AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After leaving university, she had dreamed of doing exactly as Christos had suggested. She had talked at length to her mum about teaching techniques and even gone so far as to prepare a few lesson plans. Then, when she started working at the jewellery store, she discovered that her colleague Carmen had the same dream, and they had attended several silversmithing classes together to get an idea of what would be involved. Sadly, misfortune had intervened and they had both been forced to ditch their aspirations.
‘Suzie? Are you okay?’
‘Mmm?’
‘What’s wrong? You’re shaking!’
‘Oh, nothing, nothing, I’m fine.’
Christos was clearly not convinced. He passed her a damp cloth to clean her hands, then did the same himself, before lacing his fingers through hers in that familiar gesture she had grown to appreciate and giving them a gentle squeeze.
‘Okay, that’s enough creativity for one day. How does dinner sound?’
‘It sounds perfect. Shall we take these with us?’
Christos released her hand and picked up the wooden board on which stood their decorated vase and bowl in all their sparkling glory. Suzie was about to decline, but when she saw the pride for what he had created written across Christos’ face, she didn’t have the heart to suggest they left them behind.
‘Absolutely. We can drop them off at the gallery on the way to the taverna.’
Christos called a taxi and ten minutes later they’d let themselves into the now-closed gallery. She left Christos admiring his sunflower bowl – which she had to reluctantly accept had turned out better than her vase,andwithout the embarrassingly phallic connotations – while she scampered up the steps to her apartment to change out of her clay-splattered clothes.
Walking back into the gallery she began, ‘Okay, shall we—’
But she got no further. Christos caught her wrist and pulled her into his arms, their bodies so close she could feel his heart pounding in his chest, his soft breath on her cheek. When he looked into her eyes, she felt as though he was scouring her very soul, and a shiver of anticipation spiralled out to her fingertips. This time it was Christos who made the first move, reaching up to gently caress the back of her neck, murmuring a long slow stream of Greek words that she had no chance of understanding, but which added to her rising pleasure.
Finally, his lips met hers and desire exploded through every part of her. She kissed him back, marvelling at the way her body reacted to Christos’ touch, desperate for their passionate embrace to go on forever. Even when their kiss had ended, Suzie could still feel the imprint of his lips on hers, and she knew that the connection she had found with Christos was something special, because in the two years she’d spent with Adam she had never felt the way she did now.
It had been an extraordinary day. One which she knew would remain in her memory bank for a long time. She felt buoyant, uplifted, and most of all, happy about the return of the creativity she thought had deserted her forever. Ideas had started to ricochet around her head; designs for quirky ceramics, the possibility of classes, maybe even learning how to create smaller versions of Katerina’s glass pieces that she could use to make jewellery.
‘Katerina is a very talented artist,’ said Christos, his eyes lingering on one of her oil paintings of the caldera. ‘Hey, what’s through that archway over there?’
Before Suzie could stop him, Christos was striding towards the room at the rear of the gallery where the dark, brooding painting were hung, coming to a standstill in front of the largest of them and studying it as though he was a seasoned art critic.
‘Do you like them?’ Suzie asked.
‘I think… they’ve got potential. You?’
She remembered Katerina’s statement that beauty was in the eye of the beholder, and also that the world would be a very dull and boring place if everyone liked the same thing.
‘They’re certainly different. Okay, I’m starving. Are you ready to head to the taverna?’
‘Absolutely.’
Suzie followed Christos out of the door of the gallery, making doubly sure she had locked it behind herafter the incident at the bookshop.
Chapter Sixteen
When Suzie descended the stairs into the gallery the next day she groaned, then immediately chastised herself for letting Amber and Katerina down. She had promised to step into her sister’s shoes and that meant running the gallery in the same way her sister would. So, she rolled up her sleeves and went off in search of a brush to sweep up the confetti of detritus that had somehow been scattered across the marble floor, then began the task of straightening every picture, plaque, sculpture, and ornament – glass and knitted – on the many shelves around the room.
Next, she decided to refresh the window display, but as she removed a collection of beautifully decorated mugs that one of Katerina’s friends had painted with scenes from around Santorini, she was forced to gulp back a surge of horror. Perched on a raised wood pedestal for passers-by to see in all its glory was her hand-made vase, its glass beads glistening in the sunshine. As she reached out to retrieve it, her eyes met those of two young women who had stopped to gawp at – and photograph – the erotically shaped sculpture, pointing and giggling until they saw her watching them and dashed away laughing.
‘Oh my God!’
Suzie snatched up the large white card that was propped up in front of the vase announcing to the world that the creator of the gallery’s “October Centrepiece” was none other than the “Renowned UK Jewellery Designer, Suzie Sandringham”. She rolled her eyes as she realised that Christos must have made it while she was getting changed the previous evening.
She hid them both in the storeroom and had just sat down with a restorative coffee when her phone pinged with a text. She smiled when she saw it was from Heidi. However, before she could read it, her phone pinged again, this time with one from Katerina, then again with one from Miranda.
What was going on?
