Page 29 of Love on the Rocks
“You’re lucky it wasn’t my knee in your balls.”
At the top of the cliff, I bent over, out of breath and panting, while she hightailed it to her shack, Argos at her heels.
“Argo,ela,” I called after him. Callie stopped in her tracks and turned to face me, hands on her luscious hips as he trotted over to me.
“How do you know his name?”
“He’s my dog.”
“Yourdog? Oh my God, you’ve been using your dog to spy on me! Does he have some kind of hidden camera so you have something to jerk off to at night?”
“Well, seems only fair since you think of me when you use your vibrator.”
Before I could move, she’d grabbed a rock from the ground and heaved it at me. Luckily, she had lousy aim and it landed hard next to me, but, damn, she wasn’t kidding around.
“Don’t come near me again! Do you hear me?” She slammed the door shut, and I stood there like a love-cursed idiot wondering if I’d ever get the image of her naked body, golden and glistening in the morning light, out of my head.
Chapter 12
“You cannot be serious,” Mia laughed when Angelos finished explaining the terms of the agreement.
“I am. You will spend one week on my island–in my bed–and then you will never see me again. This is my solemn promise to you.” He’d never wanted a woman longer than that, he might even get bored with her before the week was out. “But remember, for this week you are mine. So do not think of escaping. I always come for what is mine.”
“And in return, you’ll pay for my father’s treatment?”
- One Week with the Greek
CALLIE
Iwas never going to forgive him.
Two days later and the humiliation and outrage of catching Nikos spying on me were still pumping through my veins. No matter how much I tried to concentrate on my food, I couldn’t get the balance of flavors right. Everything was too acidic, like my thoughts.
I stabbed a metal pick through a peeled onion and tried to block out the memory of the heat of his eyes on me, the hard wall of his abdomen when he caught me against him. And his hands! Just inches away from my breasts. Damn him!
He’d ruined my new morning ritual: bathing at the hot springs after watching the sunrise behind the temple. And, worstof all, I’d spent the last two nights with my vibrator between my legs shamelessly reimagining a different outcome to the scene in which I’d stood there proudly and dared him to come closer.
Pathetic! My taste in men was so bad that I was fantasizing about some dude who was apparently repopulating Greece one small island at a time.
Thankfully, he’d listened to me and hadn’t shown up for lunch at the taverna since the spying incident. I suppose I should feel some small victory in that, but I didn’t. I was annoyed by his absence. Since when had he given up so easily?
I still walked past the construction site with my chin raised, but there was no one to ignore. His fishing boat was gone, and the dog no longer haunted my doorstep. I hadn’t believed it was possible to feel any lonelier on this island, but now I knew it was.
“Ah!” cried Maria, and I spun around to find her holding up the charred remains of my souvlaki.
You’re too distracted, chef.This time it was Roman’s voice in my head. God, he was right. This fire inside me was burning up everything I touched.
Maria, like any good chef, sensed I was having an off day, and she chased me away before I could burn anymore of her food.
Defeated, I walked to thekafenioand accepted a shot of thick espresso from Takis, then checked my phone for service. I desperately needed to talk to Olivia, but my reception was still spotty on windy days. And today, the choppy waves rolling into the port and the flags on the prow of the boats whipping about, meant only one thing: theMeltemi, the northern winds so powerful they had their own name, were back and there’d be no service for me today.
I was seriously thinking of taking the ferry tomorrow to Rhodes so I could find a phone store there and change my service provider. No one else seemed to have this problem. Then again, no one else seemed to be on their phone as much as me.
What I wouldn’t give to have a friend here now! Someone to talk to. I nearly threw the phone across the table in frustration. I needed a miracle to get through this day.
A miracle, that was it! Why hadn’t I thought of it before?
Every night since I’d been here, I’d stared out at the ruins of the temple, watching the crescent moon rise between its broken pillars and promising myself I would go there one day. I hadn’t felt worthy—if that was the right word—of the pilgrimage yet.
