Playing by the Greek's Rules

by Sarah Morgan

  All talk ceased as Lily walked up to him, her heels making the same rhythmic tapping sound that Christina’s had earlier in the evening. She decided heels were her new favourite thing for illustrating mood. ‘What time is that restaurant reservation?’

  He didn’t miss a beat. ‘Nine o’clock.’

  ‘Then we should leave, because we don’t want to be late.’ She stood on tiptoe and planted a kiss firmly on his mouth. ‘And just so that you know, whatever you’re planning on doing with the dress, I’m keeping the shoes.’

  CHAPTER THREE

  THE ATHENA WAS situated on the edge of town, on a hill overlooking Souda Bay with the White Mountains dominating the horizon behind them.

  Still on a high after her confrontation with David, Lily sailed into the restaurant feeling like royalty. ‘You have no idea how good it felt to tell David to go home to his wife. I felt like punching the air. You see what a few hours in your company has done for me? I’m already transformed. Your icy control and lack of emotional engagement is contagious.’

  Nik guided her to his favourite table, tucked away behind a discreet screen of vines. ‘You certainly showed the guy what he was missing.’

  Lily frowned. ‘I didn’t want to show him what he was missing. I wanted him to learn a lesson and never lie or cheat again. I wanted him to think of his poor wife. Marriage should be for ever. No cheating. Mess around as much as you like before if that’s what you want, but once you’ve made that commitment, that’s it. Don’t you agree?’

  ‘Definitely. Which is why I’ve never made that commitment,’ he said dryly. ‘I’m still at the “messing around” stage and I expect to stay firmly trapped in that stage for the rest of my life.’

  ‘You don’t want a family? We’re very different. It’s brilliant.’ She smiled at him and his eyes narrowed.

  ‘Why is that brilliant?’

  ‘Because you’re completely and utterly wrong for me. We don’t want the same things.’

  ‘I’m relieved to hear it.’ He leaned back in his chair. ‘I hardly dare ask what you want.’

  She hesitated. ‘Someone like you will think I’m a ridiculous romantic.’

  ‘Tell me.’

  She dragged her gaze from his and looked over the tumbling bougainvillea to the sea beyond. Was she a ridiculous romantic?

  Was she setting herself unachievable goals?

  Seduced by the warmth of his gaze and the beauty of the spectacular sunset, she told the truth. ‘I want the whole fairy tale.’

  ‘Which fairy tale? The one where the stepmother poisons the apple or the one where the prince has to deal with a heroine with narcolepsy?’

  She laughed. ‘The happy-ending part. I want to fall in love, settle down and have lots of babies.’ Enjoying herself, she looked him in the eye. ‘Am I freaking you out yet?’

  ‘That depends. Are you expecting to do any of that with me?’

  ‘No! Of course not.’

  ‘Then you’re not freaking me out.’

  ‘I start every relationship in the genuine belief it might go somewhere.’

  ‘I presume you mean somewhere other than bed?’

  ‘I do. I have never been interested in sex for the sake of sex.’

  Nik looked amused. ‘That’s the only sort of sex I’m interested in.’

  She sat back in her chair and looked at him. ‘I’ve never had sex with a man I wasn’t in love with. I fall in love, then I have sex. I think sex cements my emotional connection to someone.’ She sneaked another look at him. ‘You don’t have that problem, do you?’

  ‘I’m not looking for an emotional connection, if that’s what you’re asking.’

  ‘I want to be more like you. I decided this morning I’m going to have cold, emotionless rebound sex. I’m switching everything off. It’s going to be wham, bam, thank you, man.’

  The corners of his mouth flickered. ‘Do you have anyone in mind for this project?’

  She sensed this wasn’t the moment to confess he was right at the top of her list. ‘I’m going to pick a guy I couldn’t possibly fall in love with. Then I’ll be safe. It will be like—’ she struggled to find the right description ‘—emotional contraception. I’ll be taking precautions. Wearing a giant condom over my feelings. Protecting myself. I bet you do that all the time.’

