He nodded before tugging me against him. “I’m glad the two of you met. If you hadn’t, we might have never met.”
I smiled, looking up at him. “You’re right. Trust me, Crete was never on my radar. I was convinced I was destined to live out my years without ever seeing anything more than my hometown. I never thought I would ever travel.”
“But you had a passport?”
I nodded, not telling him I had applied for a passport when I was eighteen because I thought I could flee my situation to some foreign country. That plan had gone up in flames when I realized how much money a plane ticket cost and then the fact I couldn’t legally work anywhere. I had been resigned to my fate.
Not now. Now I had seen so much, and I could never imagine going back.
I never wanted to go back.
Chapter 19
Rand
I felt like it had been hours since Nicole had disappeared into my bathroom to get ready for our dinner date. I knew she was nervous, and I had tried to reassure her numerous times that it was going to be okay, but she was still freaking out a little.
I hoped she could relax somewhat. I wanted her to enjoy herself. I had already ordered a car, wanting to be able to drink without worrying about getting home safely. I poured myself a scotch while I waited, standing in front of the picture window and watching the waves roll in before moving back out. I couldn’t quite add up the countless hours I had spent staring at the ocean in my lifetime. It was addicting. One look, and I was hooked. I could get lost in thought for hours, barely blinking as I took in the sight of one of the most magnificent creations.
“Okay, I’m ready,” she announced from behind me.
I spun around. I’d seen her in the dress the night before, but it looked different on her now. She had her hair up, with little bits hanging down, brushing over her neck. She had on a simple necklace and diamond-stud earrings. Her eyes popped with the blue of the dress.
“Stunning. I think I’m going to cancel our dinner.” I put down the empty glass and moved toward her.
“You’re being kind,” she replied, a slight blush spreading over her cheeks.
I shook my head. “I’m being honest. That dress is amazing, but what it’s covering is even better. I’d like to get a little peek at that.”
I reached out to run my hand over her breast, reaching around for the zipper in back, wondering what she was wearing under the dress. She slapped my hand away. “No! Do you know how long it took me to get put together?”
“Please, just a little quickie,” I murmured. “You look too good to pass up. I can hike up the skirt if you like it like that.”
“No. You’ll muss my hair and makeup. As you’ve learned, this doesn’t come easily. We’ll be very late if I have to start all over.” She stepped away from me.
“Fine,” I pouted, leaning forward to give her a kiss.
Her kiss started out warm and pliable and quickly changed to chaste as she pulled away from me. “Scotch?” she asked.
“What?”
“You drank scotch. I can taste it on your lips.”
“Oh, yeah. I had a glass. Don’t worry. I called a car service.”
“Oh. Good. We should probably go.” She was acting a little different.
“All right,” I said, assuming it was the nerves making her a little cold.
When we got to the restaurant, she seemed more nervous than ever. When we got out of the car, she immediately moved to go inside. I stopped her, pulling her away from the entrance of the restaurant to a quiet corner. I carefully touched her face with my fingertips.
“You’re going to be fine. Better than fine—amazing. You’re amazing. If you want to leave, just say the word, and we’ll take off.”
“Thank you. I’ll be okay. I just really want to make a good impression, not just for my sake, but for yours as well. If I bomb this, your buddy is going to be setting you up with more blind dates. I don’t know if you can handle that.” She winked.
I chuckled. “I can’t, so you better be on fire tonight.”
“Done.”
We walked into the upscale restaurant and were quickly shown to our table where Adrian and Bella were already waiting. We quickly went through the introductions. Bella and Nicole sat across from each other with Adrian and me at their sides.
“Want a drink?” I asked her.
“Um, white wine please?” she asked.
I ordered two, matching the wine Adrian and Bella were already drinking.
“Nicole is from—” I paused, not entirely sure where she was from, beyond the United States.
“Dallas,” she blurted out.
“Dallas,” I repeated.
“No kidding?” Bella asked with surprise.
“Where are you from?” Nicole asked, relaxing into the conversation a bit.
“The Pacific Northwest, from a tiny little town along the Idaho and Washington border that nobody has ever heard of.” Bella giggled.
“She’s right,” Adrian said. “It is tiny. I don’t even think it’s officially a town. Here, we call it a village.”
“That sounds amazing. I always wanted to visit Seattle or New York. Hell, anywhere.” Nicole giggled.
“Me too,” Bella answered enthusiastically, before quickly telling the story of her arrival in Crete.
Nicole looked at me, a huge smile on her face. “That is the best story ever.”
Adrian looked at Nicole, then me, with that mischievous look in his eye. I shook my head, silently telling him no. He smirked but kept his mouth shut. The waiter came by, and we all ordered another round of wine. I noticed Nicole looking at my glass and then studying me. The conversation flowed easily. I could tell Nicole was enjoying herself, which made me happy.
“How long will you be staying in Greece?” Bella asked Nicole.
