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‘Years?’Costa checked.
‘Yes,’ Mary said. ‘I started there when I was sixteen. It’s not ideal, of course.’
‘Is that why you’re here on a Saturday night? Trying to earn some extra cash?’
She said nothing. In fact, she was trying to hold back from devouring the plate of nibbles and trying to remember her manners, given that he had so far not touched the food.
Costa wasn’t holding back on the questions though. ‘I assume you are paid in cash?’
‘I don’t think that’s a polite question.’
Costa took a breath and knew not to push it, but he loathed more than anything people being taken advantage of, and God knew he’d been on the receiving end often enough while trying to get ahead.
‘Could you get another job?’ he asked, despite his determination to endure only a quick drink with her and then walk away. ‘One that pays you enough to pay your rentandeat?’
She pulled her hand back from the rapidly diminishing food selection. But instead of shrivelling, as she usually did, she shot him a look. ‘Why do you think I’m here, Costa?’
‘I get it, okay?’ He did—and what was more, he admired her. ‘I know it’s easier said than done. Go ahead...’ he said, and pushed the platter towards her. ‘They are not to my taste.’
‘Then why did you order them?’
‘I get a little mixed up at times. I thought I had asked fororekita...’ He saw her frown.‘Meze.’Still the frown.
In truth, Costa knew exactly what he had ordered, but he had noted her sweet drink choice and taken a guess that she would enjoy it.
‘In Greece the selection would be more savoury.’
‘Well, this is perfect for me.’
‘Then enjoy. I shall have something else later. You were saying you don’t like where you work...? That it is less than ideal?’ Costa prompted.
She gave a mirthless laugh. ‘Sofar from ideal. I was promised an apprenticeship when I started, but I’m not very good with the clients. I tend to say the wrong thing.’
‘Say nothing,’ he suggested. ‘I can’t stand getting my hair cut. Hairdressers always speak...’ He made a yapping gesture. ‘Maybe you should open a salon that offers a haircut with no conversation? Men would come in droves...’
Mary smiled. ‘Well, whatever the case, it’s not easy to leave without references—’ She stopped herself.
‘And without the right clothes for an interview at a high-end salon?’ Costa suggested, but her lips tightened and he knew she felt criticised. ‘May I say you look very beautiful tonight...?’ He could have said so much more than that. Hewantedto say so much more than that. But he chose not to. ‘Your dress is stunning.’
He tried not make it sound sleazy or practised, to put a kindness in his tone. It was clearly so unfamiliar to her it made her blink.
Costa saw that blink as if in slow motion—the golden honey colour of her thick eyelashes as they closed—and although his faith had never lapsed, tonight it was proved...for it would seem that mountains did indeed move.
The entire reason he was sitting here was the simple fact that she moved him.
Outside family, which consisted only of his mother, he could count on one hand the people who moved him—or rather on one finger... Or make that no one. No one really moved Costa Leventis—he had trained himself in that long, long ago.
‘Does your phone always buzz like that?’ Mary asked, for it was lit up like a Christmas tree and sliding across the smooth walnut table with a life of its own.
He glanced at the phone. ‘Excuse me for a moment.’ He stood and took the call as he walked off. ‘Hey, Roula.’
With his back to her, she was finally able to properly stare. He signalled to a waiter, she presumed to get the bill, then returned to his call as she unashamedly took in the exquisite cut of his suit—or rather the sheer exquisiteness ofhim.
Her first assessment had been right—he was exceptionally tall—but it wasn’t just his height that held her attention. Nor the heady scent of his cologne that had stirred the air as he moved away and lingered even now...
Mary was befuddled. She told herself it was his presence, his being, his quiet command that had brought to this wretched night a sense of calmness and safety.
She turned her attention to the pretty flower on their table as Costa ended the call and returned to his seat.
