Page 33 of The Greek Café

‘Are you from the nineteen seventies?’ I roll my eyes. ‘You do know wolf-whistling is frowned upon these days.’

‘Only if you are an intimidating bunch of men, on a building site surely? Oh, and if you like equality, this is where you ought to tell me that I look good too.’

I smile. ‘You do.’ And I mean it.

In fact, ‘seriously hot’ would be more of an accurate description, with his cream-coloured shorts, black polo shirt, sunglasses and a whiff of an expensive woody cologne.

‘Ready then?’

‘Yep. Let’s go.’

We head down a set of steps at the far end of the hotel and find ourselves on a stretch of beach. At one end, orange umbrellas on sun loungers are flapping in the slight breeze, as a worker walks along dismantling them and stacking them against a beach wall. The sunbathers have headed home for the day. The sun is beginning its descent, although it will stay light for at least a couple more hours. We chat about our mutual day as we walk.

‘Any funny stories?’ I ask Kai.

‘Not especially. Although there was one kid who peed in the pool and cried when I asked him to come out. I felt a bit sorry for him then.’

‘No one can get away with that anymore with the colour dye, although one or two people are still too lazy to get out of the pool,’ I reply.

So how about you?’ he asks.

‘Nope, I can honestly say I have never peed in a public swimming pool,’ I tell him.

‘Maybe I phrased that incorrectly.’ He rolls his eyes. ‘I meant, do you have any funny stories?’

‘I had to break up a fight over an inflatable crocodile life saver. Two six-year-olds going at it.’ I laugh. ‘Parents oblivious, until one kid started screaming because the other had pulled their hair. Next thing the parents were arguing, both defending their little darlings.’ I chuckle.

We have taken our shoes off, and are both walking barefoot along the sand that has cooled from its volcanic-like heat in the afternoon. I suppose to anyone around we look like a couple taking a romantic evening walk, listening to the sound of the crashing waves. How deceptive appearances can be.

‘It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?’ Kai stops and stares across the Aegean Sea. Beyond the bay, rocky coves, the sea and the sand, hills covered in pine trees seem to rise from the sea, giving it a picture-perfect outlook.

‘It is. Which is why I want to stay. For how long, who knows?’ I feel the familiar excitement in the pit of my stomach as I say the words.

He nods. ‘That is my philosophy too. I never know how long I am going to stay in a place, although, so far, this place certainly has its merits.’ He gives me a sidelong grin.

‘Do you think you will ever settle down?’ I ask, as we walk beneath the ever-changing sky, its brilliant blue having slowly changed to a pretty shade of pink.

‘Maybe one day. But not for the foreseeable,’ he admits. ‘I’m not really sure I am the settling-down type – at least not yet.’

‘That’s fine, just another reminder to be sure to tell any future girlfriends that.’

‘Duly noted,’ he says as we walk on.

As the sky darkens, I spot a wooden beach taverna in the distance, its front covered in fairy lights. Several chairs and tables are arranged on a wooden platform; others are on the sand.

‘Is that the place?’

‘It is. Giannis’s. They serve the best seafood around here.’

‘It looks beautiful,’ I say as I take in the pretty beach restaurant.

‘Just like my date,’ he says, and I roll my eyes.

We are welcomed warmly by a server and shown to a table on the wooden terrace. I declined the offer of a table on the sand, after recalling a pretty undignified landing once, when the chair leg sank several inches into the sand causing me to lose my balance and topple over.

A waiter informs me that as well as the food on the menu, there is a special of rabbit stew.

‘Oh, no thanks.’ I pull a face after he has left and we have ordered a bottle of red wine and some water.