Read Online Tall Dark Handsome Lycan by Anastasia Maltezos - Free Book Online Page B

man.
    She shook his hand and smiled. “The pleasure is mine. Thank you for allowing me to visit your beautiful home.”
    Leo’s hand went to the small of her back and he directed her gently to his mother.   His touch comforted her.
    His mother did not rise from her seat. She sat regally, her back erect as she eyed Sam imperially. She had a grand air about her, very poised and dignified, and Sam smiled nervously.  All of a sudden, his mother raised her face and Sam could have sworn the older woman sniffed the air.  Sam panicked as paranoia settled in.  She had showered well when she had returned from the beach, hadn’t she?   
    “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs . Stefanos.”
    “C all me Christina,” she said haughtily. “Please sit down.”
    Leo walked Sam to her sid e of the table and seated her to his right, directly across from his mother. He held out her chair and Sam took it gratefully.
    “How do you find our weather, Miss Hope?” Christina began as she reached for her glass of red wine.
    “Sam, please.” She took the wine Leo offered her. “It’s lovely. I never realized how beautiful your country is, Mrs. Stef—Christina.”
    “You’ve never been to Greece before?” Harry asked politely.
    “No. I’ve never been abroad.”
    Christina gave her a hard look. “And the plane ride?”
    Sam smiled. “It was long, but I read a couple of magazines, finished a crossword puzzle, and took a nap. Toni told me the key to surviving a long trip on a plane is to keep yourself busy.”
    Christina’s face tensed. “She is correct. And how is my daughter, Sam? I trust married life is treating her well.”
    “Toni and John are very happy.”
    “I understand they are living in a small abode and my daughter —” She paused, her tone dropping distastefully, “ walks to work.”
    “ Yes. Somerset is a very small town.”
    Christina turned to her son. “Leonidis.”
    “Yes, mother.”
    “Have you spoken to Toni about what we talked about? That I want to buy her a car?”
    “Yes, I have.”
    A tinge of exasperation darkened his mother’s face. “What did she say?”
    “She refused.”
    Harry chuckled. “No doubt to annoy you, my dear wife.”
    “Yes, no doubt,” Christina murmured and turned another hard look on Sam. “Tell me, Sam—since you seem to be the only person my daughter gets along with these days—how did you two meet?”
    Sam could feel the tension mount between them and she realized the warm connection she had with Leo’s father was definitely lacking with his mother. “It was last winter and the sidewalks were icy. Toni had just arrived into town and she slipped outside on the pavement of my shop, The Crystal Ball . I took her to my brother’s— John’s—clinic, and he treated her sprain. We’ve been good friends ever since. She works in my shop with me now.”
    “So, you are a business owner as well as a matchmaker. My daughter must have filled your head with many stories of her family. Did she paint us all as monsters , Miss Hope?”
    So much for being on a first name basis, Sam thought regretfully, bracing herself for more of the third degree that was sure to follow. “Mrs. Stefanos, I didn’t play matchmaker. My brother treated her sprain and they hit it off immediately.”
    “Let it go, Christina,” Harry said. “Toni is married now. Let us live with her decision and wish her well.”
    “Well said, father,” Leo interjected dryly. He looked up and saw Maria arrive with the entrees. “Mother, Toni and her new husband will be here next month, so you can ask them any questions you may have. We will all just have to welcome him into the family .”
    Christina gave Sam a shrewd look. “You’re quite thin, Miss Hope. Are you dieting?” She reached for her wine again, and didn’t wait for Sam to respond. “American hu— women are so obsessed with their weight. All of them are skin and bones.”
    Sam was trying hard to be nice, but her shackles were starting to rise.