The little boys looked at her in surprise as she jumped onto her bike and started to ride with furious speed along the narrow coast road that circled the island.

She was in such a hurry that she didn’t notice a figure come down the staircase at the side of one of the boathouses as she passed on her bike and stare after her.

She arrived at Nikos’s house ten minutes later, propped her bike up outside and knocked on his door before she had time to lose her nerve.

Nikos opened it wearing a cotton wrap with a red karate-style belt. The sight of his soft, dark chest hair made her remember what it meant to feel genuine desire. ‘You look more like a samurai than an upstanding mayor of a Greek island,’ she teased, hoping he couldn’t see how much she wanted him, in case he felt it was too overwhelming.

‘That’s good, seeing as most mayors of Greek islands are bald, paunchy and given to making long speeches about the vital importance of sewers and drainage. Believe me, I have personal experience. Come in.’

His smile of welcome was so heartfelt she couldn’t help but return it.

‘So what are you doing still in your dressing gown – I assume it is your dressing gown – at this time of day, Your Worship?’

‘I am making a boat. And what is this Your Worship? Do you not save such greetings for God?’

‘It’s what we call mayors in England. I don’t think the British talk directly to God.’

‘What a strange place your country is.’

‘Can I see it?’

‘Of course. What would you like to see?’

Penny started to giggle. ‘The boat, of course.’

‘Ah. It is over here at my work table.’

Penny marvelled again at how simply Nikos seemed to live. There was no TV screen dominating his large white-walled living room. It was as if the sea, seen through a vast window of plate glass, was enough of a diversion.

He smiled, reading her thoughts. ‘You are thinking that Nikos, he lives like a monk, no screens to seduce him from his pure simple life, but the truth is I have a smartphone and also a laptop hidden in the cupboard.’ Feeling silly, Penny remembered that Nikos was the one who had made sure the island had modern communications. This time it was his turn to stare out at the dazzling sunlight as it danced across the blue waters of the Aegean. ‘It is true that I have tried to simplify my life. When you have spent so many years as I have in meetings and hotel rooms from Copenhagen to Calcutta, living here with only water as your companion can be very calming.’

Listening to him, Penny realized again how little she knew about his life. ‘What about real life companions? Relationships? Did you never want to marry and have a family?’