.” He moved closer so their bodies were touching. “When you make love, your skin turns a flushed pink color, and when you come, you dig your nails into whatever part of my body you happen to grab on to.” He rubbed his lips very gently along hers. “And you’re very fond of adventures. Now tell me what you know about me.”

“What?” She was blinking at him in confusion.

“What do you know about me?”

“I, um…” She looked up and for a moment couldn’t remember anything. Then his green eyes locked on hers and everything fell into place. “You’re 25 and were born here in Athens. You went to Yale and got both your bachelor’s and master’s degrees. You speak three languages—Greek, English and Spanish. You have two sisters, Sophia and Melina, and you’re very close to Melina but almost never mention Sophia.”

He smiled. “Correct. What else?”

“You run your family’s shipping business because your father had a stroke and it’s very important that you make it a success. You love your country, especially the beach, and you’re very knowledgeable about your heritage. You don’t like onions—”

“How do you know that?” he demanded, laughing in surprise.

“You picked them out of the salad the other day and again with the souvlaki we had.”

He nodded. “What else, koukla?”

“You’re generous, caring and thoughtful. You’re passionate when you make love, but also very gentle, which tells me who you are as a man. And although you’re too busy most of the time, you seem to like adventures too.”

“What’s your favorite color?” he asked.

“Um, pink. Hot pink.”

“Mine is azure—the color of the Mediterranean.” He squinted slightly. “I love American hot dogs, especially Hebrew National, and the band Nickelback. I want children, but not quite yet, and visiting Japan is at the top of my bucket list.”