Page 48 of Hopeless Romantic
5.Who is Greek.
6.And who learned the trade from his Greek father (or grandfather, if the father turned his back on the family business).
7.In order to trust his meat, you must know him, his wife, kids, and extended family. (Relatives still living in the Old World are exempt.)
“Yiayia’s moussaka sounds great, but I have bowling.”
“How long will it take you to sit down and have a few bites? There’s enough here to feed a family of six. It will go bad if you don’t come to dinner.”
Levi looked skyward for divine intervention. He hated the idea of his mom eating alone. He worried about her more and more, knowing that Michelle was no longer a few blocks over. Gray was great with Ida, and Paisley dropped by a few days a week after school, but he knew his mom was lonely. The kind of lonely only her children could heal.
“Maybe I can grab a few bites. But no salad, no sides, no dessert. A few bites while I fix the light. Then I’m gone.”
“But I made my galaktoboureko, and you know it doesn’t keep well.”
“Mom,” he warned.
“I’ll package some to go,” she said, and he could sense her excitement. Hear cabinets slam open and shut as she puttered around her kitchen, setting the table, getting out the good china, probably even crystal wine glasses, even though he’d only have water. “I’ll also make a care package for Emmitt, since he was so sweet as to drop off Paisley.”
“He’s her dad. That’s his job.”
“You know how Annie loves my galaktoboureko,” she said. “And after all this fill-in business, I imagine she could use a little mom-made dessert.”
As long as it didn’t come out of his share, Levi didn’t care.
His phone buzzed. He held the phone back and glanced at the screen. It was Emmitt, texting on the DADStext thread.
2night won’t be an easy win. Annie recruited a ringer.
Two texts came through, one after the other. Both from Gray.
Annie told me!
Might want to bring that A-game, L
Gray knew that there was only one person worth Levi’s A game. And a night with Rome’s most adorable-sexy animal advocate was the exact kind of fun the good doctor ordered. Suddenly, Levi wasn’t only optimistic about tonight, he was damn near hopeful.
“Mom, did Emmitt mention which friend of Annie’s was filling in?”
“Of course, Levi James,” she said, and Levi couldn’t help but smile. “The sweet girl you took wedding cake tasting before bringing home to meet your mother!”
Chapter 10
Beckett had tried on every item in her closet, and everything was now strewn around her bedroom, making it look like a sorority house before homecoming. And the best combination she could come up with was a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and a heavy cardigan.
It took rifling through her dirty clothes hamper and all six drawers of her chifforobe, but she’d managed to find a pair of matching socks. That was as good as it was going to get.
“This is all your fault,” Beckett said loudly enough to be heard on her speakerphone as she tugged the shirt over her head.
“It’s not like I held a gun to your head.” Annie’s voice was muffled beneath a pile of clothes.
“You drugged me with dark chocolate cake, then gave the ‘it’s for the kids’ speech.” Beckett ruffled through a pile of discarded underwear—did she have a single pair not resembling granny panties?—to locate her phone. She picked it up and gave the screen a hard look. “You know I can’t be rational when chocolate and kids are involved.”
“I was desperate.” Annie looked bowling chic in a two-tone faded blue top with a matching blue knit cap and her smart-is-sexy black-rimmed glasses. “Our chances of making it to the next round are slim to none, so this is the last game of the season. And it’s for a good cause.”
Lucky Strike, a charity bowling league that raised money for local nonprofits, had selected the pediatric ward of Rome General as this year’s beneficiary. Annie, who couldn’t say no to save her life, had drafted every friend and family member to fill the empty teams.
Fortunately for Beckett, her schedule was so unpredictable, she’d only been able to sign up as an alternate for the alternate. Unfortunately, their alternate was incapacitated, and Beckett had to fulfill her duties to the team. It didn’t hurt that tonight was nurses vs. physicians, a game that would decide who went on to the semifinals.
