When they’d finished admiring the bouleuterion, where the statue of Zeus had once stood, he led her across to the track where the athletes had competed. ‘Did you know they competed in the nude?’
Instantly an image of Alexander naked leaped into her head and blood rushed to her cheeks. She hoped he would think it was the heat that was making her flush but when she saw the amusement in his eyes she knew he was perfectly aware what she’d been thinking.
It was nuts. After Ben she’d only ever had one other significant long-term relationship—with Steven, one of her colleagues. When that had ended, after he’d been offered a job in the States, she’d been surprisingly relieved. Since then, although she’d been asked out many times and Sally had tried to fix her up with several of the unattached men she or Tom knew, and she’d gone out with two or three of them, no one had appealed enough to make her want to see them again beyond a couple of dates.
Relationships, she’d decided, were overrated. Many women were single and very happy—as was she. She could eat when she liked, go where she pleased without having to consult anyone, holiday where it suited her and work all weekend and every weekend if she wanted to. Until her mother’s death, she had rarely been lonely—she hadn’t lied to Crystal when she’d told her she preferred being on her own, but that didn’t mean she didn’t miss physical contact. That didn’t mean she didn’t miss sex.
She felt her flush deepen. But sex without strings had never been her cup of tea.
God! She’d thought more about sex over these last two days than she had in months. But it was hard not to think about it around all these nude statues. Perhaps it hadn’t been such a good idea choosing to come here instead of lunch. Lunch might have been the safer option after all.
A replacement car still wasn’t available when they returned to the rental company.
‘Really!’ Katherine muttered. ‘It’s almost six.’ Unlike Alexander, she needed to cool off, preferably with an ice-cold shower. And to do that she needed to get home—and out of Alexander’s company.
‘He promises he’ll have one by seven. If not, he’ll give you his own car.’ Alexander grinned. ‘I did warn you about Greek timing.’
‘But aren’t you in a hurry to get back?’ she asked, dismayed. ‘I mean, you’ve given up the best part of your day to help me out. You must have other stuff you’d rather be doing. And I should get back to my thesis.’
‘Nope. I’m in no rush. As I said, I’m not expecting my cousin and Crystal home until later. And surely you can give yourself a few more hours off?’ The laughter in his eyes dimmed momentarily. ‘Trust me, sometimes work should take a back seat.’
It was all right for him, he clearly found it easy to relax. But to spend more time in his company, blushing and getting tongue-tied, was too embarrassing. Still, she couldn’t very well make him take a taxi all the way back home—even if it was an appealing thought. Maybe she should get a taxi home? Now she was being ridiculous! She was behaving like someone with sunstroke. She almost sighed with relief. Perhaps that was it? She clearly wasn’t herself. She realised he was watching her curiously. What had he been saying? Oh, yes—something about dinner.
‘In that case, dinner would be lovely,’ she replied, pulling herself together. ‘Do you have somewhere in mind?’
‘As a matter of fact I do. It’s down by the shore. They sell the best seafood this side of Greece.’ He tilted his head. ‘You do like seafood, don’t you?’
‘I love it.’
‘Good. We can wave goodbye to the cruise ships and more or less have the place to ourselves. We’ll leave the car here. It’s not far.’
They walked along the deserted main street. Without the hordes of visitors and now that the shopkeepers had brought in their stands that had been filled with tourist souvenirs, maps and guides, the town had a completely different feel to it. It was as if it were a town of two identities—the one belonging to the tourists, and this typically Greek sleepy one.
The restaurant was situated at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac and it didn’t look very prepossessing from the rear, where the entrance was situated. Understated was the word Katherine would use to describe the interior with its striped blue and white table runners and unlit candles rammed into empty wine bottles. But when they were guided to a table on the veranda by the maître d’, the view took Katherine’s breath away. White sands and a blue, blue sea glittered as if some ancient god had scattered diamonds onto its surface. Alexander pulled out a chair for her beneath the shade of a tree and she sank happily into it.
When Alexander chose the lobster, freshly caught that morning, she decided to have it too. And since he was determined to drive they ordered a glass of chilled white wine for her and a fruit juice for himself.
They chatted easily about Greece and the recent blow to its economy and Alexander suggested various other places she might want to visit. Then he asked which medical school she’d studied at and she’d told him Edinburgh. Surprisingly, it turned out that it had been one of his choices but in the end he’d decided on Bart’s.
‘What made you decide to study in England?’ she asked.
‘I was brought up there. My mother was from Kent.’ That explained his excellent English.
‘So you have a Greek father and an English mother. I’m the opposite. How did your parents meet?’
‘My mother met my father when she was working in a taverna while she was backpacking around Greece. It was supposed to be her gap year but in the end she never made it to university. Not long after she and my father started dating, they married. They moved to an apartment in Athens and after a couple of years they had me, then my younger brother. But she always pined for England. My father lectured in archaeology so he applied for a post at the British Museum and when he was accepted, we upped and left. I was five at the time.
‘My father always missed Greece, though, so we came back as a family whenever we could, particularly to see my grandmother—my father’s mother—and all the other family—aunts and uncles and cousins. Greece has always felt like home to me. Dad died when he was in his early forties. My grandfather died shortly after he did and, as my father’s eldest son, I inherited the villa I live in now, as well as the land around it. It’s been in our family for generations. Naturally my grandmother still lives in the family home.’
Katherine wanted to ask about his wife, but judging by his terse response in the village consulting room earlier that was a no-go area. ‘And where’s your mother now?’ she asked instead, leaning back as their waiter placed their drinks in front of them.
‘Still in England,’ Alexander continued, when their waiter had left. ‘She hasn’t been back since my father died. I don’t think she can bear to come anymore. She lives close to my brother in Somerset.’
‘Doesn’t she miss her grandchild?’
‘Of course. However, Mother’s life is in England—it’s where her friends and my brother and his family are. We visit her often and, of course, there’s video chat.’ He took a sip of his drink. ‘That’s enough about me. What about you? Is there someone waiting for you in the UK?’
‘No. No one.’
He looked surprised. ‘Divorced, then? I’m assuming no children otherwise they’d be with you.’
She hesitated. ‘Not divorced. Never married.’ She swallowed. ‘And no children.’
‘Brothers and sisters? Your dad?’
‘My dad passed away when I was fifteen. And no brothers or sisters.’
‘So an only child. Being on your own must have made your mother’s death even harder to handle, then,’ he said softly.