Aegean Intrigue Read Online Free PDF Page B

depended on someone else, or he went out. Alex didn’t seem to be helpless in any situation, but most of the men in this country had definite ideas about division of labor between the sexes.
    â€œFrancie?”
    She turned to him. “Yes?”
    â€œAre you planning to do anything with that knife?”
    She looked down. Her right hand was wrapped around the handle of a large chopping knife, but nothing was on the block in front of her. She’d been caught daydreaming. Her mother had often said, “You and your father both get so caught up in your other worlds, I might as well be living alone.” And then she would leave. Again.
    Francie blinked, bringing herself back to the present. “Sorry, I was somewhere else.”
    â€œWherever you were, I hope it was a pleasant place. I’d hate to see you wield that knife when you’re angry.” He went back to tending his grill.
    Francie stared at him a moment. There had been no censure in his voice, only mild teasing. Her father, though he often “disappeared” in his own thoughts for hours at a time, would not tolerate the same behavior from his daughter. Leandros hadn’t either. He had expected her total attention and devotion when they’d been together.
    Now, she opened the cooler and found the produce. Dimitri had made arrangements with a local farmer for the food. The tomatoes and cucumbers nearly burst with freshness. Fresh feta cheese came from another local farm. They would have a nice Greek salad to go with Alex’s main dish.
    Francie washed the vegetables then cut into a ripe tomato. The juice from the fruit sprayed up into her eyes, and she instinctively backed away from the counter. She connected solidly with Alex, who had headed toward the sink to wash his hands. He reached out to steady her, and her temperature rose.
    â€œAre you all right?”
    Close together like this, his breath tickled her ear.
    She answered with a nod and shivered at the loss of heat as he backed away. They completed the meal preparations in companionable silence, though she couldn't stop herself from glancing at Alex every so often. Though she knew Greek men who cooked, none stirred her senses like this one.
    Since Josh checked in on them every ten minutes, they didn’t have to notify the others when dinner was ready. The minute Alex pronounced the spetzofai done, the entire crew gathered at the dining area where the tables had already been set up. Everyone ate heartily. When thanks and congratulations came her way, she gave the credit to Alex, who simply waved away the praise and insisted Francie was the real cook.
    His modesty was another surprise. In her life, Greek men did not hesitate to take credit for any good thing, whether it was their doing or not. After her parents' divorce, Francie had split her school vacations between Athens, with her father’s family, and Montreal, the home of her maternal grandparents. Grand-pere treated Grand-mere as an equal, with respect and love. By contrast, her Greek uncles dominated their wives, expecting total compliance to their wishes. Since Alex was also half Greek, would he take after his father, or did his American mother teach him to be more sensitive to a woman’s personal and professional needs? Surely there had been—or was—a woman in his life. How did he treat her? The thought of him with someone else brought an ache to her heart, and she forced herself to ignore it. She wouldn’t go down that road again. She couldn’t survive the pain.
    ****
    Alex held up his paper cup of wine. “I propose a toast to a successful culinary partnership.”
    Francie lifted her own cup and touched it lightly to his. “It was delicious, wasn't it?”
    The setting is wrong , he thought. He and Francie should be seated at a linen-covered table in a quiet, elegant restaurant. The cups they held should be crystal wine goblets, and they should be surrounded by the soft