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And she’d definitely never been this relaxed around a man—especially a football player. But maybe it had to do with Hudson’s lack of innuendo or even expectation. He hadn’t even held her hand since the hospital, so maybe the girlfriend thing hadn’t stuck.
Probably not. A guy like Hudson needed a supermodel. Someone who watched his games, didn’t ref them.
Besides, the league probably had rules about a player dating a ref, so there was that.
No, they were just friends. But he was easy to be around.
“Feel like snorkeling?”
“Sure.” She wore a swimsuit under her sun dress, something she’d picked up at a little shop in a tiny seaside town call Korissia the first day.
He’d made her use cash, which she’d withdrawn from an ATM in Athens. Smart.
“I didn’t know you had your captain’s license.”
Hudson was steering them into shallower water. “My grandparents owned property on King Island, in Tasmania. They had a classic Van de Stadt 40 and would take us out on day trips when we went to visit for Christmas. I got my captain’s license the year I turned eighteen.”
She turned, put her feet down, spread her arms along the sides of the boat. “I feel a little guilty asking Yannick to find a replacement for me, but—”
“You didn’t tell him where you were, right?” He steered them into the wind, and the sails luffed.
“No, of course not. I said I had something coming up. We only had one more commitment on the schedule—a practice then an exhibition game with the Barcelona Dragons. Against the Vikings.”
“Yeah, I know. I called Coach Max, our wideout coach as well as my agent, said I needed a few days. Since it’s an exhibition game, they gave me the game. Nothing on my radar until the event in Lauchtenland, right before Thanksgiving.”
“I’m slotted for that game too,” she said. “Vienna Vikings are playing the Minnesota Vikings—that’s a fun twist.”
“The ELF and the NFL are trying to drum up support for both teams. And it’s for charity.”
He climbed forward on the boat to throw down the anchor, and she stood up and pulled off her cover-up. He’d parked them in a beautiful private bay with cliffs rising from the sea and a brilliant reef teeming with fish.
“Where are we?”
“That’s Santorini to the east.” He pointed behind him, and she looked over, cupping her hands over her eyes.
Creamy white buildings climbed up the side of a mountain, one on top of another, with beautiful blue- or gold-domed buildings rising into the horizon.
“That’s Thira. We can go there for dinner, but I heard that the sunsets on the north side of the island, near Oia, are gorgeous.”
“How do you expect me to return to my life when you show me places like this?”
He grinned at her. “Who says we’re returning?”
She laughed and picked up her goggles and snorkel, as well as fins sitting in a webbed bag on the seat. She handed him his fins and mask as he came back.
A few motorboats and other sailboats floated by in the distance, their glorious sails white against the pale blue sky.
It felt like…maybe a honeymoon. Without the romance.
So maybe not a honeymoon, but definitely not a hideout from lethal assassins on her tail.
“I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the idea that someone wants to kill me.” She put on her mask. “It doesn’t feel real.”
He pulled off his shirt, leaving only his swim trunks, the baggy kind. So American.
Phew.
But she also averted her eyes. No need to stare. It was strange enough sharing a boat with him. Like sharing a hotel suite, in a way.
