Page 162 of Love Among the Ruins
CHAPTERFORTY-TWO
DOMINIC
The empty villa reflected his mood. Hollow and silent.
With Eleni gone, Dominic was stuck in a weird type of limbo; one which he desperately tried to claw his way out of.
He had seen the way in which Eleni had left so easily. She hadn’t looked sad. Nor distraught. She had put last night’s events behind her. Guilt and shame might have had something to do with that.
Her desire for him last night had been a reflection of her needs and nothing else. It was his dick she’d needed, not his heart.
In a fit of anger, he slammed his laptop shut, likely damaging yet another device. He’d messed up. Instead of catching Galatis at a good time and securing the deal, he’d been too busy focusing on Eleni.
Alexander would love this and his father would quietly disapprove. Dominic would feel his father’s disappointment all the way across the Mediterranean Sea.
He’d been frustrated by this deal which had no end in sight, but now he had been reduced to a weakling with a heart that beat for Eleni, and a desire for her, the likes of which he hadn’t before experienced. He’d even slept in her bed last night, the scent of her in her bedsheets lingering in the air, making him reminisce.
Toughen up, dipshit.
This would not do. His father would expect results as soon as Dominic returned to the office.
He would touch base with Galatis’ on his return to Athens. Thankfully, the old man would have seen that Dominic had ‘a strong woman to ground him’.
For now, he had people to see and meetings to attend. He got up, ready to leave for a lunch meeting when Xenia knocked on his door.
“The young lady left these behind. I have washed and ironed them.” She held out Eleni’s denim shorts.
His breath dried up. He couldn’t speak. So, he nodded and took them from her.
He was still holding them in his hands and reminiscing, when Kostas informed him that he would be late for his meeting if they didn’t leave now.
* * *
ELENI
“You caught the sun,” Miranda commented as she and Eleni went out for lunch the next day.
“Did I?” Eleni touched a hand to her cheek.
“Did you go to the beach with your friends again?”
Eleni stared at her blankly.
“You left early on Friday,” Miranda prompted.
“Oh, yes. Yes.” It was all coming back now. She’d told Miranda she’d gone to Spetses.
“You really did catch the sun.” Miranda stared at her with a worried look on her face. “Are you sure it’s not heatstroke?”
“What? No, it wasn’t. It isn’t. It’s nothing. I couldn’t sleep.” That part was true. She hadn’t been able to. Subconsciously she’d been waiting for a text or a call from Dominic, and when nothing happened, she’d spent hours shifting in bed wondering why he hadn’t contacted her.
She was aware that Miranda’s crush on Dominic hadn’t abated, and even if there had been no need to keep the weekend a secret—in some alternate universe where she and Dominic were together and happy—it would be wrong for her to confess what had taken place between her and Dominic. She couldn’t do that to Miranda. It would be like twisting a knife into her heart.
“How was your weekend?” she asked, desperate to change the subject.
Miranda warbled on about the things she’d done, the family get together she’d had to suffer and the copious amounts of food that had been eaten. “Next time you go for a run, take me with you. I could do with some exercise.”
Eleni hadn’t told her friend why she was running, or anything about the expedition, because she didn’t want to tell everyone she met about Jonas and what had happened.
