A microphone had then been thrust into her hands.
Rose had nodded at her encouragingly.
Stage fright kicked in, followed by mental block, and as the silence extended, Mairi whispered weakly in the microphone, “Yay me?”
It took over a second for the students to recover from their shock before they all laughed good-naturedly and gave her a standing ovation. She had been nicknamed Ms. Yay after that.
Wincing at the memory, Mairi smacked her own forehead. “That was seriously the most embarrassing moment of my life.”
Diana giggled even more.
“It’s not that funny,” Mairi grumbled.
“It is. But in a good way, Ms. Yay.”
“Hmph,” was all she said, which for some reason made Diana laugh harder.
When the girl’s laughter died down, Mairi asked very casually, “Has your family arrived?” From what little Diana had confided to her in the past, Mairi had pieced enough of the girl’s history to realize that Diana felt terribly neglected by her widowed mother.
Diana shook her head, her silky ebony hair swaying against her school jacket as she did. “Mother is too busy for something like this.” She spoke with perfect English – too perfectly, in her opinion. It was strange, but Mairi had a feeling that getting Diana to say ‘yeah’ rather than ‘yes’ would be one of her biggest accomplishments in her teaching career.
“And your brother?” she prompted. Not much was written about Diana’s only sibling, Damen Leventis, but then again he was a Greek billionaire who owned one of the largest media empires in the world. If he wanted the paparazzi to shut up about him, then it would.
Mairi had briefly toyed with the idea about Diana’s brother being the one she was meant to live happily ever after with, but the more she got to know her student, the more Mairi was convinced that the Greek billionaire might be too cold and stuck-up for her liking. Her brother had to be the world’s most heartless individual if he didn’t appreciate how sweet Diana was.
Diana said unhappily, “My brother might not come even though he promised. He may suddenly be busy, too.”
“I’m sure that’s not the case,” Mairi lied even though she secretly feared the same. Velvet would warn her against giving students false hope, but she couldn’t help it. For Mairi, it wasn’t false. There was always hope. It was that simple.
At Diana’s noncommittal shrug, she suggested, “He could be caught in traffic.”
“My brother does not like to ride in cars much. He’ll probably sail or fly here.”
“Then maybe his, umm, yacht or private jet’s caught in traffic?”
Diana choked.
She protested half-indignantly, “That could happen, right? Haven’t you ever watched The Jetsons---” At Diana’s blank look, Mairi realized the girl was too young to know about the rather old school animation series. “Never mind.”
Diana shook her head. “You are so funny, Ms. Yay.”
“Seriously, stop that. You know Ms. Thorn doesn’t like it when students give teachers nicknames.”
Diana said shyly, “I really like you, Ms. Tanner. You are so optimistic.”
Mairi gave her student a mock scowl. “And you are so going to get an F on your next test. You totally said that like you meant to say I’m naïve!”
“If the shoe fits,” Diana retorted, a grin tugging at her lips.
Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be? You’re not even going to take it back?”
“Ms. Tanner, I like you being, umm, optimistic. It is better than being sad or cynical.”
“Exactly,” a voice behind them said.
Mairi twisted around, surprised at the unexpected intrusion of a dark Greek-sounding voice.
“You made it!” Diana was on her feet in an instant, lovely face glowing as she threw her arms around---
Oxygen was suddenly trapped somewhere between her diaphragm and throat – all Mairi knew was that she couldn’t breathe.
Coal black hair, silvery gray eyes, and a face so beautiful it was as if Michelangelo had descended from the heavens just to carve this being to perfection.
Gorgeous wasn’t enough to describe him. He was also the sexiest and most devastatingly sophisticated man Mairi had ever seen, her mouth drying at the way his exquisite midnight blue suit emphasized every inch of his lean muscular hardness. She liked how he was built more like a kickboxer than a wrestler. It made her imagine how he’d be lethally sexy even when he was kicking ass.
All in all, he was everything she had ever dreamed her Greek billionaire would be and the realization made her fingers curl tightly against her skirt. She was doing her best not to fling her arms around him and demand that he kiss her so she could know right this very moment if he was…the one.
Over the top of Diana’s head, their eyes met.
Oh. My.
Mairi blinked several times, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. Her madly beating heart threatened to pop right out of her chest, which didn’t help with her light-headedness at seeing this Greek god, but she did her best to think logically. Surely she hadn’t read that right? Surely Diana’s brother couldn’t be looking at her as if---
Hello. Look at me. I want to f**k you.
He smiled slowly, and it was like a seductive gift being unwrapped for Mairi’s benefit. With that sensual smile, the message in those piercing gray eyes became even more demanding.
I WANT TO FUCK YOU.
Oh, oh, oh my.
Her Greek billionaire was so…bad.
Lesson 2
To catch a Greek billionaire, you must make him want to catch you.
He said: My love, if memory doesn’t fail me, I had no choice but to catch you since you were about to fall flat on your face.
She said: Note to editor – please delete his comment. I’ll think of something else for this part.
Damen Leventis had finally found the next woman he wanted to warm his bed.
He didn’t know her name, didn’t know anything about her, but it didn’t matter. She intrigued him – everything about this woman fascinated Damen ever since he had unintentionally walked in on her conversation with his sister.
Having found them by using the GPS he had installed in Diana’s bracelet, Damen had been about to announce his presence when the woman’s earnestly spoken words arrested him. And like his sister, the woman’s views had completely delighted him.
Traffic in the skies and seas. Officers sky-gliding and jetskiing to monitor movement.
And when he had seen her –