Chapter 20
“Taste, asteri mou , is as intimate as touch. If not more so.” Mia wet her lips as Angelos set a silver serving tray laden with sweets before her.
Baklava soaked in honey, loukoumi made from rosewater and speckled with fragrant rose petals.
He held a dripping confection to her lips and Mia licked the honey from his fingers and purred . . .
- One Week with the Greek
NIKOS
E xasperated, I closed One Week with the Greek and tossed it on the seat next to me, staring out at the white breakers as the catamaran cut a path across the agitated sea.
Was it possible to be envious of a fictional character? Because, honestly, I wanted to punch Angelos, that lucky son of a bitch, right in his square jaw.
Within three days of meeting her, Angelos had his rebellious mistress licking honey from his fingers and purring at his feet. And here I was, three days after making Callie come on my tongue, completely ignored and probably still despised.
What’s more, I’d cut my weekly trip to Kos short for her. Instead of staying the night and going out with fellow volunteers like we did once a month to blow off steam, I’d decided to hitch a ride back to Lyra. Just to have the privilege of having Callie ignore me again.
Three days. I strummed three chords on my guitar.
Three days since I’d tasted her. Strum . Three days since I held her luscious body in my arms. Strum . Three days since my world turned on its head. Strum .
At this rate, it would take me a hell of a lot longer than three days to tame my rebellious mistress. Could I even call her that when she’d made it clear she had no desire to even speak to me again?
The problem was my attraction to her wasn’t just sexual.
It would be easier if it was. No, I genuinely admired her.
She was whip-smart and had a wicked sense of humor, and I knew now that my first impression of her—that she was stuck-up and superficial—was completely off the mark.
It was all an act. She was a woman in an industry dominated by men, and I could only imagine what it must be like to have to prove yourself every day.
It made sense that she’d developed this hard exterior.
When I found myself softening toward her, I tried to remind myself that she was still the enemy.
She was working for Greystone and was determined to see their project through even if it meant sacrificing Lyra.
I couldn’t let feelings or physical attraction get in the way of my own determination to protect the island.
It sure as hell didn’t make sense then that part of me wanted her to stay—even if it was just to antagonize me with her hard-headed ways.
That’s why I didn’t mind that I hadn’t heard back yet from Diana Russo about my grandfather’s cup.
I wanted the cup to be authentic in order to delay the construction of the hotel, but that would mean Callie would be leaving.
And I wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted anymore. How fucking crazy was that?
As the boat pulled into Lyra, my pulse thrummed in anticipation.
“Got something planned for tonight, Niko?” asked my colleague Vassilis when he saw my expression.
“If I’m lucky.” I slapped my hand against his back. He picked up the book from the seat next to me.
“What is this?” He laughed, staring at the illustration of a tall, swarthy man with his white dress shirt wide open holding a voluptuous red-haired woman with a distressed pout on her lips.
I snatched it back from him and winked. “Research.”
Even though I knew she’d pretend she couldn’t stand the sight of me, I’d decided I was going to bang on Callie’s door. After all, the last time I’d showed up unexpectedly, it hadn’t turned out so bad.
As I headed toward the stairs, I spied Yiannis carrying a large box. His eyes grew wide when he saw me.
“Niko, I thought you weren’t back until tomorrow morning.” He transferred the box to his other arm, hiding its contents from me.
“I decided to come back early. There were two other doctors on shift,” I explained as we started up the stairs.
“You must be exhausted. You should rest this evening.”
“I’m fine,” I assured him. More than fine. I was buzzing with the possibility of having Callie’s legs wrapped around me. “No emergencies while I was gone? No one toppling off the rocks?”
“No, no. Nothing’s happening, nothing at all.” He hummed nervously.
“Okay, what’s up, Yianni?”
“Nothing. Teresa is here for the weekend.” Teresa, his girlfriend, lived on Rhodes during the tourist season. They’d been together for as long as I could remember, but they still hadn’t gotten married.
“Is she staying with you or her parents?” He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Her uncle was one of the local priests. There was no way they’d be spending time alone at Yiannis’s house.
We headed down toward Kamini at a brisk pace, Yiannis panting beside me through the narrow, winding streets.
When we neared the square, the sound of excited chatter echoed through the still evening air.
A crowd had gathered near the school, people milling about, drinks in their hands.
I spotted Dimitris and his friends carrying a large speaker and called out to him.
He shot me a worried glance and whispered something to the other little troublemakers.
