The old, rusty cowbell on the front door clanged announcing a customer. Efi wiped her hands on a towel and went out to greet the arrival.
She'd no sooner opened the swinging door than she found herself in Nick's arms.
"Good, I was hoping I'd get you alone," he said with a wicked grin.
Efi's mood soared as he backed her into the kitchen, the door swinging closed behind them. "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be at work?"
"It's lunchtime." He glanced at his watch over her shoulder even as he worked at undoing her apron strings. "I only have fifteen minutes. Hurry. If we're quick, we might even be able to squeeze in some foreplay."
Efi laughed as they nearly upset a tray where loaves of tsoureki, sweet bread, cooled. Then they shuffled toward the preparation table where she pushed the tray of baklava aside so Nick could lift her on top of the cool marble. Good thing she was wearing white jeans where the flour wouldn't show too much. Not that it mattered. Nick was determined to rid her of clothes, period, starting with her jeans.
"Mmm." She reveled in the feel of his mouth against hers. His kiss was sweeter and hotter than anything the shop had to offer, with or without chocolate.
He tugged his mouth away and she made a sound of protest, until she felt his lips against her bared right nipple. She bunched her fingers into his thick, dark hair, enjoying the myriad sensations flicking over her skin in concert with the flicks of his tongue.
Their position reminded her of their first time together. She'd been seventeen and he'd stopped by the shop to pick up a torte for his mother for a party she was throwing on his father's name day. Or at least that had been the story. From what she knew, Nick Constantinos never ran chores for his mother. It wasn't the Greek way. Greek men, it was well known, were coddled by their families until they married, and then the job was turned over to their new brides. She knew many Greek men who didn't know how to boil water, much less iron their own shirts.
Her father had gone to the bank for some financial matters and she'd been in the shop alone. And Nick made no secret that this was the moment he'd been waiting for. The time when he might sample some of the shop's offerings … directly from her skin.
She'd been wholly unprepared for the desire, the longing he'd introduced her to. The feel of his tongue against her belly as he lapped cream from her skin. The liquid that had pooled between her legs that he'd tsked about then set about cleaning up with his mouth.
It had been Efi's first sexual encounter. And it wasn't something she was soon to forget.
And it seemed Nick was determined to make sure she didn't forget this time, either, as he stoked the sparks charging through her veins into a full-out fire.
His fingers were more skilled than they'd been back then. He knew just how to touch her, where to apply pressure, where to pluck and pinch and stroke, making each time her first time.
She fumbled for the catch to his pants, needing to feel the growing length of him, evidence of his want for her. So hot … so hard…
"Condom … back pocket," he ground out, his breath teasing the sensitive skin of her neck.
She took it out and put a corner of the foil packet between her teeth … just as the cowbell on the door outside rang again.
"Efi! Come on out front. I want you to meet someone."
Her father.
"Damn." Nick leapt away and Efi jumped from the table and back into her jeans at the same time, both of them frantically putting themselves back together. If the thought of her mother seeing her in a compromising position was horrifying, having her father walk in…
Efi couldn't even bear to think of it.
She stared wide-eyed as Nick gave her a hard, fast kiss. "I'm going out the back. I'll see you later."
Efi gave him a shove. The door had barely shut behind him when she was swinging to face her father opening the other door.
She smiled at him, hoping she didn't look too flushed or flustered. "Papa. I wasn't expecting you in today."
Efi blinked. If she hadn't been expecting him in today, she certainly wasn't prepared for the person he'd brought with him. She stared at her younger cousin Phoebus, who had always been on the thin side and wore clothes that were much too big for him.
Her father put his arm over his shoulders, dwarfing the smaller man. "I figured now would be as good a time as any to bring Phoebus in to have a look around the place."
Efi's hormones were still running overtime. Especially since Nick had circled the block of buildings and popped up outside the front window, waving at her from over her oblivious father's shoulder.
"I'm not following you," she said to her father. "I thought Diana was going to fill in for me while I'm on my honeymoon."
Diana was her sister, younger than her by a year.
"She is, she is." He patted Phoebus's shoulder hard enough that her cousin winced. "Phoebus is going to be your permanent replacement."
A timer went off in the kitchen behind her, seeming to call an end not only to the cooking time of the koulourakia, but to her career as well.
"Pardon me?"
Her father had the good grace to look a little sheepish. "Your mama told me you might have a problem with the … how did she put it? Transition. Yes, transition."
"Transition into what?" Efi couldn't stop herself from asking.
"Marriage, of course. Is that something I smell burning?"
Marriage…
Was her father implying that once she and Nick were married this Sunday, she would no longer be working at the shop?
Yes, she realized, he was.
And that something burning was going to be her in two seconds flat unless he retracted his statement.
Her father mumbled something under his breath as he went back into the kitchen to save the cookies.
Efi took the opportunity to smile at her cousin, then take his arm and lead him to the door. "Thanks so much for stopping by, Phoebus, but my father's a little confused right now. It's an age thing, you know."
