Kristo“Hey,” she greeted me as soon as she picked up the phone, and I could hear that sultry smile in her voice at once. I grinned. God, I wished she was here with me right now. This desk was getting a little boring, and I knew she’d do something to liven it up if I gave her the chance.“Hey,” I replied after a long pause, realizing I’d been sitting in silence imagining Amaya on this desk in front of me, butt naked. “Can you get out of work early today?”She sighed heavily, the rush of static making my ear tingle.“I can,” she replied, and there was a warning tone to her voice. “But I don’t want to make a habit of this, all right? I’m the one in charge, but I don’t want everyone to hate me for exploiting that.”“Don’t worry, I won’t be doing this again,” I promised her. “I just have something I want to show you in town, all right? I want to meet you there.”“Fine,” she replied, and despite herself, I could hear the little buzz of excitement at the back of her voice. “Where am I meeti
Kristo“I’m pretty exhausted,” Amaya admitted. “I could do with getting home and having something to eat. If that’s all right with you?”“Sure, it is.” I planted a kiss on her cheek. “Come on, let’s get home.”“I think I have a chain I could put the other ring on,” she murmured, as she looked down at her hand again. “You’re going to have to stop getting me these, you know. I’m going to run out of room.”“A girlfriend actually asking for less jewelry?” I teased her. “Could it be true?”“Hey, watch it, or I’ll make you go back and buy me everything in that store,” she teased, and she looped her arm through mine, the bag with Jolene’s gift swinging happily in her other hand.We made our way back to my place, chatting about the days we’d had as we went. She told me a little about Darla on the way over, some new girl who’d started work at the library who she felt like she was already clicking with. I was glad for her. She didn’t seem to have many friends, perhaps not finding the time until
Amaya“Amaya, are you all right?” Jolene asked, and she cocked her head at me. I could see I wasn’t going to be able to keep the truth from her much longer. I shifted in my seat and glanced around the small room. I had something to distract her for the time being, at least, and Kristo had promised to give us as much time as we needed to deal with the situation at hand.“Kristo got you something.” I dipped my hand into my bag and pulled out the small box that contained the charm bracelet Kristo had helped pick out for my sister. Her eyes lit up as soon as she caught sight of the fancy brand name printed on the box, and she grinned up at me, the thrill evident in her eyes.“Are you serious?” she squealed, and she reached out for the box, popping it open. She gasped when she saw what was waiting for her inside. The bracelet looked even more delicate now than it had in the box. I bit my lip and smiled as I watched her slip it on over her wrist and twist it this way and that, admiring the
Amaya“There’s something else as well,” I continued, and her face dropped again.“Don’t tell me you’ve been hiding a whole niece or nephew from me as well?” she exclaimed, glancing around the room as though she expected the secret child to come sprinting out from behind the bed. I shook my head.“Nothing like that,” I promised her, chuckling. “That’s a long way down the line. But we wanted to ask you …”I hesitated for a moment. Should I give her some time to process everything I’d just dumped on her head? Or should I just get it all out there now and let her make her own decision? All of this was happening so quickly, and I didn’t want my baby sister to be left out of a single thing.“We wanted to ask you if you would consider living with us.” I grinned, and she stared at me again, silent, as though she was waiting for me to tell her I was just fooling and not to get so excited. I didn’t contradict myself. Her eyebrows shot up.“You’re serious?” she shrieked, and I nodded. I leaned o
KristoI ran my hands through my hair and inhaled deeply. This was the first time I would be seeing the family since they’d found out about everything, and I was about as scared-shitless as it was possible to be.“Hey, it’s going to be fine.” Amaya caught my hand and drew it down by her side. I managed to smile at her and planted a kiss on her cheek.“Easy for you to say,” I reminded her. “They all think you’re the best thing to ever happen to me.”“Aren’t I?” she vamped playfully, and I couldn’t help but laugh.“Point taken.” I waved her into the house. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”As soon as I took a step over the threshold, my nonna descended on me. When she saw Amaya was there at my side, she slowed a little, and I could see her reconsidering the talk she’d clearly had planned in her head as soon as she’d heard I was back in the house.“Amaya.” She gave her a quick hug. “So nice to see you. Come on, get something to eat. You look like you could use it.”I remembered the fl
Amaya“Dinner.” Nonna clapped her hands together and nodded toward the dining room. “Someone give me a hand bringing the food through, and we can eat.”Amaya and I volunteered to take everything through to the dining room. I was glad for a little time alone with her. I seemed to be craving it any chance I got, drinking in these sweet little moments where she would tap my arm as though reminding me how she felt about me. I couldn’t believe how natural it felt to be near her like this, even now. I’d assumed at some point that novelty would wear off, but for now, I was just enjoying getting her to myself. After all this time feeling like she had one foot out the door, that I could never truly call her my own, it was just the two of us, and I couldn’t have been happier.Cleo wasn’t coming for dinner, and I, for one, was relieved at that. We would have to start talking again eventually, but I was still too furious at what she’d pulled with the contract to face looking her in the eye withou
