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“Well, you did choose a rather disreputable-looking disguise.” A smile tugged at her lips as she looked at him. Fake, greasy, shoulder-length grey hair and a Jesus Christ beard, a metal choker and ripped jeans – he definitely didn’t look anything like his usual self. “What exactly are you supposed to be anyway?” she couldn’t help asking. “Mel Gibson turns aging rockstar?”
“Good description,” he acknowledged, “but as it’s also better to keep things simple, just think of me as Mr. William Harney, a struggling writer hoping to find inspiration in Isla de Flores.”
“That’s your idea of a writer?” The sound of Pippi’s laughter trailed after her as she stepped inside Wickham’s car rental for the day, a ten-year-old Toyota with peeling faux leather seats and a Care Bears sticker on its rear windshield.
As Wickham turned the car around, Acheron saw one of Pippi’s aunts coming out and waving at the suspicious-looking neighbor, effectively distracting the latter.
Smart of her, but more importantly, it also spoke volumes of how natural it was for Pippi’s family to protect each other…unlike his own flesh and blood.
Pippi was startled when Acheron suddenly drew her close and felt his lips touch the top of her head. When she looked up at him in askance, he said rather gruffly, “I like your family a lot, mikrí mou.”
Acheron felt a mixture of emotions at seeing Pippi’s whole face light up at his words. The sight unintentionally reminded him of the many times his former lovers had looked him the same way, but they had only done so because he had gifted them with something extravagant.
But Pippi was different.
She had always been different, but whether that was a good thing or not…
Allá ti ei moi taùta perí drun e perí pétren, Acheron thought. It was a Greek saying similar to the English proverb that spoke of people making mountains out of molehills, and right now that was exactly what he intended to stop doing.
For now, it was best to take things one fucking day at a time.
Chapter 20
Pippi had faced a great many challenges in her career, but as it turned out, none of them proved as problematic as going to work with a secret. Especially since that secret happened to be a six-foot-plus Greek billionaire that went by the name of Acheron Simonides.
She had never really noticed it before, but his name and face seemed plastered everywhere in the building, and every time she saw either, her heart would stupidly skip a beat, and her guilt levels would shoot up like a rocket. It just didn’t seem right, to feel so deliciously alive simply because she had seen her boyfriend’s name printed on company letterheads.
But that was how it was, and every time she thought about it – Acheron Simonides was now her boyfriend – even her cheeks would fail her, turning as pink as carnations at the drop of a hat. In fact, the same thing had happened just a few minutes ago. She had been waiting in line to get her free coffee from the espresso machine, quietly minding her own business, when her gaze had absently encountered the company newsletter the man in front of her had tucked under his arm. It had been carelessly rolled up, but even so, there was just enough of the headline for her to read —
CEO Acheron Simonides Awarded…
And that was it.
Her cheeks had turned pink, her heart had skipped a beat, and she had been so flustered at how silly she was acting that she didn’t realize her inordinate reaction had all the other guys around her reacting rather foolishly as well. A blushing Ms. Pippilotta Jones proved to be too much of an irresistible sight, and the men around her only had one thought in mind. Am I the one making her blush?
The way her long, slender fingers shook a little hadn’t escaped their notice either, and it only reinforced the men’s opinions that it could only be one of them responsible for making the normally unflappable Ms. Jones appear, well, flappable.
By the time she left, news had already spread throughout Simonides Inc. about Ms. Jones having fallen in love, and it could be one of the eight men that happened to be in the 30th floor hallway while she was getting a cup of coffee.
But Pippi being Pippi, she remained clueless to the rumors flying all around her, and while she did notice the odd, speculative glance that Mr. Evans had subjected her to upon returning to the office, she simply put this down to being one of her new boss’ quirks and chucked it out of her mind right after.
There was much work to do, and more importantly, there was that talk she knew she had to have with Acheron as soon as possible. If the past few days had taught her anything, it was how crucial it was that they be open with each other.
