Silence.
Mairi asked nervously, “Bad idea?”
They spoke at the same time.
“It’s a great idea,” Aunt Vilma raved. “What a unique but beautiful twist, darling! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Greek billionaire that stupid—”
Mairi winced at the word.
“—in all the Harlequin novels we’ve read.”
Aunt Norah added musingly, “I think she should say ‘yes’. It would make an interesting story.”
“I’m glad you think it’s interesting, but do you think this kind of, umm, twist will lead to a happily ever after?”
“Oh, but of course darling. As long as they love each other, there will always be a happy ending. Silly you for asking something that simple.”
When she put the phone down ten minutes later, Mairi squared her shoulders as she switched her car’s engine off and got out of the car. The tribe has spoken, she told herself as she made her way to the restaurant and provided her name to the maître d’. She was going to—
“Mairi Tanner?”
Blinking at the sound of her name, she backtracked slowly, blushing as she realized she had totally walked past the man she was supposed to be watching out for.
Dark red shirt, dark jeans, and matching red loafers. A perfect match of the description provided by the guy she had been exchanging text messages with earlier – the guy she was supposed to have a blind date with.
He was of medium height, with dark blond hair and twinkling gray eyes. Totally harmless-looking and cute in a boy-next-door kind of way.
He was also looking at her like he knew she had not recognized him at all.
She began awkwardly, “I am so sorry—”
He waved the apology away with a friendly grin. “It’s cool. You looked like you were seriously thinking about something. I’m JB, by the way.”
Mairi took the hand he offered and shook it shyly. “Mairi.” She did her best not to blush as he let go of her hand a second later than he should and at the way he took his time looking at her, not hiding how appreciative he was of her looks.
Then again, she had done her best for today’s date. She had dressed her hair up, applied some nice makeup, and even bought a new cotton dress that showed off her slim arms and hugged her every curve.
As they took their seats and gave their orders, Mairi tried to keep her mind focused on JB and not the Greek billionaire who was also on a date…with his fiancée.
The thought caused a pang but she shook it away. Happy ending, she reminded herself. As long as they loved each other, they would have their happy ending.
****
Two f**king hours, Damen thought, his nerves frayed, his temper at a boiling point as he observed from the private confines of his car the couple inside the restaurant.
Mairi looked like she was having a grand time. On the other hand, her date – whoever the f**k that man was – looked like he was having even more fun, the way his gaze constantly alternated between Mairi’s beautiful smiling lips and her cle**age, of which an ample amount was displayed by her sexy-as-hell dress.
Damen knew exactly what the man was thinking simply because in that kind of dress, he, too, couldn’t help thinking the same thing. That man was imagining how it would be like to have those strawberry-pink lips wrapped around his c**k and how her lovely abundant br**sts would taste in return.
He checked his phone.
Still no text message.
They had agreed that they would not question each other while they spent time with others. It had sounded logical and reasonable in his mind when he had made his suggestion about taking it slowly and not making any commitment to each other.
But right now, it was beginning to feel like the stupidest idea he’d had in years.
Inside the restaurant, the guy suddenly leaned forward and touched the corner of Mairi’s mouth, making her blush. Damen’s fist slammed against the door of his car.
Fucking jerk had probably made some lame excuse about having seen something on her face.
“Take me to the back exit,” he ordered his chauffeur. Enough was enough. He didn’t care if he was being unfair, didn’t care that if it was the other way around, he would think Mairi unreasonable for stopping his fiancée from touching his face.
If he saw that guy touch her one more time, Damen was sure he’d be committing murder. It was no exaggeration.
As the driver brought the limousine around, Damen sent a curt message to Mairi, knowing exactly what to say to get her moving.
****
Don’t panic. I need to talk to you as soon as possible.
Those words had Mairi panicking of course. Oh my God, what could make someone like Damen Leventis type those words? Don’t panic? Did that mean there was something she should be panicking about? Was that something causing him to be secretly panicky about but just didn’t want to look less than manly in her eyes?
She almost jumped out of her chair in her haste, surprising JB. “I’m sorry, but I, umm, need to make an emergency call. Is that okay?”
JB’s gaze was concerned as he nodded. “Sure, don’t worry about me. Anything I can do?”
“I’ll let you know.” She was already backing away as she answered him. “Thank you so much for understanding. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She spun around and hurried to the ladies’ room, not bothering to wait for his answer.
The ladies’ room was completely dark when she opened the door. It was strange, but she did not have time to think about it. She switched the light on even as she fumbled to get her phone out of her purse.
“Got you!” she exclaimed when her fingers came into contact with the familiar shape of her iPhone. She looked up and screamed.
Or at least she tried to.
Damen was there in front of her, and the moment she had opened her mouth, he kissed her. In the next second, he had swept her up in his arms, causing her phone and purse to clatter to the floor.
When he let her up for air, she demanded breathlessly, “What are you doing here?”
It was a question he was not ready or able to answer for now, and so Damen did the next best thing and that was to kiss her again, to both their satisfaction.
The door started to open and he moved fast, locking them inside one of the small cubicles and kicking her stuff – Mairi winced at this – inside with them by the time someone entered the room.
As they were in one of most expensive restaurants in town, everything was pristine and luxurious, the dark rose marbled walls shiny and scrubbed clean, with the cubicle’s thick and heavy door made of varnished wood.