Hearts in Overtime: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (25 page)

He waved hello as he came closer.

Wow, was that guy ever gorgeous. He glistened like a god. No joke. True, it was only the sunrays reflecting off the drops of sea water running down his killer bod that made him sparkle, but still…those long, lean limbs…that taut, tan torso…hello!

Mentally smacking myself upside the head, I called upon every single wit I possessed in an effort to maintain my cool. I returned his wave and even added a goofy smile for good measure.

“Hi there, um…” I frowned up at the guy. “I don’t think I ever got your name.”

“Oh, I am so sorry. Nico Vasilakis,” he said, squatting down in the sand to offer his hand.”

I took it, and I did my best not to swoon.

“Nice to officially meet you, Nico. I’m Jessa Richardson.”

Wow
.

That morning when I awoke, I’d put the fierce attraction I’d felt for my harbor house hero down to exhausted delirium. But I now realized that I hadn’t been exaggerating his appeal at all.

“Nice to meet you too.”

He held onto my hand for way longer than was actually necessary, and it was almost a relief when he released it.

“May I join you?” He nodded toward the vacant sun lounger next to mine.

“Sure.”

Well, what else could I say?

I watched as Hella—sorry, Nico—sat down next to me, and I was pleased to note that there was a cross and a little round pendant dangling from a gold chain around his neck. Despite being a jewelry junkie myself, I hated it when guys wore the stuff. It was just too tacky. Nico’s man decoration swiftly took his hotness factor down a couple of notches. This was a good thing.

But then he flashed me a smile and it shot right back up again.

“Jessa, this is extraordinary,” he said. My heart jackhammered as I watched his long, tan fingers fondle the beaded strand of the necklace I was working on. “What a brilliant color combination. These little orange beads really make the purple ones stand out.”

“Thanks!”

I could barely construct a clear thought with that sexy hand of his just inches from my body, but as per usual, her jangled nerves kicked in to turn me into a chatterbox, so I was hoping he’d be none the wiser.

“I love coming up with unusual color combinations. Chartreuse and navy blue—that’s a good one. And pale yellow with rust red is pretty interesting too. Unfortunately I’ll have to stick to the more basic designs while I’m here ‘cause airport security confiscated my needle nose pliers, if you can believe that.”

“Needle nose pliers?” Nico asked.

He let go of the beaded strand and leaned back on one elbow. He was wearing a frown/smile combo that made him look even more handsome.

“Yep. I mean, come on,” I said. “How stupid would I have to be if I planned on hijacking a plane with my needle nose pliers? ‘Turn this plane around immediately or else I’m going to give everyone teeny tiny freckle-sized bruises!’”

Nico threw his head back and unleashed a hearty guffaw, which worked like a balm on my nerves. He couldn’t help it if he was super hot. We were just two people hanging out. It was all good.

“Ah, you are a treasure, Jessa Richardson.”

A treasure? Wow.

“And you really should think about going into business for yourself,” he continued. “You have a great talent. I assume you also made those earrings you’re wearing?”

“Yeah.”

I fingered the silver and abalone shell dangles. It was funny how he mentioned that. I didn’t do much else these days other than think about going into business for myself.

“Thank you, Nico. That’s really nice of you to say. I would love to start my own jewelry company some day, but it’s a distant dream, I’m afraid,” I said.

“And why is that?”

I smiled. Maybe it was because the guy lived on this isolated island, but he seemed a bit out of touch with the real world.

“Because the retail word is tough, especially now,” I explained. “I’m a junior accountant and you wouldn’t believe the number of small businesses I’ve seen go under in the past few years. You need a lot, a
lot
of capital to start out. That’s why most people fail—they don’t allot enough funds for marketing and promotion. So I’d never want to take the plunge unless I had the money to do it properly, and the banks just aren’t lending these days.”

Nico frowned and his eyes took on a faraway look. “That is a terrible shame.”

Such an expression on his face!

“It’s no big deal.” I shrugged.

Everyone had dreams; few people were given the opportunity to really work on turning them into reality. Such was the way of the world.

“Hmm.” Nico fondled one of the star-shaped violet crystals on the strand I held in my hand and for one moment, I allowed myself to imagine that touch on my own skin. If he caressed me, would it be slow, sexy and easy like that?

I shook my head to get that image out of my mind. I was running the risk of going bright red, and that was under two coats of industrial strength sunblock!

Time to refocus. What were we talking about? Oh yeah. Going into business for myself.

“I must say it certainly would be nice to make a living designing my jewelry. Maybe I should be spending my vacation searching for a gazillionaire who’d just love to fund my company. Aren’t these islands supposed to be crawling with dashing Greek tycoons?”

I giggled and took a sip from my water bottle. “Tell me, Nico, do you know of any likely contenders?”

He grinned. “I don’t know, Jessa. What exactly are you looking for in a tycoon?”

I rolled my eyes. He actually looked like he was trying to think of someone to fix me up with, which was just so silly.

“You do realize that I’m kidding about the tycoon, right?” I asked.

“Are you?”

“Of course! Obviously I’m kidding. Puh-lease.”

He cocked his head and gave me a strange look. “How do you mean?”

I think I cocked my head too, unsure of how to explain this if he really didn’t have a clue.

“Well… I’m not exactly arm candy material, am I?” I ventured.

He frowned. “What are you on about?”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes again. “Arm candy doesn’t come in extra-extra large. Know what I mean? Next subject, please.”

“Jessa…”

“Please, Nico, could we not?”

I pleaded with my eyes, and thank goodness, he got it. He gave me the most sorrowful look, though, and it was almost too much to bear. I couldn’t take his pity.

“Do you happen to know anything about the island’s history?” I asked.

