“What’s that other smell besides thyme?”
“It’s the woody scent of the maquis growing here mixed with rock rose and laurel.”
“I think you’ve brought me to the Elysian fields where Zeus allowed Homer to live out his days in happiness surrounded by flowers.”
Everything she said reminded him that she was highly educated and had seen and done things only experienced by a privileged few. She knew things you only learned from books and academic study. That was part of what made her so desirable. What could he give her in return?
That question burned in his brain as he cleared the table and put things away. “I take it you don’t mind being whisked here.”
Her mouth curved into a full-bodied smile, filling him with indescribable longings. “Your only problem, Akis Giannopoulos, will be to pry me away when it’s time to leave. I love this island where you come to fill your lamp with oil.”
The things that came out of that beautiful mouth.
He took a swift breath. “Raina Maywood? Before it’s time for bed, it’s time I heard the story of your life.”
RAINA GOT UP before he could help her and walked into the other room, but she didn’t dare lie down on the couch. The way she was feeling about Akis right now, Raina would ask him to join her and beg him to love her, so she opted for the chair.
He was a man a breed apart from other men in so many vital ways. What an irony that she’d tried to run from him that first night! What if he hadn’t pursued her? The thought of never knowing him was like trying to imagine a world without the sun. She waited for him to come in the living room.
When he did, he stretched out on the couch, using the arm for a pillow. After hearing about his beginnings, she felt doubly privileged to be with him like this in his own private sanctuary. He turned his head toward her. “You haven’t told me much about your parents.”
Somehow Raina knew that question would come first. “I was blissfully happy until they died. Dad was an engineer.”
“Your father had the kind of education I would have given anything for. And your mother?”
“She went to college, but became a housewife after I was born. My most vivid memory of her was playing on the beach. We built sand castles and talked about life while my grandmother painted. I was blessed with grandparents who were there for me when my parents died. I don’t know how I would have survived otherwise. They brought happiness into my life again, but they knew I was lonely, even though I had friends.
“That’s why they said I could have a student from a foreign country come and live with us during my senior year. I don’t know how it happened that Chloe was the perfect pick for me. It was so fun helping her with her English. She was an only child, too, so we just clicked from the beginning.
“My parents’ house was near my grandparents who lived close to the ocean. We had horses. I grew up riding and loving it. When Chloe came, we rode along the beach and we did a lot of hiking in the Big Sur Mountains. We made all these plans about what we’d do when I went to Greece. But after Chloe left, my grandmother’s heart started to act up and I was afraid to leave her.”
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “Was it hard to see Chloe go?”
“Yes, but thankfully I had college and became engrossed in my studies.”
He turned on his side toward her. “I missed out on that experience a lot of people take for granted.” Akis sounded far away just then.
She smiled at him. “You didn’t miss anything.” Mindful that his impoverished background had made him the slightest bit sensitive, she said, “What you learned growing up was something no professor or textbook could ever teach you. Every student could take lessons from your work ethic alone.”
“Thanks, but I don’t want to talk about me.”
“I’m not patronizing you, Akis.”
“I know that. Keep talking. I love to hear about you. What did you study?”
“My father took after his father and his father before him. I guess a little of it rubbed off on me. I did well in math and science so I went to graduate school and studied physics. After that I went to work for the Maywood Corporation at our jet propulsion lab in Salinas, not far from Carmel.”
* * *
Incredulous, Akis jackknifed into a sitting position. “Where the helicopters Vasso and I bought are manufactured?”
Her eyes lit up in amusement. “My team did work on its sensor system, one that spanned the electromagnetic spectrum using state-of-the-art instrumentation.”
He was aghast. “You rode in a helicopter whose electronics you helped design and you never said a word?”
“Maybe I didn’t for the same reason you didn’t tell me your number-four store was only one of many.”
They’d both been gun-shy of revealing themselves. He got it. “I’m so impressed with the work you do, I can hardly believe you’ve decided to prolong your vacation here.”
“If you want to know the truth, I’ve worried that you’ve taken your tour director duty too seriously and your brother might feel that you’re neglecting business because of me.”
After the information Vasso found on Raina, no doubt he was curious about what was going on and had left a message for Akis to call him. But he’d put off returning it because for the first time in his life, a woman filled his world and he couldn’t concentrate on anything else.
“It’s getting late, Raina. Before we go to bed, what would you like to do tomorrow?”
“Swim in that green water off your private section of beach. It tops anything I’ve seen in the Caribbean.”
“I’ve never been to the Caribbean.” It was yet another reminder of how worlds apart they were in experience. But her observation caused him to expel a satisfied breath. “That can be arranged. There are few cars on the island, but I have a run-down truck parked on the property to get me around if I need it. We’ll drive down to the shore line. Getting there would be tricky with your crutches.”
“After tomorrow I’m hoping I can throw them away.”
“That can’t come soon enough for me. I’m living to dance with you at a charming taverna in Loggos without being impaled.” Her chuckle excited him. “We’ll take the cabin cruiser over.”
“Is the hut you were born in still there?”
“Yes. But today it’s surrounded by a vineyard. The vintner uses it to store his tools and such.”
“Did that bother you?”
“When Vasso and I found out what was planned, we were happy about it.”
“You
