Saved By The Greek Doctor (Greek Gods #3) - Holly Rayner Page 0,22

was going to be the biggest fall ever.

Besides, hadn’t I promised myself that this was going to be a vacation with no guys in it, and no drama? I was pretty sure I remembered making that promise to myself, and I made it again right then. For my own good.

Of course, it only lasted for as long as it took for Nikos to walk into the room and ask if the rental company had been any help in terms of finding a replacement.

“They won’t be able to send one for another week,” I told him. “And the repairs on the one I was using aren’t going to be done anytime soon.”

He tipped his head back and forth as if he was considering something—and whether he really wanted to say it. Finally, though, he opened his mouth, took a deep breath, and said, “I have two boats, you know. If you like, I could take you to the mainland myself.”

I could see that he hadn’t wanted to offer, but that he was offering anyhow, because it was the right thing to do. The thing he didn’t know—the thing he couldn’t know, because I’d never told him—was that I didn’t actually want to leave the island any quicker than I had to.

So I just shrugged like it didn’t really matter. “I mean, you were right when you said that I came to Greece for a vacation. I might as well have it here, with good company, rather than on the mainland by myself, right? It’s not like there’s anyone there to teach me how to grow olives, and at this point, I feel like leaving Greece without knowing how to grow olives would be a huge sin.”

It was a perfectly viable answer. And that was the only reason I wanted to stay rather than allowing him to take me back to the mainland. Seriously. I liked it here. I was comfortable. And I liked the company.

Period.

His face broke into a relieved smile like that was exactly what he’d been hoping I’d say. “I think it’s the right thing to do, honestly,” he said quickly. “I believe you’re over your dehydration. But the longer you’re here, the longer I can watch you and make sure you’re completely recovered.”

“Right,” I said. “Exactly. So what are we doing tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” he said slowly, “I’m going to give you a proper tour of the house, show you my favorite room—the library—and let you pick out any book you want, so you’ll have reading material with you when we go spend the afternoon by the pool.”

I thought of the tiny hotel where I’d taken out a room on the mainland, and the thing they pretended was a pool. The place had a lovely view of the ocean, but that was about it. And if I was being given the choice between going back there and staying here, in paradise, with an actual Greek god?

Yeah, I knew which one I was going to choose. Every. Single. Time.

Chapter 12

Trish

The next morning, I woke up with the sun. The moment the sun’s first rays started to filter into my bedroom, I opened my eyes and… smiled.

It wasn’t a normal thing for me, that whole opening my eyes and smiling situation. But there was something about this whole island—something about the house itself, and the company—that made me feel like I was living somewhere outside of time. Somewhere outside of the real world.

I felt peaceful.

And with that thought—and knowing that I wasn’t going to go back to sleep now that I was awake—I got up, pulled a sweatshirt out from the closet, and wandered to the kitchen in search of coffee.

The kitchen in the early morning was darker, shadowed, but I had little trouble finding the coffee machine—one of those fancy ones that took pods and only made single cups—and securing myself a cup of joe. A quick trip to the refrigerator and I had cream in it, and then I was on my way toward the back patio, my eyes on the horizon.

I came from Texas and I’d still never seen a view like this one. The sun wasn’t coming from directly in front of me—the patio didn’t face the right way for that—but it was coming up. And I wanted to sit on the patio and watch as it rose over this place that was starting to feel like paradise.

Because when Nikos got up, I knew, my schedule was going to be quickly filled and there was going to be