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

“Oh, that’s great! Would you tell me? I’d love to hear about it from a local.”

“Right then. Best to begin at the beginning,” Nico said.

* * * *

Turning onto my side, I readjusted the pink towel to better cover my girth. I then turned my rapt attention back to Nico who was in the process of explaining how the island, which had been built up by the Venetians as a playground for the extremely wealthy, had suffered great losses under Ottoman rule.

How cool was this? As it turned out, Nico was a fountain of knowledge on the subject of island history. I’d come to the beach for a chill, relaxing day, but I’d ended up with a private history lesson from the world’s most gorgeous tour guide. Nico’s descriptions were so vivid. I could practically see the pirate ships of days gone by and the outlandish feasts and festivals held during the Byzantine era.

And of course the fact that he was telling me all of these things in that deliciously dulcet voice of his was a nice added bonus.

“All of this we know from the history books,” said Nico, tracing a swirly pattern in the sand between us. “But also the island is mentioned in Greek mythology.”

“Really?”

“It is.” He smiled that gorgeous smile of his. “According to myth, the island we’re sitting on today was once a great, grand mountain, packed full of wildflowers, but it was reduced to a humble, rocky island all because of the spurned party in a vitriolic love triangle.”

“No way.”

Nico nodded solemnly but his dark eyes shone with the thrill of sharing a juicy story. “The mountainous island was once the domain of Chloris, the Goddess of Flowers, who Poseidon was hopelessly in love with. Sadly for Poseidon, Chloris’s heart belonged to Zephyrus, the West Wind. In a fit of rage and jealousy, Poseidon rammed his trident into the lush, green land. All of the beautiful flowers immediately shrivelled up and died, and the mountain sank into the sea.”

“Wow.” I looked up at the rocky hillside behind me and imagined it carpeted with wildflowers in bright jewel tones.

Nico reached down and swept his hand gently along the sand, obliterating the pattern of swirly lines. When he looked up, our gazes locked. He seemed so open, so unguarded. It made no sense, but I think it was his openness that made him so difficult to figure out.

“I think this is enough history for one day,” he said with a smile. “I would rather talk about the way the sun reflects off of your lovely blonde hair and the way your eyes are the exact color of the sea.”

Whoa! Where did that come from?! Of course I was well aware that Mediterranean men were much more attentive than the kind of guys I knew from back home—in fact, that’s how I explained to myself the fact that Nico was hanging out with me. It was a cultural thing, plain and simple. Nico wasn’t talking to me because he was interested in me; it was simply the done thing.

Still, the flattery threw me off. My brain working fast to make sense of it, I figured compliments were just part of the whole Mediterranean charm thing. His kindly observations had nothing to do with me.

“You are such a beauty, Jessa.”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Unsurprisingly, Nico frowned and gave me a strange look.

“What’s so funny about that?” he asked.

Rolling my eyes, I said, “I’m sorry, but come on! Let’s not go overboard with the charm, shall we?”

“I don’t know what you mean by this,” he said, leaning onto his elbow, looking utterly relaxed. “I’m simply stating the truth. You are a beautiful woman. End of.”

I couldn’t find the words to respond. Could it be possible that he really did consider me beautiful? I searched his eyes for the answer and came up empty. I suppose it was possible that he was being sincere. I do have a head of thick, healthy, long, naturally blonde hair, and it’s true that I do have big blue eyes people have always complimented me on. And I’ve always been happy about my lips—I’ve got cupid’s bow lips. But I also have a whole lot of extra bulk that prevents people from seeing my good points.

But actually…I don’t have
that
much extra bulk anymore. Even though I only had twenty-eight pounds to lose, it’s possible that I was still thinking of myself as a girl who was eighty pounds overweight. Funny that. It took over a year to melt those fifty plus pounds off my body, which seemed like forever, but it was taking even longer to change my mentality and to start thinking of myself as someone who was only overweight as opposed to severely obese.

“Are you all right?” Nico asked, bringing me back to the present.

“Oh, yeah. Sure. Sorry. I was just lost in thought. Thank you, Nico. What a lovely compliment.” I smiled at him. “And I have to say, you’re a very handsome man.”

He smiled back and reached for my hand, his long, lean fingers closing over the palm of my hand. I felt my heart thumping in my chest. Was this really happening? I honestly thought he was just being polite in hanging out with me, talking to me. Could he actually have had more in mind than friendly conversation?

Bracing himself with one arm on the sand, Nico leaned towards me and planted a soft, sweet kiss on my lips. My heart melted, but then when he parted his lips to deepen our kiss and I parted mine, I felt desire shooting through my body like a great ball of fire. Nico let go of my hand and ran his fingers up and down the side of my body, making me gasp. Was he going to change his mind when his fingers grazed over my love handles? Was he going to be totally turned off by my lumps and bumps?

It would seem not. As he explored the inside of my mouth with his tongue, he caressed me all over, and after a little while, I stopped worrying. In the frenzy of caresses, my garish pink towel fell to the sand, and I’m proud to say that I did not freak out about it. Nico knew what I looked like and he liked what he saw. My heart seemed to expand with joy at this revelation.

Slowly he pulled his lips back from mine, and after a couple of quick kisses on the cheek, he gazed at me with the sweetest, most loving smile on his face.

“Jessa, you are just so enchanting. Would you please have dinner with me tonight?” he asked.

“I would love to,” I answered. Talk about enchanting. By then, I was firmly under the Greek hottie’s mesmerizing spell.

* * * *

When the sun began to set, Nico and I decided to part ways for a little while. I wanted to go back to my rented cottage for a quick shower and to freshen up. Nico said he wanted to head back to his place for the very same reason. We met at an intimate little restaurant on a cliff overlooking the sea for a delicious seafood dinner (surprise, surprise).