  ‘If you’re asking if I’ve ever pulled a giant condom over my feelings, the answer is no.’

  ‘You’re laughing at me, but if you’d been hurt as many times as I have you wouldn’t be laughing. So if emotions don’t play a part in your relationships, what exactly is sex to you?’

  ‘Recreation.’ He took a menu from the waiter and she felt a rush of mortification. As soon as he walked away, she gave a groan.

  ‘How long had he been standing there?’

  ‘Long enough to know you’re planning on having cold, unemotional rebound sex and that you’re thinking of wearing a giant condom over your feelings. I think that was the point he decided it was time to take our order.’

  She covered her face with her hands. ‘We need to leave. I’m sure the food here is delicious, but we need to eat somewhere different or I need to take my plate under the table.’

  ‘You’re doing it again. Letting emotions govern your actions.’

  ‘But he heard me. Aren’t you embarrassed?’

  ‘Why would I be embarrassed?’

  ‘Aren’t you worried about what he might think of you?’

  ‘Why would I care what he thinks? I don’t know him. His role is to serve our food and make sure we enjoy ourselves sufficiently to want to come back. His opinion on anything else is irrelevant. Carry on with what you were saying. It was fascinating. Dining with you is like learning about an alien species. You were telling me you’re going to pick a guy you can’t fall in love with and use him for sex.’

  ‘And you were telling me sex is recreation—like football?’

  ‘No, because football is a group activity. I’m possessive, so for me it’s strictly one on one.’

  Her heart gave a little flip. ‘That sounds like a type of commitment.’

  ‘I’m one hundred per cent committed for the time a woman is in my bed. She is the sole focus of my attention.’

  Her stomach uncurled with a slow, dangerous heat. ‘But that might only be for a night?’

  He simply smiled and she leaned back with a shocked laugh.

  ‘You are so bad. And honest. I love that.’

  ‘As long as you don’t love me, we don’t have a problem.’

  ‘I could never love you. You are so wrong for me.’

  ‘I think we should drink to that.’ He raised a hand and moments later champagne appeared on the table.

  ‘I can’t believe you live like this. A driver, bottles of champagne—’ She lifted the glass, watching the bubbles. ‘Your villa is bigger than quite a few Greek islands and there is only one of you.’

  ‘I like space and light and property is always a good investment.’ He handed the menu back to the waiter. ‘Is there any food you don’t eat?’

  ‘I eat everything.’ She paused while he spoke to the waiter in Greek. ‘Are you seriously ordering for me?’

  ‘The menu is in Greek and you were talking about sex so I was aiming to keep the interaction as brief as possible in order to prevent you from feeling the need to dine under the table.’

  ‘In that case I’ll forgive you.’ She waited until the waiter had walked away with their order. ‘So if property is an investment that means you’d sell your home?’

  ‘I have four homes.’

  Her jaw dropped. ‘Four? Why does one person need four homes? One for every season or something?’

  ‘I have offices in New York, San Francisco and London and I don’t like staying in hote
ls.’

  ‘So you buy a house. That is the rich man’s way of solving a problem. Which one do you think of as home?’ Seeing the puzzled look on his face, she elaborated. ‘Where do your family live? Do you have family? Are your parents alive?’

  ‘They are.’

  ‘Happily married?’

  ‘Miserably divorced. In my father’s case three times so far, but he’s always in competition with himself so I’m expecting a fourth as soon as the wedding is out of the way.’

  ‘And your mother?’ She saw a faint shift in his expression.

  ‘My mother is American. She lives in Boston with her third husband who is a divorce lawyer.’

  ‘So do you think of yourself as Greek American or American Greek?’

  He gave a careless lift of his broad shoulders. ‘Whichever serves my purpose at the time.’

  ‘Wow. So you have this big, crazy family.’ Lily felt a flash of envy. ‘That must be wonderful.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘You don’t think it’s wonderful? I guess we never appreciate something when we have it.’ She said it lightly but felt his dark gaze fix on her across the table.

