Page 17 of A Grecian Getaway

“What is it? Why are you smiling like that?” Demetri followed Yannis’ line of sight.

“It looks like you will get the chance to spend more time with your pretty little American.” Yannis tilted his head towards the nearest bar and Demetri saw her.

My pretty little American. She is beautiful. And that red dress!Demetri cleared his throat.“She is not my American.”Noelle’s dress showed off her gorgeous shoulders. He imagined nothing hiding the rest of her beautiful body, and his pants immediately tightened.What is wrong with me? I have no control over my body’s reaction to this woman. Of course she is here tonight. It was onlya matter of time before she and her friends came to our club. I need to avoid her. Maybe if I slip out the back, she will not see me.

“Yassas,Demetri and Yannis,” Athena greeted the men, pulling Demetri from his thoughts. Yannis said hello back. Demetri just nodded and looked at his phone before turning his attention back to Noelle. Athena slid into the seat close to Demetri. She rambled on in Greek, trying to get him to notice her, but Demetri didn’t pay attention to a word she said. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Noelle.

Athena placed her finger under Demetri’s chin and turned his head towards her. “Darling, I haven’t seen you in much too long. Why don’t we get out of here and spend some... time together? I’ve missed you and I hope you have missed me, too.”

“I don’t think so, Athena.” Demetri turned his head back toward where Noelle was standing at the bar.

“Darling, come, don’t be stubborn. Let’s go.” She grabbed his hand.

Demetri pulled his hand away. “You know our time together ended a while ago. Now, if you will excuse me. Yassas.” He stood up and walked towards the bar. He wanted, no, he needed, a closer look at Noelle before he left.

As he neared Noelle, he saw a man slide up beside her.What is he doing? I should go, but she has proven she doesn’t know how to protect herself from men.Staying out of her line of sight, Demetri listened to their conversation. “What do you wa…” Noelle said as she turned her head. The man stood shoulder to shoulder with her.He is too close to her.

“Whatever you offer, I will be happy to take.” The strange man spoke as he leaned in closer to Noelle.

Demetri balled his fists and stood in place.Don’t do something stupid.

“I’m sorry. I thought you were one of my friends,” she answered.

“That’s ok, we can be friends. Very good friends. How about I buy you a drink?” The man draped his arm around Noelle and whispered something into her ear. Noelle shuddered when the man touched her, and she removed his arm from her shoulder.

Demetri clasped Noelle’s hand and gently pulled her off the barstool.

“Ooooo, hiiiii.” Noelle’s eyes widened.

He stared down at the man. “Time for you to go. She’s with me and not interested in you,” he warned in Greek. The man nodded to Noelle and slunk away without argument.

Demetri whispered into Noelle’s ear. “My, my, little lamb, how do you always seem to get yourself in these situations?” He didn’t let go of her hand and couldn’t help but feel the connection.

“I am not a little lamb.” She pulled her hand from his.

Demetri smiled, sad to lose the connection but intrigued by her response.Is she mad? She is cute, even when she is mad. This woman is going to be so much trouble for me.

“Don’t smile at me like that. What did you say to that man? I was handling the situation just fine.” She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I’m sorry. If you don’t like little lamb, I won’t call you that. But I think it suits you. And I told the man you weren’t interested, that you’re with me, and that he should leave. Was I wrong? Were you interested? Because it didn’t look like you were.” Demetri held out his hand.

Noelle’s hands flew to her hips. “No, I wasn’t interested, but you didn’t give me a chance to tell him myself. And I didn’t realize I was with you. I… I haven’t even heard from you. First, you tell me you’re not for me. Then we share an amazing kiss.”

Demetri grinned at that remark.

“Yeah, yeah, it was amazing.” Noelle flapped her hands around. “But then you leave without exchanging numbers or even talking about seeing each other again. And now you just show up, try to rescue me again, and tell some weird man that I’m with you?”

“Yes, I suppose when you put it like that, it is not good. I am sorry.”

Her shoulders relaxed a little. “You didn’t need to rescue me, but thank you, I guess. When you left after that kiss... I don’t know. I thought maybe I did something wrong. Maybe the kiss was bad?” she replied. Her voice had softened, and she looked away from him. “It didn’t seem bad,” she whispered.

He cupped her chin and turned her head to face him. “No, Noelle. You did nothing wrong. And the kiss, it was poli kala. Come, let us dance.”

She took his extended hand, and Demetri escorted her to the dance floor.The kiss we shared was amazing. I felt more in that kiss than I have ever felt before. That’s why I had to leave without promises of another date. I don’t know what I am doing with you right now, but I know what I won’t do. I don’t want to hurt you. The way you look at me… the way I react to you… I don’t know how to handle it.

When they got to the dance floor, Demetri stepped aside and spoke to the DJ. Before long, the lively song that was playing ended, and a slow ballad followed it. It was a haunting, yet beautiful, Greek song. Demetri pulled her close, and they danced. She laid her head on his shoulder. Their hearts were beating fast as their bodies moved together to the music. “I am sorry I didn’t let you handle the man yourself.”

She looked up into his eyes. “Thank you.”

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