by Leslie North
Taking Alexandra’s hand, Dareios grinned. “And now, we’re out of here.”
Claire came over to stand next to Antonio. “But…there’s a wedding to plan. Where are you going?”
“Back to Dareios’ yacht. We decided on a pre-wedding cruise.” She gave a laugh as Dareios dragged her from the room.
As they headed for the door, Dareios heard Antonio say, “Looks like they’re going for a honeymoon first.”
Stopping at the door, Dareios pulled Alexandra into his arms. “Are you sure about this?” He stared into her eyes, into the desire glimmering.
She skimmed a hand over his chest. “I’ve never been more certain. Take me back to the Kairos and have your way with me.”
Dareios kissed her. Straightening, he told her, “My love, this is one honeymoon that is never going to end. That I promise you.”
Slipping his arms around her, he lifted her. She gave a laugh, and he carried her out of the house and into his car. He looked up at the sky just once, to the stars starting to glimmer and the moon growing fat. And he knew his days as the Mediterranean Playboy were over. For good. He headed around the car to take his Alex off on adventures.
End of Book 2.
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Eva paused in her packing, underwear in one hand and a T-shirt in the other. She let out a breath and smiled at her sister, Alexandra. “I still can’t believe I was accepted to the École des Beaux-Arts. Paris! It’s an artist’s dream.”
“I can’t wait to come visit you,” Alexandra said. She’d curled up on a chair in Eva’s room. “I just wish I was going instead of Antonio to get you settled. But Dareios—”
“Dareios doesn’t want to let you out of his sight.” Eva grinned. “If I had a guy like that wanting to hog all my time, I might be staying put, too.”
“No, you’d still be going to Paris. But you have to come home for the wedding. And Claire and I are planning to visit you—mostly to do some shopping. Now you’d better finish packing or Antonio will have a fit. And do you have those French tapes Claire bought you?”
Eva wrinkled her nose. Claire was still a new bride—but she was working so hard to be a sister to both Eva and Alexandra. But languages were something that had always eluded Eva. Both Antonio and Alexandra spoke six languages each. Eva knew Greek and English, and that was it.
Throwing the rest of her clothes into her bag, she zipped it up and glanced around the room. She had everything—she hoped. She glanced at Alexandra. “I hope you won’t wait too long to come.”
“We won’t. Maybe I’ll convince Dareios to spend part of our honeymoon in Paris.”
“Antonio said he was going to get me an apartment with enough room in it for guests to stay.”
“That sounds like Antonio. Always thinking ahead.” Standing, Alexandra pulled Eva in for a hug. “I’m going to miss you.”
Eva’s eyes stung, but she blinked and wiggled away from Alexandra. She’d never liked dragging out any goodbyes. “I’ll call you tomorrow once I’m settled.”
She hurried downstairs, a bag in each hand. Antonio was already waiting outside at the car. Throwing in her bags, Eva climbed in. She didn’t look back at her home—she couldn’t. She’d start to cry and then Antonio would comfort her and she’d change her mind, and she couldn’t do that, either. No…she was going to Paris. To become an artist.
Two days later, she was ready to change her mind, yet again. The apartment Antonio had found her was great—perfect. A charming four rooms on the third floor of an older house in the Latin Quarter. It had window boxes filled with flowers, great light, and room for a studio. But for the rest…she tried to keep smiling. She really did.
“So what did you think of the school?” Antonio asked.
They’d stopped for coffee and croissants at a small café just outside the École des Beaux-Arts school. Tourists hurried past while Parisians sat smoking and enjoying the sunlit afternoon.
“Honestly?” Eva asked. She felt horrible for what she was about to say. Antonio had gone to so much effort for her. She should be happy about this. She should just be fine. But her shoulders slumped. She stirred an extra sugar into her coffee.
Antonio frowned. “Of course I want you to be honest with me.”
“I hated it.” She sat up. “And it’s not just because I don’t speak French. I hated everything about that place.”
Antonio let out a breath. “I was unimpressed as well. Okay, so you won’t go to this art school. We’ll find another one.”
Eva stirred her coffee again. Throat tight, she said, “I already know where I want to go to school, Tonio.”
