Adonis in Athens (Romancing Europe #1)

Melina’s mouth fell open but Apollo had grabbed Paige’s hand and all but yanked her out the door the minute he finished talking.

“You’re acting weird,” she whispered, hurrying to keep up.

“Sorry!” He pulled out his keys and pressed the key fob to unlock the door. “You don’t understand Greek families—this is going to be big news within 15 minutes, no matter who I tell them you are. Look at the time. If someone like my mother, my other sister or my friend Xristos doesn’t call in the next 10 minutes, I’ll give you 20 euros!”

She giggled as he opened the door for her, which made him smile too.

“We’ll see how funny you think it is when they’re grilling you for two hours about the number of babies the women in your family have had!” he said, putting the key in the ignition.

She laughed outright this time, shaking her head. “It’s not like I’m going to meet your family!”

“You just might,” he teased. “I could make that happen just because you laughed at me—then we’ll see how funny it is!”

The thought of meeting his family somehow made everything so real she suddenly didn’t know what to say. What was she doing going for a drive with him? He was supposed to sign the papers and let her go back to her brief but exciting adventure.

“We’ll drive down the coast,” he said, pulling onto the street. “Poseidonos Avenue runs along the beach through a section called Glyfada, which actually has some fantastic shops and restaurants.”

“I saw Glyfada on the map and the beaches are supposed to be wonderful,” she said. “But I wasn’t sure how far down I could go on the Metro.”

“It takes you along that route and stops at quite a few of the beaches.” He paused. “But I could take you to the beach. If you wanted to go.”

“Apollo, I…” She glanced over at him. “You’re being very sweet, but I’m not sure what we’re doing.”

“Getting to know each other again?” He cut a look in her direction.

“For what purpose? In four days I go back to Vegas and you’ll be here…”

“I know, but…” His voice trailed off as the devil on his shoulder taunted him to ask her to stay a little longer, give them a chance to get to know each other. The weird thing was, he didn’t know why he would even suggest it. With her going back to the States and him tied to the business here in Greece, they had no future. What was the point of getting to know each other if they had no chance of making it work? Except for the tiny little detail that they were already married. He couldn’t explain it, but the idea of signing those papers made him sick and he had a feeling she wasn’t all that keen on it either. Despite her protests about their future, he sensed that she wouldn’t have come all the way to Greece if some part of her hadn’t wanted to not just see him again, but be with him. Even if only for a little while.

3

“Aren’t you going to finish your sentence?” she asked after a while, when she couldn’t stand the silence or his incomplete thought.

“I don’t know what to say,” he admitted. “I’m a bit confused.”

“About?”

“Everything! Paige, three years ago we spent three fun, passionate days together. For some inexplicable reason, on our last night together, we got married. We can say we were drunk, young, foolish—lots of words to describe the act itself, but what words describe the feelings? The subconscious desire to solidify something that should have been nothing more than a college tryst. I’ve done a lot of drinking in my life, especially in college, and I sure as shit didn’t marry anyone else.”

“It’s easy in Vegas,” she pointed out. “There are chapels everywhere, it costs almost nothing and there’s no waiting period.”

“True. It just feels…intentional. Why didn’t I change my flight so I could stay another day and sort out the situation? Why didn’t you go get confirmation, one way or another, before now? And when you get married, don’t you usually get something in the mail from the state or the government?”

She grimaced. “I’ve never gotten married before, so I have no idea!”

They both started to chuckle, the absurdity of the whole thing hitting them harder than before.

“Listen,” he said when they’d finally settled down. “Spend your vacation with me. I know there probably isn’t a future for us, but you talked about closure… Does it seem right to end a marriage without at least solidifying our friendship and maybe making a few more memories along the way?”

She looked over at him suspiciously. “Apollo, I don’t think—”

“I didn’t mean sex!” he grunted, recognizing the wary look in her eyes. “Jesus, I know we don’t know each other very well, but if you think that little of me, why would you have come to find me?”

“I don’t think little of you,” she protested. “But I have very distinct memories of…that.”

“That?” He couldn’t help an impish smile. “Does saying the word sex offend you? Would you rather we referred to that as making love?”

“I’m not embarrassed,” she protested, though her cheeks held a tinge of pink. “I’m just a little overwhelmed. I came here thinking we’d have a conversation, maybe a drink. Then we’d go somewhere to find a notary so we could sign the papers, and we’d say our goodbyes. Now you want to spend time together—why? A guy like you probably has women falling all over themselves to be with you, so I don’t believe you’re trying to get laid. But even without sex, this has disaster written all over it. We spent three days together, and three years later, we’re still fighting this…well, whatever this is.”