Stay With Me

  “Jesus, dude. You’ve got it bad. Must be that luck of the Irish thing.”

  With a light chuckle, I shook my head. “None of that matters to me.”

  “So go after her. What’s the problem?”

  Looking at my older brother, I frowned. I’d always been close to both my brothers. They may act like jerks sometimes, but they had hearts of gold. “She thinks I’m in love with Savannah and that she’ll always be second best to that.”

  “Is she right?”

  The guilt was still there, but it was slowly slipping away day by day. “No. It’s the opposite. When I was with Kilyn, she brought out emotions I’d never felt before. My body craved her in a way I’d never experienced before.”

  Nicholaus nodded his head. “Not even with Savannah?”

  “Nope, not even with her. Hell, I even found myself saying things to Kilyn in Greek. I never once uttered a word to Savannah in Greek.”

  Nicholaus chuckled. “Damn, dude, that was the first thing I discovered with women. You speak to them in another language and those panties are falling to the floor.”

  I wasn’t going to argue with him on that. By the look in Kilyn’s eyes, I knew it turned her on even more.

  “So, what are you going to do?”

  With a shrug, I looked back out as I grabbed the gun. “At first I thought I would give her time. But yesterday I found out she left the gym we both worked out at and her business partner and best friend let it slip that she was also moving. She’s doing whatever she can to put distance between us.”

  “That sucks, dude.”

  It did suck. But I knew in my heart Kilyn was the one. I felt it deep in my soul. “I don’t want to rush with this. I need her to know that I’m one hundred and ten percent committed to her and that Savannah is my past.” With a slight smile, I nodded my head. I was going to fight for her. Fight with everything I had in me. “My future only belongs to Kilyn.”

  My brother stared at me for the longest time before he scrunched his face up. “What the fuck dude . . . when did you turn into a pussy?”

  With a chuckle, I pushed him on the arm. “Fuck off, asshole. You’re jealous because I have not only the good looks but the words for the ladies.”

  “Please. I’ve gotten more pussy in the last year than you have in your lifetime.”

  Narrowing my eyes, I asked, “And that makes you happy?”

  “It certainly makes my dick happy. Who wants to argue with a happy dick?”

  “Uh . . . your unhappy heart?”

  Lifting his gun, he aimed and smiled. “At least I’m not the one who has to tell Mom you’re in love with an Irish girl.”

  When he fired the rifle, I turned and watched the elk drop right on the spot. I wasn’t sure how in the hell that thing didn’t hear us talking . . . or maybe it did and couldn’t of cared less.

  Glancing my way, he flashed me a smile and winked. “Looks like it was my lucky day.”

  “How do you like everything?” Claire asked as she stood in my kitchen with Blake.

  I glanced around my finished cabin. Everything was perfect and, in some small way it, felt like a piece of Kilyn was in every room.

  “It looks great. Is um, is Kilyn not going to be here today?”

  Claire looked away. “Um. Normally she would be here but—”

  The doorbell rang and Claire breathed a sigh of relief as I made my way over to answer it. When I opened it and saw her, my heart skipped a beat and my stomach dipped.

  “Kilyn.”

  With a forced smile, she stood a bit taller. “I’m sorry I was late. I wasn’t sure I would be able to make it.”

  Feeling like an idiot for standing there, I opened the door wider and motioned for her to come in. After a moment of hesitating, she walked in. She quickly smiled from ear to ear as she took in the finished cabin.

  “Claire and Blake are in the kitchen,” I said.

  I followed her as she walked around the corner and into the kitchen. When she gasped, I smiled. Claire had made the off comment that the kitchen was exactly like the one Kilyn had wanted for her own house someday. I knew then that Kilyn had put more into this design than she would ever admit.

  “It’s beautiful. Blake, your guys did a great job as usual.”

  Blake grinned. “Well, they had a good plan to work off of. Are the colors what you envisioned? I know sometimes they can look different once they’re up and in the house.

  Kilyn shook her head. “No, they’re perfect. Exactly how I imagined it.”