AmayaAs I walked along next to Darla, I found myself slowing as I passed by a flower shop, peering into the window and checking out the arrangements. I liked the ones with the blue in the forefront, especially the ones with those yellow flowers dotted so prettily through.“Amaya? Earth to Amaya?” Darla waved her hand in front of my face, and I blinked and came back down to the real world. I shook my head and laughed at how ridiculous I was being.“I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I feel like I’ve got weddings on the brain.”“Well, not long till you get married,” she remarked. “No wonder. How long now?”“Oh, only a few months,” I replied with a sigh. It wasn’t that I wasn’t super excited about what was to come, just that it was a hell of a lot to take in, the full-blown, pedal-to-the-metal momentum of the marriage I was heading toward. At least I had more notice with this one than the last time I thought I’d been married. That had just been a matter of waking up in bed next to the man I tho
AmayaI talked to Kristo, who thought it better for me to grab an over the counter test. He picked me up and even went into the store to get it himself. We drove to a cute little diner that he loved, and I left him sitting at the table, his knuckles white and eyes a little wide. His words rang in my ears from the car ride over. “I’m sure you’re fine,” he promised me. “Just a little food poisoning, that’s all.”I didn’t have the heart to tell him I hadn’t eaten anything heavy enough to warrant this kind of reaction the last few days and, instead, just waited in the office with him until we were called in. “Everything’s going to be okay, baby.” He squeezed my hand. “I promise.”I was glad he was there by my side, but I was having a hard time believing him, even though I wanted to. My heart twisted in my chest as I tried to think about everything it could be—not food poisoning but maybe the flu? Perhaps just tiredness from working my fucking ass off since what felt like the beginning o
KristoI went to the window and stretched, running my hand through my hair and grinning. I couldn’t believe we were actually in Greece. We were supposed to be arriving right about now, but I couldn’t wait that long to get her alone and was glad I’d incurred the extra expense to fly us out here at the last minute. It was worth it, so we could just be together after the hectic chaos of the wedding.I had called Cleo when we’d arrived, and she’d told me everyone had an amazing time. Nonna had a little too much to drink that night and had held court with stories about her young adulthood in Greece. Everyone had found it hilarious. And it seemed like Cleo and Darla were officially together, judging by the fact that I could hear Amaya’s friend in the background of the call long after they’d gone to bed.Amaya wasn’t awake yet, and I was glad for that. I still needed a little time to come to terms with the fact that I was actually married to the woman fast asleep in the bed behind me. My rin
AmayaOnce I had changed into something more party-worthy, the reception began, and at last, I could really relax and enjoy myself. Jolene and I spent a good hour dancing together before Kristo cut in to get his hands on me, holding me close and swaying with me as the band played a slow song. He kissed my neck softly, and I felt that burning desire for my husband pick up intensity. I couldn’t wait to get him alone, but we weren’t leaving for our honeymoon to Greece until the next day, so I had a while to wait yet.The food was amazing. There was even baklava, which Nonna had insisted on making herself. It wasn’t quite as good as Kristo’s, but I didn’t say a word of that to her. She would never let me hear the end of it. I ate and drank nonalcoholic cocktails, danced, and watched my guests do the same. I couldn’t believe how perfect this was. Darla and Cleo spent the night basically glued to each other’s sides, and I couldn’t help but coo internally over how cute they were.When I fina
AmayaI couldn’t even put into words how nervous I’d been that entire morning. My mind was taken up with questions about whether everything was going to go right. In my head, I was certain something was going to happen, that Kristo’s dad was going to squirm out of it at the last second and let us down, that the flowers weren’t going to arrive, that the dress wasn’t going to fit, that something was going to throw off this whole perfect day we had put so much time and effort into putting together.Then, I was sitting there in the room they had set up for me to get ready in, and I was staring at myself in the mirror, wearing the dress I had fallen in love with from the moment I’d laid eyes on it the week before. Jolene had picked well. She knew blue was my favorite color, and when I had slipped into the dress, even though it barely fit, I’d known this was the one for me. Sitting in front of the mirror, it was hard to believe this was really me, and this was really happening. How long had
