Conveniently Wed to the Greek

by Kandy Shepherd

  He turned to the artful display of teas in small wooden chests. ‘This is a fine selection,’ he said with genuine interest. He was here to glean information for his new project. A hotel completely different from anything he’d created before. He’d been isolated from the hospitality business in the past years and needed to be on top of the trends. He knew all about partying and decadence—what he sought now was restraint and calm. A different way of doing business. A different life.

  ‘Tea has become very fashionable,’ Adele said in what seemed a purposely neutral voice, more for the benefit of the other woman rather than any conscious desire to engage in conversation with him. ‘Not any old teas, naturally. Herbal teas, healing tisanes, special blends. I highly recommend the parsnip, ginger and turmeric blend—organic and vegan, which is a good thing.’

  Alex gagged at the thought of it.

  But if that was what people wanted at a place like this, it would be up to him to give it to them. Of course Adele would know about what was fashionable in foods and beverages. Her Dell Dishes blog attracted an extraordinary number of visitors. Or it had three years ago when he had instructed his lawyers to delve deep into her life with particular reference to her income.

  At one stage he had thought about suing her personally as well as via the publishing company that had employed her as a food critic and editor of its restaurant guide. Back then, scrutinising Dell Dishes, he hadn’t thought she had done enough to monetise her site, to take advantage of the potential appeal to advertisers. Needless to say he hadn’t offered her any advice—he’d wanted to bring her down, not help her soar.

  ‘I’ll pass on the parsnip tea, thank you,’ he said, suppressing a grimace. ‘What I want is coffee—strong and black.’ He couldn’t keep the yearning from his voice.

  ‘No such thing here, I’m afraid,’ she said, with a wry expression that he couldn’t help but find cute. Cute. It was incomprehensible that he should find Adele Hudson cute.

  He groaned. ‘No coffee at all?’

  She shook her head. ‘Not part of the “clean food” ethos of the spa. You’ll have to sneak out to the Bay Bites café. They serve Dolphin Bay’s finest coffee. I can personally vouch for it.’

  ‘I might follow up on that.’

  His friends the Morgan brothers, Ben and Jesse, had made the once sleepy beachside town of Dolphin Bay into quite a destination with the critically acclaimed Hotel Harbourside, Bay Bites, Bay Books and now the eco-friendly Bay Breeze spa in which Alex had invested in the early stages. It would not be long before he saw a return on his investment.

  The new resort was still in its debut phase but had been an immediate success. It had been booked out for Easter a few weeks back. The Morgans had read the market well. In just one day Alex had picked aspects he liked about the operation and ones he didn’t think would translate to his new venture. What worked in Australia might not necessarily work in Greece.

  ‘Escaping for coffee is hardly in the spirit of eating clean food.’ Adele sounded stern but there was an unexpected gleam of fun in her eyes. Eyes that were green like the olives growing on the island in the Ionian Sea that had once belonged to his ancestors and that he had bought so it once more was owned by a Mikhalis.

  He couldn’t help his snort of disgust at her comment. ‘So does “clean food” mean that all other food is “dirty”? I don’t like the idea of that. Especially the traditional Greek foods I grew up on.’

  ‘I think that term is debatable too,’ she said. ‘I wonder if—?’

  Adele’s grey-haired companion chose that moment to pick up her cup of herbal tea and make to move away. ‘I want to say again how much I love your blog,’ she enthused. ‘My daughter told me about it. Even my granddaughter is a fan, and she’s still at school.’

  Adele flushed and looked pleased. As she should—it was no mean feat to have her site appeal to three generations. ‘Thank you. I hope I can keep on bringing you more of what you enjoy.’

  ‘You’ll do that, I’m sure,’ the other woman said. ‘In the meantime, I’ll leave you two to chat.’ She departed but not without a speculative look from Alex to Adele and back to him again.