“Really? That’s fabulous. Where?”
Eva wet her lips. She leaned her elbows on the table. She hoped he wasn’t going to shoot down her choice before he gave it a chance. “The United States.”
Antonio’s cappuccino cup clattered against its saucer. “That’s even further away from home. Why there?”
“Because they have some of the most innovative programs right now. The University of Delaware is making great strides in restoring paintings to their original splendor—they’re doing amazing things. I was just reading about it online.”
“And that’s what you want to do?” He nodded and gave a small shrug. “You can’t do this in Greece?”
Reaching out, she put a hand over his. “I know what I want. But…but when I applied, my test scores weren’t high enough.” She drew back and dropped her head to stare at her fingers.
“Eva?” Looking up, she saw Antonio staring at her, his eyes warm. He didn’t look embarrassed that she’d admitted she had failed at something. No one in the Rosso family ever failed. Her father had built a banking empire than Antonio now ran.
Her sister was an amazing person—she’d even managed to convince Dareios to give up a playboy life. But sometimes Eva felt like a…a changeling in the family, the one who didn’t fit.
Antonio smiled. “I’ll find you a tutor. Easy enough to do.”
“They were really low in some areas,” she warned. She bit her lower lip. Language wasn’t the only area
where she was weak. Math was even worse. Art was the only place where she’d felt comfortable and happy. But her passion was for restoration work—that was really exciting.
Reaching out, Antonio tapped her on the nose. He pulled out his tablet computer. “You’ll need a student visa to live and study in the States. You already speak the language, so that at least is a plus.” He grinned at her.
Some of the tension unwound from her shoulders. She watched him work on his tablet, but a loud American voice distracted.
“Mom, I know you want me to come home, but I just can’t afford it. I’m barely keeping a roof over my head. Yeah…yeah, I know. My student visa expires in three weeks, so I’ll let you know what’s happening as soon as I get my crap together.”
Eva glanced to Antonio’s right. A young man with shaggy blonde hair was talking into his cell phone. He was cute in a grungy way, with blue eyes and a strong chin. But he needed a haircut, and his jeans—while clean—weren’t exactly new. He had on a baggy denim shirt, so it was impossible to see if he was skinny or fat, but Eva was going for skinny based on his lean face. He was also talking too loud—typical American. Some of the other patrons were already staring at him.
The young man hung up muttering. “Just graduated from the American University, and she thinks I should already have a teaching job lined up. Mothers!”
Antonio glanced at the young man now. Eva was waiting for him to tell the guy to be quiet, or ask him to leave, but Antonio said, “Excuse me, I couldn’t help but overhear. You’re from America, right, and trying to get home?”
The guy glanced from Antonio to Eva. She looked away and sipped her coffee. Even if he was cute, she wasn’t talking to him. But she had to glance back. He pushed the hair out of his eyes. “I’m not into drugs or anything illegal.”
Eva smothered a laugh. Antonio frowned. “My name is Antonio Rosso. This is Eva, my youngest sister. She wishes to attend your University of Delaware. However, she needs a tutor to get her scores high enough for entry.”
The young man glanced from Antonio to Eva again. He narrowed his eyes. “And you want to hire me? Right out of the blue?”
Antonio smiled. “Not quite. I would have a background check done first. If you pass, I can offer a very good salary, provide you room and board for two months, and offer you a ticket home.”
The young man’s jaw dropped. “Are you for real? I mean…you don’t know me from Adam.”
“I’d know you if you have the manners to introduce yourself.”
Standing, the young man came over to their table. He held out a hand. “Sorry. Sorry. Callum Woods, from New York.”
Eva crossed her arms. She wasn’t shaking hands—she wasn’t even sure this guy was either all that bright or all that good at teaching. If he had been good, why didn’t he have a job lined up? She also wasn’t sure she approved of him talking to his mother as he had—didn’t he appreciate having a mother?
Antonio shook Callum’s hand and waved at the chair next to him. “Give me your cell phone number. If you check out, I’ll have someone contact you to make arrangements for your visa transfer and to move your belongings to my home. You don’t mind staying in Greece for a time, do you?”