  After quickly touring each room, Kilyn walked back into the kitchen with a satisfied smile. “Everything looks perfect.”

  Turning to me, she asked, “Are you happy with everything, Thano?”

  I wanted desperately to say no, I wouldn’t be happy until she was in my arms.

  “Totally. Everything looks amazing.”

  Pussy.

  The front door flew open and instantly I felt my chest tighten when I heard my mother’s voice. She rushed into the kitchen followed by my grandmother, Aunt Maria, Sophia, and finally my father.

  Turning to look at Kilyn, I pinched my eyebrows together in confusion when I saw the horrified look on both her face and Claire’s.

  My mother came to a stop and looked directly at Kilyn.

  It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Oh, and maybe my heart about to pound right the fuck out of my chest.

  “Kilyn! Claire! Come . . . come, come and give me a hug.”

  My jaw dropped to the ground as I watched my mother engulf both girls in a hug.

  “You look beautiful, Kilyn.” Turning to my grandmother, she asked, “Doesn’t she look beautiful, Yiayia.”

  Oh, no. No. No. No.

  My grandmother walked up and spit on Kilyn, causing her to let out a small yelp and jump back.

  “Did she just spit on her?” Blake asked in a whispered voice from behind.

  Slowly nodding my head, I replied, “Not really. They make the sound of spitting.”

  “Tell me that’s a Greek thing, dude, or I’m not sure how I feel about your family’s treatment toward Kilyn.”

  I couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. “Totally a Greek thing.”

  Blake chuckled and said, “Priceless. Look at their faces. Kilyn looks like she’s afraid to move.”

  My mother held onto Kilyn as she asked, “So, are you practicing on that dish?”

  Dish?

  Kilyn risked peeking over to me before her eyes snapped back over to my mother. “Um . . . I am, actually.”

  “Ah . . . see, even the Irish are smart when they want to be. You drink too much, but you can be smart.”

  What in the fuck?

  “Mama, um, how . . . do you know . . . wait . . . what’s going on? What dish are you talking about?”

  My mother waved me off with her hands. “I want to taste your honey cake when you have it perfected. Now, I want to see this house Kilyn decorated for you, Athanasios. Show your family around.”

  Oh, dear God. My mother sought out Kilyn. Why? Was she forcing Kilyn to cook Greek food? I knew I should not have mentioned her to my mother. She used her evil ways to track her down.

  “Athanasios? Are you going to stand there like a bump on a log or are you going to show me the house?”

  “You’ve seen it,” I mumbled.

  Narrowing her eyes, my mother took a step closer to me as my father cleared his throat.

  “Here we go,” he said under his breath.

  “Is that how you’re going to treat your Mitera after I climbed the mountain to see your little project?”

  My face constricted. “Climbed? You drove up here with Dad.”

  “And what about your Yiayia? She’ll die before she ever gets back up here again.”

  My grandmother nodded her head. “I will. Who is hungry? I have some pita bread in my bag.”

  Everyone turned and looked at her as she pulled out the bread.

  Blake lifted his hand, “Oh! I’ll have some.
I love pita bread.”

  Yiayia smiled and handed the bread to Blake as Claire stared at him with a look of pure shock.

  Pushing my hand through my hair, I let out a frustrated moan.

  “Katerina, let me show you around since I know all the colors and everything.” Kilyn said with a smile.

  My mother grinned as my grandmother walked up to Kilyn. “I want to see the master bedroom where the babies will be made.” Turning to me she narrowed her eyes. “That is, if I live that long at the rate Athanasios is going.”

  Kilyn looked at me and I saw the sadness in her eyes.

  Once they walked off, I turned to my father. “Dad, why do you just stand there and let her talk?”

  He looked at me like I had grown two heads. “Athanasios, let me tell you something about women. Both of you come closer to me,” he said motioning for both Blake and me to get closer.

  “You pick your battles. This was one I wasn’t ready to fight because trust me, by the end of the day she’ll give me at least ten other reasons to argue with her.”

  My shoulders slumped over and I dropped my head. “Dear Lord in heaven, please help me,” I whispered. Looking back up at my father, I asked the one thing I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer to.

