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‘Thank you, but no.’
‘I’m very sorry to hear that.’
Not as sorry as she!
Mary shot him a look then—a sharp look, an angry look...one Mary herself didn’t understand. For it was aimed at the one person who had thrown her a lifeline.
It was the most honest she had ever been with her eyes, because it was hurting her so much to decline. Her mask did not just slip—it wasgone, and for a moment she was lost in his silvery eyes.
He did not judge.
Nor did he move to persuade or dissuade her.
He was done with her.
And then there came a moment so rare and so scarce that Mary didn’t know what it was—she saw him simply accept her silent anger. Her regret.
And not just regret for declining a dream job.
There was regret yet to come, because her refusal surely meant the end of this moment.
This moment with him.
It was as if the lights had been turned off and all noise had been muted. As if the lens through which she had until now viewed the world had sharpened its focus.
All the details she had gathered through the night seemed toclick, click, click... Not just the beauty of his eyes, but the silver at his temples, his scent, his height, his arrogance combined with such kindness... All of it clicked into one vivid image and there he was, as if for the first time.
Costa Leventis.
Yes, he was gorgeous.
Yes, he was the most attractive man she’d ever seen in real life.
But all of that she had known on sight.
She hadn’t, until now, known that this man might arouse in her a reaction she had never so much as imagined—hadn’t known that for all the trouble she had simultaneously ignored and anticipated tonight, this might be the most perplexing part.
It wasn’t that she fancied him—that was a horrible word, and so inadequate to describe this moment when she felt as if the only other person in the world was seated in front of her.
And this moment suddenly terrified her half to death.
‘I have to go.’
‘Mary—’ He moved to halt her.
‘Do you run around offering work to all of Eric’s dates?’ Of course he didn’t. ‘Thank you for the drink...’ Mary said, gathering her purse as she stood, desperate to flee.
‘Please wait a moment.’
‘For what?’ Mary snapped, for she did not want him to glimpse what was happening inside her. She was blushing and stumbling, and hungry for cold air. ‘I really do have to go.’
‘Wait, please,’ Costa said. ‘There was another reason I interrupted our conversation...’
He glanced across the room and, perplexed, she followed his gaze. That lens widened again, and the rest of the world reappeared in slow motion... Only now she stood on what she could only describe as an entirely different plane of existence.
A waiter was walking towards them, and at that second the pianist started to play ‘Happy Birthday’ and everyone in the plush bar turned to stare... Mary blushed, lit up with desire, and it felt to her that every single person in the bar who was now staring at her could surely see it.
Mutely, she sat down as a perfect slice of strawberry Fraisier cake with a candle on the top was placed in front of her. Written on the plate in chocolate wasHappy 21st Birthday, Mary.
