Chapter 27
They sailed to a small, isolated island the next day because Mia had expressed an interest in painting one of the islands.
Angelos tried to feign disinterest as she set out her implements, glass jars filled with water, a dry cloth, a small palette, and several thin brushes.
As she covered the textured paper with delicate brushstrokes, an entire world came to life before him of swirling pastel hues.
She was a magician clearly. How could anyone have so much talent at her fingertips?
- One Week with the Greek
CALLIE
“ O h my God, Cal, you did not accurately describe him to me. He is—wow—I don’t have the words,” Olivia said as we made our way up the stairs. “No wonder you couldn’t control yourself. I’d be all over him if I were you.”
Jake caught up to us just as those last words left her mouth. “You’d be all over whom?”
“The doctor.”
“Ah, good to know. Is that my cue to take the next ferry out?” He raised an eyebrow at her.
She grabbed his arm and stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “I said, if I were Callie. She’s the one that needs to jump his bones . . . again.”
“Again, huh?” Jake had a very dry sense of humor that I appreciated.
I hadn’t always been his biggest fan—namely when he’d taken so long to realize that he was in love with my best friend that he’d broken it off and her heart in the process.
Now he was one of my favorite people and I didn’t mind if he knew about what had happened with Nikos.
“See, I didn’t tell him.” Olivia said, clearly pleased with herself. “You say I can’t keep a secret, but if my husband didn’t know that you were banging the hot local doctor, I think you should eat your words.”
“All right, so you kept this secret.” I stopped and put my hands on my hips. “Except, no you didn’t. You just blabbed right here in front of me.”
She grimaced. “Geez, you’re right. Sorry. But come on, Jake, wasn’t it obvious? I mean, there was a live wire of tension sizzling between them. You felt it, right?”
“I felt that cup of Greek coffee go straight through my veins. It was just what I needed after a 4:00 a.m. wake-up call this morning.” He set the suitcase down at his feet. Jake was fit, but even he was breathless after all those stairs. I realized I’d been too hasty in taking off the way I had.
“I’m sorry. I should have rented a donkey. I wasn’t thinking. Let me carry one of those.” But Jake brushed me aside.
“I’ve already been insulted once today. I don’t think my fragile male ego could handle it if I had to rent a donkey or let you carry my suitcase. Thank you, though.”
“Don’t be sad, Jake.” I patted him on the shoulder. “We talked about you the same way at first, didn’t we, Liv?”
“Yeah, I objectified the hell out of you for the longest time,” concurred Liv. “Just absolutely wouldn’t stop talking about how amazing your butt looked in those old jeans when you worked on the car.”
“It’s true. She had sexy mechanic fantasies about you.” I smiled at him, and though he pretended not to care, he preened a little.
As we continued our trek, he asked, “So, do we like this guy?”
“She hates him. That’s the problem,” Liv explained.
“Really? He seemed nice enough to me. And he’s a doctor, you could do worse.”
“Please, he takes every opportunity to remind me that he’s my— a —doctor.” I rolled my eyes at him. “If we’d stayed longer, he would have told you how he graduated top of his class at Columbia.”
Now, I was exaggerating. I couldn’t help it. When I saw him earlier—no, strike that—every time I saw him since that day in the cove, I had this fluttery feeling in my belly that could only mean one thing. Trouble.
How was it possible that I was catching feelings for the man who had lied to me and tricked me?
Did I have no self-respect? The problem was that the more time I spent with him, the less I hated him.
And I didn’t know what to do with that. It was much simpler to despise him. The alternative was frightening.
I’d just gotten over Gaz and had left a string of narcissistic assholes behind me. I didn’t trust myself when it came to men. I didn’t want to allow him to confuse me, to mess with my head and my heart.
“Got it. I won’t mention him again then,” Jake said seriously.
It took ages to cross the hill because Liv kept getting distracted by the view. Jake and I exchanged indulgent smiles as she took yet another photo. I did feel weirdly pleased when she kept going on about how charming the island was, as if I’d had anything to do with it.
“Oh!” she cried when the temple came into view. “Is that the sex temple?”
“The sex temple?” Jake asked. I didn’t mind if he knew about me and Nikos, but I was not about to give him a play-by-play of my sexcapades in an ancient ruin.
“Yeah, apparently they used to sacrifice male virgins to Aphrodite there and then throw them into the sea,” I lied, glaring at Liv while she mimed zipping her lips.
Once we made it to my place, Liv was in raptures. “This place is adorable, Cal! The sea rolls right up to your terrace.”