  “How does she know Kilyn?”

  Letting out a roar of laughter, my father sat down on one of the stools at the kitchen island. “You come home one day and tell your mother you’re falling in love with a girl and her name is Kilyn. Oh, and by the way she’s not Greek and she is designing my house. You practically threw the girl into the lion’s den with your own hands. You mentioned meeting her at the Onion Creek place. Your mother is smart. She did some research.”

  “Oh, no.”

  With a smirk, he replied. “It was the whole lot of them. Your mother, Aunt Maria, your other Aunt Maria, your Aunt Agnes, Sophia, your cousin Sophia, and I believe your cousins Angie and Maria were there.”

  Blake turned and looked at me. “Do Greeks believe in recycling names or something?”

  With a stony expression, I stared at Blake as he replied, “What? It is a legitimate question!”

  Putting my attention back on my father, I asked, “Did Mom say or do anything to let Kilyn know she was my mother?”

  “That you would have to ask your mother, but if I had to put money on it I’d say she did.”

  “Fuck!”

  “I’ll wash that fucking mouth of yours out with soap young man if you curse like that again.”

  Blake laughed. “But you said—”

  Holding up my hand, I cast a warning to Blake. “Don’t. Just leave it.”

  Hearing my mother’s voice grow closer, I said a silent prayer she hadn’t messed things up even more with Kilyn.

  They walked up and my eyes bounced around looking for Kilyn.

  My mother walked up to me and kissed me on both cheeks. “Kilyn slipped out the side door. Said she had to get back into town to meet with another client. Very nice, your Irish girl. Very smart with the colors too.”

  I was positive my mother saw the look of pure disappointment on my face.

  “Yeah. She is.”

  Blake and Claire were the next to excuse themselves. This was it. I had no other excuse to have Kilyn here. I had her right in my reach and I let her slip away.

  Again.

  THE DOOR TO my office flew open as I let out a scream and slammed the book I was reading shut.

  “Whatcha reading?”

  Glaring at Claire, I shook my head. “Did you forget how to knock?”

  With a smirk, she sat down and propped her feet up on my desk. “You didn’t answer me.”

  I leaned back in my chair and inspected her carefully. She was up to something. “Well, you didn’t answer me either.”

  “Nope, I asked first.”

  Letting out an exasperated sigh, I sat up. “For Christ’s sake, Claire, what do you want?”

  “I want to know what you’re reading and then I want to know why you felt like you had to sneak out of Thano’s house yesterday. You left me with Katerina and . . . what was her name? Yeeyaw? Heehaw? Shit, it was something like that.”

  With a shocked laugh, I asked, “Are you serious? Why did I sneak out? The whole tour his grandmother kept mentioning Thano having babies. His mother must have mentioned a dozen times about me being Irish and not to mention she knew who I was when she came to the cooking class, Claire! Do you understand that? She came to check out who the evil leprechaun was going after her precious Greek god son!”

  Claire sat there with a screwed up face. “Did you just call yourself a leprechaun?”

  Adjusting in my seat, I looked out the window. “It was the first thing that came to my mind.”

  When she busted out laughing, I couldn’t help but do the same.

  We laughed so hard we had tears running down our cheeks. Every time I tried to say something, I laughed harder.

  “I’m. Going. To. Pee. My. Pants!” Claire gasped.

  The light knock on the door had us both looking up. I jumped up with a start, causing Claire to lose her balance and fall out of the chair.

  The guy standing on the other side of my office was drop dead gorgeous. Not as gorgeous as Thano, but he was for sure easy on the eyes.

  “Excuse me, Ms. O’Kelly?”

  “Yes,” Claire and I said at once. I quickly shot a look over to Claire who let out a nervous chuckle.

  “Sorry. She’s Ms. O’Kelly and I’m totally going to excuse myself.”

  The guy flashed a smile and a dimple on each cheek appeared. Claire turned to me and dropped her mouth open as she mouthed. Holy shit!

