One Summer in Santorini. Sandy Barker

this trip is a good start, I’d say.’ We shared a smile.

      ‘Yes.’

      I remembered the moment on the bus when I’d wondered if we would become friends. It was hard to conceive how, in such a short time, we’d got to the point where he could share something like that with me. Or that I was comfortable enough to say what I’d said, something no one knew about me, not even my closest friends.

      Josh and I were becoming friends.

      When we got back to the marina, the others had returned to the boat – except Patricia, of course – and the all-women boat was docked beside us. Their skipper, Stuart – a guy who in any other circumstance would probably not be surrounded by women – looked like the cat who’d got the cream. I knew that look. I’d seen it on the faces of coach drivers I’d worked with in Europe during my tour managing days. That look said, ‘I’m going to shag every one of them if I can.’ Not that I blamed him – they were a very attractive group of women.

      Duncan and Stuart had arranged for all of us to have dinner together that night – except Patricia (again). Duncan had chosen a restaurant he’d been to many times before, and when we arrived, he was greeted with lots of fanfare by an effusive Greek woman with very dark curly hair and warm brown eyes. She regarded the large group and waved her hands dramatically at the waiters, indicating for them to move tables together so we could sit at one long table – family style.

      We stood out of the way as tables were lifted above heads, chairs moved two at a time, and place settings reset. When everything was in place, the woman smiled and told us to ‘Sit, sit, sit,’ as she bustled about giving us menus.

      I sat with Josh to the left of me, Marie to my right with Gary next to her. Hannah was across from Marie, with Gerry next to her and Duncan on her right. On the other side of Josh was one of the women from the other boat, a petite, redheaded American named Kiersten.

      Kiersten was the only one from her boat who wasn’t vying for the attention of her skipper during dinner. Instead, all her energies were directed at Josh, and it was quite entertaining watching it all unfold. She was behaving as though she’d been at sea for months with nary a male in sight, rather than on a boat for one whole night and one whole day. And she was ploughing through the white wine like it was water.

      The flirtations began as giggles – everything Josh said was hilarious, even when he wasn’t saying it to her – and then she ratcheted it up a few notches by adding hair twisting and licking her lips a lot. All the while, she was getting drunker.

      When she put her hand on Josh’s thigh, he jumped in his chair, then scooched it so close to mine, our elbows bumped while we ate. Marie, Hannah, Gerry and I watched this spectacle while swapping amused looks.

      ‘So, Hannah, how do you like the calamari?’ I asked, as though nothing weird was happening to my left.

      ‘Hmm. I can do the whole Greek salad thing, but I can’t say I’m particularly into the rest of Greek food so far.’ Her face scrunched up as she looked up and down the table at the array of dishes.

      I shook my head at her. ‘You’re gonna be pretty hungry for the rest of the trip if we don’t find you something you like.’

      Marie tried to help. ‘Goat?’ she asked, passing Hannah a plate piled high with roasted goat meat. Hannah’s face went from scrunched to contorted, and Marie put the goat back where it had come from. She looked at me with a smile. ‘I guess not.’

      Just then Kiersten laughed loudly and Josh practically climbed onto my lap. ‘You alright there?’ I asked him quietly.

      ‘Not really,’ he said, pointedly. ‘Please help me,’ he added in an urgent whisper.

      I made eye contact with him. ‘Seriously?’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘Like, how much help do you want?’

      ‘A large amount of help.’

      ‘Like, “pretend to be your girlfriend” level of help?’

      ‘Yes. Please.’

      I looked over at Marie, who was listening in. ‘Can you please hand me the goat?’

      She passed it over, and I made a huge show of putting some on Josh’s plate. ‘Here you go, babe,’ I said loudly enough for almost everyone at the table to hear. ‘You wanted to try the goat, right?’

      Josh caught on. ‘Sure, honey. Thanks.’ I took a piece of tomato from his plate with my fingers, and put it in my mouth, licking my fingers seductively.

      We smiled at each other, and I added a cute little nose wrinkle to really seal the deal. Kiersten watched me agog. I winked at her and kept eating. She didn’t miss a beat, suddenly turning her attention to her left and laughing at Stuart’s last comment, something she couldn’t possibly have heard. She was a professional-level flirter, I had to give her that.

      ‘How’s that?’ I asked.

      ‘I think it did the trick. Thanks.’

      ‘Any time, compadre.’

      Later that night, Hannah, Josh and I were sitting on the front deck of the boat, sipping some of Hannah’s Scotch – straight up, no ice – from plastic cups. After we told her about the liquor prices at the store, she’d rushed over to buy some.

      ‘I kept thinking, “What’s going to happen here? Do you want to have sex with me? Where would we even do that? We’re both living on boats – and sharing cabins!” I mean, seriously, what the hell was she thinking?’ Josh was obviously still reeling from Kiersten’s overt sexual pursuit.

      ‘Well, maybe she thought we all wanted dinner and a show,’ replied Hannah. She and I both laughed while Josh glared at us.

      ‘Oh, come on,’ I teased, ‘it was funny.’ When he didn’t respond, I added, ‘What? Too soon?’

      ‘Okay, I’m going to bed.’ He got up to leave.

      ‘Nooo. Sit. We’re only teasing you,’ I said, tugging on his hand.

      ‘It’s all good. I’m just tired. Thanks for helping me out, Sarah. And thanks for the Scotch, Hannah.’

      We waved him off with, ‘You’re welcome,’ and ‘Goodnight.’

      When he was below deck, Hannah topped up my drink and said quietly, ‘He likes you, you know?’

      ‘Josh? No. We’re friends – that’s all.’

      ‘He does. I’ve seen him watching you when you’re not looking.’ I shook my head. It wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Even if I was attracted to him – which since the bare torso incident, I realised I was – I didn’t want it to be reciprocated. Because it would mean that something could happen. And I didn’t want anything to happen. I’d sworn off men for a good reason, and I wasn’t going to get my heart tangled up in a stupid holiday romance, especially with someone who was becoming a friend.

      No way. Hannah was wrong.