Oh.
Mairi’s heart contracted at the look in Damen Leventis’ eyes. He cared about his sister. Whatever had made Diana insecure, it wasn’t because of Damen. It was clear that he loved his sister and that he didn’t care if the whole world knew it.
When he looked back at Mairi, she gave him a sunny smile. All she could think about was at least Diana had someone in her corner when she was at home. Even if Diana’s mother did turn out to be as bad as the young girl had let on, at least she had her brother.
We have to talk about her issues later, Mairi thought, momentarily forgetting all about the sexual tension between her and Damen as her mind focused on Diana. Her brother had to be informed about---
“Ms. Yay?”
Oh drat! She had zoned out in the middle of their conversation. “I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I was thinking about your brother---”
Diana’s eyes widened.
Mairi let out a silent gasp of horror when she realized how her words could be misunderstood.
Without missing a beat, Damen murmured, “I’m immensely flattered---”
“It’s not like you think!” Mairi could feel herself reddening even more as Damen Leventis’ gaze settled back on her. “I was thinking about Diana and her excellent progress in school and how I could best sum everything up.”
The sincerity in the woman’s voice gave him pause. She really did care about his sister, Damen realized with surprise. And that, he thought, could be a…complication. She had all the makings of becoming the diversion Damen needed after the nasty falling-out he had with his ex-mistress.
But once he tired of her – and Damen knew he would tire of her eventually - would ending their arrangement affect Damen’s relationship with his sister?
He glanced at his sister. “Why do you call her Ms. Yay?” He asked the question lightly, not wanting both women to know he was using it to gauge how close the two of them were to each other.
“Well…” Diana’s gaze was impish as she sought Mairi’s.
Mairi slowly ran a finger horizontally across her neck as Diana spoke, hinting of the girl’s impending doom and likely murder if she continued this story.
Damen Leventis’ gaze suddenly swung back towards Mairi and she quickly let her arms fall to her sides. Then she looked at him innocently.
His lips thinned, but amusement shone in his gaze.
Oh drat! He was doing his best not to laugh at her! Worse, he had probably seen Mairi threaten his sister’s life. Drat, drat, drat. Should she be grateful the man wasn’t reporting her to Social Services at this point?
“I think it’s better if Ms. Ya---I mean Ms. Tanner tell you about it instead,” Diana finally answered with impressive diplomacy. “Anyway, her real name is Mairi Tanner, Damen. And Ms. Tanner, I’m so pleased that you can finally meet my brother Damen Leventis.”
A smile curving on his lips briefly melted the cold perfection of his face. A jolt of awareness shot through Mairi’s body, reminding her explicitly that while this man had the polished perfection of a sculpture, he was anything but inanimate. Damen Leventis was one live hot-blooded male, and just the way he looked at Mairi was more than enough to make her feel like hyperventilating.
Mairi offered her hand per the headmistress’ dos and don’ts – never let the rich patrons offer their hands first.
Damen took it, savoring the softness, letting his fingers drift on the back of her hand in a caress.
Mairi gasped at the intimacy of the man’s touch and immediately snatched her hand away.#p#分页标题#e#
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Tanner,” Damen purred, and his words served to disconcert her even more, exactly the way he planned. He liked seeing how he affected Diana’s deliciously curvy teacher. The way she blushed and gazed at him with shy fascination was too fucking sexy by half, and it made his cock swell under his pants.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, sir.” Mairi’s voice sounded even more strained to her ears this time, with her senses all in a riot. She struggled to keep calm, telling herself that she wasn’t 100% sure yet that Damen Leventis really was the one she was meant to fall in love with. For all she knew, all this was simply the typical knee-jerk reaction a woman had when meeting her first Greek billionaire.
Damen was talking again. “---so I apologize if I accidentally eavesdropped on your conversation earlier.”
When he paused as if waiting for her to answer, Mairi could only smile weakly, her mind still scrambling to recall exactly what she had said earlier. The words ‘Greek god’ had occurred to her several times at the sight of him, but she hadn’t mentioned that out loud --- right?