“You speak Greek?”
“Not really,” Cara fibbed. Fortunately Nick was doing his best to charm Emma so she wasn’t paying attention.
“A clever American girl like you should be able to pick up Greek during your stay. I’ll teach you some if you sit with me.” Yannis gestured to the small slice of booth next to him. She’d practically have to sit in the guy’s lap to avoid falling on the floor, which was probably the whole idea. And a bad idea. Right? A very bad idea.
“I’m afraid I need more room than that.”
He looked disappointed but gave her more space. She sat cautiously and sipped her wine, unsure of what to do next.
Yannis had no uncertainties. “You never did tell me your name.”
She swallowed her wine. “Cara.”
“Cara? Just Cara?”
“Cara Sokol.”
“And I am Yannis Petrides. Born on Aphrodisias, grew up here—I even learned how to drive here. Not on Apollonias.” He lifted one black eyebrow in amusement.
Cara burst into laughter, remembering her insult regarding his driving skills.
“Ah, much better, Cara Sokol. I am sorry I almost ran you down today. All I can say is that your beauty stunned me so much I forgot how to stop my scooter.”
She laughed even harder. “Oh, come on. In that outfit I could have been your grandma.”
“My grandmother doesn’t have eyes blue as the sea or hair as red as the sun when it drops into the ocean.” He didn’t touch her with anything but his words and his gaze, but that was more than enough.
Again at a loss, Cara glanced away. Really, she needed to get a grip. She was no blushing virgin ready to fall at the feet of a smooth-talking Greek charmer. And please, just because his blue eyes sparkled in his handsome bronzed face was no reason to go all stupid over the man. He was probably a total dud in bed.
After all, who wanted to sleep with a guy whose shoulders were wide from some kind of manual labor, whose hard thigh had pressed on hers, whose strong forearms would be more than able to hold his weight as he moved on top of her…. She drank more wine. “Oh, my, looks like I drank it all. I’ll just go get a refill.” She needed to catch her breath and stood, but he came out of the booth right after her.
He plucked her empty glass from her hand, his firm, callused fingers brushing hers. His white, straight teeth flashed in the dim light, his lips perfectly curved around them. “And what kind of Aphrodisian would I be if I let a lovely visitor get her own wine?”
For a split second, Cara thought he had said aphrodisiac. Oh, yes, Yannis Petrides was a potent aphrodisiac for her, judging from how her breathing had sped up and her nipples had tightened under the baggy black linen dress. She tossed a look Emma’s way, but she was engrossed in dark-eyed Nick.
Yannis seemed to pick up on her nervousness. “Will you still be here when I come back with your wine, Cara?” he asked quietly. “Or will you run like a frightened maiden from the pursuits of the Old Ones?”
He meant like the girls who tried to escape the amorous attentions of Apollo and Zeus in Greek mythology. Cara tipped her chin up at him. “Why? Are you going to turn me into a tree if I don’t return your attentions?”
He grinned again. “Ah, very good. You do know our stories.”
“Since I didn’t see Apollo’s sun-chariot parked outside the taverna, I think I’m safe. And I don’t run.” At least not anymore.
“Good. Although if you spend much time here, you’ll find Greek men enjoy the chase.”
“But do you know what to do once you’ve caught your prey?” she retorted, annoyed yet aroused at the idea of him chasing her.
Yannis gave her a long sweeping look from her feet to her rapidly heating face. “I can’t say for other men, but yes, I definitely do.”
YANNIS BLEW OUT a long breath as he stood at the bar waiting for Cara’s red wine. He’d planned to go out for a few drinks with his old friend Niko Theodoridis, listen to some live music, and maybe talk about the latest football matches. But he’d never expected to meet the girl he’d almost run down earlier. He felt a bit guilty, speeding down a narrow alley and then shouting at her for not paying attention. She hadn’t understood his Greek, but had sure understood his message, giving it back to him in full measure.
He grinned. When he’d seen her beautiful blue eyes and the fiery red hair poking out from her ugly beach hat, she could have called him the son of a motherless goat and he would have just stood there and nodded.
Why was redheaded Cara here and not at an obnoxious tourist bar? Niko had tried to convince him to go to one of them since Niko had a thing for blondes, but Yannis had not wanted the lights and noise tonight.
Not to say he hadn’t planned to find Cara. He had seen her shopping bag from the store where his cousin Niki worked and would have asked Niki about her tomorrow.
“Yannis!” Niko thumped him on the shoulder and ordered two white wines, what the blond girl had been drinking. While the bartender poured, Niko leaned his back on the bar and rested his elbows on top. “You’re a great friend, man.” His grin spread from ear to ear.
“What for?”
“For picking such a great place tonight.”
They’d both been there dozens of times. “Glad I could find you your blond girl.” Not really. Niko put too much store in looks. “It’s been, what? A couple weeks since the last?”
“Yeah, Monika went back to Sweden in May. I’ve been lonely ever since.”
Yannis shrugged. Niko liked the tourist girls because one, they left for home before things got awkward; two, they weren’t related to him as half the girls on Aphrodisias were; and three, his mother was certainly not going to pressure him to marry some foreigner from Scandinavia, Great Britain, or God forbid, America.
The bartender passed them the wineglasses, and the men paid. Niko took a sip from his white and grimaced. “Give me a beer anytime.”
“So get a beer.” That actually sounded good to Yannis, so he ordered one.
Niko shook his head. “No, the girls like it if you drink the same thing they are. Makes you look more compatible.”
“Whatever.” Yannis reached into his pocket to pay for his beer, but Niko tossed some euros on the bar.
“This one’s on me—as a thanks for distracting that redhead so I can get a little alone time with Emma.”
“What?” Yannis set his bottle down on the bar with a decided thunk. “You think I’m talking with her as a favor to you?”
“Why else? It’s not like you can see her body under that awful dress, and her hair’s so red and pulled into that braid thingie.” Niko made a face.
Well, if Niko couldn’t see anything but blatant charms, Yannis wasn’t about to point out the generous curves of Cara’s breasts and hips that even that dress couldn’t hide. And as for her hair…it was the color of the sun as it set over the western coast. Loose, it would drape over her pale shoulders like the painting of Aphrodite rising from the sea that he’d seen on a trip to Florence.
Yannis picked up his beer and Cara’s wine. “Let’s get back to the ladies, shall we? They might think we’ve ditched them and left.”
Niko’s look of alarm was almost amusing enough to distract him from his lustful thoughts of Cara. Almost, but not quite.
“WOW, CARA, you really picked a great place tonight.” Emma had stars in her eyes. “This Nick guy is so-o-o-o cute.”
“Great.” This was not what Cara had planned. None of it. Vespa-Boy had a name—Yannis