Her cousin nodded. "Tell me about it. My grandmother sprinkled sugar instead of salt on the salad last night. Worse, she didn't even seem to notice, saying it was the best salad she'd ever made." He skidded to a halt just inside the door. "Does this mean your father doesn't need me?"
Efi stopped herself from patting him on the head. "That's exactly what it means. Diana will fill in for me until I get back from my honeymoon."
"And then?"
And then what? she felt the urge to scream. "And then I'll be returning here myself."
"But…"
Efi opened the door, then nearly shoved him through it.
"Thanks again, Phoebus. Give your family my best, won't you? I trust we'll see you all at the wedding?"
She closed the door before he had a chance to respond and turned in time to watch her father storm through the kitchen door.
"Burned. Every last one of them."
At that moment Efi couldn't have cared less if half the shop burned to the ground.
"Where's Phoebus?" he asked.
"On his way home. Where he's going to stay."
"What did you go and do that for? I wanted you to show him some of the ropes before you leave."
"There's no need to show him the ropes, because I'm not leaving."
Her words seemed to take a minute to sink in. When her father's own personal lightbulb finally went off, the expression on his beefy, lovable face turned from confused to exasperated.
"Efi, you're getting married."
"Yes, I'm getting married. I'm gaining a husband, not losing my mobility."
He lifted a finger. "Ah, yes, but you'll also become a wife. A mother. You'll have different priorities after the wedding."
"I'll have more responsibilities, not different ones." She crossed her arms over her apron-covered chest. "Just when had you planned to tell me you were going to replace me?"
Her father scratched his eyebrow with his index finger. "Well … now."
"Ask a stupid question…"<
br />
Efi paced the length of the display case then back again. She stared at her father, felt nothing but frustration well up in her throat, then paced away again.
"Efi, listen. Your mother and I discussed this with Niko. We all think—"
"You discussed this with Nick?"
She couldn't believe it. Wouldn't believe it. There was no way Nick was in on this. He knew how much the shop meant to her.
But he also wanted ten kids.
"Well, maybe not with Nick directly. With his parents. And they agree this is what he would want."
"And what about what I want?"
Her father grinned at her and put his arm across her tense shoulders. "Ah, everything will make sense once the wedding is over, just you wait and see."
Somehow Efi got the impression that nothing was going to make much sense ever again…
CHAPTER THREE
Day three
It was a conspiracy, Efi was convinced.
In three days she hadn't been alone with Nick for more than three minutes. And then only because they'd stolen the moments. The more she and Nick tried to be alone together, the more their families worked to keep them apart.
Tonight Nick's family was hosting a dinner at their monstrous house, more his family than hers, and including guests that were still arriving from as near as Toledo and as far away as Cyprus. Every time she blinked, another relative she hadn't seen in over a decade popped up, kissing her and wishing her well and spitting on her.
"Ptew, ptew, ptew." A cousin of hers from Ancient Olympia spat on her as she entered the Constantinos home and shrugged out of her wrap.
Okay, so it wasn't a clear your throat, accumulated a thick wad in your mouth kind of spit. It was more a superstitious gesture to keep a person safe from the evil eye, especially a bride seeing as all eyes were on her now, evil or otherwise.
Still, Nikoletta seemed to put more effort into the spitting than necessary, blowing Efi's bangs slightly back from her forehead.
Efi smiled and hoped there wasn't a spit bubble on her eyebrow. "It's good to see you, Letta. Kalos erthis."
"Kalos sas vrikamai," Letta said automatically, responding to Efi's Greek welcome that meant it was good to be there.
Kiki leaned closer to her. "Well, at least you won't need another shower later," she whispered as Efi discreetly checked her face for spittle before the next long-lost Greek relative greeted her.
"Shush. Your day will come soon enough."
Kiki gave a melodramatic sigh that would have put any of their tragic ancestors to shame. "With no groom in sight outside your own, I don't see how that's possible."
"That's only because you're blind." She looked around for Nick, but didn't see him anywhere. "I've got to make a rest stop."
"Efi!"
Kiki made a face. "Your grandfather, twelve o'clock. You want me to run interference?"
"Too late."
Not that Efi didn't want to see her paternal grandfather. He'd played a large role in her life and her sisters' lives ever since they were young and he'd come to the States after the death of his wife. It was just that his Grenglish was atrocious. Oh, she spoke fluent Greek, but her grandfather's interesting mix of Greek and English meant she sometimes had a hard time communicating with the short, energetic man.
"Ah, look at you," her grandfather Kiriakos said, taking her hands and holding them wide. "You look like just your grandmother."
"Thank you, Papou," she said, kissing both of his cheeks. "Where's Gus?"
Gus was her grandfather's best friend and also a widower. It was rare when the two weren't spotted together. Although judging by her grandfather's instant angry expression, she had the feeling she might not being seeing the two of them together again anytime soon.
"Ptew, he's not fit for you to mention his name, to kleftis," Kiriakos said, spitting, although thankfully off to the side rather than on her.
Efi knew the word kleftis meant thief, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out why her grandfather would be calling his best friend a thief. Gus owned an antique furniture store not far from the pastry shop and was an upstanding citizen. They'd been friends for over twenty years.
