Turning towards Teddie, Aristo picked up the hand that was clenched between her knees and squeezed it. It had taken some persuasion to convince her to leave their son back at the villa. Now that she was here, though, he was determined to let nothing interfere with his plans.
‘I’m one hundred per cent sure,’ he said firmly. ‘You are allowed to have child-free time. Besides, Melina adores George, and he loves spending time with her—and if there’s any problem we can be back in ten minutes. That’s why we’re taking the boat.’
Grinning, he gestured towards the front of the speedboat, where Dinos sat with one hand resting lightly on the wheel.
‘And Dinos gets to go fishing without Melina getting on his case, so everyone’s happy.’
Teddie shook her head, smiling back. ‘I’ve never really understood fishing—it seems so boring.’
‘It’s not boring—it’s shopping, but with a rod.’
His eyes gleamed and she punched him lightly on the arm. ‘Clearly you’ve never been shopping.’
‘Clearly you’ve never been fishing,’ he countered.
Her eyes widened. ‘And you have, I suppose?’
She felt a rush of heat as his gaze swept over her.
‘Only once.’
He lowered his head, brushing his mouth against her cheek, his warm breath sending a flutter of sensation across her skin so that she felt a bite of hunger low down.
‘But I was careless and I let her get away,’ he whispered.
His head dipped and he kissed her mouth softly, his hands tangling in her hair, pulling her closer as the boat’s engine slowed and then stopped.
Lifting his mouth, he glanced past her. ‘We’re here.’ Turning towards her, he held out his hand. ‘Come on—let’s go see the rest of my island!’
* * *
It was more rugged at this end, Teddie decided as Aristo led her away from the beach and an extremely happy Dinos. Instead of being sandy, the beach was pebbled and the sea was a deep nautical blue.
The light was soft through the olive trees, but as the path climbed upwards she soon started to feel breathless.
‘Sorry!’ Slowing his pace, he glanced down at her, his expression contrite.
Frowning, she stared at the olive grove. ‘It didn’t seem like a hill from down there.’
He grinned. ‘It’s not far now.’
She could hardly believe it was the first time she had left the villa since arriving. But it was hard to keep track of time on the island, and the days had blurred in a haze of eating, swimming and sleeping.
Although neither of them had slept much last night.
The thought popped into her head and this time the heat on her face had nothing to do with the sun.
‘This is it.’
Aristo had stopped beside her and, turning with relief to where he was looking, she felt her heartbeat skip backwards as she stared down at the ruins of some kind of monument.
She breathed out softly.
‘It’s actually why I bought the island.’
He spoke quietly but she could hear the emotion in his voice.
‘It’s incredible.’