style="font-size:15px;"> Stefano kept stowing the groceries, but Sara knew he was listening avidly. Had he known Nikos had taken her diving? She felt her face grow warm remembering that dive—and the kiss that followed. Surely they’d been too far from the boat for anyone to see.
“Sounds like something to think about,” she said, conscious of Stefano’s presence. Did Nikos mean to go with her? Or after only one short lesson, would he trust her on her own? Did others of the crew dive? She didn’t want to go with anyone else.
Nikos didn’t seem in a hurry to leave. He leaned against the doorjamb and watched as she checked off the ingredients and Stefano stowed them. What was he doing?
“Did you need something?” she asked.
“No. Just wondered what was for dinner. It’s supposed to storm through the evening so we will stay put for the night. The aft deck isn’t protected. No need to cook if you don’t wish to. We can take our meals at the resort.”
“Or we take our meals in our rooms in inclement weather,” Stefano said.
“Then if you wouldn’t mind cooking, it would save the crew going out into the bad weather,” Nikos said.
“So individual trays,” Sara murmured, wondering if Nikos sat in solitary splendor in the dining salon or invited the captain to join him.
“Perhaps you’d care to join me this evening once the meal is prepared.”
Sara stopped and stared at Nikos.
Stefano stopped and stared at both of them, his head turning like a spectator’s at a tennis match.
Sara’s heart rate doubled. She studied him for a moment. “Why not? Thank you for asking. When I have everything ready, I’ll ask Stefano to bring up the tray.”
Nikos glanced at Stefano. The steward stared back, obviously at a loss for words. “If that suits you, Stefano.”
“Of course.”
Nikos nodded and turned to leave.
Sara looked at the steward. “Something tells me he doesn’t often ask the chef I’m replacing to eat with him.”
“Never. But then, Paul is not a beautiful woman.”
Sara laughed nervously. What had she just agreed to? “Neither am I, but thank you. I think I’ll prepare lamb with mint jelly. He liked it last time I made that.”
“As far as I know he has never been a picky eater,” Stefano said, busying himself with the last of the grocery placement.
“How long have you known him?” she asked.
“I’ve worked for the resort for six years. And been steward on the Cassandra for almost five. I wouldn’t say I know him, precisely.”
And never been asked to eat with him, Sara guessed. She didn’t know whether to be wary he had asked for her company or annoyed at the barrier it might raise with other crew members. She had to work with these people. She didn’t want any resentment.
Nikos wondered if he was making a mistake. He stood near the tall windows of the dining salon awaiting dinner. Stefano would bring it up in only moments. And Sara would come up, as well. It was unheard of for him to invite a crew member to dine with him. Though he and the captain had shared many meals on the bridge, he’d never shared one in the main salon unless guests were present and they wished the captain to share in the festivities. As to the rest of the crew, Nikos occasionally ate on the aft deck with them, but none had ever eaten in the salon when he was aboard.
The trip to the island would of necessity be brief. He had already been several days from the resort. But he hadn’t seen his grandfather in several weeks and wanted to spend a few days with him. He and his wife always made Nikos feel at home and urged him to stay as long as he could. The island held the best memories of Nikos’s childhood. He remembered exploring, learning to dive, learning to pilot the yacht. And his grandmother’s loving smile. Spiros’s second wife, Eleani, was as loving as his first. What was his secret to finding women to love him and for him to love?
He’d thought Ariana would be someone to grow old with. That relationship had proved false and left him wary of women and their motives. While he’d dated over the years, it wasn’t until he began to consider Gina as wife material that he’d grown serious. Until he met Sara.
She was nothing like the woman he wanted for a wife. She lacked … what? The cosmopolitan veneer he was used to? That made him feel cynical. Yet he was just as skeptical of her own delight in all things. How long would it take to find the key to Sara? Did she long for fame as a chef? For a high-prestige job? Or just pots of money and the lifestyle that went with it?
“Dinner, sir,” Stefano said, arriving with the tray. The table had been set a half hour ago. The steward placed the tray on the stand and began serving.
Sara entered, her cheeks rosy from heat in the kitchen. She’d obviously changed for the meal, wearing a simple dress instead of the resort uniform.
When they’d been seated, served and Stefano had left, Nikos poured a bit of wine in her glass. “A bottle from our own islands.”
She took a sip. “Lovely. So have you rethought Greek wines?”
“The resort has always served local wines, but perhaps we’ll expand the offerings. In addition, I have a new agreement for the next three years with Senor Fregulia. After that time I’ll review the consumption rate of both and make a decision.”
Sara longed to ask about Gina. But since Nikos had never brought up the subject, she couldn’t. But it seemed odd that he would dine with her if he were on the brink of asking another woman to marry him.
“Maybe the head chef at the resort will think up a special dish to go with the island wine and when ordered the sommelier can suggest this variety,” she said, nervous. Now that it was the two of them, it felt like a date. What would they talk about? Diving? The resort? Or could she steer the conversation to families and Eleani Konstantinos in particular?
She glanced at the windows on which rivulets of water ran down. The rain had started shortly after the groceries had arrived and not let up since. The ship bobbed by the dock, obviously impacted by the winds accompanying the storm. It had grown dark early with the storm.
“So it’s a good thing we didn’t head out,” she said, tasting the lamb. It was delicious. If nothing else, she’d fall back on describing how she had prepared the meal.
“We would have had a rough ride, but the Cassandra is very seaworthy, and this storm would have been a mere inconvenience, not a threat.”
“I wonder if I would have been seasick,” she said, watching him take a bite of the lamb.
“Delicious,” he said as he savored the flavors.
Sara smiled, relaxing a tiny bit. “Thank you.”
Talk revolved around the ship as they ate the meal. Sara asked how often he sailed, where he had been, what his favorite places were. By the time they finished, Sara was feeling much more at ease. And knew more about her boss. His experiences far surpassed hers in travel. This was her first extended stay anywhere outside
