Mairi’s Greek billionaire husband laughed, and when his wife pulled away, he bent his head and gave her a passionate, open-mouthed kiss.
The three friends immediately looked away, flustered, fanning themselves. And then they looked at each other—-
Fredericka said it all for them. “Some girls have all the luck.” Her tone was glum. She was turning thirty-one, and she was still a virgin.
Alyx shrugged, saying cynically, “Maybe not all of us are meant to be married.” She gestured to one of the student staff, and a young guy quickly came forward, doing his best not to gape at the length of legs that Alyx’s mini displayed. “Y-yes, ma’am?”
Pretending she didn’t notice the blatant admiration in his gaze, Alyx took the menu from his hands, saying briskly, “We’d like to order.” Her gaze quickly scanned the items. “A vanilla frappe for me, please.”
She passed the menu to her cousin, but Fredericka being Fredericka, she already knew what she wanted, saying, “Lavender tea, please.”
“We, umm, don’t have tea,” the waiter said, flushing.
“Then a glass of lemonade.” She passed the menu to Anneke.
“Ice cold café Valencia,” the 31-year-old heiress murmured after a moment. “That would be all.”
As the waiter left, Alyx said slyly to Anneke, “I can’t help noticing your choice of drink is very Italian.”
Fredericka coughed to cover her amusement.
Anneke said stiffly, “It’s just a coincidence.”
“Oh, suuuure.” Smirking, Alyx turned to the side, crossing of her legs—-
And in the process she accidentally ended up kicking someone.
Someone grunted in pain, and Alyx looked up, an embarrassed apology already about to slip past her lips—-
Gray eyes collided with hers.
And Alyx found herself staring up at the most impossibly ethereal-looking man.
The man’s lips suddenly twitched. “It’s a good thing your eyes are quite eloquent.” His voice possessed the slightest accent, and Alyx had heard it often enough from her friend’s tycoon husband that she recognized it instantly.
Greek!
The realization made her hackles rise, and she thought, Hell, no.
“Apology accepted,” the man said courteously.
She bared her teeth in a sweet smile. “Who said I was thinking of saying sorry?” And then she turned away, deliberately snubbing him.
Alyx heard the man chuckle.
A moment later, and she froze, the man having bent down, his mouth nearly brushing her ear as he whispered, “My name is Nathan Callis. It’s nice to meet you, Alyx.”
Oooooooh!
She felt the man slowly straighten away.
Everything in Alyx told her to look back.
Everything in her wanted to demand, how did he know her name?
Conscious of the way Anneke and Fredericka were staring at her in complete fascination, Alyx stared straight back at them, forcing herself to smile brightly as she asked, “So, what were we talking about again?”
Fredericka cleared her throat. “Don’t get mad, okay?”
Alyx’s gaze narrowed. “Freddie?” She knew that tone of her voice.
The state’s number one hotshot attorney cringed. “The reason I also asked for us to meet here was because…” Fredericka gulped. “I set you up in a blind date – well, it’s not blind anymore—-”
Alyx growled, “FREDDIE—-”
—with…that…guy?”
“Oh my God, Freddie!”
“I just thought you guys would click,” Fredericka protested. “He’s so calm, Alyx, he’s the opposite of you, and have you heard about how opposites attract—-”
Anneke had an absent-minded expression on her face. “Is that the same Nathan Callis who used to be a supermodel?”
Alyx gagged. “A supermodel?” She glared at her cousin. “Really, Freddie? You think I’m the kind who’d date a supermodel?” She gagged again.
“Stop being so judgmental,” Fredericka said reproachfully. Turning to Anneke, she said, “Yes, it’s that same Nathan Callis.”
“Oh.” Anneke cleared her throat. “Then…that means he’s about three years younger than Alyx?”
Alyx was moaning in horror now. “He’s not just a supermodel, but a younger one, too?”
“You can be sued for discrimination with that attitude of yours,” Fredericka lectured.
Alyx scowled. “I don’t care. I’m never going to date a supermodel, and certainly not someone who’s younger.”
Anneke flushed.
Seeing the Dutch heiress’ expression, Alyx mentally swore at her tactlessness and said hurriedly, “Your case doesn’t count, Anneke. Marcus Ravelli’s just a year younger anyway.”
It was Anneke’s turn to force a smile. “Yes, well.” She shrugged. “Age’s not the reason I’ve filed for divorce anyway.”
Alyx noticed her cousin suddenly looking guilty again.
Fredericka cleared her throat. “About that—-” Although divorces weren’t her specialty, she had agreed to represent Anneke in the proceedings. Initially, it didn’t seem that big a deal, but now she realized she should have said no. Because now, she was privy to things she wished she didn’t know – things which she had no choice but to tell her friend about, even if they were sure to hurt Anneke.
But before Fredericka could say another word, her phone rang, and she had to excuse herself when she realized who was calling.
Standing up, Fredericka walked away from the two women, needing to make sure that her conversation wouldn’t be accidentally overheard. It wasn’t that she had anything to hide, but she really hated it when Alyx and Anneke ribbed her about Sergei Grachyov. Yes, sure, he was possibly the hottest looking guy on her phone book, but still.