AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Still, it would have been nice if he’d made more of an effort. When she tried to get him to dance, he flat-out refused. Well, if he thought she’d just sit there and watch the way he was doing, he was mistaken. If he wouldn’t dance with her, she’d find someone else. The room was filled with her cousins. One of them would be willing.
She was dancing with Nikos, a distant cousin on her mother’s side, a mining engineer who had recently been working in South America, when another man cut in, and swept her away before Nikos could tell her about the difficulty of extracting… whatever it was he’d been talking about.
“I thought I’d save you from my cousin,” the stranger said. Except he wasn’t exactly a stranger. He looked so familiar. Probably a cousin. “He’s a great guy, but when he gets started in on mining, it’s all I can do to stay awake. “You’re Christ Dimitrios’ daughter, right?”
“Eirene, yes.”
He smiled and she realized that she was dancing with Simon Katsaros. No one else had a smile like that. Up close it was staggering.
“You know we’re sort of unofficially engaged,” he told her.
“I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on that subject.”
He laughed and she hated it that it excited her, hated that she found him attractive with his black curls and eyes the color of old cognac. She was swept away by his beauty which the newspaper and magazine photos didn’t come close to capturing. She knew she was staring so she looked away.
“I remember you being about five feet tall and knock-kneed,” he told her.
“High heels and a long dress help a lot.”
“You don’t know how to take a compliment.”
“I didn’t hear one.”
He laughed again. “Fair enough. What I should have said was that you’re far more beautiful than I recall.”
“So are you.”
“Good genes,” he replied, and she knew it was true. Helena Katsaros was stunning.
“Now who doesn’t know how to take a compliment?”
“My parents taught me to be modest.”
“With your media coverage?” she asked. “Please. Pull the other one.”
“Are you here with anyone? I mean other than family. I saw Christ and Thea earlier.”
“I have a date, yes.”
“I don’t. I’m supposed to be squiring around one of the bridesmaids, but she’s already disappeared.”
“I wouldn’t think you’d want for someone to take to a wedding. Considering all I read about you, that is.”
Simon rolled his eyes. “Don’t believe everything you read about me. I’m just an average guy with too much money.”
“I’m glad to hear you say it,” Eirene replied. It was what she’d thought all along.
“But I’m doing something with that money,” he added.
“Charity work? Making the world a better place?”
“Uhh… I started my own business.”
“Well done,” she said, with a touch of sarcasm. As if starting your own business with daddy’s money counted as actually doing something.
“To tell the truth, I wanted to work at Katsaros, but my father isn’t keen on the idea.” It wasn’t precisely the truth, but it would do.
“Why not? Are you an idiot?”