"No matter. We will not let him spoil your special week now, will we?" her grandfather asked, kissing her again.
"I'm sure it's nothing that can't be worked out," she said.
"Never," he said, and moved on.
Kiki took a deep breath. "Well, that was enlightening."
Efi made a face at her friend, then caught sight of Nick behind a short, stout woman bearing down on her and her stomach lightened. "I need to talk to Nick."
Kiki groaned. "God, I feel sick just watching the two of you. You don't mind if I go get some air?"
Efi waved her friend away. "Go for it. Oh, and keep your eyes peeled for any potential grooms. I may be related or about to be related to every attractive, single male in the room, but you aren't."
"I wouldn't marry a Greek if you paid me. I have to live with them. You don't expect me to marry one, too?"
Efi gaped at her.
Kiki grinned and disappeared into the crowd.
Efi came to understand that the difference between her family and Nick's was that the Constantinos family liked to put the opa into a party. Sometime after eleven, a trio of musicians set up outside on the back patio with a bouzouki, a baglama and a clarinet. Warm lanterns had been lit all around and within minutes the sound of a tsiftetelli, traditional Greek dance music, filled the fragrant night air. Thankfully it was warm for May, so while a few wore sweaters, the guests for the most part were warmed by drink and the promise of dancing.
By all accounts, the new focus should have allowed her and Nick the freedom to be near each other, if not the opportunity to disappear altogether for a few precious minutes. Instead, the families seemed even more determined to keep them apart. They were all bent on making it clear there would be no more secret meetings in the pantry. No more mysterious knee jerks under the table.
Efi watched the guests spill out onto the back patio and tried to make her way toward where Nick was chatting with one of her uncles when Kiki grabbed her arm.
"Not you, too," Efi complained.
Kiki flashed a smile. "I'm just saving you from dealing with your mother."
Penelope indeed was a couple of feet away closely watching her daughter. Efi fought an eye roll. You'd think she was sixteen and a virgin the way her family was carrying on. Then again, they were probably trying to save themselves from embarrassment. After all, it was hard to host a proper wedding party if the bride and the groom were off somewhere squeezing in a little nooky time.
Efi allowed Kiki to lead her to a corner of the patio. The band launched into their first tune, an old one that almost always got everyone up to dance. Efi laughed as her uncle Iakavo took her hand and led her to the makeshift stage, encouraging her to lead in the traditional line dance.
There were many things she loved about being Greek and this was one of them. She had plenty of non-Greek friends and marveled at the way they celebrated events. Never would you find a bouzouki band at her friend Teresa Galwart's house. Or a lamb roasting over a pit in the backyard of Janice Collingwood's place. There had been a period in her teens where she'd loathed being so different from other families. But somewhere down the line she'd learned to celebrate it.
She looked to where Nick was being pulled into the line and grinned at him, happier than she could ever remember being.
"Jesus. Who in the hell is that?" Kiki asked next to her after cutting into the line.
Efi blinked. "Who's who?"
"Tight red dress at two o'clock."
Efi looked and saw one of her plump aunts kicking up quite a dance.
"I said two o'clock, not four."
Efi shifted her gaze. And as she did she felt her heart drop to the vicinity of her feet.
A breathtakingly beautiful woman of about her own age with long black hair, ruby-red lips and a slinky body Efi had alway
s dreamed of having but never would had her arms held high and was shimmying in a way that marked the end of the line and the beginning of the individual tsiftetelli or belly dance portion of the dance where everyone broke off and danced solo.
And it was clearly Nick she was dancing for.
"Aphrodite looks very nice tonight, doesn't she?" she heard her mother ask from her other side where they had moved from the patio and were standing off to the side, as the woman in red took center stage, every man in the place clapping in support of her seductive dance.
Efi gaped. "That's Aphrodite?" The same skinny Aphrodite they had all laughed at when they were kids in Greece? Poor thing, they used to say, named after the Goddess of Love and she had the looks that only a mother could love.
The unfamiliar woman in red began to bend backward in a way that required someone to spot her so she wouldn't fall. Efi watched as Nick offered to be that someone. Aphrodite slithered and shook, taking full advantage of the close contact, the V of her dress deep, her breasts full, her hips all too lush.
Efi had watched Nick do the same thing for countless others, Kiki included, but she had never felt the stab of jealousy that twisted in her gut watching him with Aphrodite. Of course, it could have something to do with the way Aphrodite was looking at him seductively, suggestively, as if she was the direct descended of her namesake and was putting him into some kind of erotic trance.
Thankfully the song came to an end and the couple in the middle of the patio earned roaring applause.
Unfortunately Efi was afraid the knife in her gut wasn't going anywhere.
"I say we exchange her for the lamb and tie her to the skewer," Kiki said a little while later, in the large upstairs bathroom Efi had gone to. She'd meant to be alone, but her best friend seemed uncannily tuned in to her mind-set and had followed, toying with a tray full of guest soaps in the shape of seashells on the counter while Efi tried to repair her makeup in the softly lit mirror.
She sighed. No matter what lighting she was in, she'd never be as appealing as Aphrodite was.
THAT'S AMORE Page 9
