that he was so scared of sharing his heart with someone else. How much did it have to do with him being on this island, by himself? How much did it relate to him having left the mainland behind, and, from what I could see, rarely visiting it?
I wondered how long it was going to be before he told me. Or if he meant to tell me at all.
Though that whole question of what had happened to him, and whether he was going to tell me at all… Well, it was tied up with the question of whether he was going to ask me to stay any longer.
And I still didn’t know the answer to that.
For a girl who had spent much of her life living off of her instincts and her ability to read people, I was failing spectacularly at it when it came to Nikos. And I couldn’t help feeling like I was running out of time with him.
Then, his face free of the emotion I’d seen roiling over it moments earlier, he tipped his chin and gave me his best, most smoldering stare. “You want me to go to the mainland with you? Are you asking me on a date?”
I leaned forward on my elbows and returned the look. “Only if you’re willing.”
He leaned forward as well, until our faces were only inches apart, and I thought suddenly that I could have leaned forward just a bit more and kissed him. I could have claimed his mouth and finally felt his lips against mine, his breath mingled with mine.
But I didn’t do it. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I wanted him to make the first move. I wanted to know that he wanted to kiss me. Not that I was stealing it from him.
“I’m absolutely willing,” he breathed, his voice husky and incredibly sexy, his eyes sizzling into mine.
And my God, my bones tried to melt into a puddle on the ground. If ever there was a moment for the man to kiss me, I thought, it was right then. He’d set it up perfectly, and he had to know that I was waiting for it. He had to know that I wanted it with every ounce of my being.
Didn’t he?
Evidently not, though, because he pulled back and rolled his shoulders as if he was shaking something off, then stood and walked toward the coffee maker.
“Do you want some coffee?” he asked. “If we’re going to Athens today, I have the perfect spot for breakfast. But it’ll be at least an hour before we get there.”
I watched him walk away, my heart pounding against my ribs with how close he’d been, my mind churning with desire… and doubt. But I forced myself to answer him anyhow.
If today was going to be our last day together, I didn’t want to ruin it with questions and regret. I wanted to enjoy every last minute of my time with him.
“Coffee and a croissant, please. If it’s going to be an hour before we have breakfast, I might actually faint from hunger. And I’ve already fainted and fallen overboard once. I don’t care to repeat the experience.”
He was already halfway back with coffee and croissant in hand—evidently having guessed that I’d want them—and leaned forward to press a surprising kiss against my forehead.
“But you’ll have your personal hero with you,” he murmured. “And you know I’ll save you if you ever need saving.”
He walked back toward the coffee maker, leaving my skin burning where his lips had touched me… and my heart thudding with confusion.
If he was my own personal hero, I wondered, why was he finding it so impossible to actually tell me how he felt about me?
Chapter 17
Nikos
We sped through the morning in my speedboat, the wind whipping in our hair, the ocean flying by us in streaks of aquamarine and turquoise, fading to nearly black in the places where rocks had fallen into the ocean. The sky was just lighting up above us, and it looked like it was going to be one of those days where the light was so bright, so beautiful, that it actually hurt to look directly up.
I thought it was the most perfect morning I’d ever experienced. Bright and warm and already beautiful, and I had the most charming woman I’d ever met at my side, laughing as she shook her hair in the wind and tried to keep her sunglasses on. And in that bright, pure moment, I wondered if I’d