His Forbidden Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

s to match the tiled floor. There was a cupboard built into one
    wal with a hanging rail, and a modest chest of drawers beside the low bed,
    with its crisp, snowy linen, and terracotta coverlet folded back across the
    foot.
    'It's lovely,' Zoe said with total sincerity.
    'If you need a blanket, which I doubt, just ask.' Sherry opened another door.
    'And this is your shower room. It's pretty basic—you sit on that little wooden
    bench to wash, and al the water goes down that drain in the middle, as you
    see—but you can general y have a warm shower when you want one.' She
    paused. 'I'l leave you to look round. Can I get you a drink—a cold beer,
    maybe—or some lemon tea?'
    'Tea would be wonderful,' Zoe accepted gratefully. Left to herself, she
    stepped out onto the balcony, finding to her pleasure that her room
    overlooked the harbour.
    She could quite see why her mother had loved it here, no matter what might
    or might not have befal en her.
    A tap on the door, signalling the arrival of her luggage, brought her back into
    the room.
    Stavros was dark and swarthy, with a quiet, courteous manner. 'My wife
    wishes to know if you would like your tea in your room, kyria , or downstairs in our courtyard?'
    'Oh, downstairs, I think. I only need a few minutes to unpack.'
    The courtyard was at the rear of the hotel, shaded by a massive vine. Zoe
    sat at a corner, sipping her tea and considering her immediate options. At
    some point she would have to seek out Uncle Stavros of the roving eye, she
    thought, and see if, by some remote chance, he remembered her mother.
    Any information she could glean would be welcome, she acknowledged with
    a faint sigh.
    A large hairy dog, resembling a moving hearthrug, came sauntering out of
    the hotel and ambled up to her, panting amiably, and clearly waiting to have
    his head scratched and his floppy ears gently pulled.
    'You're a good boy,' Zoe told him softly as she complied. She would have a
    dog, she thought, when she found a place of her own to live. Her mother
    had wanted one at the cottage, but Aunt Megan had instantly vetoed the
    idea.
    'Don't let Archimedes be a nuisance,' Sherry warned when she came to
    col ect the tray.
    'Why on earth did you call him that?' Zoe asked, intrigued.
    'Because he once climbed in the bath with Stavros and nearly flooded the
    place.' Sherry stroked the untidy head. 'He's now barred for life from all
    bathrooms.'
    'While we're on the subject of water,' Zoe said, laughing, 'where's the best
    place to swim from?'
    Sherry considered. 'There's the town beach,' she said. 'Turn left out of the
    hotel, and keep walking. It's not bad, but it can get pretty crowded. There
    are some good beaches on the other side of the island, but you can only
    reach them by boat, and Stavros sometimes gets up a trip for guests if
    enough are interested.'
    'Apart from that…' She pul ed a face, and took a swift look round. 'Not al the
    vil a owners are here the whole time, and we occasional y take advantage of
    that, and use their beaches when they're away. What the eye don't see,' she
    added cheerful y. 'But don't tel Stavros I said so, because he gets twitchy.'
    She lowered her voice confidential y. 'As a matter of fact, one vil a overlooks
    a real y pretty cove, but it's not used because the place has never been lived
    in. I go down there sometimes, although Stavros isn't very happy about it.
    He has a real thing about privacy, and upsetting the owners.'
    Zoe swallowed. 'But if it's not used, it sounds ideal,' she said huskily. 'Maybe
    you could give me directions.' She paused. 'Does it have a name—this
    house?'
    'Mmm.' Sherry nodded as she prepared to depart 'The Vil a Danaë. You
    could walk there,' she added over her shoulder.
    I not only could, Zoe thought exultantly, when she was alone. I will.
    Tomorrow.
    Half-buried in long grass, the smal wooden board was shaped like an arrow
    and pointed down a narrow dusty track. The faded words 'Vil a Danaë' were
    only just legible, as