Saved By The Greek Doctor (Greek Gods #3) - Holly Rayner Page 0,53

something slightly more robust.”

He cracked a smile at that and told me to go sit down, which I had no problem obliging with.

Ten minutes later I was looking at a magnificent spread of olives (of course), grapes, cheese in at least five different varieties—including feta, one of my favorites—hummus, crackers, pita bread, and…

“French fries?” I asked, surprised.

Nikos gave me a very elegant shrug. “I cut them the other night, when I couldn’t sleep, and had them in a bowl in the refrigerator. If I didn’t use them soon, they would have gone bad.”

“Riiiiight,” I said, drawing the word out in disbelief. “Because everyone should have a bowl full of cut potatoes sitting in their fridge, just in case someone comes along wanting French fries.”

He reached out, grabbed one, and popped it into his mouth. “Well, I think so,” he said smartly. “What else are you going to feed women who faint right in front of your island and try to drown themselves?”

I grinned, but didn’t answer. I was too busy eating.

After lunch, when he asked what I wanted to do, I told him that I thought we should go snorkeling again. I was in love with sailing… but I’d found myself equally in love with the view of the water from beneath the surface. And right now, I thought I could use some of the peace and quiet the ocean brought with it.

To my surprise, though, Nikos shook his head.

“It’s not a good idea to do something that takes so much effort right after we’ve eaten,” he said, sounding for all the world like a parent who’s making up excuses for their kid not to go into the ocean when the parent would rather have an after-lunch nap.

“That old wives’ tale?” I scoffed. “Surely you know that’s not true. Like, not even close.”

He reached out, snagged my hand, and pulled me right up against his body, sending an electric spark of anticipation through mine. His eyes flashed as if in response to that spark, and I felt mine flashing back.

In fact, I felt my whole body reacting—not only to how close he was, but to the thought that he was that close again. Because there was no mistaking his gaze sliding down to my lips… and then back up to my eyes. And I would have been an absolute fool to miss the stiffness of his body as he held me; the absolute need emanating from him, like waves of heat off a hot road.

God, this was it. This was the moment when he was going to kiss me again. Something in me was surprised at that—but another part of me thought it was absolutely correct. I’d just agreed to come back to his island, and there was only one reason for that.

A tall, dark, and handsome one, with turquoise eyes.

Surely, he knew that. Surely, he’d realized that—

He shook his head slightly, then gave me a crooked smile and took a step back. “I don’t believe in not swimming after eating,” he said gently. “But I have something even better than snorkeling. Go get your bathing suit.”

He turned and was gone, striding in the direction of his own bedroom, before I could really even process what he’d said. But there was no denying that I’d been in his arms mere seconds ago, up against his hard, muscular body and absolutely positive that he was going to kiss me again.

And now I was standing in a room by myself, thoroughly un-kissed.

I took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to calm the racing fire in my veins, and then shook my head. So he wasn’t ready yet. It wasn’t the end of the world. We needed to get used to each other again, get past what had happened with Bryan.

I was a grownup woman. I could be patient. I reminded my heart of that, took another gulping breath, and then headed for the foyer, where I’d left my bags.

“I thought you said we weren’t going snorkeling,” I said suspiciously, the moment we started heading down the stairs that led to the tumble of rocks where we’d gone snorkeling before.

I saw one turquoise eye glinting at me in amusement over his shoulder. “I never said we weren’t going swimming. Why did you think you needed your bathing suit?”

Okay, well that was a good point. Obviously, we were going in the water somehow.

“So, we’re going to the best spot for snorkeling… but not snorkeling?” I asked, increasing my pace to keep up with him.

“Exactly.”

I decided