by Marian Tee
FROG ALERT, FROG ALERT, FROG ALERT.
The words of warning released Daria from her shock, and she didn’t pause to think after. She simply made a dash for it, running out of the hotel room barefoot, not even pausing to pick up her purse on the table.
Inside the lift, she desperately struggled to keep it all in while she worked hard to wipe off Colton’s cum from her face and neck. She caught a reflection of herself on the mirror and saw a long white streak on the side of her head sticking to her hair. It should have been funny, but it wasn’t.
When she made it to a cab, she threw up, but Colton wasn’t the one who made her sick. No, she had to be honest this time. She made herself sick, with the way she was so damn desperate to find someone who would love her. She had never gone this far with any of the frogs in the past, but with Colton she had been so desperate that she had lied to herself, telling her that maybe Colton had been right and letting him come on her would be arousing and cure Daria of her sexual frigidness.
God, she was so dumb. Desperate. Dirty.
I’m done.
She covered her face with her hands as she repeated the words until they turned into a vow. I’m done. I’m done. I’m done.
A Taylor Swift song played in the background, streaming from the cab’s radio, and she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, feeling like she was in a scene straight out of a music video for a bad love song.
“Miss?” It was the cab driver. He seemed to be in his late forties, with mostly grey hair and a matching beard, and worry flickered in his gaze as he sought to check on her through the rearview mirror.
With an effort, Daria pulled herself together, wiping the tears from her eyes and clearing her throat before she answered him. “Yes?” She cringed, belatedly noticing the mess she had left on his carpet. “I’m sorry for throwing up in your cab,” she said jerkily. “I’ll pay for the damage.”
He shook his head. “I pay my nephew to clean this up every night, and it would be good for him to work harder for his money.” His voice turned gruff. “Are you all right?”
She choked back a teary, hysterical laugh at the question.
“That bad, huh?” The driver grimaced.
She could only nod, still not trusting herself to speak lest the hysterics bubble out of her nonstop.
He sent her a sympathetic smile. “It’s gonna get better eventually. It always does. You just got to believe.” He raised the silver chain around his neck for her to see.
The sight of the crucifix hanging from the chain made her wince. “I don’t think God’s going to help me.”
The cabbie’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Why not?”
“Because…I’m not a nice girl.” She could feel her cheeks turning red as she said the words, which she knew were a gross understatement. She used to believe that nothing she did was wrong – not even when everyone thought she was an idiot – or worse, a slut – for dating so many men, but maybe they were all right. Maybe she was an idiot, a slut, and more. Maybe everything she sought to disprove about Magnolia Everest was actually true, and she was following in her mother’s footsteps.
“We’ve got an hour ahead of us,” the cab driver was saying. “I’m up for a story if you are.”
Despite everything, the older man’s words made her smile a little. “It could end up boring you.”
The old man returned her smile with a kind one. “Try me.”
She hesitated. “Well…” But then, what did she have to lose? At least this would distract her from dwelling on what had happened. “My mom…after her divorce, she just lost it. She used to have it all together, but when my dad left her for another woman, it just killed her. And after that, she went into one relationship after another, trying to recapture what she used to – what she thought she had with my dad. Everyone thought she had turned into a slut, and it doesn’t help that her current boyfriend’s always younger than the last.”
Daria had to pause afterwards, struggling not to cry again, but for a different reason this time. She remembered how her mother had been so clearly, like it was just yesterday that Magnolia was driving her to school, her packed lunch something her mother had prepared in between answering her agency’s emails. She remembered how Magnolia would make sure to call Daria every day after school when she was working out of the country. It didn’t matter if she was between shoots, didn’t matter if she had to wake up in the middle of the night despite having a meeting at seven in the morning. Those five o’clock calls always came on the dot, and there was never a time Magnolia had sounded anything less than upbeat when asking Daria and her dad about their days.
Those times were so vivid for her, Daria thought painfully. So why couldn’t the other people in their lives remember the same things?
“All her friends turned their backs on her,” she whispered. “They think she’s a joke, and they keep saying mean stuff about her. No one seemed to remember how my mom used to be – how she still is the nicest person you could ever meet, always ready to help, with never a bad word to say about anyone.”
When she paused again, the cab driver said gravely, “I’m sorry about your mom. It seems she’s made some pretty bad choices in life, but obviously that’s no reason for people to treat her that way.” He adjusted his rearview mirror to give her a closer look. “But…what does that have to do with you?”
Her lips twisted. “That’s the thing.” She laughed, and the sound was painful to hear, even to her own ears. “I ended up doing the same thing, too. I didn’t plan to at the start, but the more I see my mom hurting, the more I wanted to fall in love – I just wanted to find the right guy so I could tell the world…” She sucked her breath in. “It’s okay to get it wrong. It’s okay to make more than one mistake when you fall in love.” She swallowed hard. “Silly, right?”
The cab driver didn’t answer right away. And as more seconds passed, Daria began to feel silly, sharing her life story with a total stranger. He must think she was crazy, she thought. That, or he didn’t know what to say without revealing how much he pitied her, just like how the rest of the world seemed to think she and Magnolia were pathetic.
