She lingered by the edge now, looking through the chipped wrought iron railings dripping with pretty pink flowers, out over the side to the colorful buildings tumbling down from the green of the mountains to the water below.

“OK, I could get used to this,” Annie mused happily as she ducked back under the water and swam across to the other side.

By evening she was ravenous, and finding some bits and pieces in the fridge, courtesy of the French students, who’d told her to help herself (or at least she hoped that’s what they meant) since they were leaving the next day, Annie cobbled together a light meal of pasta and tomato sauce with crusty bread.

After that, she got ready to head out on the town, choosing a strapless black dress that showed off her freshly spray-tanned skin, though she had a nice little sun-kissed glow from the pool earlier, which made it look really natural.

She opted not to bother straightening her hair for a change; in this heat it was probably a waste of time and would end up frizzing anyway, so instead she just tied it up in a loose bun and let a few black tendrils frame her face.

Same for makeup, which would also surely melt off in the humidity, so she kept it basic, with just a smear of bright red lipstick to finish the look.

There. Annie admired herself in the mirror. The dress lifted her boobs and really made the most of her curves, and putting on a pair of silver sandals, she felt pretty confident that she could hold her own with any Italian glamour-puss.

She wasn’t sure how those heels would hold up for the long walk back up the hill, but first things first. She couldn’t wait to find out what the social life in this place was like. It was a popular holiday resort so she guessed it would be hopping.

Annie wasn’t sure what she was expecting when she walked into Music on the Rocks—the late-night bar actually cut into a cave the students had told her about—but what greeted her was a scene like so many she’d encountered back home.

A room full of people, pulsing music, a neon bar and crowds of happy revelers. Her dress clung to her body in all the right places as she shimmied her way around the dance floor toward the bar, the short hem brushing sexily along her thighs to the beat.

She saw him the moment she reached the bar.

Tall with mussed-up dark blond hair and green eyes, the color of the sea. His cheeky smile was like sunshine the moment their eyes met.

Annie tried to pretend she hadn’t noticed him, but the moment her eyes drifted in his direction, there was the ocean looking straight back at her.