Without hesitation he took the crutches from her and waited until she got to her feet. She was probably five foot seven, with enticing curves. The matching suit skirt covered womanly hips and slender legs. His gaze fell lower to the left ankle that had been wrapped. She wore a sandal on her foot and a low-heeled shoe on the other.
“Thank you.” She reached for the crutches and fit them beneath her arms. The delicate fragrance emanating from her assailed him. “Why don’t you ask the other woman at my table to dance? I’m sure her partner won’t mind.”
“I’d rather help you to your room.”
“I’m not staying here.”
That was interesting. He’d helped Theo make arrangements for all their out-of-town guests to stay here. “Then I’ll walk you outside and take you wherever you’d like to go.”
“As long as you’re offering, I wouldn’t say no if you hailed a taxi for me. I’m craving my hotel room so I can elevate my leg.”
“I’ll do better than that.” Akis accompanied her from the ballroom and down the hall to the foyer. The woman at his side managed her crutches with little trouble. En route he phoned his driver and told him to come to the hotel entrance.
As they walked outside, flashes from the cameras of the paparazzi blinded them. Chloe and Theo’s wedding would be the top story making the ten o’clock news on television. Video of prominent guests and the best man attending the reception filmed by TV news crews would be included.
Some of the paparazzi called out questions about the beautiful woman with Akis. He hated the attention though he was used to it, and kept walking her to the smoked-glass limo without answering them. He took her crutches so she could get in, then he followed and shut the door before sitting opposite her. “Are you all right?”
“I am. Are you?”
“I am now. The press is unrelenting. Tell me where you’re staying and I’ll let the driver know.”
“The Diethnes.”
A lot of tourists on a budget frequented two-star hotels like that one. Until he and Vasso had started making money, he could never have afforded to stay at any hotel. Period. Akis gave his driver directions and they pulled away from the Grand Bretagne. “When did you have time to injure your ankle?”
She let out a sound of exasperation. “It happened right after you and I passed on the sidewalk. I had a headache and was on my way to a store for some medicine. While I was inside, I slipped on the wet floor. It was such a stupid accident, totally my fault for not paying attention. The clerk was incredibly kind and called the ambulance for me.”
Akis mulled over her answer. Had she decided it would be easier to attend the reception rather than the wedding because of her injury? If she’d been at the church, he wouldn’t have been able to take his eyes off her during the ceremony.
“Are you in pain?”
“Not really. It’s more a dull ache until I rest it.”
“I’m sorry you had to fall, especially the day before the wedding.”
“Funny about life, isn’t it?” she murmured. “You never know what’s going to happen when you get up in the morning.” The almost haunted tone in her voice intrigued him.
“How true. When I left for the wedding, I didn’t know I was going to meet the lovely stranger who’d passed me on the street yesterday.”
“Or be chased by the maid of honor tonight,” she said in a wry tone. “Am I mistaken, or were you taking flight?”
“You noticed that.”
“It was hard not to.” She chuckled without looking at him. “I would imagine a man with your looks and minus a wedding ring needs rescuing from myriads of females.”
He blinked. “My looks?”
“You know very well you’re the embodiment of a Greek god.”
Akis frowned. “Which terrifying one are you referring to?”
At this point she laughed. “I didn’t have any particular god in mind. It’s something American women say when they’ve met an exceptionally good-looking man.”
“Then they haven’t seen one of our Greek statues up close or they’d run for their lives in the other direction.”
Her laughing continued. He decided she was somewhat of a tease.
“I don’t know. Despite your fearsome expression, the female pursuing you tonight didn’t seem turned off by you. Quite the opposite, in fact.”
That’s exactly what Althea had been doing for weeks. Maybe he’d misjudged her, but it didn’t matter because he hadn’t been attracted. “You saved me from being caught. For that, I’m in your debt.”
“I’m in yours for giving me a lift to the hotel,” she came right back. “We’re even.”
Akis had never met a woman like her. “Are you a friend of Theo’s or Chloe’s? I don’t even know your name.”
“Let’s keep it that way.”
Her remark shouldn’t have bothered him, but it did...
They continued down the busy street. “Oh— Look—” she cried softly. “See that store on the right? Alpha/Omega 24?” He nodded. “That’s the one where I fell. My hotel is in the next block.”
* * *
Raina couldn’t believe that the incredible man she’d seen on the street yesterday was none other than Theo’s best man. It was an amazing coincidence. She was actually upset with herself for having any feelings about seeing him again tonight.
Since her divorce, there’d been no man in her life and she’d purposely kept it that way. She didn’t want to fall in love again and take the chance of being hurt. For this man to have already made an impact on her without even trying was disturbing. After the pain she’d been through because of Byron, she never wanted to experience it again.
When the driver drove up in front of the hotel, Raina was relieved that the striking Greek male sitting next to her had gone quiet and didn’t pressure her for more information. That was good.
She found that when she used a man’s tactics of a little false flattery on him, the fun went out of it on his part. Knowing Raina could see through his strategy, his interest had quickly waned. She wanted to leave Greece with no complications. Already she knew this man was unforgettable. The sooner she could get away from him, the better.
“Thanks again for the lift,” she said in a cheery voice, needing to escape the potency of his male charisma.
He opened the door and took her crutches to help her from the back of the limo. She put them underneath her arms and started for the entrance. After pushing the hotel door open, he accompanied her as far as the foyer. She kept moving toward the elevator. While she waited, she turned in his direction.
“Like you, I appreciated being rescued.” The lift door finally opened. “Good night.” She stepped inside without looking back, praying for it to close fast in case he decided to go upstairs with her.
Raina willed her heart to stop thudding. She hadn’t been kidding when she’d said he looked like a Greek god. From his black hair and eyes to his tall, powerful build, he was the personification of male perfection. She hadn’t been able to take her eyes off him all evening. His image would be all over the television tonight, causing legions of women to swoon.
Chloe had raved about Theo’s looks, but he couldn’t hold a candle to his best man. What had she called him? Akis something or other. He had a self-assured presence, bordering on an arrogance he probably wasn’t aware of.