The twists don’t matter, she whispered silently to herself. In the end, if they loved each other, they would have their happy ending. She had to believe that.
When Mairi still didn’t speak, fear and tension had his body stiffening. He asked tautly, “Mairi?”
Swallowing, she made herself answer. “I’m okay. Thank you for…protecting my identity.”
He relaxed after a beat, seeing that she was not mad at him. Just looking at her made him want to touch her – not sexually, but just to keep them connected.
His heart clenched. Was this how love felt? The real kind?
Mairi’s lips parted in wonder as she watched Damen slowly lift one hand up and caress her cheek. She wanted to kiss his fingers, and after a moment’s hesitation, she turned her face to the side and did it.
He stilled, the kiss startling him. More than that, it felt like a healing touch, which was strange since he had not even known he was…wounded.
Closing his eyes, with her lips pressed against his palm, her fingers stroking his cheek, Damen could almost make himself believe that Mairi Tanner was indeed in love with him.
Chapter Seven
To trust a Greek billionaire, one must accept that their breed also has a tendency to go through denial.
He said: Breed, eh? You make us sound like dogs who have a hard time accepting who their master is.
She said: Now that you’ve said it…but really, really gorgeous-looking dogs, though.
“You look pleased with yourself.” His friend, Stavros Manolis, remarked in a low aside as they sat next to each other on the front row, which was reserved for VIP guests of the celebrity tennis match both their companies were sponsoring.
Everywhere around them, people were in a frenzy, unable to bear the sheer excitement and joy of seeing two gorgeous and eligible Greek billionaires in one place.
After shaking each other’s hands and exchanging grins, Damen answered simply, “Life has been good, yes.”
Stavros smirked. “Come on, Damen. I’ve known you for years so there’s no point with this bullshit. Which lovely woman has caught your eye?”
The words stunned him, but not because Stavros had easily guessed it was a woman making him feel this way. “Why do you think you need to ask?”
“Because, my friend, I have always known you do not feel a thing for Alina Kokinos.”
When Damen did not answer, Stavros raised a brow. In a low murmur, “Everyone knows it is not a love match, Damen – even Alina. I doubt she expects you to be faithful to her.”
Damen knew Stavros was probably right, but it did not sit well with him. The world might not expect him to be faithful to Alina, but the world would recognize her as his wife – not Mairi.
“Stavros,” he said slowly, “Why aren’t you still married?”
Stavros tried to laugh the question off. “What is this? Pre-wedding jitters?”
Damen forced a smile. “Perhaps.”
They did not speak for a while after that, the match finally commencing with Greece’s national anthem playing. The usual ceremonies followed suit, and both of them fell into their roles with ease, alternating between charm and aloofness. The crowds had to be charmed, but lines had to be drawn, too. It was a tedious routine, but it was necessary because there were very few people that billionaires like them could truly trust.
Almost an hour had passed by the time they completed their duties and yet, he had not forgotten his conversation with his friend. He looked at Stavros to ask him again, but this time he didn’t have to.
Stavros answered quietly, “It is because I believe I may have met the right girl and I was forced to let her go.”
Looking at his friend, Damen knew that Stavros had lost himself in the past.
When Stavros spoke again, however, it was for Damen’s sake. “By asking me this, Damen, I think you may have found the right girl, too.”
“Since I am presently engaged,” he said with forced lightness, “I certainly hope so.”
Stavros shook his head. “You know what I mean, Damen. So if you think you’ve met her – don’t f**k it up like I did.”
The words stayed on his mind even well after the celebrity match between the two popular tennis pros had ended and he and Stavros parted ways.
When he was with Mairi, he could not remember being any happier. But even after all this time, Damen was still unable to make himself completely believe she really was in love with him. Or, as Stavros put it, that she really was the one.
And while he could not make up his mind, how long would Mairi be willing to wait?
It was a question he didn’t want to have the answer to. It also made him think of Mairi, and suddenly all Damen wanted was to hear her voice. When she talked to him, even about the silliest of things, he was at ease.
Dialing her number, Damen waited for Mairi to answer the phone. She normally answered after one or two rings, but this time it took him two calls before she picked up the phone.
“Hello?”
He could barely understand her, the crackling noise over the line distorting her voice.
Frowning, Damen demanded, “Mairi? Where are you?”
She answered, but this time her voice was totally incomprehensible.
With a frown, he ended the call and sent her an SMS. Where are you? What are you doing? Call me the moment you can.
Mairi: So demanding…I love it. <3
The words made him smile, but when over half an hour had passed and she still had not called, he became edgy and tense. His mind conjured all sorts of scenarios, none of them pleasant. Dammit, if something happened to Mairi—
Gritting his teeth, Damen called the head of his security. “Get another team set up. I want them following Mairi Tanner 24/7 undercover.”
Another half hour had passed before his phone rang again. He was in his office by then, and he answered it right away, demanding, “Where the hell are you?”
“Hello to you, too,” she answered teasingly.
Damen was not in the mood to be teased, though. He had been pacing restlessly in his office, waiting for her call. “Answer me, Mairi.” At the back of his mind was the worry that the moment he turned his back on her, someone would make Mairi open her eyes and realize the truth. That she—
“I love you,” she said very sweetly over the phone.
His chest constricted. How could she say it so easily even though he had never returned the words?
With a sigh, he said, “I’m sorry for being an angry, grumpy jerk. I was just worried.”
“It’s okay,” Mairi said soothingly, secretly touched by his admission that he was worrying about her.