Total pages in book: 189
Estimated words: 178200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 713(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 178200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 713(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
They made a snap decision.
“Up you go, Mairi,” Mandy said briskly, pulling her friend up and not-so-subtly pushing Damen Leventis away.
“We’ll take care of her, Ms. Thorn. Please don’t worry about her,” Velvet was saying at the same time, using her hips to push Charity out of the picture. But unlike Mandy, she did not bother trying to be subtle about it.
Before anyone could react, Mandy and Velvet had quickly gotten their friend past the crowd and inside the closest washroom. By the time they were inside, Mairi had started to recover from her little bump. She also started to remember what she had let slip.
A long moan escaped her. “Oh my God.”
Velvet jumped at the sound, which was eerily close to how a dying person probably sounded like. “What is it?”
Mairi was completely pale now. “I...I...”
Mandy was tempted to shake her friend. “What?”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “I...umm...said I love him?”
SILENCE.
And then—-
Laughter.
The kind that had her friends doubling over, bodies shaking, clutching their sides, the sound of their loud laughter bouncing off the walls.
Completely recovered now, Mairi scowled. “Way to be supportive, you guys.”
Velvet managed to get her mirth under control long enough to say, “Yay you!” She and Mandy burst into a fresh round of laughter.
Mairi gritted her teeth. “This is not a laughing matter! What if I scared him away? What if he thinks I’m a psycho? What if...what if he doesn’t want me anymore?” She ended up wailing the last words.
Damen Leventis was the Greek billionaire she had been waiting forever for. She was sure of it. Fate, instinct, a message from the Greek gods – Mairi just knew.
The problem was – did he really know that she was the one for him, too?
STOP MOPING AROUND.
Mairi stared grumpily at Mandy’s text message. Easier said than done, she thought. How could she not mope around when Damen Leventis had been MIA for an hour now? Maybe she really had scared him off.
“Kalimera.”
Mairi started, cheeks flushed with guilt as she realized there were people sitting across her and she hadn’t even noticed. The first one she noticed was Katya, a statuesque and perky brunette who was also one of her favorite students from Class E. Seated next to Katya was yet another tall, dark, and handsome Greek with wickedly gleaming green eyes.
Her mind automatically went through her mental database of Greek billionaires, and in the next second she identified the man as Ioniko Vlahos. He was in his late twenties, better known as one of the most famous playboys in the continent, and another heir to a shipping fortune.
Also just as automatically, her mind compared him to Damen Leventis, who was older since he was already in his mid-thirties. And a lot sexier and gorgeous too, Mairi thought wistfully. There was something about Damen, with the way he spoke and looked at her—-
“She’s always like that.”
Katya’s words, spoken fondly, had Mairi crashing back down to earth. Oh dear God! She had zoned out again! If Rose had caught her this time, she would be lucky if she still had a job the next day.
Ioniko was smiling devilishly. “Is she now?”
Mairi flushed. “I’m sorry. I’m just really, really sorry.”
“It’s fine. I understand you were in an accident earlier?”
“Umm, yes.” She offered her hand. “I’m Katya’s English teacher, Ms. Tanner.”
“A pleasure.” But instead of shaking her hand, Ioniko brought it to his lips instead.
Mairi quickly withdrew her hand with a gasp.
Katya was frowning. “Ioniko!” She spoke to him rapidly in Greek.
A frown slowly formed on her brother’s forehead as well. When he looked at Mairi, his face was impassive as he said, “I apologize for being too forward. It will not happen again.”
“I told him stuff like that is not allowed in school or you’d get fired,” Katya assured her. She turned to her brother with an unhappy look. “I’m just sorry I didn’t warn him earlier, Ms. Tanner. And please don’t take him seriously. He flirts with women all the time.”
Ioniko said mildly, “You have it the other way around, darling. Women flirt with me all the time. I flirt only with the ones I like.”
Mairi coughed at the innuendo. Deciding it was time to change the subject, she said quickly, “Mr. Vlahos, Katya is one of the top students in my class – or rather, in her entire year actually.”
Ioniko raised a brow. “It must be because of you. Her English used to be appalling.”
“It is,” Katya agreed cheerfully. “English was terribly boring when I was in the other teacher’s class last year.”
Mairi cringed at the indirect reference to Charity. “Sssh!”
Katya shrugged. “It’s true, though.”
She half-begged, half-scolded, “Katya, please. You’re going to get me in trouble.”
“But it’s bad to lie. And I really mean it! When Ms. Fal—-”
“Fall is glorious in Greece, isn’t it?” Mairi cut her student off desperately. Charity Fallon was only seated one desk away, and she had no intentions of getting in a fight with the other woman for no good reason.