“Of course not!” He frowned. “How many people have I introduced you to in the last six weeks?”
“But that doesn’t mean they know we’re—that we—”
“That we’re red-hot lovers?”
“Hush!” Kizzy wriggled loose of his arm as Dorinda approached them. “We might embarrass her.”
“I doubt it,” Andreas chuckled, but he got up and brought her a little occasional table.
Dorinda slid the tray in front of them and fussed for a moment with the coffeepot. “This morning I bring you meat and cheese with your yogurt and fruit. To give you strength.”
“I need strength, Dorinda?” Andreas replied with a wry expression as he poured them two cups of coffee.
“Your trip to the conference in Geneva. A long way and all those delays… You must both be very tired.”
“We are, but it was worth it. Wasn’t it, Kizzy?”
“It was amazing,” Kizzy concurred, hurriedly hiding her smile. Being stranded by a volcanic dust cloud in a luxury hotel for a few nights had been exhausting. They’d barely slept with the trauma of it all…
“Then you must both eat and rest. Important party tonight, remember?”
Kizzy scooped some feta cheese and marinated red pepper onto a flatbread and rolled it up in her fingers. Once Dorinda had bustled away, she looked at Andreas, puzzled. “Party?”
“It’s St. Peter and St. Paul’s day here. There’s a big traditional celebration this evening in St. Paul’s Bay, and everyone will be there. Including us.” Andreas slid a warm hand beneath the silk of her robe and stroked his fingertips along the smooth top of her thigh. “I can’t wait to show you off again.”
…
Kizzy was silent as they walked hand-in-hand through the bustling, whitewashed honeycomb of alleyways. But inside, her heart seemed to sing with happiness. They might be surrounded by hundreds of noisy, boisterous partygoers, half-deafened by the festive music blasting out across the village, and confronted by locals peddling their wares on every corner, yet with his strong hand clasping hers, somehow she felt cocooned against the outside world. Andreas made her feel safe and treasured, a feeling she had never experienced with a man before. She loved being with him—in fact, she’d be happy if they never had to see another person again.
Suddenly, Kizzy had a deep longing to be back on the island, to be totally alone with him once more. It had been so perfect.
“Not far now,” Andreas said as they turned left onto a quiet street that quickly tapered into a narrow path. “Not going too fast for you, am I?”
“I’m fine,” Kizzy replied with her eyes fixed on the intricately pebbled path and her sandals. “But I do sometimes wonder if I’ll ever get to wear heels again.”
Andreas laughed and slid his arm around her shoulders. “Not if you want to walk around Lindos without breaking your neck. Besides, you don’t need them. I love your legs just the way they are.” He came to a halt and stroked his large hands down around her waist, pulling her into him so that their faces were just millimeters apart. “But there’s always indoors if you really must. I have no objection to you wearing them in bed from time to time.”
“Don’t!” she giggled and a thrill shot through her as he gently pushed her against a low wall overlooking the sea. The rough stone wall rasped intimately against her bare skin, exposed by her black halter-neck dress.
“Why not?” he demanded. “I intend to kiss you senseless before we have to behave ourselves in front of the great and good of the metropolis.”
“This is positively indecent,” she murmured, before his lips pressed hard against hers.
…
“Are you enjoying yourself?” Andreas asked later as they stood in the tiny, paved courtyard outside St. Paul’s church. “Not too hectic, I hope. Everyone seems to want to talk to us tonight.”
“It’s fabulous. I didn’t think Lindos could get any more beautiful, but tonight—all this? It’s beyond magical.” She sighed deeply. “Just look at that.”
The rising moon had turned the sky and sea blood red, streaked with wisps of violet, indigo, and orange, which were reflected with eye-watering effect in the mirrorlike water. Fairy lights twinkled around the lagoon, and the harsh rocks surrounding them glowed like molten ore.
“They say the apostle Paul was almost shipwrecked on the rocks here in a violent storm,” he told her, “but miraculously the ship escaped harm and found shelter in the bay. This little church marks the spot.”
She leaned on the low whitewashed wall that was fused into the savage golden boulders, and took a deep breath of night air.
“It’s hard to imagine a storm in such a beautiful place.” She jumped with surprise as a soft flutter of black velvet brushed her arm and left a trace of expensive perfume.
“Efharisto! Thank you!” Kizzy called after the small, elegant woman who had appeared from nowhere with two flutes of champagne for them, and then discreetly left again. She whispered to Andreas, “That was Olympia Parnassus, wasn’t it?”
“The mayor’s wife, yes.”
“That was nice of her.”
“You have a high social standing in Lindos now. And largely thanks to you, her husband has pledged a large amount of money to the school project.” He raised his champagne flute to her. “So, well done.”
“But I didn’t do anything.”
“You’ve been working on a hot, dusty building site when you could just as easily have been enjoying a life of luxury as my companion. People respect hard work here.” Andreas lifted her chin slightly to look her in the eye. “They also talk. You have no idea how many dinner invitations I’ve turned down this week.”
“Really?”
“Do you mind being the center of attention?”
Kizzy took a moment to quell the little voice in her head that suggested he was too embarrassed to take her to private dinner parties. Restaurants, public celebrations, yes, but not the inner sanctums of his world, places unsuitable for the mistress of the moment.
“Actually, no,” she replied, and forced a brittle smile as she pulled away from his hand. “I’m enjoying tonight, and the summer festivals every few weeks are fun. But I prefer it when it’s just you and me.”
Andreas smiled, threaded his arm around her waist and pulled her close to his body. He stared into the distance toward the floodlit acropolis. There was a heavy silence for a moment.