“Uh…Greece. No…uh, sounds…sounds good.”
Antonio nodded. “How much time will you need to get your things together?”
Callum grinned. “How’s anytime sound. I pack light.”
“You sound pretty light in the loafers,” Eva muttered.
Callum shot her a suspicious stare. She smiled and sipped her coffee. She doubted he’d pass any kind of check. He was probably the typical American overseas—arrogant, into drugs, and looking for a good time more than anything else.
Closing his tablet, Antonio stood. “I believe this is going to work out very well for everyone involved.”
Eva stood as well and glanced from Antonio to Callum. The wind flattened Callum’s shirt to his chest and she saw not the skinny boy she’d expected, but a wide, muscular chest. For a moment, he reminded her of the Beach Boy posters some of her classmates had smuggled into the school—tousled blond hair, tanned skin, muscles, and ocean blue eyes.
Callum seemed to feel her stare on him. He dropped Antonio’s hand, looked her up and down and crossed his arms over his chest. “So do you know anything about art or are we starting from scratch?” He looked down at her as if she was an idiot child.
Chin lifting, Eva stared back. Great—she’d just landed a surfer tutor who had less brains than the average street bum. She gave a sigh and turned away. She was going to hope Callum totally failed his background check. And then she could ask Antonio to find her a real tutor.
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“I believe this is yours,” a deep, masculine voice projected towards Rene as she was stepping out of the swimming pool.
Looking up, she caught her breath as she gazed into the dark recesses of the most enchanting brown eyes she had ever seen. Dark eyebrows, jet-black hair and a rugged two-day old beard made the Adonis-like man standing there all the more attractive. In fact, it took a few seconds for her to realize his comment was referring to the bikini top dangling from his hand. Familiar purple roses on a white background taunted her.
What?!? Wait a minute…
“Oh!” she sucked in a big gulp of air. “My!” she managed to say, as she looked down at her naked breasts. “God!” she exclaimed as she instinctively covered her chest with her hands. “Uh, oh, thank you,” she squeaked out embarrassingly, grabbing her top quickly and turning away from him. Once secured, she turned to face what she hoped was not an enticing mirage.
“It is unbecoming for a woman to wear so little in public. You should be covered up more,” he stated flatly, although his brow was furrowed and his jaw set.
Already embarrassed, Rene was only more defensive by his demeaning comment. “Well, it certainly was not my intention to take it off; it must have slipped off when I dived in.”
“Why are you here?” he asked her bluntly.
“Excuse me?” While his bluntness was offensive, she found his magnetism driving her desire to engage with him.
“Here… in Saudi Arabia. Are you here on business or pleasure?”
Rene paused, playing idly with the strings of her bikini bottoms.
Why does he care…but on second thought with those looks, who cares!
“I’m escaping,” she replied.
The man stared at her with no expression; his mesmerizing eyes were still fixed on her. She scuffed her feet, feeling even more naked under his stare than she did a few “topless” moments ago.
“I'm Rene, what's your name?” she asked holding out her hand. She had to say something; the awkward silence was making her anxious.
“Joshua,” he replied, briefly, as he shook her hand.
Fortunately, none of the other guests had noticed Rene’s wardrobe malfunction and continued with their business. “Oh! Say, Josh…would you be so kind as to get me another drink?” Rene asked. He was a bit old to be working as a resort server, yet his beige-coloured pants and white Polo shirt were consistent with the hotel’s uniform. “Another drink?” he repeated her words with a frown on his face.
“I said please,” Rene said sweetly as she smiled at him. Perhaps there was some sort of language barrier that she was not seeing.
“You think that I work here?” He laughed before turning on his heels and walking away.
“Well…don't you?” Rene shouted after him. He was definitely handsome enough with those piercing eyes, thick hair and powerful physique. Too bad, it could not make up for his arrogant personality.
Could he actually be a guest?
Oh well, Rene thought as she shrugged her shoulders. It would not be the first time that she thought a man was something he was not. Grabbing her r
obe, she headed to her room. Upon entering, reality caught her off guard as she shut the door and sagged against the wall.
What on earth had possessed her to fly half way around the world?
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Copyright © 2014 by Leslie North
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