Nicole shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’m, um, I work—worked—for Rand’s grandfather. Things are in a transitional phase right now, and I’m not sure how it’s all going to play out. I’m keeping my options open at this point.”
Bella nodded as if she understood. “Were you close with him? The grandfather?”
“I was.”
“You worked for him as his nurse?” Adrian questioned.
“No, his maid,” she answered.
I saw a glimpse of shock on Adrian’s face before he quickly hid it. “I see.”
“He was the first and only person willing to hire someone with zero experience,” Nicole explained. “He was a good man, and I grew very fond of him.”
“He was indeed a fine man,” Adrian agreed. “I’m sure Rand told you we owe him for helping us launch the company.”
Nicole smiled. “He did, and that sounds very much like the man I got to know over the past two years.”
We ordered our dinners before the conversation switched to Great Greeks. I could see the admiration for Bella in Nicole’s eyes. I knew she was just as smart as Bella and could be just as successful. She needed a shot. Adrian had given Bella a chance, and I could do the same for Nicole. I wanted to do the same but wasn’t sure she would accept it.
I put my empty wine glass on the corner of the table for the waiter to see, the polite way to ask for a refill. Nicole gently touched my arm. “Are you okay?” she asked in a low voice.
“I’m fine. You?”
She nodded, looking pointedly at my empty glass. “Are you going to have another? You had that scotch at your house.”
My initial reaction was to assure her I was a big boy and didn’t need her watching my alcohol intake. I wasn’t a drunk and rarely got drunk. I could see the worry and fear on her face and decided a third glass of wine wasn’t worth her getting upset.
“I’m probably good,” I said. “Do you want another?”
She shook her head. “No thank you.”
I smiled, touching her hand resting on the table. “Great.”
I looked up and saw Adrian watching us with those eyes that saw much more than just what was in front of him
. I had seen it too, but the dinner table wasn’t the place to bring it up. I would try and talk to her later. I realized she had an unspoken two-drink rule. I assumed she had some bad experience with alcohol, or maybe she’d known someone who’d been grievously injured after three drinks. I didn’t know, but I would find out. For now, we’d focus on the dinner.
“Do you guys live in the city?” Nicole asked Bella.
Bella’s eyes lit up. “Actually, we have a little announcement,” she said with a grin.
My ears perked up. “An announcement?”
Adrian put his arm around Bella and pulled her close. “We’re moving.”
“Where?” I asked. Alarm filled me as I thought about him moving back to America and leaving me with the company. I didn’t want to run the thing, especially not alone.
“We’ve bought a house just outside the city,” he announced. “It’s a little bigger, with a good-sized yard and a stretch of beach.”
“Congratulations,” Nicole said.
“Why the move?” I asked, sensing there was something more they weren’t saying.
Bella and Adrian looked at each other. The silent communication they had was in full force. I had always been envious of their ability to read one another’s minds. Adrian told me it was part of their connection. He tried to tell me it was the language of love. I called bullshit on that.
“Because we wanted a little more room for our family,” Bella announced, and her face erupted into a huge smile.
“Your family?” I asked. “Your father and his wife are moving in with you? Is he well?”
Nicole slapped at my hand. “She’s pregnant!”
Bella giggled. “Not yet, but we are going to start trying. Tonight is my last hurrah.” She picked up her wine glass and took a drink.
“No shit,” I said, before remembering we were in a classy restaurant with ladies at the table.
“Rand!” Bella scolded.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
“Well, good luck to you,” Nicole said, holding up her glass to clink it against Bella’s. “I hope you have many babies.”
Bella giggled. “Maybe not many, but I would be happy with a couple.”
“Congrats, man,” I said. “I can’t imagine you being a father, but I guess it was bound to happen.”
“Thanks for that resounding approval,” Adrian said, grinning. “I know I can rely on you to do a little babysitting.”
I grimaced. “I don’t think so.”
We finished dinner, stuffing ourselves and enjoying one another’s company. I had refrained from drinking anything but water for the rest of the night. I noticed Nicole had stuck with water as well, even though Bella and Adrian lived up to their promise to enjoy their last night of drinking as they embarked on their journey to become parents. We left them to continue their night out, walking outside the restaurant into the fresh night air.
“I’d like to take you somewhere, if you don’t mind,” I said to her.
“Hmm, that sounds mysterious,” she said with a soft smile.
“I suppose it could be a little mysterious.”
I spoke with the driver before helping Nicole into the backseat to be escorted to my favorite section of beach that I was hoping would be deserted at this time of night. It was secluded and not known to the tourists. It was something us locals kept closely guarded.
Chapter 20
Nicole
I loved walking along the beach at night. I didn’t do it often. For one, Alena had told me it wasn’t safe, and for two, I was usually tucked in bed, sound asleep. I didn’t live a wild lifestyle. I went to work, I went home, and did very little in between. I hadn’t minded it. It was comfortable, and I loved the routine and normalcy. Rand was shaking all of that up.