“Not silly at all,” the cab driver finally answered. “You might just be trying too hard to do everything on your own.” His gruff voice startled her into looking up, and she found a self-deprecating smile on the old man’s face. “I had a good life, once. Nice job, nice house, nice car. Everything was perfect until the day when my son told me he had AIDS. I didn’t even know he was gay, and before I could process everything, the illness took him from us in a matter of months. Everyone who came to the funeral, I saw it in their eyes – they thought my son had been silly, too. They couldn’t say it to my face, but I wasn’t dumb. They thought my son was being silly for falling in love with another man, for having unprotected sex. They blamed him for everything.”
A deep, painful sigh rumbled out of his chest. “What happened to your mother after her marriage broke up, it happened to me, too. When you lose the one thing that drives you to live, it devastates you, leaves you feeling like there’s nowhere to go, no one to turn to.”
“I got fired, my wife left me, and I didn’t care. I mostly spent the next years drinking. I only got my senses back when I woke up with a hangover next to my son’s grave, and I realized that everything I was doing was just going to make people keep thinking of my son as someone silly, stupid, and selfish, when he was…” His voice turned rough and fierce. “My son was more than what everyone said. He made a mistake, and he paid for it. But it was a mistake that didn’t cause them harm. A mistake he did out of love. Why should people make him feel ashamed of it, even in death? And even if they keep thinking that way, why the hell should I care about what they think? He was my son, I knew him best, and he was a good person. An imperfect person, but he was a good person, and I think that’s better than someone who only lives to do the right things and laugh about those who made the wrong choices.”
Ahead of them, the lights turned
green, and the cab started to move again.
“Your mom, she made mistakes, but she’s not a bad person for it. As long as you know that, as long as you still love her in spite of her mistakes, then that’s all that matters. At least you still have each other.”
“The same goes for you, missy. You made mistakes, but you don’t have to be ashamed of them. You loved. It’s not the worst thing to do in the world. And if you still want to love, that’s not a bad thing either, but maybe this time, you should ask for a little help.” The driver patted the crucifix on his neck. “You can’t ever be wrong with His choice.”
PART ONE
Chapter One
Present time
At eleven in the morning, the party island of Teleios was expectedly crowded, its beachfront path humming with life. Some were adrenaline-seeking tourists returning from the day’s first wave of water activities while others were guests just about to start their day, searching leisurely for a nice, shaded restaurant that could offer both a sumptuous brunch and a spectacular view of the sea.
Among the latter was a particularly good-looking couple, both of them tall and dark-haired.
The man was obviously as Greek as they came¸ his handsome face accentuated by high cheekbones and a strong jawline. Dressed in casual elegance with his white button-down shirt and chinos, he caused women to stop and stare, licking their lips as they privately hoped he would glance their way. But he never did.
The woman beside him was equally stunning. Her long, curly hair swayed every time she turned this way and that, and her vivacity was made evident by her quick smiles and the sparkle of gaiety in her gray eyes. The men she walked past stared at her with keen interest, only to quickly look away upon seeing the lethal warning in her companion’s dark gaze.
Still, the unspoken threat of dismemberment wasn’t really necessary. The men’s admiration wouldn’t have registered on the woman at all, not when all of her attention was focused on her exquisitely reserved Greek.
“Please, please, just once, please?” 24-year-old Daria Everest was not above begging, considering it only a means to an end and one that had no bearing on her self-confidence.
Most times, begging and pouting worked after a single attempt. Today, however, wasn’t one of those times, with her companion retorting icily, “Not in this lifetime or ever.”
Nik Alexandropoulos didn’t even deign to glance Daria’s way as he spoke. Her request was completely ridiculous, the 29-year-old Greek billionaire thought. They were both adults, for God’s sake, and yet here she was, nagging him to act like a lovesick teenager. The mere thought was repulsive, and Nik had to repress an instinctive shudder.
Most women would have been intimidated into silence by the note of derision in Nik’s voice, but not Daria. Unfazed, she begged yet again, “Pleeeeeeeeeease,” and tugged on his sleeve to get his attention.
Despite his better judgment, Nik found himself looking at Daria, and his jaw almost dropped at seeing her flutter her lashes at him. “Are you serious?” His voice was low and pained. “You really think high speed blinking’s going to convince me to hold hands with you while walking?”
Daria knew she should be insulted, but instead she found herself laughing. “You’re the rudest man I—” She almost said dated but caught herself in time. Although she and Nik had only known each other for a little more than a day, she understood him enough to know that he wouldn’t appreciate the fact she had foolishly dated twenty-eight frogs before him.
Correcting herself, she finished, “You’re the rudest man I have ever met.” Her smile turned mischievous. “But too bad, I’m not easily offended. So if asking nicely won’t work—”
Slim, pale fingers fitted in between Nik’s, and the next thing he knew, a woman half his weight had managed to capture his hand.
Nik froze, and his eyes swiftly moved down, disbelief etched on his face as he took in the sight of his and Daria’s clasped hands. Recovering from the ghastly sight, he attempted to pull his hand out of her hold, but Daria’s fingers only locked with his more tightly.
