Faye had no idea if he was serious or joking.
‘And while he eats and Dimitria does whatever she has disappeared to do, we can talk about when I’m going to take you out on a date.’
* * *
‘You are OK?’ Stathis asked Kostas. ‘You would like a different table?’
Kostas shook his head. ‘No, it is fine here.’
Faye was here. That’s what was concerning him, and he had no idea why that was even a thing to his brain or any other parts of him that seemed to react like they wanted to re-enact the previous night… And she was with someone. A man. A man who had his fingers on the back of her chair, a few centimetres away from the bare skin of her shoulders…
‘Hey, back in the room,’ Stathis said, clicking his fingers in front of Kostas’s face. ‘Where’s that positivity from earlier? I thought the planning guy was giving off the air of being as flexible as we might need him to be.’
‘Yeah,’ Kostas answered, eyes still on Faye’s table.
‘I’m thinking there might not have to be too much money changing hands. Definitely less than the cost of a hospital wing. Maybe a few road repairs. A new community building, somewhere in that region.’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘Kosta, what’s going on? Thistavernawas your suggestion. Do you want to eat somewhere else?’
He watched the man’s hand make contact with Faye’s shoulders and now some kind of crazy force was propelling Kostas up and out of his chair. Before Stathis could say anything, he was moving across the restaurant.
He approached, hand held out to Faye’s companion. ‘Kalispéra. Kostas Petsas.’
The man stood to attention, hand coming away from Faye’s skin. ‘Yassas.EímaiAlexandros.’
OK, that was giving him nothing as to what he was doing here with Faye. Was this a date? His brain was fighting with logic and something else he refused to acknowledge. And his fingers were itching to touch Faye’s shoulders. He put his hands in the pockets of his trousers. And Faye was saying nothing, she couldn’t seem to even look at him.
‘I am a huge fan,’ Alexandros said. ‘I was saying to Faye, was I not?’
Faye nodded, picked up her glass of wine, putting it to her lips.
‘And you are here in Avlaki for business or pleasure?’ Kostas asked before his mind could question his decision-making.
Alexandros laughed. ‘Very much both, I hope.’
Kostas felt all the hairs on the back of his neck stand to irritated attention. He hated this man. And he hated what this man was making him feel.Feel.
‘Faye, do you have a moment?’ Kostas asked.
She looked at him then and his stomach took a dive as he remembered how those beautiful grey eyes had stared deep into his last night.
‘No,’ Faye said. ‘I’m sorry. We are in a middle of a discussion and… Oh, here’s Dimitria now.’
He had no time to react to Faye’s refusal before the owner of the hotel arrived at the table.
‘Ah, Kosta, how are you?’
‘Good. I was just asking to speak to Faye, if you can spare her for a moment.’
Dimitria laughed. ‘Faye is not on duty right now. She can make her own decisions.’
‘And I have told Kostas that our food will be arriving soon.’
She was back to not looking at him. Not wanting to acknowledge his existence. And it was irking him. More than that. Much more than that.
‘Would you like to join us, Kosta?’ Dimitria asked him.