  Walking around my desk, I met him half way as he entered my office.

  “I’m Kilyn O’Kelly. May I help you?”

  “Dale Conner.”

  Hmm, even his name was dreamy. Then it hit me. “Oh my God. Mr. Conner’s son! I’m so sorry, Mr. Conner. I totally forgot we had that shopping trip booked. When your father called me yesterday to say you were stepping in, it totally slipped my mind. Please forgive me.”

  It was then I noticed he was still holding onto my hand. Lifting it to his lips, he smiled as he kissed the back of my hand. “Trust me, Ms. O’Kelly, you have nothing to apologize for. The fact is, I was dreading this afternoon until I realized that I get to spend an afternoon with the most beautiful woman in Colorado.”

  My face heated as he looked at me with hungry eyes. Maybe this was what I needed to put a little more distance between Thano and me.

  “Why, Mr. Conner, flattery will get you everywhere.”

  He lifted his eyebrows and softly replied, “Let’s hope.”

  Swallowing hard, I tried to remember this was a client and this stupid flirting was bound to get me into trouble. Especially since deep down inside I knew I didn’t want to do what he clearly wanted to do.

  It was time to ease up on the flirting and kick it more into professional mode.

  “Well,” I said releasing a breath and smiling. “Let’s concentrate on picking out some fabric swatches and paint colors.”

  “Then afterwards, dinner?”

  Pressing my lips tightly together, I forced a smile. “Let’s just get through the afternoon shall we?”

  The next three hours had me laughing for the first time in almost a month. Dale was not only handsome, but funny as well. We had a ton in common and it turned out he was an art major and worked for an art gallery in Denver. He even loved the opera.

  “So what made you interested in art?” I asked as we strolled through Acacia Park.

  With a wide grin, he replied, “Probably my mother. She loves anything to do with art. She’s a painter, and I remember sitting when I was little and watching her paint. I thought it was the coolest thing ever to watch her take a white canvas and add the most beautiful things to it. Flowers are her favorite thing to paint.”

  “I love painting, but I’m afraid I’m not that good at it. Now give me a room to draw out and I can do that no
problem!”

  Dale laughed. “Have you always wanted to be a designer?”

  I may have been enjoying myself, but I was not opening up with Dale like I had Thano. “Yep. Pretty much. I’m a tad bit boring.”

  “So, how about dinner?”

  Searching desperately for my body to tell me I was attracted to Dale, I chewed on my lip. A part of me was screaming to just go have dinner and enjoy the company of a good-looking man. The other part of me was screaming out Thano’s name.

  “Where did you have in mind?”

  His eyes lit up, but I held up my hand. “Strictly business. That’s it.”

  He pretended to pout but nodded his head. “For now. We’ll see if I can change your mind by the end of dinner.”

  I instantly didn’t like the over confident and smug way he thought he was going to get me to change my mind.

  He called for a taxi and held the door open for me. The next thing I knew we were pulling up to the Blue Star. It was a tapas bar I’d been to a number of times. The moment we walked in, something in the air changed. Goose bumps raced over my body and I swore someone was watching me.

  Dale motioned for me to follow the waitress. When he placed his hand on my lower back, I quickly picked up my pace so his hand fell away.

  My gaze bounced around the bar. I couldn’t shake the feeling someone’s eyes were on me.

  I took a seat and set my purse on the chair next to me.

  “Would you like to pick out the wine, Kilyn?”

  Still looking around, I completely ignored Dale.

  “Kilyn? Are you even with me?”

  Snapping my eyes back to him, I grinned and said, “I’m sorry. I had the strangest feeling someone was watching me.”

  Dale looked around and then put his attention back on me. “That’s because the most beautiful girl in the room walked in. All eyes were on you.”

  There went my cheeks heating up again. “Anyway, what were you asking?”

  “Wine?”

  “Please, you pick,” I responded as I reached for my purse and took out my phone. I sent a quick text to Claire to let her know I was having dinner with Dale. When she didn’t answer right away, I pulled up my email. When there was nothing there from Thano, I cursed myself for hoping there would be.