His gaze snapped back up to her face. “Let go,” he gritted between clenched teeth.
Her smile widened. “No.” She began walking then, and short of letting her drag him with her, Nik was left with no choice but to fall into step beside her.
Daria saw Nik’s jaw clench as their clasped hands started to sway in rhythm with their footsteps. Uh-oh. Deciding it was prudent not to look his way for now, Daria instead made herself savor the strong, warm grip of Nik’s hand.
Bliss, she thought contentedly. Although the weather was more sunny than cool, the heat hadn’t reached oppressive levels, allowing for a more comfortable walk. Once in a while a light breeze would tickle her skin, bringing in the scent of the sea with it.
The sound of waves lapping at the shore serenaded her senses, and Daria thought that if she had to define bliss, then this would be it. Perfect weather, perfect beach, and—
Unable to help it, she stole a look at her companion’s face.
Perfect man.
She only had to look at Nik for more than a few seconds, and it started again. Heat rippled down her skin, locking the oxygen in her throat and sending her heartbeat skidding into a fast and erratic pace.
God, here we go again. Her whirlwind romance with Nik made her feel like she was on a rollercoaster, and right now she was burning and floating at the same time—
Up, up, up—
Daria knew it was the height of stupidity to let herself get carried away, and yet…
It felt so right between them, and the thought sort of calmed her.
Down, down, down—
Without warning, Nik’s head turned towards her, and he caught Daria staring at him. Something on her face must have given her away, with the way his dark gaze suddenly glittered with feral desire, and the sight caused Daria to swallow and feel even more out of breath.
Up, up, up—
They both slowed down at the same time, staring at each other, unspeaking.
Down, down, down—
Nik drew her towards the palm trees, away from the crowd of diners and selfie-takers. Here, the sound of water crashing against the sand was louder, drowning the noise and the laughter.
She waited for him to speak, trembling, but he only stared at her with brooding intensity.
Up, down, up, down, up, down—
“You are too seductive.” Nik’s beautiful voice was rough, and Daria loved the way his Greek accent thickened at the last word.
The sound had her licking her lips, which then caused Nik’s grip to tighten. It should have terrified her, this unbidden display of his power, but instead it only made Daria remember.
The two of them in the shower, Nik pushing her against the wall and his hands gripping her hips, hard, as he took her from behind—
Her eyes clouded with remembered desire. As Daria felt telltale moisture slowly drenching her bikini bottom, the rest of the world faded into nothing, leaving her only capable of thinking of only one thing.
“Make love to me.” The words stumbled past her lips before she realized what she was saying, her voice a throaty whimper that had Nik’s body stiffening and his cock surging up in a rock-hard erection.
He was not, however, the only one to hear her, with Daria’s voice coming out louder than intended and causing people close enough to hear to glance at them. A couple of them were teenage boys, and they hooted and whistled appreciatively.
Daria blushed, realizing she had been heard. A second later, and Nik yanked her to him, his hold possessive. The dark color staining his face was mesmerizing. There was just something about a grown-up man so obviously unused to such attention that was…cute.
Before she knew what she was doing, she was reaching for his cheek—
Nik’s head snapped towards her the moment the tips of her fingers grazed the side of his face. His eyes narrowed, a silent warning for her not to do anything silly. DO. NOT. DO. IT.
But D
aria couldn’t help it.
She pinched his cheek.
Nik’s eyes widened in disbelief. What the fuck? Did this woman just dare pinch his cheek? In public?
Daria giggled, as if to answer his unvoiced question, and his face turned grim. “You—” But he was no longer speaking to anyone.
Having taken one look at Nik’s face and correctly interpreting it as her impending doom, Daria beat a quick escape, not exactly running, but definitely walking faster than usual.
Vixen. As always, thoughts of Daria left him torn between irritation and amused exasperation. As he watched her slim shoulders shake with mirth while zigzagging through the crowd, Nik debated whether to run after her or not.
The smart thing would be to wait for her to come back and punish her then. But in the end, and again this tended to happen only with Daria, Nik found himself chasing after her like a damn puppet wanting to have his strings pulled.
Peering over her shoulder, Daria caught a glimpse of Nik closing in on her and hurried away faster even as she struggled not to laugh out loud. Oh, the look on his face when she had pinched his cheek! He was so unbelievably serious, it just made her want to tease him more and more.
From the corner of her eye, Daria spotted a fairly empty alley and instinctively took a detour. Three steps in, and a hand suddenly curled around her waist, making her jerk in a combination of fear and excitement.
A second later, and she was being whirled around, her gasp cut off by Nik’s mouth slamming against hers.
“I should punish you,” he gritted against her lips.
“You…should.” Two words, and she felt like it took her forever to think of what to say. Nik’s presence was as drugging as ever, and this near, with his hard body pressed against hers, there was no escaping its debilitating effects.
For one moment, she tried – she really did try to pull away. She tried to think clearly and not let her trouble-making impulses get the better of her.