  Alex groaned inwardly. He recognised that gleam in her narrowed eyes. The same matchmaking gleam he’d seen often in the women of his extended Greek family. This particular lady had got completely the wrong end of the stick. He had no romantic interest whatsoever in Adele Hudson. In fact he had no interest in any kind of permanent relationship with any woman—in spite of the pressure from his family to settle down. Not now. Not ever. Not after what he’d endured. Not after what he had done.

  Besides, Adele was married. Or she had been three years ago. He glanced down at her left hand. No ring. So maybe she was no longer married. Not that her marital state was of any interest to him.

  Adele had obviously not missed that matchmaking gleam either. When she looked back at him, the undisguised horror in her eyes told him exactly what she thought of the idea of anyone pairing her with him.

  Alex had taken worse insults in his time. So why did that feel like a kick to the gut? He decided not to linger any longer at the tea station. Or to admit even to himself that he would like lovely Adele Hudson to look at him with something other than extreme distaste.

  CHAPTER TWO

  THE NEXT TIME Alex saw Adele Hudson he’d beaten her to their mutual destination—the dolphin-themed Bay Bites café that overlooked the picturesque harbour of Dolphin Bay. The café was buzzing with the hum of conversation, the aromas of fresh baking—and that indefinable feeling of a successful business. Alex missed being ‘hands on’ in his own restaurants so much it ached. That world was what had driven him since he’d been a teenager. Even before that. As a child he’d spent some of his happiest hours in his grandfather’s restaurant.

  Here he could sense the goodwill of the customers, the seamless teamwork of the staff. All was as he liked it to be in his own establishments. And Adele had been right, the café did have excellent coffee. He was sitting at a table near the window, savouring his second espresso, when he looked up to see her heading his way, pedalling one of the bicycles Bay Breeze provided for guests.

  She cycled energetically, a woman on a mission to get somewhere quickly. Her face was flushed from exertion as she got off and slid the bike onto a rack outside the café. She took off her bike helmet and shook out her auburn hair with a gesture of unconscious grace. Her hair glinted with copper highlights in the morning sunlight, dazzling him.

  This woman was nothing to him but an old adversary. Yet Alex found it difficult to look away from her fresh beauty. Since he’d been living in Greece, getting back to basics with his family there, he felt as if he were seeing life through new eyes. He was certainly seeing something different in Adele Hudson. Or maybe it had always been there and he’d been so intent on revenge he hadn’t noticed. There was something vibrant and uncontrived about her, dressed in white shorts and a simple white top, white sneakers and with a small multicoloured backpack. She radiated energy and good health, her face open and welcome to new experience.

  Alex didn’t alert her to his presence; she’d notice him soon enough. When she did, her first reaction on catching sight of him was out-and-out dismay, quickly covered up by another forced smile. Again he felt that kick in the gut—quite unjustifiably considering how he’d treated her in the past.

  She stopped by his table and he got up to greet her, glad she hadn’t just walked by with a cursory nod. ‘So you took my advice,’ she said. Her flushed cheeks made her eyes seem even greener. Her hair was tousled around her face.

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I become a raging beast without my coffee.’

  It was a bad choice of words. The look that flashed across her eyes told him she found the beast label only too appropriate. And that not only did she dislike him, but it seemed she also might fear him.

 
A jolt of remorse hit him. That was not the reaction he ever wanted from a woman. He thought back to the court case. There’d been some kind of confrontation outside on the day the judge had handed down his decision—although surely nothing to make her frightened of him.

  ‘I’m not partial to raging beasts,’ she said. Beasts like you were the words she left unspoken but he understand as well as if she had shouted them.

  Against all his own legal advice he’d gone after her and the major Sydney newspaper that had published her review. He’d been furious at her criticism of Athina, his first important restaurant—the one that had launched him as a serious contender on the competitive Sydney market. He’d had a lot to prove when he’d closed his grandfather’s original traditional Greek restaurant and reopened with something cutting-edge fashionable. The risk had paid off—and success after success had followed. And then she’d published a bad review of Athina, detailing how the prices had gone up and the quality gone down, along with the levels of service. It had seemed like a personal assault.

