Welcome To Crete - Regreece (100 best novels of all time txt) 📗

to tempt her further.

"What kind of tours are we talking about?" she questioned, remaining non-committal.


"That would be left up to you, although I would want to oversee them of course."

"Of course," she smiled.

Hmm, he obviously liked to stay in control.

"Are you free tomorrow?" he queried.

He didn't beat about the bush either!

"I think so. I'll check my diary," she replied snootily. He broke into laughter then and she looked at him in confusion. "What?" she frowned. He was beginning to annoy her.

"Well if you find that you are free, once you have checked your diary," he emphasised with amusement, "I'd like to get a sense of this side of the island. If you could come up with some ideas for possible trips we can take a look around. You have my number so perhaps you could let me know tonight?"


"That is assuming that I decide to take the work on, and after we have discussed terms et cetera," she came back.

He held her challenging look. "Let me know if you are free tomorrow and we will discuss terms."

"Fine, I'll do that," she confirmed.

He knew that she'd say yes. Damn!

"Okay, I'll wait to hear from you," he said, rising out of his seat.


She stood up and they shook hands again before she left. His eyes followed her until she had exited the building and disappeared down the street. He laughed.

"Well she's got spirit; I'll give her that!"

Chapter 4

The doorbell rang early the next morning and Fay grabbed her bag to leave. She had known even before leaving the office the previous evening that she would accept the work, and she was sure that he had known it too which had annoyed her. Opening the door, she looked up to see him with the grin on his face that she had come to recognise.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

She gave him a polite smile. "Yep."

They descended the steps of her apartment block together and headed for his car which was parked outside. He opened the car door for her and glanced down at the clothes she was wearing.

"Aren't you going to be hot in that?"

She looked down at her soft, blue, polo necked jumper with a frown. "It's still winter here you know, it can get cold." He looked up at the sky doubtfully, shrugged and got into the car.

"So, where to first?" he asked.

"Well, I thought we could head towards Sisi, it's a lovely little sea port in itself but there's also a cave in the area with some history and great views around."

He nodded. "Sounds good. Which way?"

"Get onto the highway and head towards Heraklion, I'll tell you when to turn off," she assured him.

They set off and she glanced out of the window at the familiar scenery which she loved so much.

His eyes turned briefly to watch her. "You know a lot about this place don't you? How long have you been here?"

She continued to gaze out of the window. "Nine years now, off and on."

"What made you come?" he asked with curiosity.

She wasn't in the mood for this kind of conversation, particularly with him, and so she kept her response brief. "I just visited it and fell in love with the place."

He studied her averted face. "Yes, I could tell that from your writing."

"How about you? You don't seem to know much about the place at all," she observed.

"I've visited it a few times, and I've done my research. Do I pass the test?"

She turned to him then, frowning. "The test?"

He continued to stare out of the window with a smile, ignoring her comment.

How was she ever going to work with this man for any length of time?

After about a twenty-minute drive, they reached the turning for Sisi and she directed him down a winding road, which would have eventually led to the sea.


"If we continue down this road we will reach Sisi, but we need to turn off again if you want to see the cave first."

"We'll do that, just let me know when." The turning came up abruptly and she had to concentrate so that they didn't miss it at the speed he was driving.

"Okay, it's the next turning on your right, up here somewhere. There is a sign to Milatos, if you just keep following the signs we will reach the cave."

He found the turning and they continued to drive down a series of small roads, many of which contained seriously difficult bends and twists. They passed tiny villages on the way; the traditional stone houses lined the roads with the odd couple of people sitting outside, chatting and enjoying the obligatory cup of strong black coffee. Soon they left the villages behind and the road opened up and rose to offer a stunning view of the sea.

"Now that's what I call a view!" he exclaimed.

She nodded in agreement. "Lovely isn't it."

He continued along the road which wound around a rocky mountain and Fay looked out of the window, trying to get her bearings. She had an uneasy feeling then that they had taken a wrong turning somewhere as she couldn't seem to recognise any landmarks.

"You know, I don't think we are on the right road. I could be wrong but this doesn't look familiar to me," she informed him.

He looked at her and sighed. "I thought you were directing me."

"Hey, I did direct you! You were supposed to follow the signs to Milatos, remember?" she said defensively.

"I did follow the signs!" he replied, raising his voice.

She glared at him in angry frustration. "Well, if you've followed the signs we will get there then, won't we?" He rolled his eyes at her and continued driving.

The road got steeper and narrower as it climbed up the mountain and Fay glanced nervously out of the window at the immense drop. She was now certain that they had got lost but she was waiting to see when he would acknowledge the fact. Her eyes kept darting to his face but when the road became almost impossible to navigate she gave up and turned to him.

"Don't you think we should go back now, since you have obviously taken the wrong turning?" she emphasised.

"No, no, I followed the signs, like you said," he replied stubbornly.

He's impossible!

She was determined not to let him get the better of her so she sat back in her seat with her arms crossed. The road was extremely steep at that point and he struggled with the car's gears as they turned the corners. For one moment they seemed to be rolling backwards and she jumped in her seat, grabbing the side of the car in anxiety. She sighed with relief when they eventually turned the corner and continued.

Suddenly she felt extremely hot, more with nervousness than with the heat of the sun, and she rolled up her sleeves in an attempt to cool down.

He looked across at her, raising an eyebrow. "Getting hot are we?"

She turned to him then, her anger rising. "If I am it's because of your inability to drive properly!"

"It would be an easier drive if you had directed me properly Miss Thompson," he countered. She growled in anger and tapped her fingers on the side of the car.

Finally, to her relief the road became wider and evened out, and after a further fifteen or so minutes Fay realised where they were. They had driven back on themselves, on a road parallel to the highway, and were now on the way back to where they had come from! She pondered breaking the news to him.

"I guess we can forget the cave today, we are on our way back the other way now. I have another idea of somewhere else we could go to though, if you want to continue."

"Are you sure you can get us there?" he asked with a sigh.

"Yes, I'm sure," she said under gritted teeth.

"Follow this road, it will lead us back, but keep on it until we get to the crossroads. I'll direct you from there, okay?" she asked. He gave her a curt nod.

The journey continued in a tense silence which left Fay wondering if taking this new job was a big mistake. She hated the awkwardness of the situation and she hated this silence! The atmosphere suddenly became too tense for her to bear so she turned to him and attempted to begin a conversation.

"At the other side of Agios Nikolaos, on the coast road out of the town, there is an ancient archaeological site. In case you wanted to know, that's where we are going." She looked across at him and waited for a response.

"That sounds fine... as long as this archaeological site doesn't mysteriously disappear," he replied.

There's that grin again. Okay so he was making fun of her but at least the atmosphere has improved.

She laughed sarcastically and wound down the window slightly to get some more air in the car. The windows were now beginning to act like a greenhouse and the sun was shining directly onto her.

His eyes moved over her flushed face. "Is there a shop we can stop at along the way?"

"I should think so, yes actually there is one, why?" she asked.

"I'd like to get some water."

They pulled up outside a small tourist shop and she waited in the car while he disappeared into the building. Minutes later he reappeared carrying a bottle of water in one hand and a t-shirt in the other. He got back into the car and threw the t-shirt onto her lap.

"Here, put this on," he ordered.

She picked it up and