“So what’s your full name? Do the Greeks use like a thousand different names for members of the family? You know, like ten middle names?”
When he laughed again, I couldn’t help but notice how a crazy feeling zipped through my body. My eyes lingered a little too long on the scruff that covered his perfectly beautiful face. “No. It’s Athanasios Adrax Drivas.”
And there it was.
I was positive Thano could get any girl he wanted merely by saying his name. Another reason to stay away from him. With those looks and that name . . . let’s not forget the rocking body. Yep. He had player written all over him.
Thano opened his mouth to talk and his phone rang. With a smile, I lifted my hand and said, “Well, it was great seeing you again. Maybe I’ll see ya around.”
He looked conflicted. “Wait! What’s your last name since you know mine?”
I couldn’t help but notice how my chest fluttered. “O’Kelly is my last name.”
The smile that spread across his face made me smile.
“Irish.”
“Yep.” Glancing to his phone, I pointed. “You better answer that.”
He nodded and said, “Yep. See ya, Kilyn.”
I lifted my hand and said, “See ya.”
Turning, I took off running. I’d never run so fast in my life. It was as if I was running from the way he looked at me.
Or worse yet, from the way he made me feel.
WALKING THROUGH THE cabin, I tried like hell to forget about my conversation with Kilyn. Blowing out a deep breath, I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
“How’s it looking?” Mike asked. He was the contractor handling the building. He was also a friend of mine since high school.
With a smile, I replied, “It looks great. What’s left to do?”
“If you’re happy with everything, we’re done. We had a few paint touch-ups to do that the guys took care of earlier this morning. The inspector came in and all is looking good. You my friend, have your cabin in the woods.”
My chest tightened. Savannah and I talked about building a place in the mountains. She would have never gone for how simple this cabin was though. She grew up in a very wealthy family. A three-bedroom cabin would never have made her happy. But being up here would have.
She should be here.
“Hey. You okay, Thano? You look pale.”
Clearing my throat, I nodded and hit him on the side of the arm. “Yeah. I’m great. It all looks great, Mike.”
“Did you ever tell your parents?”
With a halfhearted chuckle, I looked around again. “Hell no. My mother would have been all over you. Picking paint colors and adding this or that. In a way, I did it for you, Mike.”
He narrowed his eyes and stared at me with a disbelieving look. “For me? How’s that?”
“If she had known I was building this place, she would have been calling you on the phone every day. You and I both know it. My mother gives new meaning to the word control freak.”
He nodded. “That’s true. She would have been, but I also bet I’d have gained forty pounds with her cooking.”
“See. Me not telling them was a good thing.”
“Uh-huh. You keep telling yourself that, Thano.”
The moment I opened the door to my parents’ house, my mother called out my name, “Athanasios! It’s about time!”
With a slight smile, I made my way through the house and into the kitchen. My mother was jabbering away in Greek as she moved about. Her black hair was pulled up into a bun and she wore just a touch of makeup. My mother was beautiful. Beyond beautiful. She was only fifty-five-years-old and didn’t look a day over thirty.
“Mmm, smells good, Mama.”
“Of course it does. No one cooks moussaka like I do.”
With a chuckle, I agreed. “No one does, Mama.”
The smell of the ground lamb and garlic cooking made my mouth water. Damn, I loved my mother’s cooking.
“How has your week been?” she asked as she laid the eggplant in the baking dish. It was a very rare occasion for her to be alone in the kitchen.
With a shrug, I replied, “It’s been uneventful.”
She turned to look at me and raised her eyebrow. “Is that so?”
I knew that look. It was the look that told me I better rethink my answer.
“Um . . . yep. Why do you ask?”
She turned back to what she was doing and pursed her lips. “Rosemary, Aunt Marie’s friend, saw you talking to a girl on the street near your apartment.”
“Rosemary? Why was she in Manitou Springs?”
“Ah, so you do not deny you were with a girl?”
I popped an olive into my mouth and sat at the island while I watched her. “I wasn’t with any girl, Mama. I was talking to a girl.”
She huffed. “What’s the difference?”
“There’s a huge difference.”
“Is she a friend?”
I thought for a moment. Was Kilyn a friend? We hadn’t exchanged phone numbers and I just found out what her last name was.