“Akis—” she cried softly before kissing him back with a hunger that thrilled him. He’d kissed other women, but nothing prepared him for the surge of desire driving both of them as they swayed together.
“I want you, Raina,” he whispered against her creamy throat, “more than any woman I’ve ever wanted in my life.” He came close to forgetting her sprained ankle until a moan sounded in her throat, prompting him to release her with reluctance and step away.
She steadied herself with the crutches for control. Those enticing lips looked swollen and thoroughly kissed. “That shouldn’t have happened.” The tremor in her voice was achingly real.
“But it did because we both wanted it.” He took a quick breath. “I want to spend time with you, and from the way you kissed me, I know you want the same thing.” His comment coincided with the arrival of Chloe’s parents, who walked in on the two of them.
“Weren’t you over here earlier?” Socus teased him in his native tongue. “No wonder our guest didn’t mind that we had an important business dinner to attend.”
Akis shook his head. “She didn’t know I was coming over again.”
“We’re glad you’re here, Akis,” Nora said in English. “We don’t want her to leave. Please do what you can to persuade her to stay until Chloe and Theo get back.”
Socus chimed in. “If we had our way, we’d insist on your living with us for a long time, young woman.”
Raina’s eyes misted over. “You’re such dear people and have been wonderful to me. But I’m afraid I have too many responsibilities at home to remain here for any length of time.”
“Your ankle needs at least a week to heal before we let you get on a plane,” Chloe’s father declared. “But we can talk more about this in the morning. Good night, you two.”
After they left the room Akis said, “Your ankle could use more rest. There’s nothing I’d like better than to help you pass the time.”
He sensed she knew she was defeated, but that didn’t stop her from darting him a piercing glance. “What about your work?”
“My brother will fill in for me. We do it for each other when necessary.” He stood there with his hands on his hips. “You look tired, so I’m going to leave. If I come over in the morning, will I still find you here?”
Her eyes flashed. “Perhaps the question should be, will you show up since you have a disparaging opinion of me?”
“You mean after you told me I should stick with my own kind and background?”
She stirred restlessly. “I can see you still haven’t forgiven me for an innocent remark.”
“There was nothing innocent about it. But the way you kissed me back a few minutes ago confirms my original gut instinct that you know something significant has happened to both of us. Good night, thespinis.”
He left the house for the limo. On the way to his penthouse his cell phone rang. One look at the caller ID and he clicked on. “Vasso? How come it’s taken you so long to get back to me?”
“Nice talking to you, too, bro.”
His head reared. “Sorry.”
“The phone died on me and I just got back to my hotel to recharge it. What’s wrong? You don’t sound like yourself.”
“That’s because I’m not.”
“The opening went fine.”
Akis was in such a state he’d forgotten to ask. “Sorry. My mind is on something else.”
“Was there a problem at the wedding? I saw you on the evening news helping a beautiful woman on crutches into the limo.”
So Vasso saw it. “She’s the reason I called. When will you be back?”
His brother laughed. “I’ll fly in around 7:00 a.m. and should be at the office by nine.”
“If you’re that late, I’m afraid I won’t be there.”
“That sounded cryptic. Why?”
“Something happened at the reception.”
“You sound odd. What is it?”
“I’ve...met someone.”
“I’m not even going to try to figure that one out. Just tell me what has you so damned upset.”
“Believe it or not, a woman has come into my life.”
“There’ve been several women in your life over the years. Tell me something I don’t know. Are we talking about the woman on crutches?”
“Yes. This one is different.” Both brothers had led a bachelor life for so long, not even Akis believed what had happened to him since he’d seen Raina on the street.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Yes.”
“You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
Vasso exhaled sharply. “She feels the same way?”
His teeth snapped together. “After the way she kissed me back tonight, I’d stake my life on it.”
“But you only met her last evening.”
“I know. She looks like Aphrodite with lavender eyes.”
“I’ll admit she was a stunner.” Laughter burst out of Vasso. “But you sound like you still need to sleep off the champagne.”
“I swear I only had a sip.”
“Come on, Akis. Quit the teasing.”
“I’m not.” For the first time in his life Akis was swimming in uncharted waters where a woman was concerned.
A long silence ensued. “How old is she?”
“Twenty-six.”
“From Athens?”
“No. California.”
“She’s an American?”
“Yes. On the day of the wedding rehearsal, we almost bumped into each other on the sidewalk after I left Theo at the bank. I couldn’t get her out of my head. On the night of the reception, to my surprise she was sitting at a table in the back of the ballroom.
“When I asked her to dance, she didn’t understand because she said she didn’t speak Greek. But she couldn’t dance anyway because she was on crutches. I helped her out to the limo and took her to her hotel.”
“Just like that you spent the night with her? You’ve never done anything like that before. Wasn’t that awfully fast?”
“I didn’t stay with her and you don’t know all that happened. When I couldn’t find her at the hotel today and learned she’d checked out, I checked with Theo’s family. They hadn’t heard of her so I decided to go over to Chloe’s for help. When I went walked in, to my shock I found her relaxing at the side of the pool.”
“She was at Chloe’s?”
“Yes. It seems Chloe spent a school year with her back in high school on one of those exchange programs to learn English.”
“How come you’ve never heard of her?”
“I once remember Theo telling me that Chloe had an American friend she lived with in high school, but I never made the connection.”
“What’s her name?”
“Raina Maywood. But when she fell and sprained her ankle in our number four store, she gave Galen a different