Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter
Twenty-Two
Dani
Once Theo gave her the thumbs-up and she’d needlessly waved back, Dani stripped off her clothes and climbed into the tub. She wanted to be ready and waiting by the time he returned.
She closed her eyes as she settled into the bath, releasing all the tension and burdens from the last few days. There may still have been danger lurking, but at least they were no longer directly under Pierre’s watch.
The warm water enveloped her body, soothing her soul.
What a trip. Dani couldn’t say her first time out of the country was the best experience, but if she’d been given the choice to do it all again with option A being that things would happen exactly as they had—with Vautour, the kidnapping, and all—and option B being what she’d originally planned—a group tour of all the sites with nothing eventful—she’d choose option A every time.
She’d choose Theo.
Speaking of…
Dani opened her eyes and sat up. Where was he?
“Theo? Are you out there?” she called out.
Silence.
What was taking him so long?
She had no concept of time or knowing how long she’d been waiting, but based on the pruning of her fingers and the now-lukewarm temperature of the water, it had to have been a while.
They’d planned that he’d come right back and join her, hadn’t they?
Oh, whatever. He’d be back soon.
She leaned back and let her hands dance along the surface of the water, keeping her mind occupied as she waited. But another five or so minutes passed and still no Theo.
Maybe he’d come back and fallen asleep? He had seemed really tired.
Her pruney fingers couldn’t take much more, so she got out of the tub and dried off, then grabbed a set of white linen pajamas from a shelf.
The man who’d shown them to their room was right—these weren’t made for someone her size.
The sleeves were at least four inches too long, and the pants at least six.
She rolled them up, then headed into the bedroom.
The empty bedroom.
“Theo?” she said again, even though he obviously wasn’t there.
A sick, sinking ache formed in the pit of her stomach, and her heart rate picked up. She needed to find him.
Dani rushed to the door, her hands shaking as she turned the doorknob. The house was silent. Too quiet. She tiptoed down the hall, making her way downstairs and peering into each room she came upon. No one was there.
Her jaw started to tremble. No, no, no. They’d taken him. How could she have been so foolish? So trusting? These men gave them no reason to believe them, and she and Theo were so exhausted that they would have believed anything.
And did.
Before she knew it, she was full-on running, calling his name as she searched the house. Looking for him. Looking for anyone.
How could she let this happen? How could she have lost him again?
Tears streamed down her face.
“Juicy?”
Dani spun around, finding Theo peering out a doorway.
“Theo!” She ran over to him and right into his arms.
“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” he said, trying to pull her back to look at her face.
“Where were you? I thought someone had taken you again,” she said through her tears.
“I’m sorry. I was heading back, and then I got lost. But then I found the kitchen so I wanted to bring you something to eat, and I’m sorry. I should have gone back sooner.”
“Don’t leave me ever again,” she cried into his chest.
“I’ll never leave you.”
She finally pulled back upon hearing his words. “Do you mean that?”
“Yes, Juicy. I promise,” he said, cupping her face in his hands and wiping away her tears with his thumbs. “God, you’re beautiful.”
“Even when I’m crying?”
“Even when you’re crying.” He pulled her closer and kissed her forehead. “I want to show you something.”
Right then, her stomach growled.
“Is it a sandwich?” she joked, wiping away an errant tear.
He laughed. “No, it’s not a sandwich.”
“Is it a gyro?”
“A gyro is a sandwich.”
“Hard disagree.”
“Disagree? What exactly is your definition of a sandwich?” he asked, raising his brow.
“An assortment of fillings between two pieces of bread.”
“How does a gyro not meet that definition?”
“Gyros are either in a pita pocket or wrapped in a pita, not two pieces of bread.”
“What if the pita is cut in two?”
“Nuh-uh. That’s cheating.”
“Cheating?! It’s a sandwich!”
“Let me guess. You think a hot dog is a sandwich?”
“Okay, well, do you want to keep debating the definition of the sandwich, or do you want me to show you what it is I found?” he asked with a laugh. His smile finally put her at ease.
“How about you show me.”
Theo took her hand and led her through the doorway to a dining room, then through the room and into another.
“I like your jammies,” he said as they walked.
“They’re only ten sizes too big.”
“They look cute on you.”
He pushed open a door and they entered an industrial-grade kitchen with Andreas and Christos standing at a stainless steel counter dunking pita bread into some sort of dip.
