that Stassis, a Greek entrepreneur, had proposed to him. Even though he’d been working with his father almost 24/7 to close a deal for a prime strip of land in Orange County, he’d found time for the Stassis proposal. It involved Oliver Enterprises and Stassis Ltd. acquiring a stake in a select number of small independently operated Greek hotels. They would help them modernize and then share in a percentage of the profits. Within five years, they hoped to own a string of small exclusive hotels throughout the Greek Islands.
If he and Stassis could come to terms, this would be the first time that Oliver Enterprises would be operating outside of the United States. Roman’s goal had been to take the company global for some time, and the project had been his baby. He didn’t just want to run the company his father had founded, he wanted to expand it.
He’d been excited about the project with Gianni Stassis, confident of its success, and now, when it was close to coming together, he couldn’t seem to drum up the same level of enthusiasm he’d had before.
Roman picked up a paperweight, tossed it into the air and caught it. Letting out a frustrated breath, he stifled the urge to throw it at the wall. It wasn’t his damn fall that was to blame for his current situation. It was Philly Angelis.
A month had passed and he couldn’t get her words out of his mind. What had possessed her to walk into his hospital room that day and tell him that she wanted to make love with him?
Before that, he’d been able to convince himself that she was too young, that having her was out of the question. Before she’d spoken those words, he’d been able to find happiness and total satisfaction in his work. He glanced around his office. For as long as he could remember, this was where he’d wanted to be. Now he was restless, having trouble focusing, and nothing he’d tried so far had seemed to help.
His gaze shifted involuntarily to the group of photos he had on his desk. There were various shots of his family and the Angelis family. He’d removed the one snapshot he’d always had there of Philly. Out of sight, out of mind had been his thought.
That hadn’t worked. Staying away from her family’s restaurant hadn’t worked, either. Except for the celebration that Spiro and Helena had thrown when they’d returned from their honeymoon, he hadn’t been to the Poseidon. Philly frequently filled in as hostess, and there was no telling when she might be there. Dammit, he missed it—the laughter, the music, the opportunity to hang out with Kit and his brothers.
Be honest. You miss the chance of running into Philly, too.
It wasn’t as though he could hang out with his sisters, either. Sadie was spending her days with Theo Angelis, and Juliana spent as much time as she could with her fiancé, Paulo Carlucci. Roman went home each night to an empty apartment and tried to bury himself in work that he couldn’t find the same satisfaction in that he did before.
He’d even thought of calling another woman. Though he’d never dated anyone seriously, there were several women who would be more than willing to share drinks or dinner followed by some satisfying and uncomplicated sex. The problem was that he couldn’t work up the enthusiasm for that, either.
The bigger problem was that he couldn’t get Philly’s proposition out of his mind. Nor could he get rid of the image of her standing there—those wide brown eyes, that dark hair. It had curled when she was younger, but now she wore it in one of those sleek, chin-length cuts that made a man want to run his hands through it. There was a passion in her that lurked so near the surface, threatening at any moment to break through. What man in his right mind wouldn’t want to be there when it finally did?
Roman glanced at the paperweight again and gave serious thought to throwing it. Or perhaps the better solution to his frustration was to simply take Philly up on her offer. Maybe if he made love to her once, he could get her out of his system. He’d almost convinced himself that that was a reasonable alternative—perhaps the only one—when there was a knock on his door, and Kit Angelis strolled in.
“Long time, no see.”
Roman watched Kit settle himself in a chair and felt like the worst kind of heel. They had been fast friends ever since Kit had also strolled into their dorm room that first day of college. And a month ago, when he’d taken that fall at Saint Peter’s Church and had also fallen under suspicion of murder and kidnapping, Kit and his brothers had worked nonstop to clear his name and protect his family. He owed Kit. He owed Nik and Theo too. And having a one-night stand with their little sister was no way to repay what he owed.
“Nik and Theo and I were thinking that you might have had a relapse, but you look fit enough to me.”
“I am.” Roman willed himself to relax. Kit couldn’t possibly know just what he’d been thinking. “I’ve just been busy.”
“Good. But just the same, I’m here on a search-and-rescue mission. My brothers and I are planning a fishing weekend—men only—at my grandfather’s fishing cabin. We may even talk Dad into joining us. Interested?”
Roman smiled. “Absolutely.” It might be just the ticket to get him back on track. It certainly appealed more than spending the weekend at the office or in his empty apartment. “How are you getting away from your women?” Each of the Angelis brothers now had a special woman in their lives, and from the looks of it, a permanent one. They’d all met their significant others during the weekend when they’d literally saved his family.
“Easy.” Kit shot him a grin. “They have a wedding to shop for. J.C. and Nik are tying the knot on Thanksgiving weekend. According to Drew, that doesn’t give them nearly enough time to register for gifts and decide on flowers.”
It had been so long since he’d dropped in at the Poseidon that Roman hadn’t given much thought to Nik’s upcoming wedding. He didn’t suppose it would be long before Kit would give Drew a ring. And Theo and his sister Sadie would probably follow their lead. He’d never in his life seen men fall so hard and fast as the Angelis men had and all in the space of one weekend.
“When Philly heard about the girls-only shopping weekend, she nearly postponed her trip.”
Every muscle in Roman’s body tightened. “Her trip?”
Kit pointed a finger at him. “See? You really are out of touch. Philly’s going to Greece.”
Roman frowned. “Why?”
“That’s what we all asked her.” Chuckling, Kit leaned back in his chair. “You know the story about how my mom and dad and my aunt Cass and uncle Demetrius met on a beach in Greece and fell in love at first sight?”
Roman nodded. The story had become a sort of legend in the Angelis family. Spiro and Demetrius had left Greece and followed Cass and Penelope back to San Francisco.
“My dad met Helena in Greece, too.”
He’d met her at the five-star restaurant where she’d been the head chef, Roman recalled. Spiro Angelis had persuaded her to come back by promising to open a similar restaurant on the top floor of the more casual Poseidon.
“So Philly has this idea that it’s high time she followed in the family tradition. She’s cut her hair, splurged on a new wardrobe, and she’s off to Greece to find her true love.”
“That’s crazy!” Roman quickly rose to his feet. “Aren’t you going to stop her?”
Kit shot him a quizzical look. “Trying to stop Philly once she’s made up her mind is a bit like trying to stop a runaway train. But you can relax. Aunt Cass has the situation under control. She’s arranged for Philly to stay at a small hotel on Corfu that’s run by my dad’s cousin Miranda Kostas. Philly will be perfectly safe. Helena says that Miranda is a very traditional Greek woman. Her own marriage was even arranged. She’s not likely to let Philly stray too far to the wild side.”
Right, Roman thought as he sat down in his chair. He was overreacting. But in his mind he saw Philly walking up to some handsome Greek and saying, “I want to make love with you.”
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