Miss Prim's Greek Island Fling

‘You’re out of luck, buddy.’ She stuck out a hip, and he gulped down more water. ‘That’s the one I’m using.’

He feigned outrage. ‘But that one has the best view!’ Which was a lie. All the upstairs bedrooms had spectacular views.

She smirked. ‘I know. First in and all that.’

He choked down a laugh. That was one of the things he’d always liked about Audra. She’d play along with him...all in the name of one-upmanship, of course.

‘Right, which bedroom do you want? There are another three upstairs to choose from.’ She strode around and lifted his bag. She grunted and had to use both hands. ‘Yeah, right—light as a feather.’

He glanced at her arms. While the rucksack wasn’t exactly light, it wasn’t that heavy. She’d never been a weakling. She’d lost condition. He tried to recall the last time he’d seen her.

‘Earth to Finn.’

He started. ‘I’ll take the one on the ground floor.’ The one behind the kitchen. The only bedroom in the house that didn’t have a sea view. The bedroom furthest away from Audra’s. They wouldn’t even have to share a bathroom if he stayed down here. Which would be for the best.

He glanced at that singlet top and nodded. Definitely for the best.

Especially when her eyes softened with spring-rain warmth. ‘Damn, Finn. Do you still hurt that much?’

He realised then that she thought he didn’t want to tackle the stairs.

‘I—’ He pulled in a breath. He didn’t want to tackle the stairs. He’d overdone it today. He didn’t want her to keep looking at him like that either, though. ‘It’s nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix.’

Without another word, she strode to the room behind the kitchen and lifted his bag up onto the desk in there. So he wouldn’t have to lift it himself later. Her thoughtfulness touched him. She could be prickly, and she could be mouthy, but she’d never been unkind.

Which was the reason, if he ever ran into Thomas Farquhar, he’d wring the mongrel’s neck.

‘Do you need anything else?’

The beds in Rupert’s villa were always made up. He employed a cleaner to come in once a week so that the Russel siblings or any close friends could land here and fall into bed with a minimum of fuss. But even if the bed hadn’t been made pride would’ve forbidden him from asking her to make it...or to help him make it.

He fell into a chair and slanted her a grin—cocky, assured and full of teasing to hide his pain as he pulled his hiking boots off. ‘Well, now, Squirt...’ He lifted a foot in her direction. ‘I could use some help getting my socks off. And then maybe my jeans.’

As anticipated, her eyes went wide and her cheeks went pink. Without another word, she whirled around and strode from the room.

At that precise moment his phone started to ring. He glanced at the caller ID and grimaced. ‘Rupert, mate. Sorry about—’

The phone was summarily taken from him and Finn blinked when Audra lifted it to her ear. Up this close she smelled of coconut and peaches. His mouth watered. Dinner suddenly seemed like hours ago.

‘Rupe, Finn looks like death. He needs to rest. He’ll call you in the morning and you can give him an ear-bashing then.’ She turned the phone off before handing it back to him. ‘Goodnight, Finn.’

She was halfway through the kitchen before he managed to call back a goodnight of his own. He stood in the doorway and waited until he heard her ascending the stairs before closing his door and dialling Rupert’s number.

‘Before you launch into a tirade and tell me what an idiot I am, let me apologise. I’m calling myself far worse names than you ever will. I’d have not scared Audra for the world. I was going to call you in the morning to let you know I was here.’ He’d had no notion Audra would be here. It was a little early in the season for any of the Russels to head for the island.

Rupert’s long sigh came down the phone, and it made Finn’s gut churn. ‘What are you doing in Kyanós?’ his friend finally asked. ‘I thought you were in Nice.’

‘The, uh, cast came off yesterday.’

‘And you couldn’t blow off steam on the French Riviera?’

He scrubbed a hand down his face. ‘There’s a woman I’m trying to avoid and—’

‘You don’t need to say any more. I get the picture.’

Actually, Rupert was wrong. This time. It wasn’t a romantic liaison he’d tired of and was fleeing. But he kept his mouth shut. He deserved Rupert’s derision. ‘If you want me to leave, I’ll clear out at first light.’