Adonis in Athens (Romancing Europe #1)

“You don’t want to talk about you or you don’t want to talk about what happened two weeks ago? Does it have to do with almost getting engaged?”

She sighed, making a face. “Yeah.”

“Who proposed?”

“Tom.” She stabbed a tomato with her fork and put it in her mouth, thinking about what to say as she chewed. “We’ve been dating about 18 months and—”

“You’re still together?” He couldn’t help the rush of jealousy that coursed through his veins.

“No, of course not!” She shook her head. “We’d been dating for about 18 months and—”

“We’d been is different than we’ve been,” he interrupted impatiently.

“Do you want to hear the story or not?” she scowled at him.

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the annoyance on her face and had to admit he was being ridiculous. Until a couple of hours ago, he hadn’t even realized she was legally his, so he didn’t know where this jealousy was coming from. “Sorry,” he said contritely. “Please go on.”

“He proposed six months ago,” she said softly. “And I wasn’t ready. Even though it had been a year, it felt… I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. I can’t tell you anything he does wrong. He’s handsome, has a good job, works hard, is very sweet and generous with me, but…” She couldn’t help the sigh that escaped. “I really can’t articulate what I feel but I told him I wasn’t ready and he was great about it, said he understood, and that he would ask again when the time was right.”

“So two weeks ago…” he prompted.

“He staged this big thing,” she said. “He invited our parents, our friends…but I didn’t know anything about it. He just told me to meet him at our favorite restaurant. When I got there he went and asked my father for my hand…” She rested her chin in her palm as she recounted the rest of the events of the evening.

“You haven’t spoken to him since?”

“There’s nothing to say. He has no idea who I am, not really.”

“So he’s boring.”

She sighed, not wanting to say that out loud.

“I guess I owe him one.”

“Owe him one? For what?!” she demanded incredulously.

“Whatever happened that night prompted you to come find me,” he said quietly.

She met his eyes. “Raegan said you’re the reason I wasn’t ready to settle down with him.”

“What do you think?”

“I think we needed to see each other again.”

“Now that you’re here, I have to agree.”

The waiter arrived with a big tray of food, putting down plates of things Paige didn’t recognize and a few she did. When he was gone, she stared in fascination. “That’s octopus, right? I’ve never seen it on a plate like that.”

“That poor guy was probably still breathing a couple of hours ago,” he said.

“Wow.” She stuck her fork into one of the pieces and slowly put it in her mouth. She’d imagined it to be rubbery but it wasn’t and the taste held a faint hint of chicken, though that wasn’t exactly it. Chicken with a seafood flair? It was different but delicious, and she took another bite. This one was probably part of the head since it looked like a chunk of white meat instead of a tentacle, and she moaned. “Yummmmm.”

He delighted in watching her explore the food on the table. From the octopus to calamari, kasseri to feta cheese, and both tzatziki and taramosalata—a spread made from fish eggs—she explored it all and ate with gusto. She didn’t eat like most of the American women he’d gone to college with either; she genuinely enjoyed it and ate until she couldn’t anymore. When she finally sat back with a groan of satisfaction, she met his eyes almost apologetically.

“I think that’s the best meal I’ve ever had!” she said.

“It was delicious,” he agreed. “I used to eat here often, but I don’t get down this way much anymore.”

“I would eat here every day!” she laughed.