He stood steady while I used one hand to support myself on him and took off my heels. I had to feel the sand between my toes. Plus, walking in heels on the beach wasn’t exactly easy. The moon was high and bright, the sky around it dotted with lots of bright stars. It was gorgeous. The sound of the sea rolling in and out created the perfect backdrop for a romantic evening.
“Nicole, can I ask you something? I’d like you to be honest with me.”
“Sure, what is it?” I asked, having no idea what he could want to know.
“Earlier, at dinner, you seemed to get nervous when I was going to order a third glass of wine. Is there a story behind that?”
I forced myself not to tense up. “A story? No, I only wanted to make sure you didn’t get wasted.”
“Three glasses of wine isn’t going to get me wasted,” he said dryly.
“Probably not, but you had the scotch earlier,” I said. “It’s no big deal. I was only looking out for you.”
He nodded and didn’t say anything more about it. I could tell he wasn’t buying my excuse. It was kind of lame. I hadn’t meant to make a big deal out of it. Old habits died hard. I was used to monitoring the alcohol intake of not only myself, but the people I was with. Alcohol made people do things they wouldn’t normally, or it made them do things they tried to keep repressed. I didn’t like being around drunk people. Drunk people were unpredictable. I liked predictability.
“Okay,” he simply said.
“Do you think dinner went well?” I asked, changing the subject.
He chuckled. “I do.”
“Do you think they’ll invite me to dinner again?” I pressed.
He squeezed my hand. “Yes, I do. They loved you, especially Bella. I can see the two of you being friends and ganging up on me and Adrian. The two of you American women together might be a very bad idea.”
“Hey!” I protested playfully.
We walked to a quiet cove where there were a few benches facing the beach. Rand led me to one, and both of us sat and stared at the moonlit sea. It was so peaceful. I imagined if everyone in the world could have a turn sitting on one of the benches every day for at least fifteen minutes, the world would be a happier place. People never sat and did nothing. They never sat and enjoyed the scenery. I was one of them. I was going to do better. Sitting on the beach was a balm to the soul. I could practically feel old wounds healing with each wave rushing in.
“It’s nice out here, huh?” Rand commented.
“It is. Why do you come here and not your beach?”
“I used to come here a lot a long time ago,” he answered. “I like the change up, and I feel like the moon is brighter here. My house is in a busy area, and the light pollution dulls the moon’s glory.”
“Rand, how come you didn’t visit your grandfather?” I asked the question I had been dying to know the answer to for over a week.
He let out a long sigh. “At first, it was because I was so caught up with work. I worked all day, even on the weekends. He would call me and ask me to stop by, and I always had a reason I couldn’t. I always intended on going the following weekend or the following weekend after that. Seeing him fell on my list of priorities until it dropped off the list altogether. Then, I started to feel guilty, really guilty. I couldn’t face him. I didn’t know what to say to him to explain my absence. He used to send me messages or leave me voicemails, and I did return his calls, but I always did it when I knew he would be asleep.”
“Why?” I pressed him. “He made it sound like the two of you were really close.”
He shook his head. “We were close. He was really the only family I had. He was the only one who acted like he wanted me around. If it weren’t for him, I probably would have ended up dead or in prison. I was going down a path that wasn’t necessarily good.”
“Your brother is around, and I saw your parents,” I reminded him.
He scoffed, his gaze still focused on the ocean. “They are around. Athens mostly.”
“You don’t talk to them?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
I knew I was asking a lot of questions, and I wouldn’t have appreciated being quizzed about painful family matters, but I had to know more about the m
an. He was worming his way into my life, and I needed to know all I could.
Part of me was still a little guarded around him because I didn’t feel like I truly knew the man. He was holding as much back as I was. We were both carrying around a lot of baggage, and if we didn’t talk about it with one another, there was no way we would ever have a relationship like Bella and Adrian.
Woah.
That thought had come out of nowhere. Why was I even thinking like that about Rand? We had sex a couple of times and enjoyed some nice meals together. That did not equate to a match made in heaven that would go on for eternity. I was seriously getting ahead of myself. I gave myself a mental shake and snapped back to reality.
“My family doesn’t like me,” he said.
I giggled, assuming he was joking. When he turned to look at me, I could see how serious he was. “Oh. I’m sorry. I thought you were kidding.”
“It is a joke. Families are supposed to be there for each other. They’re supposed have each other’s backs and all that other shit. Not mine. When I needed them most, they abandoned me. They cut me out. It was a hard time, and if it hadn’t been for my grandfather, I truly don’t know if I would have made it. I struggled for a long time, but he was always there.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “That must have been very difficult. Is Demokritos older than you?”
He nodded. “He is. Two years older, but if you ask him, he’s far more mature and a million times better than I am.”
“You two don’t get along?”
He chuckled. “That’s one way to put it. I don’t know if I can say we don’t get along because we don’t talk. I haven’t spoken to him in years. I don’t really know him.”
“Wow.”
My Favorite Mistake Page 12