“Oh, hey,” Andreas said, setting the bread down as Christos waved midbite.
“Look who I found,” Theo said. Or, you know, who was crying like a lost child in the mall. “This one is ours,” he said, pointing to a plate with an assortment of vegetables, olives, fruit, pita, and dollops of dips.
“You made this?” Dani asked.
“Well, I didn’t make it, but I compiled this arrangement,” Theo explained.
“It’s so good,” Christos said with a mouthful.
“Well, I still have something I wanted to show Dani,” Theo said, picking up the tray and taking her hand again, “so we’re going to get going.”
Andreas and Christos gave them a little wave and then they headed out of the room.
“Now where are we going? Back to the room to the mattress tostada?” she asked.
“Not yet. Come on.”
They weaved through the house, finally seeing other people up and about. Dani suddenly felt a little silly thinking that Theo had disappeared when they were so clearly not alone in the house. But that was almost a distant memory now that Theo’s hand enveloped hers.
Finally, they came upon a door and Theo let go of her hand for an instant to turn the knob before taking her hand again and leading her inside.
And once there, Dani let go of his hand and walked toward the center of the room. No, not just any room.
A two-floor library.
“This is amazing,” she said, turning her head every which way to take everything in.
The simple wrought iron railing and spiral staircase.
The bookcases full of books of all sizes and colors.
The large reading table and reading chairs.
Even the deep-seated sectional looked like the perfect place to curl up and read a book.
“How did you find this room?” she asked.
Theo made his way farther into the room and set down the plate on the reading table.
“I asked Lysander. He’d mentioned the library earlier, so I found him and asked where it was.”
“Well, it’s truly remarkable,” she said, making her way over to Theo—and more important, the food—though not taking her eyes off the beauty of the room.
“I thought you’d like it.”
She looked at him and smiled, then sat on the table with the plate between the two of them.
Her feet dangled in the air as they ate, and she talked about what her home library would look like if she ever got one.
Hers would obviously be much smaller—the public library didn’t pay that well—but it would be full of all her favorite books.
Organized by vibe and with a special section for those gifted by Theo (her favorites).
Theo also described his perfect home library. One with a ladder to reach books near the ceiling. Obviously, his books would be organized by subject matter.
“Think there’s anything to drink in here?” she wondered, hopping off the table.
“Maybe over there,” he said, tipping up his head toward a bar cart in the corner.
She checked it out, removing the tops on a few bottles of various alcohol and sniffing for identification since she couldn’t read the labels. Hmm…this one smells okay.
She poured a couple of fingers in a glass and made her way back to Theo, resting against the table with his ankles crossed.
“Bad news,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“No clam juice. Only whiskey, or whatever this is,” she said, holding out the bottle to show him and then taking a sip. The intense fruity, spicy liquor hit her taste buds. She offered it to Theo, and he took a sip.
“It’s Metaxa,” he said. “It’s like a brandy.”
“Well, it’s delicious. Why don’t we ever have this at Christmas?”
“Maybe next time we will.”
She took another sip, and then he took the glass from her and set it on the table beside him, then pulled her closer.
“You know, Juicy, I didn’t just bring you here for snacks and brandy.”
“Oh no?” She smiled, loving the way it felt with his arms around her.
“No. If you haven’t noticed, we’re in a library.”
“That we are.”
“And you know what I’ve been wanting to do to you in a library.” His hand glided underneath her nightshirt, and he lightly grazed her skin just above the waistband. She could feel her body turning to goo.
“You say that as if this isn’t something that you only added to your sex bingo card two days ago.”
“Maybe,” he said, leaning in to kiss her neck. “Doesn’t change the fact that it’s burning a hole on my bingo card.”
“Wrong metaphor,” she said, closing her eyes and succumbing to his kisses. She could already smell the Metaxa trail he was planting on her neck.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s been on your sexual bucket list, so your wish is my command.”
“We’d better lock the door.”
“Already did.”
“And tint the windows.”
“Done.”
“Oh, and we need a condom!”
He pulled away then reached into his pocket and held up one of the condoms she’d gotten from the tourist shop earlier that day.
“My, my, Theo, you certainly are prepared.”
“I know it’s not exactly the library you had in mind, but we can consider this a partial fulfilment of your wish. I’ll fully make it up to you when we return to the States.”