Playing by the Greek's Rules (Puffin Island 0.50)

‘No need to ask if you had a good night, it’s written all over your face.’ Brittany slid her feet into her hiking boots and reached for her bag. ‘Nice shirt. Is that silk?’ She reached out and touched the fabric and gave a murmur of appreciation. ‘The man has style, I’ll give him that.’

‘Thanks for your text. It was sweet of you to check on me. How was your evening?’

‘Nowhere near as exciting as yours apparently. While you were playing Cinderella in the wolf’s lair, I was cataloguing pottery shards and bone fragments. My life is so exciting I can hardly bear it.’

‘You love it. And I think you’re mixing your fairy tales.’ Aware that her hair was a wild mass of curls after the relentless exploration of Nik’s hands, Lily scooped it into a ponytail. She told herself that eventually she’d stop thinking about him. ‘Did you find anything else after I left yesterday?’

‘Fragments of plaster, conical cups—’ Brittany frowned. ‘We found a bronze leg that probably belongs to that figurine that was discovered last week. Are you listening to me?’

Lily was deep in an action replay of the moment Nik had removed the mask from her eyes. ‘That’s exciting! I’m going to join you later.’

‘We’re removing part of the stone mound and exploring the North Eastern wall.’ Brittany eyed her. ‘You might want to rethink white silk. So am I going to hear the details?’

‘About what?’

‘Oh, please—’

‘It was fun. All right, incredible.’ Lily felt her cheeks burn and Brittany gave a faint smile.

‘That good? Now I’m jealous. I haven’t had incredible sex since—well, let’s just say it’s been a while. So are you seeing him again?’

‘Of course not. The definition of rebound sex is that it’s just one night. No commitment.’ She parroted the rules and tried not to wish it could have lasted a little more than one night. The truth was even in that one night Nik had made her feel special. ‘Do we have food in our fridge? I’m starving.’

‘He helped you expend all those calories and then didn’t feed you before you left? That’s not very gentlemanly.’

‘He didn’t see me leave. He had to take a call.’ And judging from the reluctance he’d shown when she’d handed him the phone, if it had been left to him he wouldn’t have answered it.

Why not?

Why wouldn’t a man want to talk to his father?

It had been immediately obvious that whatever issues Nik might have in expressing his emotions openly weren’t shared by his father, who had been almost embarrassingly eager to share his pain.

She’d squirmed with discomfort as Kostas Zervakis had told her how long it was since his son had come home. Even on such a short acquaintance she knew that family was one of the subjects Nik didn’t touch. She’d felt awkward listening, as if she were eavesdropping on a private conversation, but at the same time his father had seemed so upset she hadn’t had the heart to cut him off.

The conversation had left her feeling ever so slightly sick, an emotion she knew was ridiculous given that she hadn’t ever met Kostas and barely knew his son. Why should it bother her that there were clearly problems in their relationship?

Her natural instinct had been to intervene but she’d recognised instantly the danger in that. Nik wasn’t a man who appreciated the interference of others in anything, least of all his personal life.

The black look he’d given her had been as much responsible for her rapid exit as her own lack of familiarity with the morning-after etiquette following rebound sex.

She’d taken advantage of his temporary absorption in the phone call to make a hasty escape, but not before she’d heard enough to make her wish for a happy ending. Whatever damage lay in their past, she wanted them to fix their problems.

She always wanted people to fix their problems.

Lily blinked rapidly, realising that Brittany was talking. ‘Sorry?’

‘So he doesn’t know you left?’

‘He knows by now.’

‘He won’t be pleased that you didn’t say goodbye.’

‘He’ll be delighted. He doesn’t want emotional engagement. No awkward conversations. He will be relieved to be spared a potentially awkward conversation. We move in different circles so I probably won’t ever see him again.’ And that shouldn’t bother her, should it? Although a one-night stand was new to her, she was the expert at transitory relationships. Her entire life had been a series of transitory relationships. No one had ever stuck in her life. She felt like an abandoned railway station where trains passed through but never stopped.

Brittany glanced out of the window at the street below and raised her eyebrows. ‘I think you’re going to see him again a whole lot sooner than you think.’

‘What makes you say that?’