to talk about the costume and Dimitrios, she told him she had to go and would debrief after her return from Soufli.
“Kalimera. My name is Alex Hamilton. I requested a car?” She displayed her passport.
The employee was all smiles. “It’s the black four-door right outside the building at the curb,” he said in beautiful English. “You can’t miss it because it has our company logo on the back window.”
“Thank you.” When nothing else was forthcoming she said, “May I have the key?”
“We have provided you with an English speaking driver.”
“Oh. I had no idea.”
She shouldn’t have been surprised. The Pandakis name insured outstanding service. Dimitrios was a very special man, and no one knew that more than Alex.
There were women he dated who would have fought to be first at his side had they known about the accident, yet he’d insisted on Alex’s attentions. Looking after him all night had bonded her to him in a brand-new way.
But she had to face the fact that if he’d preferred her company for the last two nights, even over that of his own sister-in-law, it was because he’d known he didn’t have to pretend in front of his secretary.
Dimitrios paid her a fantastic salary to do whatever was needed and place no demands on him. She might as well be another man for all the interest he took in her as a woman.
“Enjoy your trip to Soufli.”
The man’s parting comment brought her back from her torturous thoughts. “I’m sure I will.”
With her suitcase in one hand, her briefcase in the other, she made her way out of the busy terminal.
As she approached the lane where a string of cars were idling, she noticed there were quite a few black ones mixed in with the others. Not certain which of them was hers, she started down the queue searching for the rental agency’s logo.
“Alexandra?” came a vibrant male voice from behind her.
She spun around in surprise to hear her name, then almost fainted to discover who it was.
“Dimitrios—”
Alex had been thinking so hard about him, the word slipped out before she realized she’d said it. He was wearing sunglasses, a rare sight, but after his accident she assumed his eyes were still sensitive to the light.
“It’s nice to hear you say my name,” he drawled.
Suddenly she was out of breath. “I—I don’t know what you mean.”
His white smile dazzled her. “It’s one thing to be formal in front of other people, but it’s long past the time we functioned on a first name basis in private. Don’t you agree?”
He took the cases from her hands and put them in the back seat of the car. While she watched, it dawned on her he was really here. To make things even more difficult for her, he was such an attractive Greek male, she couldn’t look anywhere else.
The sage-colored summer suit with a white, open-necked silk shirt brought out the blackness of his hair and olive-toned skin. She had the overwhelming urge to hold him as she’d done on the plane when she’d cradled his head and shoulders in her lap.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming while we were on the phone?” This wasn’t the way this day was supposed to go, yet she was so thrilled to see him, she could hardly stand it.
“It was a last-minute decision. Rather than work at my office alone, I thought it might be more fun to join you while we both test the system for flaws.” He opened the passenger door for her.
Fun?
Alex didn’t know what to think. He’d teased her before, but never to this extent.
Averting her eyes, she climbed in the front seat. After he’d shut the door and had gone around to the driver’s seat she asked, “Should you have flown anywhere this soon after your accident?”
He turned the key in the ignition, revving the engine. “Do I detect a note of pique in my secretary? I promise I won’t bother you while we make our inspection.”
“That isn’t why I asked the question,” she said in a quiet voice. “I realize that without a command of your language, you were probably concerned I couldn’t do this by myself. I just hope you won’t suffer a relapse.”
They pulled away from the curb and followed the exit signs. “If you’re worried you’ll have to nurse me halfway through the day, I promise I’m feeling fine.”
“That’s reassuring, especially when it’s so close to the opening of the fair.”
He didn’t respond to her comment. Instead, he drove the car with the same expertise he did everything else. Before long they’d left the airport and were headed for Soufli, which according to her map was sixty-five kilometers away.
She sent him a furtive glance. It was still hard to believe he’d come all this distance when there were other things that needed his attention at his office.
He caught her looking at him. Her heart did a little kick. “Why did you bother to bring your suitcase, Alexandra?”
To hear him say her name with that slight trace of accent sent a ripple of forbidden excitement through her body.
“I didn’t think I’d have enough time to visit all the exhibits and make it back to Thessalonica in one day, so I booked a room in Soufli for the night.”
“Which hotel?”
“The Ilias.”
“Considering the influx of tourists for the big event, I’m amazed they had anything available.”
“I don’t think they did. But as soon as I said your name, there was no problem.”
At that remark he pulled his cell phone out of his suit jacket pocket and made a call. Except for words like hello and goodbye, it was impossible to follow his Greek. Curious to know who he was phoning, she waited for an explanation after he clicked off, but it never came.
Finally she couldn’t stand it any longer. “Is everything all right?”
“It is now,” came the mysterious reply.
She hated it when he refused to explain his actions, particularly in this case because she was afraid they had something to do with her. In order to get her mind off him, she studied her map. It was printed on the brochure the man at the car rental desk had given her when he’d handed back her passport.
“You see that little area outside Soufli?” He touched the spot with his index finger.
At his close proximity, she drew in an unsteady breath. “Yes.”
“That’s called Dadia. We’ll be sleeping there tonight.”
She bit the inside of her lip. “Have you forgotten the government
