Chapter 16 #2
‘Pour the wine, Char. We’ve still got two bottles to get through.’
Charlotte filled up two paper cups with wine but only put water in her own cup.
She didn’t want a repeat of Sickgate in Thea’s lovely hotel.
Drinking so much that night had taken her somewhere she wasn’t quite ready to go.
The time for action was getting closer, and the need to make decisions was hurtling towards her like an oncoming storm.
Telling her friends exactly what was wrong wasn’t an option until she allowed herself to fully examine how she felt.
She either needed to make friends with the gremlin sitting on her shoulder or push it off.
The thought of Doug as a gremlin made her smile for a moment.
‘Char, watch out! It’s going all over the table.’
Sofia’s voice pulled her back to the present. Her friend grabbed the first cup of wine and swigged it down, demanding an instant refill seconds later, which went the same way.
‘Wouldn’t it be easier to drink it straight from the bottle?’
Sofia stuck out her tongue.
‘You’re not on the wine express yourself then?’
She’d asked for that. Charlotte stuck out her own tongue.
‘No, I’m not planning on decorating my hotel room with a goat special tonight.’
Sofia did a thumbs up. They could barely hear each other over the noise.
The band, who’d played a series of low-key numbers to accompany the food, had upped the tempo and were now in full swing, belting it out, fiddles ablaze.
They just sat and watched people tackle the first few dances, which looked incredibly complicated, although Sofia couldn’t stop her body moving in time with the hypnotic beat. It was impossible to keep still as the music pulsed into her over and over again.
Sofia’s neighbour got up and held out his hand.
She’d found out earlier the group were all doctors, on holiday from Athens, rather than locals, although one of their party had grown up here.
He’d introduced himself as Apollo, another god, appropriately named if his physique outlined in black T-shirt and jeans was anything to go by.
‘Do you dance?’
‘I do, but not well.’
His seriously white teeth made Sofia wonder if he was really a dentist rather than a doctor.
‘I can teach you the basics.’
And I can probably teach you a thing or two as well went through Sofia’s mind, but she stayed quiet.
It had been tricky getting hold of Adonis yet again.
There was a big wedding on at the hotel, which he needed to oversee, and he couldn’t speak to her until tomorrow.
She had to be patient. Geographically speaking, she was getting closer to him.
She’d see him again in a couple of days’ time.
‘Páme. Let’s go.’
Sofia smiled and waved back at the others as she was pulled onto the dance floor.
Charlotte poured some more wine into both her and Maddie’s cups.
‘Do you fancy cutting some moves?’
‘No, not really. I hate making a fool of myself.’
‘Maybe I’ll have a go later, when I’ve drunk a bit more.’
Maddie sat back and enjoyed watching the handsome young man dancing with her friend.
There was lots of touching and laughter as he showed Sofia what to do.
The dance involved a sort of conga line which wrapped round and got faster and faster in time with the music.
As it reached its crescendo and the music faded out, the people dispersed.
Sofia returned to the table, laughing and breathless.
When the last person left the dance floor, Maddie caught the eye of a man sitting on the opposite side of the terrace and gasped.
Without breaking eye contact, he got up and moved slowly towards her. As he reached their table he smiled his slow smile, a small plaster on the side of his head the only sign anything had been wrong.
He put out his hand and bowed low.
‘Will you dance with me?’
Her first instinct was to say no. But Maddie realised she very much wanted to.
‘Yes, thank you.’
As she got to her feet, the tempo of the music changed yet again, and several couples made their way onto the dance floor. It was no fast wiggle this time, it was a slow dance number, not what she would have chosen at all. Her heart banged in her chest, but she couldn’t really back out now.
Thanassis held her close, and her body gradually relaxed against his, as the music made its way through her from her feet upwards and she gave in to the sensuous beat.
Maddie closed her eyes for a moment, the woody smell of his aftershave flooding her senses. The guilt fell away briefly. It was nice to be in a man’s arms again. Not the man that she would have wished for, but Thanassis was a more than adequate substitute.
His hot breath was in her ear, their faces an inch apart.
‘I did not dream you would be here. I was coming to see you tomorrow anyway, at the hotel, to say thank you.’
‘There’s really no need.’
Thanassis pulled his head back a moment and looked at her with the blue eyes that seemed capable of seeing into her soul.
‘Of course there is a need. You saved my life.’
‘Hardly.’
He pulled her in even closer.
‘Don’t be modest. You were very brave.’
The heat between them was undeniable. Even Maddie could remember what chemistry looked like. Or more importantly felt like. And it had been a while. The bare skin at the vee of his open linen shirt touched her shoulder a moment as he moved against her, and she held in a sigh.
Around them, outside their little bubble, she became aware that people had started to murmur, and the noise was increasing by the second. Over Thanassis’s shoulder, she glimpsed the disapproving face of his daughter in the crowd, her set mouth saying more than words ever could.
She pulled back out of his arms.
‘What is it?’
Thanassis looked around him.
‘Ah, I see, people have put two and two together. They know it is you, my saviour.’
A slow clap reverberated around the space, taken up table by table, which sent a shiver down Maddie’s spine.
‘I’m really not comfortable with this.’
‘No, I understand. I will take you back to your friends.’ He leaned into her one last time, his breath soft in her ear this time. ‘But before I do, my daughter goes back to her own home tomorrow, thank goodness, and I am a free man again. Will you let me take you out, just the two of us?’
Her head was all over the place, never mind her body.
‘I’m not sure that would be a good idea.’
His bright blue eyes fixed her to the spot.
‘Do you trust me?’
Without thinking too hard, she nodded.
‘Then I will call at the hotel for you tomorrow afternoon around five. Wear your swimming stuff.’
As he handed her back to her friends, a huge cheer broke out, ringing in the night air. Maddie acknowledged the crowd with a bow, but her head swam as she sat down hard on the bench.
Sofia put her hand out to steady her friend. They needed to get out of there. Maddie had been pushed to her limits already and Charlotte wasn’t going to get her dance tonight.
‘The taxi is waiting at the bottom of the hill. Let’s go.’