closed her eyes briefly. “Of course not. Half of my luggage is missing. What showed up is, well, the half I wish were missing. Not that it really matters, given that my dream vacation is turning out to be a bust and I haven’t even gotten out of the airport yet.” She sighed. “I should have taken the condo and Rufus.”
“Rufus?”
“Also know as the spawn of Satan. He’s a cat,” she added when Nick continued to frown. Not that her explanation made anything clear. She shook her head. “Never mind. Trust me when I say, this is the story of my life.”
“Come.” Nick smiled. “You can share this story of your life on the drive to your hotel.”
Why not?
Darcie decided to listen to the little voice telling her that Nick Costas wasn’t a threat. After all, it was the same little voice that had told her to cut all ties and run where her ex-fiancé was concerned, so she figured it knew what it was talking about. It had taken her several years to pay attention the last time. She only had two weeks in Greece. She was going to make the most of them. Starting now.
“In the mood for a good laugh, are you?” she asked wryly.
Nick smiled again. Oh, he was in the mood...for something. A diversion at the very least, and he figured he’d found one. A pretty one, too, given the woman’s tumble of chestnut hair, wide-set Aegean blue eyes and a body that would have made the ancient goddesses green with envy.
He’d come to the airport that day with every intention of leaving Greece and returning to his home in Manhattan. He’d booked a flight to New York, a flight that would be boarding shortly without him. Just as well. He’d been angry with his family and their unabashed matchmaking and had allowed his emotions to cloud his judgment.
Of course, he would have to be back in Greece within a fortnight anyway. No amount of irritation would cause him to miss his brother’s wedding. He would never live down the talk otherwise. And there was plenty of that already since Pieter was marrying Nick’s childhood sweetheart, Selene.
Half of Athens was gossiping about it, waiting for a fight to erupt between the brothers. Nick was determined not to indulge the gawkers, as awkward and, yes, painful, as the situation was. He lamented the strain between him and Pieter. He regretted the division in his once unified family. But neither could be helped. The best he could do was to gather up his dignity and feign indifference.
“Allow me,” he told Darcie and took over pushing the trolley. Five steps later, he nearly took out a bank of unoccupied chairs.
“It wants to go in circles,” she warned.
She was shaking her head and smiling. He liked her smile. Her lips were inviting even without any added gloss. A lovely diversion, he thought again.
And why not? He was entitled. He had no strings to tangle him up. He hadn’t had those since Selene. That was the way he preferred it, too, as he’d pointed out to his grandmother that very morning when Yiayia expressed concern about his ongoing single status. Nick had no such concerns. What he had was a plan, a meticulously crafted five-year plan to grow his auction business. After that, he might start thinking about settling down, but never again would he allow his heart to be broken. Once was enough.
“Is this part of the story of your life?” he asked Darcie, motioning to the wayward cart.
“That’s right.” She lowered her voice to a confidential whisper. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but since you’re being so nice, I feel I owe you the truth. I’m a magnet for bad luck.”
“Really?”
“Really. Swear.” She traced a cross over her very impressive chest.
Nick followed the progress of her fingertip before allowing his gaze to lift to her lips again. “Perhaps your luck is about to change.”
TWO
While she waited for Nick to retrieve his car from the long-term parking lot, Darcie called Becky. Even if she didn’t think Nick was a psycho, she decided it would be wise to let someone know she had arrived safely in Athens and was now in the hands of a stranger. Calling her parents was out of the question. Ditto for her sisters. That left Becky, who answered on the fifth ring.
“Someone had better be dying,” her friend muttered ominously, and Darcie realized it was the middle of the night in Buffalo.
“I’m not dying, just checking in,” she said. “Sorry I woke you, Becks. I forget about the time difference.”
“Darcie? Oh. Hey.” She pictured Becky struggling to a sitting position on her bed and trying to force the cobwebs from her head. “Is everything okay?”
Darcie scuffed the toe of one shoe against the pavement. “Sort of.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, my flight arrived on time, but I’m missing half of my luggage. The good half.”
Becky had helped her pack, so she commiserated. “That stinks. On the bright side, now you have a valid excuse to buy more clothes.”
“Yeah.” Like Darcie could afford to do that. She coughed and continued. “Oh, and there’s been one other small glitch. No one from the tour company was at the airport to meet me.”
“What? That’s ridiculous. You need to report them to the Better Business Bureau or something.”
“I know. Apparently, the owner of the company is a lush.” She forced out a laugh. “Figures, right? I mean, Tad got such a good deal on this vacation there was bound to be a catch.”
Becky muttered something obscene about Tad. It wasn’t anything Darcie hadn’t heard before. Her friend had been quite vocal in her dislike of him. That had been a source of contention between the two women in the past, but no longer. She found herself wondering what Becky would make of Nick.
“I hope the rest of the trip goes smoothly,” her friend said.
Unfortunately, based on what Nick had told Darcie, she had her doubts. She told Becky as much.
“What are you going to do? Can you get a refund and hook up with a different company?”
“I don’t know.” The fine print on the package said the price was nonrefundable, but Darcie planned to try anyway. She figured she had nothing to lose. “In the meantime, I have a ride to the first hotel on the itinerary. The tour group is supposed to stay there for a couple of nights. That should give me time to see if the company is going to be able to deliver on any of its promises and, if not, make other arrangements.” At least she hoped it would.
“Good. Darcie, if you need money—”
“No. I don’t. But thanks.” Not only could Becky not afford it, but she’d also been generous enough already, letting Darcie crash at her apartment until she found a place of her own. That certainly beat moving back in with her parents, even temporarily. What thirty-year-old woman wanted to do that?
Darcie took a deep breath then and, keeping her tone nonchalant, said, “You’re going to love this. The person who agreed to drive