I let them explore my little home while I prepared brunch—soft-boiled eggs with fresh greens, tomatoes with crumbled feta, and thyme honey on Maria’s homemade bread.
When I came back outside, they were cuddled up on the swing chair. Liv perched on Jake’s lap, his hand spread over her belly. My heart twisted a little. What they had together was so beautiful, and I wondered if I’d ever find it myself. With my awful taste in men, though, it would take a miracle.
“Ah, you guys are so cute,” I said as I set the tray down on the table. Jake gently set Liv aside and stood to help me.
“Let me.” He grabbed the carafe and glasses from inside while I set the table.
“This looks amazing, Cal! I’m ravenous,” Liv said as she speared egg and tomato on her fork. Her eyes rolled back. “Oh my God, so good. Did you forage these greens?”
“I did. I take a daily walk in the hills and come back with a bag full. I’ll make a hortakopita for you tomorrow. Maria shared her recipe with me.” I hit my head. “I forgot to introduce you! I was in such a hurry to get away from Dr. Disagreeable that I forgot about Maria.”
Over breakfast they filled me in on their latest adventures. Liv’s job as a recipe developer for the test kitchen was going well. “Now that I can eat non-beige food, I love it. The first trimester was a real challenge. Jake did most of the taste-testing. Good thing he has an excellent palate.”
Jake did have exceptional taste. He used to own an international wine distribution company, but he’d given it all up to take over a vineyard in Provence. “Speaking of excellent taste, that bottle you gave me was phenomenal.”
“Glad you liked it. As a matter of fact, I brought some more for you. One of those suitcases is full of wine,” said Jake.
“And a small food processor. I wasn’t sure what you’d have here,” added Liv as she drizzled more honey on her bread. “I have a couple recipes I need to try out. I can’t wait to cook together again!”
“Ah, me too, chicken. I can’t tell you what it means to have you both here. It’s just what I needed to get me over this slump.” And to keep me from thinking about dark, broody doctors who made me feel all kinds of inconvenient things.
* * *
The next few days flew by in a flurry of test recipes and late-night gossip sessions.
When Liv and I weren’t cooking, we went swimming with Jake at the small beach around the corner from my house or for long walks over the hills.
I even took them to my old house. Funny how I thought of it like that; I had a strange fondness for it now.
Liv was in hysterics when we walked into the bedroom and found one of Giorgos’s goats lounging on the mattress.
“Now I understand why you’re still so pissed off at Nikos. Cal, how could you have stayed here? I wouldn’t have made it one hour, let alone one week!”
“I really can’t explain it. Now that I know the island better, I can’t believe I assumed this was normal. No wonder Nikos thought I was a one-dimensional corporate drone.”
On the third day of their visit, Jake, our only taste-tester, rebelled.
“No more. I can’t,” he moaned after lunch when I brought out a new dessert, a riff on traditional kataifi—shredded phyllo with basil-infused syrup and pine nuts. He scraped his chair back and went inside, leaving Liv and me alone on the terrace.
As luck would have it, Nikos chose that precise moment to step out onto his terrace.
“He’s back . . .” Liv sang as she stood and waved at him.
“What are you doing?” I hissed.
“Just being neighborly.” She sat down with her cup of tea. “Jake can’t take anymore of being the solo taster here. I thought we could invite some of your new friends over.”
“We can do that. Friends only.”
“Okay, no lovers.”
“Liv!” I warned, then got back to checking my emails while Liv read her latest historical romance novel. A new message popped up. “Oh no, Anne-Sophie wants to know when she can come out. She can’t find out that I lied to her about the restaurant being open in the fall. It still might be, right?”
Liv’s eyes widened. “I just cannot stand her. I’m sure she’d still hit on Jake in front of me, even now when I’m practically bursting with his baby.”
I glanced at my watch. “Speaking of bursting bellies, don’t you have another recipe to test?”
“Ugh, you’re right. I hate when they send me last-minute requests like this.” She stood up. “I’m going to test out the knife that Jin sent me.” Jin, Jake’s former employee, had taken over Jake’s wine distribution business. He and Liv had become good friends.
I was still outside, trying to come up with a convincing excuse for Anne-Sophie, when Liv came rushing out, her face ashen. “Jake cut himself. I can’t stop the bleeding.”
“What!” I rushed inside. Jake was bent over the sink, pale faced with a deep gash in his hand. “How did this happen?”
“He grabbed the knife by the wrong end,” said Olivia.
“Seriously?”