  So much had happened to him since then. His fury at her review now seemed disproportionate—a major overreaction to what the court had found to be fair comment. In light of what had happened during the hostage scenario and its aftermath it seemed insignificant. She had nothing to fear from him. Not now.

  He looked directly at her. ‘I told you this beast has been tamed,’ he said gruffly. It was as much an explanation as he felt able to give her. He didn’t share with anyone how he’d had to claw his way out of the abyss.

  But her brow furrowed. ‘Tamed by the coffee?’

  She didn’t get what he meant. But he had no intention of spelling out the bigger picture for her. How devastated he’d been by Mia’s death. The train wreck his life had become. He’d been a broken man, unable to deal with the public spotlight on him—the spotlight he’d once courted. There had only been the pain, the loss, the unrelenting guilt.

  His father had intervened, packed him up and sent him back to the Greek village his grandfather had left long ago to emigrate to Australia. At first, Alex had deeply resented his exile. But the distance and the return to his family’s roots had given him a painfully gained new perspective and self-knowledge. He’d discovered he hadn’t much liked the man he’d become in Sydney.

  The presence of Adele Hudson was like an arrow piercing his armour, reminding him of how invincible he’d thought himself to be back then when he’d been flying so high, how agonising his crash into the shadows. He forced his voice to sound steady and impartial. ‘The magical powers of caffeine,’ he said. ‘Can I order you a coffee?’

  Adele gave him a look through narrowed eyes that let him know she realised there was something more to his words that she hadn’t grasped. But didn’t care to pursue. She peered towards the back of the café to the door that led to the kitchen. ‘No, thank you. I’ve popped in to see Lizzie.’

  ‘Lizzie Dumont?’

  Jesse’s wife was a chef and the driving force behind the exemplary standards of the Morgan eateries. Alex had tried to poach her to work for him on a start-up in Sydney, a traditional French bistro. That was before he’d realised she’d been engaged to Jesse Morgan. That had stopped him. Back then he’d let nothing stop his quest for success—except loyalty to friends and family. That had never been negotiable.

  ‘She’s Lizzie Morgan now, well and truly married to Jesse,’ Adele said. ‘They have a beautiful baby boy, a brother for her daughter Amy.’

  ‘Yes,’ he said.

  Lizzie had a child from her first marriage. Alex had admired Jesse for taking on a stepchild. Had admired him the more because it wasn’t something Alex himself could ever do. His feeling for family and heritage was too deeply ingrained to ever take on another man’s child. He would never date a woman who came encumbered.

  ‘Here she is.’ Adele waved at a tall woman with curly, pale blonde hair who had pushed her way through the doors from the kitchen.

  ‘Dell! It’s so good to see you.’ Alex watched as Lizzie swept Adele up in a hug. ‘It’s been too long. We’ve got so much to catch up on.’

  ‘We certainly do,’ said Adele, giving Lizzie the full benefit of her dazzling smile. Politely, she turned to include him in the conversation. No smile for him. ‘Lizzie, I think you know Alex Mik—’

  ‘Of course I do,’ Lizzie said. She greeted him with a hug and kisses on both cheeks. ‘He’s a good friend of Jesse’s. When we heard he was going to be in Sydney we invited him down to Bay Breeze. Long time, no see, Alex.’ Her smile dimmed and her voice softened. ‘Are you okay?’

  He nodded. ‘As okay as I can be,’ he said. ‘I’ve appreciated the support from you and Jesse. It means a lot.’ He didn’t want to talk about his loss any further. Displaying vulnerability clashed with all the ideals of manhood that had been imbued in him by his family. ‘I didn’t know you two knew each other,’ he said. How much did Lizzie know of his history with Adele? No doubt he’d been painted as an ogre of the first order. A beast.

  Lizzie beamed. ‘Dell was one of our first customers. Her glowing reviews of Bay Bites helped put us on the map. The bonus was we became friends. Though we don’t see each other as much as we’d like.’

  Adele studiously avoided his eyes, obviously uncomfortable at the mention of her good reviews when she’d given Athina such a stinker. The court case had ensured she’d never reviewed his newer ventures, never put them ‘on the map’.