KristoDarla, who had stepped in last-minute as a bridesmaid, followed her a minute later. She was wearing a dress in a delicate mint shade, and I could feel Cleo shift next to me when she emerged from the house.“Easy, tiger,” I murmured to her, and she nudged me playfully and straightened up again. I had a smile on my face, and I was beginning to relax. Then, I saw my bride walking toward me down the aisle, and I could hardly keep the tension out of my body.She looked incredible. No doubt about that. She’d told me she had only really looked at one dress, and I could see why. She looked unbelievable in it. It was cut to just below her knees, a flowing skirt that faded from cream to a pale blue color. The bodice hugged her body perfectly, and she was wearing the sweetest veil that covered her face as she made her way toward me. Even through the fabric, I could see the huge smile on her face, as though she couldn’t believe this was really happening. I knew exactly how she felt.It see
KristoI stared at myself in the mirror, wearing the tuxedo Amaya had picked out for me. I had seen myself in it before, of course, in the hurried fitting earlier in the week, but I felt as though I was looking at myself in it for the very first time. I stared at myself in the mirror for a long moment and pressed my lips together. Why the fuck was I even nervous? I had done this all before with Amaya. And yet, here I was on my wedding day, scared a little bit shitless.There was a knock at the door, and I spun around at once. In my head, I was sure that somehow this was all going to go wrong, that Amaya was going to back out of it before I got her up the aisle, that the speed this had all happened was going to scare her off in the end. Instead, my lawyer entered, and I rolled my eyes.“What is it?” I demanded. He stood there in the door wringing his hands with a panicked look on his face and wearing a slightly rumpled suit.“I just wanted to let you know there’s still time to get a pr
AmayaBefore he could say a word more to me, I leaned forward and took him into my mouth. He tasted so good, even better than normal, the sweetness of the gel lingering on his body. I could taste that hint of vanilla, just a touch, making him taste like the pastry he had spent all day baking. Guiding him as far into my mouth as I could manage, I wrapped my hand around his base and began to stroke him, taking him deep into my mouth and listening to those appreciative little noises he kept on coming out with. I slipped a hand around his thigh, gripping him tightly, letting him know I would have made him come right here and now if he wanted to. I sank my nails into his skin, wanting to leave marks on his body, to remind him who he belonged to and who belonged to him.I wasn’t sure how long I was there on my knees in front of him, the water running over my body and down my back. I could have stayed there all day, but after a while, it became clear he didn’t want to come like that. He want
AmayaWhen I arrived back at the house, I caught the scent of heaven floating through the room at once. I closed my eyes as I stepped through the door, inhaling deeply—cinnamon, sweetness, a little sharpness. Whatever it was, even if it made me sick, I had to have it right there and then.“Hey, where are you guys?” I called into the house, looking around for Jolene or her nurse. She had arrived today, and Kristo had offered to help her settle in, which I was glad for, as I wanted to get as far ahead on my work at the library as I possibly could before the baby came along.“In the kitchen,” Jolene called back, and I crossed the room to the kitchen. All three of them were there, and Kristo was carefully cutting up some pastries that were still in a steaming-hot pan.“We made baklava!” Jolene exclaimed excitedly, pointing to the pan Kristo was maneuvering his knife around.“I can see that.” I inhaled deeply again and smiled my greeting at Pamela. “And what exactly is that?”“It’s a Greek
KristoI took a deep breath, planted my hands on the desk, and tried to center myself. There was no point getting upset about this. At the end of the day, either he was going to make the effort and come to my wedding or he wasn’t, and there was very little I could do to change his mind if he didn’t want to. Short of flying out to Greece and dragging him by his collar back to Nonna’s house to be there for the ceremony, if he wanted to skip it, he would. And I had a feeling he was going to. Amaya wouldn’t want this to be a stressful time for me. She wanted our wedding to be full of joy, peace, happiness, not me yelling into a phone to my father from half a globe away.I focused on the voices outside the room. Well, they weren’t saying anything, but they were laughing, and that was enough to get me feeling a little better. After a slight delay, Jolene’s nurse Pamela had arrived this morning, and the two of them were getting to know each other. I had offered to stay at home that day to wo
Kristo“Malaka,” I muttered to myself, forgetting for a moment that my dad was the one on the other end of the line, and he could well understand I had just called him an—“Did you just call me an asshole?” he snapped at me. I rolled my eyes, tempted to point out that the word didn’t have a specific English translation, but playing the smart-ass was only going to land me in a heap more trouble. As if it wasn’t bad enough as it was.“No,” I lied swiftly. “Look, are you sure you can’t get back sooner than that? You need to be here, Dad. It’s my wedding.”“I know,” he replied tersely. “You think I don’t know that? I’m as annoyed about it as you are.”“Then why won’t you just make the effort and actually come back home?” I pointed out. “This is ridiculous, Dad. Even you must be able to see that.”“I didn’t plan it this way,” he snapped back, but I didn’t believe him. I knew my dad well enough to know he had everything in his life carefully planned out. If he was stuck in Greece right now,