My eyes flew open, mid-chew. Nikos stood before me in golden, Grecian glory. His cuff links picked up the light from the sunset as he held up his glass in greeting.
Yes! Still with the three thumbs.
“Mind if I sit here?” He didn’t wait for an answer as he took the seat next to me, which caused me to swallow the rest of my appetizer whole.
Cranberries? No problem.
Brie? No problem.
Little cube of crostini? Problem.
You havegotto be fucking kidding me.
I forced a smile and stood, holding up my index finger.
Stay, Nikos. Stay. I’ll be right back.
As soon as I turned the corner, I whipped around the bar area, clutched my throat and proceeded to cough my lungs out. Music piped softly over the speakers as I hacked and wheezed for oxygen. Through sheer willpower, I managed to dislodge the food from my windpipe. I was not having it. Not again. No crumb, no crust, no wretched piece of crostini was going to come between Nikos and me.
“Are you all right?” That deep, annoying voice again.
Alex.
Why couldn’t the man let me hide out in peace? Why couldn’t someone lock him up in the kitchen? Isn’t that where he was supposed to be?
“Yes, fine.” I was impressed by the conviction in my tone, considering I was crawling on my hands and knees behind the bar at this point. “Just looking for my earring.”
“Need any hel—”
“No. Nope. All good.” I coughed. “Found it. See?” I got up and held a tiny, invisible speck before him.
He raised an eyebrow, also known as the universal symbol for skepticism.I’m pretty sure people who can lift one eyebrow spend hours practicing it in front of the mirror, waiting for the opportunity to look all superior and shit:Oh really? You think you can fool someone who can do THIS?
I went for the hands-on-hips stance.Oh yeah? I see your eyebrow cock and I raise you something that makes my arms look like two pot handles.
I held it until I remembered I was supposed to be holding an earring. “Well then… I best be off.”
Alex didn’t budge. He moved closer, so close that I felt his warm exhale on my skin. It tripped a network of electric goose bumps and sent my heart racing until I realized that he wasn’t overwhelmed by the sudden, irresistible urge to kiss me. He was reaching for something on the bar top.
“Hold still.” He wiped my cheek with a napkin. It came away with a dark smudge. He wiped the other cheek and stepped back.
“Oh.” My pulse was still high, cheeks flushed, but at least I didn’t have raccoon eyes from runny mascara. “I was just…” I pointed to the stained napkin.I was just choking on a piece of crostini and missed the tears streaming down my face.But it was humiliating to explain that to someone who’d mastered the eyebrow cock, so I mumbled a thanks and dashed back to Nikos.
Damn.
Competition.
He was talking to Teri, the hired maid of honor. A perky little thing with big eyes that belonged to an anime character. Of course, her hair and makeup were flawless, given that she was a professional hair and makeup artist.
Rachel Auntie and Joseph Uncle were chatting amicably with Thomas’s parents.
“Did they make up?” I took the seat next to Dolly.
“Oh, they had a fight too?” A spark of excitement flared in Dolly’s eyes as she observed Kassia and George.
“Not them.” Although I was pretty sure Thomas’s parents must’ve had a good chin wag over the unexpected abundance of thongs in their stateroom. “Them.”
“Rachel and Joseph? No, they’re still not speaking to each other.”
