I immediately looked up to see who might be listening to us. Even though Marie was right next to me, it was a small space and not really the best place to have a private chat. Josh was deep in conversation with Gary and Gerry, something about studying abroad. Hannah appeared to be reading a fashion magazine, which was an incredible feat considering the angle of the boat and the whipping wind. And Duncan was, of course, skippering the boat. Still, I lowered my voice.

‘You don’t need to apologise. You’re just looking out for me, and I enjoy talking to you. It’s one of the reasons I booked this trip – to meet new people. And I think we have a great group here.’

‘I agree. We do. Even if one of us is a little, um, challenging.’ I didn’t need to ask who she was referring to.

‘I mean, can you imagine being on the other boat with all of those flirty women?’ I asked.

She laughed. ‘God no! I wouldn’t want them anywhere near Gary, either. That one from last night, the redhead, she seemed hell-bent on getting together with Josh.’

‘Yeah, poor guy.’

‘Well, as long as I didn’t overstep earlier …’

‘You didn’t. We’re good.’

She took the last bite of her lunch and signalled she was taking the dish below deck. She navigated the short distance carefully, stopping to take Gerry’s and Gary’s plates, then disappeared below. I went back to my own lunch, and right as I took another big bite, Josh caught my eye.

He’d pushed his sunglasses down onto the bridge of his nose and was looking over them. He smiled at me and then slid them back into place. Damn those twinges. I promised myself to rein it all in – all of it. The attraction, the flirting, everything.

*

After docking at the marina in Naxos, Duncan took us to a scooter rental place. I did my absolute best to convince the man with the scooters that a passport was as good as a driver’s licence, but he wasn’t having any of it – not even when I offered a large deposit. I was going to have ride on the back of someone else’s – and that person was going to have to rent a bigger scooter. With the two couples sharing and Patricia off at the nearest bar, it came down to Hannah and Josh.

And when Hannah said, ‘I don’t know how confident I would be riding a 70CC. I’ve only ridden a 50CC scooter before,’ I did nothing to assure her that she’d be fine and that there was barely a difference between the two.

Nope. I kept quiet and looked at Josh, who didn’t miss a beat. ‘You can ride with me,’ he said.