Page 40 of Arrogant Arrival

“For a pilot?”

The comment makes me flinch a little. He’s right, though. I’ve been a little ridiculous on my prejudice toward pilots. He waits for my response, and I honestly don’t know what to say. Instead, I smile and nod. Play it flirty. “Less arrogant looks pretty damn good on you.”

“Yeah, I know… Keep hanging around. I might surprise you some more.”

The first place Jimmy drives us to is the Melissani Cave. We hop off the four-wheeler and Jimmy gets in line to purchase our tickets. There’s a little awning set up that already has a few people waiting to buy tickets, but luckily, the line is moving quickly. We follow the others down a dark and cold stairway. Little boats are lined up, but they don’t look real…they actually look like they have been photoshopped on the water, like they’re floating above it. The water is so incredibly blue and clear. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I reach my hand out and touch a rock and it’s so cold. I wasn’t expecting that. We hop in the boat and I stare, fascinated, at how gorgeous the turquoise-blue water is. The guy paddling our boat says the water is very deep, around twenty to thirty meters. It’s crazy because I can clearly see the stones at the bottom because the water is so incredibly clear, like if reached into the water I could touch each and every one of them.

“This has to be the clearest water in the world. It’s beyond words beautiful,” I whisper to Jimmy as I am in awe looking around the cave. The sun begins to move and shine through the opening above us. “I’m so grateful you chose this to do today. Thank you.” He just smiles at me, clearly satisfied with his choice.

“Right on time,” Jimmy says to me. The light from the sun shines through the opening above us and into the water. The water sparkles and reflects and shines on the walls of the cave. My God, I gasp at how magical it is. Our boat goes a little farther in, and then it gets darker in the cave. It’s a little spooky and a lot cold. The boat finally comes back around to the opening above us where we were picked up. As we come back into the light with the sun shining bright above us, I’m curious about the water temperature. Discreetly, I reach over the boat and quickly dip the tips of my fingers in. Jimmy is watching me.

“Holy hell, it’s ice cold,” I tell him.

He searches my eyes and gives me a small smile. “Isn’t it amazing how something can be so stunningly beautiful and look so incredibly inviting, but really, underneath it all, it is impossible to touch and so very dangerous.”

“What?”

“You’ll only get hurt in here.”

The way Jimmy’s eyes study me, I don’t think he’s talking about the cave or the water.

Jimmy

As she wraps her arms around me and I start the four-wheeler, I want to kick myself. I’m falling hard for Jolene. I wanted two days to show her I was genuine. But she doesn’t want a relationship with me. She shouldn’t want anything to do with me. And honestly, I shouldn’t want more either. This is all fake. I asked her to be mine for this trip, so how can I believe the warm and inviting look in her eyes right now? She made it clear the first time we met that we had no future…and even the second time we met she said in no uncertain terms that she doesn’t want me. Well, except for sex. I feel like such a fool. Why am I getting upset over this? I have a beautiful woman’s arm wrapped around me and I’m pouting because I’m wanting more from her. More than what she’s willing to give. I’ve never wanted more. With anyone. Leave it to me to run off and pick the one woman who hates pilots. I only love three things in my life: my family, flying, and Greece. Jolene fits perfectly into my entire world, well, except the fact that she despises my career. I’m not a passenger in life, though—I’m the pilot. That’s part of who I am.

I zoom through the winding roads to try and clear my head before we stop again. I don’t want to ruin our last day together. There’s a beach that’s kind of isolated, so off the beaten path that it’s remained clean and beautiful, so I begin heading in that direction. Right before coming to the turn that leads to the zig-zagging road down a mountain, I stop at the side of the road and point in the direction of where we are heading.

“That’s where we are going. Down there.”

Jolene squeezes me tighter and squeals. “Oh my gosh, it’s stunning. I’ve never seen water so blue. I know I keep saying that, but each time the water is more stunning and gorgeous. I can’t wait. Although, getting down there is going to make us dizzy, it looks like.”

I chuckle. The road is a clear zig-zag going down the mountain. There’s an ice cream stand across the street from us. “Let’s grab a cone and head down. Do you care to hold mine while I drive?”

“I’ll gladly hold your cone.”

I turn around and grin at Jolene, who is looking absolutely adorable in her little pink helmet. “Did you just make a dirty joke?”

“You’re rubbing off on me. Wait—I left myself open for that one…don’t say anything. Let’s just go get our ice cream.”

I can’t stop the huge smile from spreading across my face. Once I’m off the four-wheeler, I lift Jolene. She yelps and wraps her legs around me. Everything’s so perfect right now. I’m holding the most beautiful physically and spirited woman in my arms with her legs wrapped around me, standing on top of the world with one of the most gorgeous beaches in the world below us. I don’t want to leave this island and go back to reality.

We both get vanilla cones as I throw one last comment out to Jolene about me being anything but vanilla, and I begin driving us slowly down the mountain. The pace is so slow that she doesn’t need to hold on to me, which is good since both of her hands are holding ice cream cones.

We reach the bottom of the mountain and I park the four-wheeler. There’s only a few other cars here, thankfully, so we’ll have the place practically to ourselves. I hop off, and remove my shirt. Jolene hands me my ice cream cone. Instead of taking it, I grab her wrist and then lick a drip of vanilla off her finger. Her eyes darken and I love knowing I’m affecting her just as much as she is me.

I place my hands on her waist and begin walking her toward the coves in the cliffs. The waves crash against the rocks and I feel the mist against my legs. Jolene is still holding my ice cream cone and brings it to her lips. My blood pumps faster as her mouth opens and her tongue licks around the cone’s perimeter before her mouth closes over the white cream.

“Koritsi mou.” I barely manage to say. “I’m ready for a taste.”

My tongue slides across her lips, licking the sweet cream. I take her wrist again and lick each finger that has melted vanilla. “It’s about to get messy. Maybe you should remove your clothes.”

I take the cones from her. She throws me a flirty smile as she looks at me from under long lashes. She removes her top and shorts, wearing only a bikini now. She reaches for the cones but I raise them up, out of her reach. “I’m not finished,” she pouts.

“I couldn’t agree more. You’re not. Go ahead and finish.”

“Wait – what? I’m not getting nude.”

Pretending to give her the cone, I hold it toward her, but then dab it between her chest. “Opa. I’m sorry. Here, I’ll clean it up.” My tongue slides between her breasts.

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