Juho had a beautifully shaped shaved head, high cheekbones and an impressively lean and muscular physique, and Natalia liked him. But she wasn’t interested in anybody sexually, not when she was haunted by memories of her time with Ben.

The rest of the day would generally comprise a lazy stroll down the beach, some sunbathing, perhaps another swim or two, lunch (even the cheapest Thai food was delicious, she had come to realize), a siesta in the hammock on her deck, a few beers and card games with her fellow travellers in the evening.

And here she was now.

‘Gosh, you’re so good at cards,’ said Fliss (short for Felicity), after Natalia had won yet another poker hand with her full house. ‘You probably started playing before I was born!’ She gave a dimpled smile and Natalia laughed. She wasn’t going to let this bitchy little 20-year-old rile her.

‘I probably did, yes.’ She realized that her arrival on Bottle Beach had put Fliss’s pretty little nose well out of joint; she had been undisputed Queen Bee of the beach until Natalia had turned up, with her endless legs, sexy accent and annoying air of tragedy.

Juho, across the table, caught Natalia’s eye and almost imperceptibly winked.

‘Good morning, Natalia.’

‘Good morning, Juho.’

The pair nodded politely at one another as Natalia arrived for her morning yoga and meditation. Throughout her life, Natalia had, quite understandably, developed more than her fair share of cynicism. Hippy-dippy practices were absolutely not her thing. And yet … There was something about doing yoga and meditating on a beach that was calming. Clichéd though it was, the sessions seemed to give her a sense of inner peace, the like of which she had not experienced since before her mother died. She still didn’t believe all the mystical rubbish that Juho sometimes spouted; she reckoned that this inner peace was purely a biochemical reaction to contorting yourself into unnatural poses while sweating profusely, then sitting still and silent for twenty minutes. But if it made her feel better, who was she to knock it?

‘Is nobody else here this morning?’ Natalia gestured around at the empty clearing under the palm trees. Normally, there were at least five or six takers for Juho’s classes.

‘They’ve all gone on a fishing boat for the day.’

‘Oh …’ Natalia tried not to feel hurt that she hadn’t been asked on the fishing trip; she had thought she was quite popular on Bottle Beach.

Seeing the look in her eyes, Juho said, smiling, ‘Fliss suggested it after you went to bed last night …’

Natalia smiled back at him. ‘Ah. I see. I thank you.’

‘So, shall we begin?’

As they embarked on the first series of sun salutations, Natalia tried not to notice how firm and supple Juho’s body was; how beautifully it moved. For these sessions, he tended to wear only a pair of white cotton three-quarter-length fisherman’s trousers. He wasn’t anything like as beautiful as Ben, but in his own way, he was perfectly formed. After years of servicing rich men much older than her, followed by half a decade of celibacy, Natalia’s brief romance with Ben had reawakened all kinds of urges inside her. Her loyalty to Ben’s memory was too great for anything more – but surely there was nothing to stop her taking pleasure in the sight of Juho?