I didn’t put that in quite the most flattering of terms,’ Alex began as he pulled on his shorts and slipped his shirt over his broad shoulders.
‘I am not interested in any of your terms, Mr Statis,’ Saffron responded stonily. ‘Now, can we leave? I did want to see the town of Mykonos—that’s what we came ashore for. Not your sleazy suggestions.’
Alex shot her a quizzical glance. ‘“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” You wanted sex as much as I did, only you’re not prepared to admit it,’ he told her casually as he caught her hand. She tried to pull free, but Alex, with one glance and a dry, ‘Don’t be childish,’ quelled her revolt and side by side they walked back to the car.
Saffron was determined not to speak to him again, and on the drive back she kept a stony silence. Eventually, when they arrived in the town, Alex turned to face her and said quietly, ‘OK, I apologise. Truce, pax, friends…’ and held out his hand. ‘I promise, no more teasing.’
Saffron felt the colour scorch her cheeks. What a fool she had been; twice in one day she had melted in his arms, while to him it had been a huge joke. Calmly she put her hand in his and agreed, and she told herself she was not disappointed. Of course Alex could not seriously want a girl like her. His own mother had told her he had women galore.
Soon the charm of the town, and an apparently reformed friendly Alex, swept the earlier episode on the beach to the back of her mind. No one could fail to be delighted with the tiny streets, and the windmills that even Alex didn’t know the reason for. Finally, as the sun began to sink lower in the sky, he led her to Little Venice. The buildings were right on the edge of the sea and the upper storeys hung out over the water in marvellous timber balconies. They walked up a tiny winding flight of stairs to a delightful bar which Alex insisted was the best on the island, with a perfect view of the sunset and classical music in the background. Sitting by the window at a tiny table for two, Saffron had never experienced anything so romantic.
‘What would you like to drink, Saffron?’ Alex asked quietly; it was as if even the great Alex Statis was affected by the atmosphere.
Saffron turned glowing green eyes on his rugged face. ‘Anything—you choose. This is just perfect.’ She could not contain her delight and, stretching out her hand, she touched his arm fleetingly. ‘Thank you for bringing me here.’
‘The pleasure is all mine.’ Alex smiled back, and for an instant Saffron could only stare; his dark brown eyes gleamed with a rare tender warmth, and the effect on her senses was electric.
The waiter arrived with a whisky and soda for Alex and some fabulous red concoction for Saffron, with an umbrella and a sparkler burning in the glass.
‘Cheers,’ she toasted Alex as she removed the sparkler and took a sip. ‘I said “anything” but I didn’t expect to get a flaming potion.’
They laughed together, and then in unspoken accord turned their attention to the view from the balcony, as the sun turned to brilliant scarlet and slowly sank towards the horizon.
The music changed and Saffron recognised it immediately; the opera was a secret passion of hers. ‘Rossini—my favourite composer!’ she exclaimed. ‘The overture to The Thieving Magpie, I think.’
‘You like his overtures?’ Alex’s dark eyes lingered over her fine features, taking note of the mass of hair that rivalled the sunset in its colour.
‘Yes, I adore them,’ she said, slightly uneasy at his unwavering scrutiny. ‘I have quite a collection.’
‘Yes, I can see why. You’re a romantic and as impetuous, pulsing and sometimes as abandoned as Rossini’s music. It’s all there in your cat’s eyes and your magnificent hair—your passionate nature.’
Saffron was about to deny his reading of her character angrily, then realised that what Alex had said about the music was true. Did her love of Rossini disguise an impulsive passionate nature? The thought worried her… She was here on a Greek island with a man she hardly knew…And, lost in her own thoughts, she barely heard his cynically murmured comment.
‘Let’s hope the title does not accurately reflect you as well.’
She glanced warily across at Alex; his dark eyes caught and held hers. For a long moment the sunset, the surroundings disappeared; they were the only two people in the universe, and something deep and compelling seemed to flow between them.
‘You agree with me,’ Alex husked softly, and she did not think he was talking only about the music. She forced herself to look away and, picking up her glass, drained it, making no response. She couldn’t…she was terrified. After one day with Alex, a few kisses and now a glance and a simple observation on her choice of music, the man had made her recognise her own sexuality in a way she had never considered before. She had always thought of herself as a passionless sort of girl, if not frigid. Sex and romance played no part in her life. With a sense of shock she realised that the be-all and end-all of her life for years had been her burning ambition to succeed on her own. She had no close friends, except perhaps Eve, who was now dead…
She turned and gazed at the sea; the Statis yacht, aptly named Lion Lore, rode at anchor and as she watched the coloured lights from prow to stern flashed on, as the sun sank below the horizon in majestic glory, turning the sea blood-red.
‘You must visit the outdoor opera in Verona; it is an experience not to be missed.’ His hand covered hers on the table. ‘Will you let me take you, Saffron?’ he asked in that throaty, sexy voice of his, his thumb teasingly stroking her palm.
In that second she realised she wanted to say yes! But she knew he was asking for a lot more than an evening at the opera and, snatching her hand from his, she jumped to her feet. ‘It’s time we left. Anna will need me.’
‘She’s not the only one,’ Alex taunted softly as he led her out into the balmy night air. Stopping at the edge of the water, he turned her to face him, linking his hands loosely around her waist.
Saffron tensed. Why did his words sound like a threat, she wondered, when his every look and touch promised her delights she could only guess at, and secretly longed for…?
‘Funny. For a girl with a passion for overtures…’ he bent and brushed the top of her head with the lightest of kisses ‘…you are very slow on picking up on them.’ His dark eyes smiled teasingly down at her.
Saffron grinned, her tension vanishing. ‘God, that was a terrible pun, Alex!’
‘It worked—it made you smile.’ And, holding hands, they made their way back to the yacht.
DINNER was again an informal affair; Anna had arranged for a hot and cold buffet to be served, unsure at what time Alex and Saffron would return.
Once more in the company of the older woman, Saffron sighed with relief, and the tension of the afternoon and her complete capitulation to Alex’s sexual charm faded to the back of her mind as the three of them partook of a leisurely meal on the rear deck beneath the star-studded canopy of the night sky.
Saffron sipped her wine and cast a speculative glance beneath her thick lashes at Alex. He and his mother were discussing some people they knew and Saffron was quite
