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‘People look at my hair colour and eyes and I suppose they assume…’ Not another word would come out. Unease and unexpected melancholy suddenly gripped her, and Ianthe made another move to leave her riveting companion to enjoy his examination of the mesmerising photograph alone. She was completely unprepared when he seemed to want to pursue their conversation.
‘You like this picture?’ he asked, meeting her gaze.
Diving into an intoxicating sea of blazing blue, she found that her purchase on readily available words was in worryingly short supply. Was she really expected to look into eyes like that and come up with a coherent sentence?
‘I like it very much.’
She hated the way she sounded so nervous, as if she’d never even spoken to an attractive man before. Licking her moisture-deprived lips, she endeavoured to explain her feelings about the photograph. ‘But I almost feel like I’m intruding on some great sorrow when I look at it, to be honest. It makes me want to give her some comfort. I would love to know more about her—the woman in the picture. The photographer must be a genius to have captured so much, don’t you think?’
‘He is a long way from being a genius, I can assure you.’
‘You know him?’
‘This is my picture.’
‘You mean…you own it?’
‘I mean I took the photograph.’
His expression unsmiling, he turned and examined the canvas with what appeared to Ianthe to be a more critical than admiring eye. Stunned that on her first visit to the gallery she should meet the creator of the most compelling piece of work displayed in it, Ianthe knew that her pleasure and her astonishment must show equally on her face.
‘Well, you must be very proud of your work. I think it’s wonderful,’ she told him unreservedly.
His interest undeniably provoked, Lysander studied the woman in front of him with more curiosity than he cared to admit. She was not stunningly beautiful, as Marianna had been, but she was very, very pretty, with big dark eyes and a lush pink mouth. As he’d approached the woman in front of his photographic portrait—coincidentally his personal favourite of all the studies he had taken—after admiring the long dark hair that reached halfway down her back and gleamed with the sheen of a black pearl, Lysander had of course noticed that she had a very arresting figure too.
Her white linen trousers emphasised a perfectly edible peach-shaped bottom, gently flaring hips, and a waist that might easily be spanned by a man’s hands. When he’d finally seen her from the front he’d observed with frankly male pleasure that she was nicely endowed where it mattered. In her pink sleeveless silk top, she had a sultry, womanly shape that any red-blooded male would more than appreciate. He liked her voice too. There was something quite engaging about her flat English vowels that intrigued him.
All of a sudden, Lysander knew that he did not want her to go and leave him alone. For once he was tired of his own morose company, and needed a pretty diversion like this enchanting young woman in front of him.
‘I thank you for your compliment.’ He smiled.
The young Greek woman supervising the entrance to the gallery just then inserted a new CD into the player on the desk in front of her. As hypnotically beautiful harp strings and a Celtic voice started to fill the air, Ianthe’s attention was momentarily stolen from her surprised companion.
‘Oh, what is this? It’s lovely!’ she enthused, her dark eyes shining. And Lysander’s resolve to not let her run away from him became virtually a mission. The pretty English tourist was clearly someone who appreciated the beautiful things in life, and it would be pleasant to while away a couple of hours in her company.
‘We will ask my friend Leonie to tell us what it is on the way out,’ he replied confidently. ‘I would like to take you to lunch. Would you do me the honour of joining me?’
‘I don’t think I—’
‘You are here with your husband or boyfriend, perhaps?’
‘Neither.’ Ianthe felt hot colour flood into her cheeks. ‘I’m unattached…at present.’
Why, oh, why had she told him such a thing? Now maybe he’d think she was expecting something more than just a lunch date!
But he seemed pleased with her answer all the same.
‘Well, my name is Lysander, and if you check with Leonie in a moment or two she will confirm to you that I am indeed the photographer who took this portrait, and well known to both her and her husband Ari. There. I have told you my name, and now you must tell me yours.’
‘Lysander?’ Ianthe frowned, thinking. ‘Wasn’t he something to do with the Spartans?’
Her comment was so surprising that Lysander laughed out loud with pleasure. At the front desk, Leonie glanced over in surprise, and smiled at the sight of Lysander Rosakis apparently enjoying the company of an attractive woman again.
‘He was a Spartan general. Not very popular with the Athenians, since he defeated them to end the Peloponnesian War. How did you know that?’
‘I’m just interested in history.’
She went very pink as she said this, and Lysander studied her even more closely. ‘It is a fascinating subject, I agree, but I am still waiting to hear your name,’ he reminded her.
Did she want to have lunch with this handsome stranger? He intrigued her for sure, but how did she know that she could trust him? Ianthe fretted. She was alone on this island, with no one to even know or care if something happened to her…
Oh, don’t be so ridiculous! Her own voice came back at her in irritation. Nothing’s going to happen to you other than that you might just have a good time. For goodness’ sake, Ianthe, live a little! That last was Polly’s voice. How many times had her wonderful and often exasperated friend urged her to do just that? Especially when Ianthe had been prevaricating over some invite or social event, making pointless heavy weather of something that should be pleasurable. Sometimes her parents’ endless pleas for caution became a ponderous chain, shackling her.
She made up her mind. Remembering what she’d promised herself, about taking every opportunity that came her way now that she was miles away from the known and the familiar, she found herself giving the terrifyingly attractive man beside her a determinedly agreeable smile.
‘My name is Ianthe.’
He hadn’t furnished her with his surname so she took her lead from him. After lunch she would probably never see him again, so it hardly mattered. Somehow it would be fun to stay anonymous…to be a different Ianthe, not bound by her usual self-imposed restrictions and conformity.
‘But you have a Greek name!’ His eyes narrowing as he continued to study her, Lysander did not conceal his surprise.
‘Yes.’ She shrugged almost guiltily, unable to explain that she was on a bit of a personal quest—that she might truly be able to claim some Greek blood, except she didn’t know how or even if she would ever find out the truth about her own ancestry.
‘Come.’ He moved beside her and lightly touched her hand—not missing the look of startled pleasure in her unbelievably sultry dark eyes. ‘Let us go to lunch together and we will talk some more.’
CHAPTER TWO
‘SO, HOW do you go about choosing