They were up to something. I hoped that didn’t mean I’d be splinting someone’s extremities later.
As if reading my mind, one of the boys very deliberately dropped the speaker on Dimitris’s foot.
“ Aie, aie !” Dimitris howled and rolled on the ground, his cast in the air.
I’d played enough soccer with these boys to recognize when they were faking an injury. “A little dramatic, no?”
When I bent to take his shoe off, Dimitris protested, “Not here, doc, please. At your office. I need an X-ray.”
“That’s funny, I usually have to drag you to my office. Now you’ll go willingly?”
I touched his other foot, and he squealed. “Okay, I don’t know what you’re up to, but you win. Am I going to have to carry you?”
“Yes!” His friends laughed at the idea. I lifted him up and then helped him hop to my office. He moved at a snail’s pace, clearly stalling. It took us a good five minutes to make it inside. Then he made a big deal about taking his shoe off.
“Do I need a cast?”
“For your big toe? No. There’s nothing wrong with it.” I handed him back his smelly sock. “Now, are you going to tell me why you didn’t want me to come near the school?”
“I promised I wouldn’t.” He gnawed on his dirty nails. “Maybe we could wait a few more minutes though, so she thinks I did my best?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Who do you want to impress?”
“Miss Calista. She promised me fifty euros if I helped her today. You weren’t supposed to be here.” He glared at me.
What was she up to now? And why was everyone in on her plan but me?
I sat back and crossed my arms. “So this is how you repay me for all the hours I’ve spent teaching you English? For all the times I’ve mended your bones? As soon as my back is turned you start plotting against me.”
“It’s fifty euros, doc.” He shrugged.
“I’ll give you fifty more if you tell me what she’s up to.”
He was a shrewd kid and considered my offer but finally shook his head. “No, sorry, I don’t want to betray her.”
“But me, no problem?”
“She’s nicer to look at.”
“Can’t argue with that. Go on. I’ll give you a two-minute lead.” He raced out of the office, not even pretending to limp.
By the time I wandered over to the schoolhouse, the entire island had gathered there. I ran into Panos at the door, carrying bottles of his homebrewed IPA. He blanched when he saw me. “Et tu, Pano?”
“It’s a party,” he said. “It would be rude not to come.”
A podium had been set up at the head of the room and, behind it, an image of the horrible hotel was projected on a screen.
And there she was. Dressed in another flowy dress, her lips plump and red, and her hair up in a Grecian style with whisps of golden strands framing her face.
My entire body hardened at the sight of her, and images of her coming apart on top of me flashed through my head.
As she turned toward me, the look of dismay that flickered over her face made it crystal clear that my presence was not welcome.
She flattened her lips and, turning away, proceeded to ignore me.
Or at least pretended to. Clearly, I was no Angelos and wouldn’t have her licking honey off my fingers tonight.
I made my way through the room full of my fellow islanders, all laughing and chatting.
That is, until they saw me coming. They bowed their heads and went silent as I passed like I’d caught them out.
It was a weird sensation, like I was the outsider and they’d been humoring me this whole time, pretending to be against the resort, when in reality they were all too ready to lie down and roll over for Greystone.
“Niko.” I turned to find Teresa, pinning me with a suspicious glare. We’d always been at odds and held very different opinions about the future of Lyra. We argued about everything really, but we respected each other.
“Teresa, how are you?” We embraced quickly.
“Fine. And you?”
“Can’t complain,” I said as I studied the array of soft drinks on the plastic table.
I poured her a glass of sparkling water and she nodded toward Callie. “I’ve made a new friend. She told me about the trick you made Yiannis pull on her!”
“I didn’t force Yiannis to help me,” I said, but I knew that wasn’t entirely true. Yiannis was easily influenced, and I used it to my advantage.
“Right, like you’re not forcing your political opinions down the throats of everyone here.”
“I’m not going to force anyone to do anything. If people are seduced by this”—I pointed to the bottles of soda—“so be it.”
“You won’t put up a fight then if we all decide that we do want to open the island up to tourism.”
I shrugged. “It’s a democracy, isn’t it? As far as I’m concerned, most people here share my opinion.”
I tracked Callie with my eyes. Hell, I hadn’t taken them off her since I got here. She moved to the podium and Dimitris, that little turncoat, followed her. What, was he her translator now? His eyes shot to mine and I shook my head.
“Let’s hear what she has to say.” I slid down onto a plastic folding chair against the wall and crossed my arms. I’d let her talk, but I wasn’t going to remain silent.