Page 6 of In Love with a Cruel Billionaire

Chapter 1

To catch a Greek billionaire, you must first find a way to get in his line of sight.

She said: Find a way to stand beside him (model, actress, lottery winner)...or behind him (nanny, secretary, or just bump into him).

He said: You are making it too complicated, matakia mou. It is this simple - do you want to be on top or under me?

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8YEARS LATER

Mairi’s heart started beating like crazy as the ornate gates of the Grecian Academy for Young Ladies finally opened.Thiswas what she had been waiting for all her life – her very firstpossibleencounter with Greek billionaires.

She opened her mouth to talk about howexcitedshe was about today, felt her friends’ knowing gazes on her, and instead decided to shut up. She wasnotgoing to take the bait. She was a mature twenty-something woman with good self-control. She would totally show them she could act like an adult if she wanted to.

Mandy and Velvet crowded around her. They were her closest friends, the only ones whom Mairi knew right from the start that she could trust with her secret. Of course, being trustworthy didnotmean they were above teasing her about it. They were not.

“Come on,” Mandy teased. She was a slim dark-haired woman with a practical streak that bordered on obsessive, a trait that served her well when teaching Economics. But as a friend to a dreamer like Mairi?Not funwere the first words that came to mind.

“Look at all those sports cars and limousines driving our way,” Velvet whispered enticingly. Tall and auburn-haired, she looked more like an exotic model than the Chemistry teacher with the rather acerbic wit that she was. “One of them could betheman you’ve been dreaming of meeting all your life. Isn’t this something worth celebrating?”

Don’t take the bait, don’t take—-

“Come on, Mair. You know you want to say it. What if the first man who steps out of the car is tall, dark, and handsome with the most spectacular Greek accent—-”

Her eyes glazed over as Mairi started to fantasize about how her first encounter with her future Greek billionaire husband would play out. A happy-crazy grin flitted over her lips as she exclaimed excitedly without thinking, “Yay me!”

Mandy and Velvet burst into laughter.

Oh, drat. She had taken the bait. Again!

Clutching her sides, Mandy gasped, “You are way too cute!”

Velvet waved imaginary pom-poms in the air. “Yay for Mairi finally getting to meet her first Greek billionaire!”

“Ha-ha. I know you guys are just making fun of me,” Mairi grumbled even though she couldn’t help sighing dreamily. She wasthathappy. And excited. And nervous. Today wastheday she had been waiting for most of her life. The thought of meetinghimwas more than enough to have her silently gasping for breath.

Mandy snapped her fingers in front of Mairi’s face. “Your head’s in the clouds again!”

She answered almost proudly, “Yes.”

Velvet groaned. “You are thesilliestgold digger I’ve ever met!”

Mairi didn’t bother answering, being used to Velvet’s rather twisted sense of humor. The worse her insults were, the more deeply she cared about that person.

“How do I look?” Mairi nervously smoothed out non-existent creases on the ankle length skirt of her daisy yellow dress. It was loose and high-waisted, just the way sheneededit to hide her dreadfully generous curves.

“Sexy enough to eat.” Velvet snickered.

The answer had her gasping. “Velvet!”

“Oh, hush! Greek guys are very passionate. You should know that by now. So if you’re serious about nabbing yourself a Greek billionaire, you should be ready to let go of more than a few of your sexual inhibitions.”

Mairi couldn’t help but snort. “Like I’m going to take an advice from another virgin.”

“At least I already had my first kiss,” Mandy retorted.

She opened and closed her mouth. Mandy had a point, darn it.

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