Chapter 16
ALICIA
As the coach pulled up at the harbour, butterflies flooded my stomach. Today’s excursion was a sunset cruise on a private, luxury catamaran.
So fancy.
I was glad I’d have another opportunity to see a stunning Santorini sunset. And as we’d be on a boat, this time I could be sure that Adonis wouldn’t be distracted by shopping.
He did seem a bit preoccupied with something else today though.
Don’t get me wrong. He’d still said lovely things to me at breakfast (although he turned up late, again and brought me another pretty flower). But after we made some small talk, he’d spent most of the journey here on his phone.
Last night when I was with Sammie I’d messaged to see if Adonis wanted us to get dinner together, but he’d said he was still at the gym and would just have a protein shake afterwards so would see me tomorrow.
If I was being totally honest, I didn’t mind because it gave me more time to spend with Sammie.
She was rarely in London these days. As part of her role as an international Love Alchemist, she got to travel to all of the different Love Hotel resorts.
Sometimes Sammie and Romeo travelled to Marbella or back to Puglia where they’d first met.
Most recently they’d been at the locations in Paris and the South of France, which opened just before the one in Santorini.
Sammie was living her best life with her Mr Right.
I was so chuffed for her, but at the same time I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.
She’d raved about the Love Hotel matches and so I was really expecting fireworks when I’d been matched with Adonis, but so far, our connection was about as fiery as a sparkler that’d been dropped in a bucket of cold water.
I was still grateful to be here though and it wasn’t the matchmakers’ fault. After all I’d said my dream man would be an attractive Greek guy who was into fitness, food and travel, and Adonis ticked all of those boxes.
Part of me thought I should’ve just gone to his room and slept with him last night.
We were almost halfway through our holiday and my gut was telling me that this wasn’t going to turn into something long-term.
Considering there was no way the hotel would be able to find me an alternative match at this late stage, especially given that I’d paid a discounted price, maybe I should at least get a few orgasms out of the trip, right?
I mean, Adonis didn’t give me the fanny flutters, but maybe he had something as beefy as his arms hiding in his pants that could bring me some satisfaction.
A shiver ran down my spine. And sadly, not the good kind. More like the type of sensation you get when someone drags their nails down a blackboard. For some reason, I just couldn’t picture myself sleeping with him.
I shook my head. I had to think positively.
Today was going to be an amazing day.
Adonis and I would find a way to bond during the cruise. Being on a yacht watching the sunset would be really romantic.
But, if for some reason I was still having reservations by the time we returned to the hotel tonight, I’d have to bite the bullet and be honest with him.
I hated when guys weren’t upfront, so I needed to tell the truth.
We all filed off the coach and Petros led us to the catamaran where our deckhand was waiting.
He explained that we’d need to remove our shoes as they weren’t allowed on deck. After they’d all been stored in a box, we were escorted onto the boat and taken through the safety procedures, followed by an explanation of how to flush the toilet.
Apparently, we couldn’t just flush it like a normal toilet, we had to do some sort of pumping action. Toilet paper also had to be put in the bins and if we dropped it down the loo by mistake, we’d have to notify them. Seemed simple enough to remember.
Soon afterwards we set sail and a hostess offered us welcome drinks. Although there was wine and beer on offer, I opted for bottled water. I wanted to keep a clear head, especially if I was going to have my first dip in the Aegean Sea.
During this cruise we’d be stopping off at various places of interest including beaches with different-coloured sand, swimming in hot springs, followed by a barbecue and watching the sunset. Sounded perfect. I couldn’t wait to see more of what Santorini had to offer.
‘We should get ready to go swimming,’ Adonis suggested. ‘Did you bring your bikini?’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I’m already wearing it.’
At the briefing this morning Petros told us to come prepared, so I’d packed sun cream, a towel and a change of clothes.
When the deckhand gave us a tour of the catamaran I saw there were cabins below deck so once I’d finished swimming for the day, I could get changed in there later.
That’d be easier than trying to do it in the toilets.
‘Wonderful!’ Adonis grinned, licking his lips before whipping off his T-shirt. He was already wearing swimming trunks.
As he stood there proudly, flexing his muscles, I’d hoped that I’d feel more than I did the first time I saw him topless, but nope. It was like my poor pussy was in a coma and nothing could revive it.
I hoped this wasn’t a permanent condition.
Just when I started racking my brain about whether there was a female equivalent of Viagra to help get my desire mojo back, my eyes flicked to the opposite side of the catamaran where Noah was standing with Kayleigh.
She’d already removed the summer dress she was wearing and was stood in a bright pink bikini. Well, I called it a bikini but it was more like a few bits of fabric stitched onto some dental floss.
The thong bikini bottom obviously showed off her full, perfectly pert backside and there was a tiny triangle covering her vagina, which had clearly been waxed within an inch of its life. Not surprising considering she modelled underwear for a living.
And the fabric on the top half of the floss, I mean string bikini, was more like nipple coverings than a traditional bra.
God. I’d kill to have a body like hers. She looked amazing.
I was about to look away when Noah started peeling off his T-shirt.
Holy macaroni.
It was like he was removing it in slow-mo.
When I got the first flash of his lower abs, I swallowed hard.
Wow.
I knew he’d been working out, but damn.
As the T-shirt rode higher giving me a delicious view of his toned six-pack, followed by his perfect chest, then broad shoulders, my breath hitched in my throat.
And by the time he’d tossed his T-shirt on the deck, revealing his magnificent naked upper body, a tsunami of tingles had erupted between my legs.
Two minutes ago, I swore my pussy was in a coma, but now it was like it had been shocked back to life with a thousand defibrillators.
The fanny flutters were in full effect.
What the fuck was happening?
None of this made any sense.
How was it that Adonis’s muscles had zero effect on me, but the second Noah took off his top and flashed his, every atom in my body sprung to life?
This was seriously messed up.
I continued staring, my eyes dropping to the trail of hair from his belly button that led down beneath his swimming trunks.
My greedy gaze should’ve stopped there but instead it was drawn to the outline of his cock.
Whoa. Was Noah hung?
Jesus.
He wasn’t hard or anything, but even through his trunks I could see that he was packing a lot in that department.
Then again, that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Some men were showers not growers, so maybe he didn’t get any bigger than that.
Wait. What the fuck?
I quickly tore my eyes away. I couldn’t be having these kinds of thoughts about my best friend, for God’s sake!
Not only that, my match was standing right in front of me and I was ogling another man’s dick. That was wrong on so many levels.
Shame washed over me. What if Adonis saw me looking?
Then again, was it really so bad?
We all looked at other people’s bodies. Seconds before I was shamefully undressing Noah with my eyes, I’d admired Kayleigh’s body. I wasn’t sexually attracted to her, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t able to recognise that she looked incredible. And that was all I was doing with Noah.
It was completely innocent.
Well, the thoughts racing through my mind weren’t exactly what I’d describe as innocent, but I didn’t mean anything by it.
One thing was clear though. The way my traitorous body had reacted to the sight of topless Noah proved that my libido was alive and well, but for whatever reason, it just wasn’t feeling Adonis.
He didn’t get me going. At all.
Which meant I’d need to have an honest chat with him.
Doing it now would be too awkward though and I didn’t want to ruin his day.
I’d do it privately once we were back at the hotel. It was important that I handled it well. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt his feelings or offend Adonis.
In the meantime, I’d do my best to keep smiling and engaging with him.
If today was going to be our last day as a match, I should make it as pleasant as possible.