Wedding Party Collection: Here Comes The Groom: The Bridegroom's Vow / The Billionaire Bridegroom

“Tomorrow morning? You see, I was under the impression you needed to convalesce one more day, so I thought this would be the perfect time to visit Soufli and check out preparations. My flight’s just been called.”

“You’re at the airport?” he demanded incredulously.

“Yes. It’s one of those commuter planes we’ve advertised for the trade fair. After it lands in Alexandroupolis, I’ll rent a car to drive the rest of the way. So far everything’s working perfectly. If the car is at the airport waiting for me as I requested, then I don’t foresee any problems for the fair attendees.

“I’ll check each silk exhibition en route. In case there are any glitches, we’ll have time to sort them out tomorrow. I’ll return on the first flight back to Thessalonica in the morning and report straight to your office.”

No boss could ask for more than that from his secretary. She gave a thousand percent all of the time. He had no right to be upset with her. No right at all.

“That’s fine,” he muttered, still trying to recover from the shock of realizing she wasn’t anywhere in the villa. “Keep in touch with me.”

“Yes, of course. I’m sorry, Mr. Pandakis, but I have to board now or they’re going to close the gate. Goodbye.” She clicked off.

Goodbye? Her cheery tone irritated the hell out of him.

If his secretary thought she’d seen the last of him until tomorrow, she had another think coming.

Using his phone once more, he canceled the car, then sent for the helicopter. While it was coming, he made one more call, to a lodge in Dadia requesting two rooms for the night. After that was accomplished, he returned to his bedroom for some additional clothes and his backpack.

One thing he knew about Ms. Hamilton. She would never lie to him, but that didn’t mean she’d gone to Soufli alone. If joining her meant he interrupted something private, then so be it.

Alex walked through the Alexandroupolis terminal to the car rental counter where she’d arranged for transportation.

Everywhere she looked, whether in or outside the terminal, she saw flags and banners advertising the trade fair. It had been the same at the airport in Thessalonica. There was a sense of festivity in the air that seemed to have affected everyone except her.

Two nights of living in close proximity to Dimitrios had created a physical ache for him that wasn’t about to go away. For her own good, she’d wrenched herself from the villa early this morning in order not to see him.

She thought she’d escaped him until she’d heard his deep, familiar voice on the phone at the airport. Now she was in more pain than before. It was absolutely vital she leave her job the second the trade fair was over.

While waiting to board her flight, she’d phoned her mother to let her know she was all right. She’d kept their conversation brief. As for Michael, she’d finally been able to connect with him.

It sounded like he and the guys were having a terrific time. But when he wanted to talk about the costume and Dimitrios, she told him she had to go and would debrief after her return from Soufli.

“Kalimera. My name is Alex Hamilton. I requested a car?” She displayed her passport.

The employee was all smiles. “It’s the black four-door right outside the building at the curb,” he said in beautiful English. “You can’t miss it because it has our company logo on the back window.”

“Thank you.” When nothing else was forthcoming she said, “May I have the key?”

“We have provided you with an English speaking driver.”

“Oh. I had no idea.”

She shouldn’t have been surprised. The Pandakis name insured outstanding service. Dimitrios was a very special man, and no one knew that more than Alex.

There were women he dated who would have fought to be first at his side had they known about the accident, yet he’d insisted on Alex’s attentions. Looking after him all night had bonded her to him in a brand-new way.

But she had to face the fact that if he’d preferred her company for the last two nights, even over that of his own sister-in-law, it was because he’d known he didn’t have to pretend in front of his secretary.

Dimitrios paid her a fantastic salary to do whatever was needed and place no demands on him. She might as well be another man for all the interest he took in her as a woman.

“Enjoy your trip to Soufli.”

The man’s parting comment brought her back from her torturous thoughts. “I’m sure I will.”

With her suitcase in one hand, her briefcase in the other, she made her way out of the busy terminal.

As she approached the lane where a string of cars were idling, she noticed there were quite a few black ones mixed in with the others. Not certain which of them was hers, she started down the queue searching for the rental agency’s logo.

“Alexandra?” came a vibrant male voice from behind her.

She spun around in surprise to hear her name, then almost fainted to discover who it was.

“Dimitrios—”

Alex had been thinking so hard about him, the word slipped out before she realized she’d said it. He was wearing sunglasses, a rare sight, but after his accident she assumed his eyes were still sensitive to the light.

“It’s nice to hear you say my name,” he drawled.

Suddenly she was out of breath. “I—I don’t know what you mean.”

His white smile dazzled her. “It’s one thing to be formal in front of other people, but it’s long past the time we functioned on a first name basis in private. Don’t you agree?”

He took the cases from her hands and put them in the back seat of the car. While she watched, it dawned on her he was really here. To make things even more difficult for her, he was such an attractive Greek male, she couldn’t look anywhere else.

The sage-colored summer suit with a white, open-necked silk shirt brought out the blackness of his hair and olive-toned skin. She had the overwhelming urge to hold him as she’d done on the plane when she’d cradled his head and shoulders in her lap.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming while we were on the phone?” This wasn’t the way this day was supposed to go, yet she was so thrilled to see him, she could hardly stand it.

“It was a last-minute decision. Rather than work at my office alone, I thought it might be more fun to join you while we both test the system for flaws.” He opened the passenger door for her.

Fun?

Alex didn’t know what to think. He’d teased her before, but never to this extent.

Averting her eyes, she climbed in the front seat. After he’d shut the door and had gone around to the driver’s seat she asked, “Should you have flown anywhere this soon after your accident?”

He turned the key in the ignition, revving the engine. “Do I detect a note of pique in my secretary? I promise I won’t bother you while we make our inspection.”

“That isn’t why I asked the question,” she said in a quiet voice. “I realize that without a command of your language, you were probably concerned I couldn’t do this by myself. I just hope you won’t suffer a relapse.”

They pulled away from the curb and followed the exit signs. “If you’re worried you’ll have to nurse me halfway through the day, I promise I’m feeling fine.”

“That’s reassuring, especially when it’s so close to the opening of the fair.”

He didn’t respond to her comment. Instead, he drove the car with the same expertise he did everything else. Before long they’d left the airport and were headed for Soufli, which according to her map was sixty-five kilometers away.

She sent him a furtive glance. It was still hard to believe he’d come all this distance when there were other things that needed his attention at his office.