  ‘Are you going to cry?’

  ‘No, of course not.’

  ‘Good. Because tears are the one form of emotional expression I don’t tolerate.’

  She stole an olive from the bowl on the table. ‘What if someone is upset?’

  ‘Then they need to walk away from me until they’ve sorted themselves out, or be prepared for me to walk away. I never allow myself to be manipulated and ninety-nine per cent of tears are manipulation.’

  ‘What about the one per cent which are an expression of genuine emotion?’

  ‘I’ve never encountered that rare beast, so I’m willing to play the odds.’

  ‘If that’s your experience, you must have met some awful women in your time. I don’t believe you’d be that unsympathetic.’

  ‘Believe it.’ He leaned back as the waiter delivered a selection of dishes. ‘These are Cretan specialities. Try them.’ He spooned beans in a rich tomato sauce onto her plate and added local goat’s cheese.

  She nibbled the beans and moaned with pleasure. ‘These are delicious. I still can’t believe you ordered for me. Do you want to feed me, too? Because I could lie back and let you drop grapes into my mouth if that would be fun. Or you could cover my naked body with whipped cream. Is that the sort of stuff you do in bed?’

  There was a dangerous glitter in his eyes. ‘You don’t want to know the sort of “stuff” I do in bed, Lily. You’re far too innocent.’

  She remembered what Brittany had said about him not being tame. ‘I’m not innocent. I have big eyes and that gives people a false impression of me.’

  ‘You remind me of a kitten that’s been abandoned by the side of the road.’

  ‘You’ve got me totally wrong. I’d say I’m more of a panther.’ She clawed the air and growled. ‘A little bit predatory. A little bit dangerous.’

  He gave her a long steady look and she blushed and lowered her hand.

  ‘All right, maybe not a panther exactly but not a kitten either.’ She thought about what lay in her past. ‘I’ll have you know I’m pretty tough. Tell me more about your family. So you have a father and a few stepmothers. How about siblings?’

  ‘I have one half-sister who is two.’

  Lily softened. ‘I love that age. They’re so busy and into everything. Is she adorable?’

  ‘I’ve no idea. I’ve never met her.’

  ‘You’ve—’ She stared at him, shocked. ‘You mean it’s been a while since you’ve seen her.’

  ‘No. I mean I’ve never seen her.’ He lifted his champagne. ‘Her mother extracted all the money she could from my father and then left. She lives in Athens and visits when she wants something.’

  ‘Oh, my God, that’s terrible.’ Lily’s eyes filled. ‘Your poor, poor father.’

  He put his glass down slowly. ‘Are you crying for my father?’

  ‘No.’ Her throat was thickened. ‘Maybe. Yes, a little bit.’

  ‘A man you’ve never met and know nothing about.’

  ‘Maybe I’m the one per cent who cares.’ She sniffed and he shook his head in exasperation.

  ‘This is your tough, ruthless streak? How can you be sad for someone you don’t know?’

  ‘Because I sympathise with his situation. He doesn’t see his little girl and that must be so hard. Family is the most important thing in the world and it is often the least appreciated thing.’

  ‘If you let a single tear fall onto your cheek,’ he said softly, ‘I’m walking out of here.’

  ‘I don’t believe you. You wouldn’t be that heartless. I think it’s all a big act you put on to stop women slobbering all over you.’

  ‘Do you want to test it?’ His tone was cool. ‘Because I suggest you wait until the end of the meal. The lamb kleftiko is the best anywhere in Greece and they make a house special with honey and pistachio nuts that you wouldn’t want to miss.’

  ‘But if you’re the one walking out, then I can stay here and eat your portion.’ She helped herself to another spoonful of food from the dish closest to her. ‘I don’t know why you’re so freaked out by tears. It’s not as if I was expecting you to hug me. I’ve taught myself to self-soothe.’

