Saved By The Greek Doctor (Greek Gods #3) - Holly Rayner Page 0,2

that well—perhaps there was something wrong with my vision—but from what I could see… Dear Lord in Heaven, he was freaking gorgeous. Dark, curly hair and eyes so sparklingly turquoise that I had a confused moment of thinking that they were actually the water.

Oh, great. Now I really was hallucinating.

I took one step, trying to figure out how my balance was, and then took another… and then the whole world went black.

Chapter 2

Nikos

I was standing by my boat, trying to get rid of the old coat of paint—which I didn’t like anymore, and which I had woken up this morning thinking that I desperately needed to get rid of, given that it reminded me of what had happened five years ago. Five years ago, when my daughter had died.

On my surgical table.

This was the boat I’d named after her when she was a baby, and the last time I’d painted it she’d still been alive.

The paint was a bright baby blue, because it had been Lia’s favorite color in the world. She’d said that it had reminded her of the water, and when she’d gone with me to pick out the color for the sailboat, this was the one she’d asked for. I hadn’t much liked the color, myself, but I also hadn’t been able to tell her no. And the boat had been the same color for the last ten years.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath that did nothing for the tightness in my chest. I’d dreamt about her last night, all frizzy blond hair and big brown eyes, and I’d woken up this morning feeling the ache that came from dreaming about someone who had been gone for too long—and knowing that I had to start moving again.

It had been five years of standing still. My wife had left me right after Lia died, prey to the horror and sorrow that had gripped me and made it impossible for me to do anything but shut down and close the world out.

I hadn’t blamed her, honestly. I hadn’t been any sort of good company, and I certainly hadn’t been able to support her through her own grief; I’d been far too wrapped up in my own sorrow and guilt.

I’d quit my surgical career soon after that. I’d been at the top of my game, a prodigy who had found his way to head surgeon at a very young age and then saved life after life. But suddenly, after Lia, I’d found myself afraid to work. Afraid that more people would die on my table.

I’d become, to be frank, worried that I had been the bad luck that had taken Lia’s life during what should have been a straightforward surgery.

I’d spent the last five years consumed by grief. But this morning, I’d woken up thinking that maybe it was time to start moving again. Maybe it was time to actually look at life and try to live it once more. Starting with this boat.

No, I wouldn’t change the name. It would always be The Lia. But maybe it didn’t need to be blue anymore. Maybe I would try… green. Try to live life on the wilder side.

Try to live life at all.

I was just pondering that idea when I looked up and saw a sailboat out on the water, a woman at the helm.

A woman who appeared to be sailing with her eyes closed.

“Tourists,” I muttered to myself, coming quickly to my feet and walking toward the end of the dock to get a better look.

Yep, the woman definitely had her eyes closed. Though they popped open a second later and glared out over the water like she was thinking about something a whole lot darker than the brilliant day around us. She was also…

Well, she seemed to be actually talking to herself. Or at least her mouth was moving, like she was having some sort of physical reaction to whatever she was thinking about. And that reaction was anger, unless I was mistaken.

Terrific. Not only a tourist but evidently a crazy one, at that. One who sailed with her eyes closed and then had full conversations with herself about it.

She was also, I couldn’t help but notice, shockingly beautiful. Wind-blown golden curls, bright blue eyes—when they were open—and dimples that made me think of a little kid eating ice cream. She was petite, by the looks of things, and all curves.

But still, a tourist and evidently crazy, and those were the more important aspects here.

When she