Page 133 of Love Among the Ruins
Eleni turned to him. “She is stunning...” she started to whisper, but it was too late; she’d caught him staring at her.
The color rose to her cheeks, her hand going to her neck before fluttering to her lap. She seemed embarrassed, and looked at her lap, then up ahead.
If anyone was going to have trouble today it was him. His heart pitter pattering beneath his ribcage was a sign of danger. Eleni made him feel things that he struggled to keep suppressed. She looked so glamorous, all dressed up, especially in that dress.
That dress.
Those hooks.
The sight of her bare back, the clasp of her bra—the things he had tried not to think of—had been thrust in his face unexpectedly.
Life was testing him severely.
* * *
ELENI
She had survived the wedding. Just about.
Seeing Dominic’s ex-girlfriend up close had been torture. It had been an epic, monumental moment which had ground her down, seeing the tall, elegant and beautiful woman moving gracefully down the aisle.
Eleni had felt like a garden gnome in comparison.
But then she’d turned to Dominic and caught him staring at her. It was a moment she would never forget.Shewas the one Dominic had been staring at, not his ex. He’d stared at her the way she had probably been staring at him, eyes full of longing and desire. Her breath hitched in her throat just thinking of that moment.
The wedding was over, and the guests spilled out of the blue domed church where the newlyweds were quickly surrounded by well wishers. She and Dominic got their chance to congratulate the happy couple, but this time Eleni didn’t feel inadequate or out of place.
A short while later, they got into the car and drove to another stunning villa by the sea. This was where the wedding reception was taking place, Dominic told her.
His hand on the small of her back guided her towards different groups of people as they mingled around, the sound of happy chatter as uplifting as birdsong.
She was having a great time and feeling more relaxed than ever. The faces in the crowd that had been nameless earlier were now people with whom she was having friendly conversations with.
At one point she caught sight of Hector’s wife who was standing alone at one of the buffet tables, her handbag on one arm preventing her from easily getting the food.
Eleni excused herself and went over to her. “Let me help you,” she offered, taking a plate from the table. The older woman beamed and told her that Eleni reminded her of one of her daughters. Eleni then leapt into waitress mode, helping to plate the food for her.
They made casual conversation about the wedding and the new couple, and then Eleni excused herself and would have returned to Dominic. “Come and sit with me,” the older woman insisted. Eleni’s heart sank.
“I should let you eat in peace.” As much as she liked this kind lady with her soft features and gentle ways, she was enjoying her day with Dominic even more.
This was a rare occurrence, being away from the work environment, just the two of them. It didn’t even take a gargantuan leap of faith to pretend that this was something it wasn’t, because as far as fake dates went, this felt real.
Everything that had happened between them today was real and intense, so perfectly raw and full of possibility that her nerve endings hummed, a low, thrumming vibration keeping her on edge. Even now, away from Dominic, she could feel him.
“Come,” Mrs. Galatis insisted. “You remind me of my middle daughter, and—” the old woman made a clucking noise with her tongue, “not one of my children has come home this summer to see me. Not one. Sit with me for a while. I like your company.”
Eleni looked over her shoulder and found Dominic staring at her. A shiver rolled through her. Was that a yearning in his eyes? Or something her imagination had just made up? He nodded beckoning her to come back to him, and she gestured that she had no say in this. But then a beautiful woman, not Demi, but someone else, sidled up to him and he turned his attention to her.
That hadn’t taken very long.
* * *
DOMINIC
Another woman whom he barely remembered from his days with Demi had managed to collar him.
Dominic forced himself to have a halfhearted conversation with her, but his insides plummeted in shock when Eleni stayed by Hector’s wife’s side. He looked around for Galatis only to find the man laughing with a huge group of people. Dominic didn’t want to interrupt.
