Page 33 of Hot Greek Summer

Winnie shook her head.

‘Picnics.’

‘Picnics,’ she said.

‘You’re doing that repetition thing again. Come for a picnic with the donkey.’

‘Is that an invitation?’

Jesse inclined his head. ‘I’m just the messenger. Come at seven.’ He paused and tipped his head to the side. ‘He likes red, too, so you should probably keep that dress on.’

‘Should I bring him anything?’

‘A carrot?’ Jesse shrugged. ‘He likes island gin too.’

‘Does he now,’ Winnie said. ‘Like every other man, woman and beast on Skelidos then.’

‘We just know what’s good for us.’

Winnie studied the cerise bougainvillea growing at the side of the terrace, unsure if she knew what was good for her.

‘Sundown,’ she said, with the smallest of hesitant nods.

Jesse shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘I’ll let him know.’ As he sauntered away, he turned back. ‘I wasn’t kidding about that sun cream.’

Winnie shot him in the back with an imaginary gun and then headed inside the villa in search of the after sun.

CHAPTER EIGHT

‘Ladies, we’re here!’ Corinna’s voice floated in through the open front door to Stella, Frankie and Winnie all standing like soldiers on their strategically placed spots inside.

‘Should we go out to greet them or stay here?’ Winnie whispered. ‘We should go out, right?’

They’d been playing statues for the last five minutes in anxious readiness, and now they all surged towards the door and spilled out onto the terrace.

‘Corinna,’ Stella said, kissing their as usual impeccably turned out friend warmly on both cheeks. ‘And you must be Angelo.’

She looked up at Corinna’s companion and then stepped back to look up again, because he was a good six foot two and towered over her even though she was in heels. It wasn’t only that; he struck her as a dead ringer for Don Draper and had the brooding charisma to match. He was as expensively dressed as his sister in tailored dark trousers and a charcoal shirt; the sling for his injury was black and discreet.

He held out his good hand towards her, no nonsense. ‘Angelo Vitalis.’

Stella shook it, unfazed by his brusqueness. She’d spent her life dealing with professional business people, and everything about this man screamed business.

Winnie and Frankie moved in to introduce themselves and received the same cool handshake, and Corinna caught Stella’s eye behind her brother’s back and smiled tightly.

‘Shall we?’ Stella stepped naturally into the role of leader, ushering them all inside.

‘We’ve put you in the Captain’s Suite,’ she said, reaching his key down from the board behind the desk. ‘It’s the biggest room on the first floor with a great view out over the sea.’

Angelo nodded curtly as he accepted his key.

‘Would you like breakfast in your room in the morning, or out on the terrace maybe?’ Frankie asked. ‘It’s gorgeous out there first thing.’

‘I don’t eat breakfast,’ he said, in the same immaculate American English as his sister. ‘I just need Wi-Fi and peace and quiet.’

‘What? No breakfast at all?’ Frankie said, her face falling.

He shook his head, and Winnie felt terrible for her friend because she’d put so much time and careful thought into preparing an appetising breakfast menu that would nourish someone recovering from injury.

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