  ‘I’ve always loved this part of the world,’ she said. ‘And Bay Breeze is the icing on the cake. I love what you guys have done with it, Lizzie. The building, the fit-out, the food. The timing is perfect. Stress and burnout are endemic today. Offering this kind of retreat in such an awesome natural setting is just what a particular lucrative market is looking for.’

  Had she read his mind? She could have been quoting him on the pitch for his new luxury boutique resort.

  As she chatted with Lizzie, Alex was surprised at how much Adele knew about the hospitality business. She was both perceptive and canny. She understood how success came from meeting people’s needs but also about anticipating them. Giving them what they didn’t know they wanted until it was offered to them, all new and shiny. Knowing your customer through and through. Being open to change and nimble enough to adapt to it.

  The strength of Bay Breeze she had pinpointed was on track with what he wanted for his new venue. It wasn’t often he met someone who was so in tune with how he thought about the business. Although that was perhaps not such a surprise when in the past he’d surrounded himself with too many ‘yes’ men.

  ‘So what are your plans for life after the newspaper?’ Lizzie asked her.

  Adele frowned at Lizzie with what was obviously a warning. Alex realised she didn’t want him to hear that. Which made him determined not to miss a word.

  ‘What do you mean?’ he asked.

  Lizzie sounded outraged. ‘That darn newspaper fired Dell. Booted her out with a cheque in lieu of notice.’

  Adele glared at her friend for spilling the beans.

  ‘Is that true?’ he asked Adele. ‘You’ve lost your job?’

  She shrugged. But he could see it was an effort for her to sound casual about such a blow. Especially in front of him. ‘Budget cuts, they said. It...it was a shock.’

  ‘Because of the court case?’ Regret churned in him. How much damage had he caused for something that now seemed unimportant?

  She didn’t meet his eye. ‘No. That was three years ago. Although I was never popular with management afterwards. Being sued wasn’t regarded as a highlight of my résumé.’

  He frowned. ‘What will you do?’ He felt a shaft of shame at what he had put her through. Although he had felt totally in the right at the time.

  Alex expected a snarl and a rejoinder to mind his own business. But she couldn’t mask the panic in her eyes. ‘I d
on’t know yet. They only gave me the boot a week ago. But I’ve got options.’

  ‘Of course you have,’ said loyal Lizzie. ‘Publicity and marketing among them. That would be a logical move for you.’

  Adele nodded to her friend. ‘Yes, I’ve thought of that,’ she said. ‘And I can freelance. It will also allow me to give my blog more attention.’

  Alex doubted she could make enough to live on from that blog, in spite of the number of readers it attracted. Unless she’d made big strides with attracting advertising since he’d last looked at Dell Dishes.

  ‘Your husband?’ he asked after some hesitation. He was sure there’d been a husband.

  Her mouth twisted. ‘Divorced.’ Her chin tilted upward. ‘In any case, I don’t depend on a man to support me.’

  He wouldn’t have expected any other response from the feisty food critic. ‘Do you have children?’

  Something he couldn’t read darkened her eyes. She shook her head.

  ‘Then come and work for me.’ The words escaped his mouth before he’d had time to think about them. But some of his best decisions had been made on impulse.

  * * *

  Dell looked up at Alex Mikhalis, the man she regarded as the devil incarnate. He towered over her, darkly formidable in black jeans and a black T-shirt that made no secret of his strength, his impressive muscles.

  ‘Did you just offer me a job?’ She couldn’t keep the disbelief from her voice. From behind her, she heard Lizzie gasp.

  ‘I did,’ he said gruffly.

  ‘Why would you do that?’

  ‘You need a job. I need help with a new venture. Your understanding of hospitality is impressive. You have skills in PR and publicity.’

  Entitled and arrogant, he so obviously expected an instant ‘yes’. But it would not be forthcoming from her. She sympathised with his personal loss. That didn’t mean she wanted to work with him. Especially not to be under his control as an employee.