Greek for Beginners by Jackie Braun

was designed by Phidias to honor Athena, the patron goddess of your city, and constructed more than two thousand years ago.”
    â€œYour knowledge of the Parthenon is impressive,” he said.
    â€œI read about it.” She started to laugh. “Over there.”
    Nick turned to find a large sign listing the same facts Darcie had just spouted. He started to laugh, too, and then pulled her into his arms. He didn’t let her go. Both of them sobered.
    â€œI like your sense of humor,” he said.
    â€œIt’s one of my better attributes.”
    â€œI can think of other attributes that I prefer even more.” He slid his hands down her back and, even though he wanted to place them elsewhere, he forced them to stop at her waist. They were in public, after all, and surrounded by camera-toting tourists.
    â€œYou must mean my eyes.” She batted the lids. The eyes in question were laughing at him. “I’ve been told they’re a pretty color.”
    â€œYou are enjoying this,” he accused.
    â€œEnjoying what?” she asked a little too innocently. “I don’t know what you mean.”
    â€œI do like your eyes,” he agreed. “But they aren’t what kept me awake last night.” As intended, his bald assertion wiped the smile from Darcie’s face. Then he asked, “How did you sleep? Did you toss and turn?”
    â€œI...I...” She swallowed.
    â€œThat is what I thought.”
    Those blue eyes narrowed. “That’s not fair.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI did toss and turn, but I’m still suffering from jet lag.”
    â€œYou are full of excuses.”
    â€œIt’s true.”
    â€œAll right. I have a cure for that.” His voice was low and for the briefest moment his hips bumped against hers as he spoke. “Would you like to know what it is?”
    â€œRight now? Right here?” She gave a panicked glance around.
    Nick brushed the hair back from her cheek and leaned closer. His lips purposely grazed her ear when he whispered, “Warm milk.”
    â€œWarm—” Darcie dissolved in a fit of laughter that drew curious stares from passersby. When she composed herself, she accused, “You set me up.”
    â€œI cannot be responsible for the thoughts you entertain.” His voice dropped an octave. “Although I would not mind hearing what they are.”
    She put a hand on his chest and playfully pushed him backward half a step. “Oh, no. I’m not walking into a trap a second time.”
    Just that quickly, he erased the distance she’d created, and pulled her close. “Now I really want to hear those thoughts. Over dinner, perhaps? Say yes.”
    â€œWell, when you put it that way. Yes.”

SIX
    Nick changed his mind several times before settling on a restaurant. Even then he wasn’t sure he’d made the right choice. He had no doubt Darcie would enjoy the food and the ambience. They were what made it so difficult to get a table at Moscophilero...unless one had a long history with the owner, as Nick did. But the restaurant’s location gave him pause. It was in Piraeus and, as such, much closer to his house above the harbor than anything in Athens would be. Within fifteen minutes of his paying the check, he and Darcie could be ensconced in his living room sipping a nightcap. As for what they could be doing within an hour, that gave him pause.
    Where was this heading? Where did he want it to head? Such questions had never arisen with the other women he’d dated, but Darcie was...special. In addition to turning him on to an extent he’d never experienced, she also brought out his protective instincts. Add in her recently ended engagement and Nick didn’t want to rush her. But he did want her. So, he needed to be sure they were both after the same thing: a mutually satisfying, albeit short-term, sexual relationship. Recriminations afterward wouldn’t