  ‘Self-soothe?’ Some of the tension left him. ‘You hug yourself?’

  ‘It’s important to be independent.’ She’d been self-sufficient from an early age, but the ability to do everything for herself hadn’t removed the deep longing to share her life with someone. ‘Why did your dad and his last wife divorce?’

  ‘Because they married,’ he said smoothly, ‘and divorce is an inevitable consequence of marriage.’

  She wondered why he had such a grim view of marriage. ‘Not all marriages.’

  ‘All but those infected with extreme inertia.’

  ‘So you’re saying that even people who stay married would divorce if they could be bothered to make the effort.’

  ‘I think there are any number of reasons for a couple to stay together, but love isn’t one of them. In my father’s case, wife number three married him for his money and the novelty wore off.’

  ‘Does “wife number three” have a name?’

  ‘Callie.’ His hard tone told her everything she needed to know about his relationship with his last stepmother.

  ‘You don’t like her?’

  ‘Are you enjoying your meal?’

  She blinked, thrown by the change of subject. ‘It’s delicious, but—’

  ‘Good. If you’re hoping to sample dessert, you need to talk about something other than my family.’

  ‘You control everything, even the conversation.’ She wondered why he didn’t want to talk about his family. ‘Is this where you bring all the women you date?’

  ‘It depends on the woman.’

  ‘How about that woman you were with earlier—Christina? She definitely wouldn’t have eaten any of this. She had carb-phobia written all over her.’

  Those powerful shoulders relaxed slightly. ‘She would have ordered green salad, grilled fish and eaten half of it.’

  ‘So why didn’t you order green salad and grilled fish for me?’

  ‘Because you look like someone who enjoys food.’

  Lily gave him a look. ‘I’m starting to understand why women cry around you. You basically called me fat. For your information, most women would storm out if you said that to them.’

  ‘So why didn’t you storm out?’

  ‘Because eating here is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I don’t want to miss it. And I don’t think you meant it that way and I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Tell me what happens next on a date. You bring a woman
to a place like this and then you take her back to your villa for sex in that massive bed?’

  ‘I never talk about my relationships.’

  ‘You don’t talk about your family and you don’t talk about your relationships.’ Lily helped herself to rich, plump slices of tomato salad. ‘What do you want to talk about?’

  ‘You. Tell me about your work.’

  ‘I work in your company. You know more about what goes on than I do, but one thing I will say is that with all these technology skills at your disposal you need to invent an app that syncs all the details of the women who call you. You have a busy sex life and it’s easy to get it mixed up, especially as they’re all pretty much the same type.’ She put her fork down. ‘Is that the secret to staying emotionally detached? You date women who are clones, no individual characteristics to tell them apart.’

  ‘I do not date clones, and I don’t want to talk about my work, I want to talk about your work. Your archaeological work.’ His eyes gleamed. ‘And try to include the word “Minoan” at least eight times in each sentence.’

  She ignored that. ‘I’m a ceramics expert. I did a masters in archaeology and since then I’ve been working on an internationally funded project replicating Minoan cooking fabrics. Among other things we’ve been looking at the technological shift Minoan potters made when they replaced hand-building methods with the wheel. We can trace patterns of production, but also the context of ceramic consumption. The word ceramic comes from the Greek, keramikos, but you probably already know that.’

  He reached for his wine glass. ‘I can’t believe you were cleaning my shower.’

  ‘Cleaning your shower pays well and I have college debts.’

  ‘If you didn’t have college debts, what would you be doing?’

  She hesitated, unwilling to share her dream with a stranger, especially one who couldn’t possibly understand having to make choices driven by debt. ‘I have no idea. I can’t afford to think like that. I have to be practical.’

  ‘Why Crete?’

  ‘Crete had all the resources necessary to produce pottery. Clay, temper, water and fuel. Microscopic ceramic fabric analysis indicate those resources have been used for at least eight thousand years. The most practical way of understanding ancient technology is to replicate it and use it and that’s what we’ve been doing.’