Saffron thought, bemused. She had realised Anna was wealthy, but it was slowly dawning on her that Alex Statis must be extremely rich. No wonder he was worried about his mother being ripped off by some unscrupulous companion. But it still gave him no right to suspect her, she thought grimly. He didn’t know her, and was never likely to. She was way below his social circle and she knew it.
Subdued, Saffron sat down in one of the armchairs, avoiding looking at where Alex lounged elegantly on a sofa opposite. But to her surprise breakfast was a pleasant meal. The same steward who had shown her to her cabin the previous evening placed a wide variety of cereals, croissants, bread and accompanying confections on the large table, along with jugs of coffee, tea and various fruit juices, before asking if anyone wanted a hot meal.
The conversation was general. Saffron made an occasional comment but after a while she left mother and son to do most of the talking, content to admire her surroundings. It was early June, and the hot morning sun sparkled and danced on the deep blue sea, dazzling on the brilliant white of the boat. Paradise must be a lot like this, Saffron mused as she spread thick honey on a second warm croissant. Heaven help her weight if she kept eating like this…
‘Is that all right with you, Saffron?’
She jumped at the sound of her name, her glance flashing between the other two. She felt that some comment was expected of her, but hadn’t a clue what had been said.
‘Tell her again, Alex,’ Anna said with a grin.
Saffron reluctantly looked across at Alex. He was lounging casually back on the sofa, with his long legs stretched out in front of him. His hard, dangerously masculine body was briefly clad in a sleeveless black T-shirt that moulded his broad, muscular chest in loving detail. A pair of white shorts exposed his long legs, tanned to a golden bronze and rippling with muscles. He was all male, all-powerful, and he made her head spin…
‘We will be arriving in Mykonos in a couple of hours. Mother wanted to see the island again, but she does not feel up to going ashore in the tender.’ He hesitated and Saffron raised her eyes to his questioningly.
‘She suggested I take you.’ His sensuous mouth curved mockingly, his dark eyes raking suggestively over her slender frame. Saffron felt the colour rise in her face at his double entendre, before he added slowly, deliberately, ‘For a few hours.’
The lazy smile, the long body stretched out only feet from her were having a totally alien effect on her. She opened her mouth to say no, but was horrified at the odd constriction in her throat. She swallowed hard.
‘Yes, of course she will,’ Anna answered for her. ‘Mykonos is not to be missed.’
‘I don’t know,’ Saffron heard herself murmur; she knew intuitively that being alone with Alex Statis represented a danger she was not sure she could handle.
‘Of course you will, dear,’ Anna insisted.
Saffron glanced across at Alex; the amusement in his eyes was obvious; he knew she wanted to say no, and was daring her to…‘Yes, that would be lovely,’ she heard herself gush, and missed the flicker of cynicism in Alex’s dark eyes.
‘Good. Well, if you will excuse me, ladies, I have work to do.’ Rising to his feet, Alex smiled gently at his mother. ‘Round one to you, Mama.’
His austere features relaxed in a genuine smile that took years off his age and, though his comment puzzled Saffron for a brief second, she saw the man behind the ruthless mask. She sucked in her breath, her green eyes wide with wonder; he looked almost beautiful. But as he glanced briefly at her the tenderness vanished, to be replaced by a glittering predatory glow that turned his deep brown eyes almost golden.
‘I’m looking forward to showing you Mykonos. I want to see your reaction to the place.’
A frisson of some nameless emotion slid down her spine. Fear! No. Anticipation of a day out, Saffron told herself sternly, nothing more! She refused to acknowledge her inexplicable violent attraction to Alex. ‘I’m sure it will be delightful,’ she offered with a cool smile, but had to turn her head away to stare at the sea. In her mind’s eye the sight of him standing so tall and broad, scantily clad in shorts and shirt, was doing something very peculiar to her breathing.
Saffron stood leaning on the ship’s rail, Anna beside her, as they watched the crew lower the gangway and the boat that in a few minutes would take Alex and herself ashore. The island of Mykonos looked everything Anna had told her as they had lounged around the boat all morning, relaxing and chatting.
The yacht had dropped anchor in the bay of Mykonos Town, and the view was spectacular—sparkling white houses, the blue-topped domes of the small churches the place was famous for dotted among them, along with the impressive row of windmills, six marching in a line along the horizon. Tearing her gaze away from the beauty before her, Saffron tried once more to persuade Anna to accompany them.
‘I’ll help you down into the boat, Anna. You will be all right, I promise. It seems a terrible shame for you to miss going ashore.’
‘Rubbish! I can see all I want from here. Don’t forget, Saffy, I have been here countless times.’
‘Well, if you’re sure.’
‘Positive. I want you and Alex to forget about me and don’t come back until you have seen the sunset from Little Venice.’
Before Saffron could reply Alex was at her side. She glanced up at him and her heart jumped. He had changed from the morning into a pair of navy shorts and a navy and white patterned silk shirt, and he looked devastatingly attractive.
‘Ready, Saffron?’ He drawled her name like a caress, sending tingles down her spine. ‘Got your bathing suit?’ he demanded, his dark eyes gleaming knowingly down into hers. He knew exactly how he affected her and obviously found it amusing.
‘Yes,’ she said frostily, swinging her beach bag, and would have preceded him down the gangway but a hand on her arms stopped her.
‘Gentlemen first in this instance, then if you fall I am in front of you to prevent a hasty descent into the sea,’ he explained, before releasing her arm and stepping on to the ladder.
The small boat reached the shore in minutes. A hire car was waiting for them and moments later they were speeding out of the town and into the countryside.
‘I thought we were going to see the town,’ Saffron prompted, a bit miffed that Alex appeared to have a different idea.
‘We will later; first we will drive around the island, go for a swim maybe. There are some magnificent beaches. One or two nude ones if you prefer.’ He shot her a wicked sidelong glance.
‘No way,’ she snapped back.
‘Why not? It will be nothing we haven’t seen before after this morning.’
A telling tide of red suffused her face as for a second she saw in her mind’s eye Alex as he had been that morning in her room—almost naked.
Alex laughed out loud at her obvious discomfiture. ‘OK, you win; bathing suits it is.’
It was like a day out of time for Saffron. After that one bit of teasing in the car Alex set out to be charming company, and Saffron found her antagonism vanishing in a puff of smoke.
They
