Page 60 of The Summer Show
“You’re creeping me out.”
“Women always say that. Men, too.” His face fell. “Even dogs do not like me.”
Usually I strived to see the best in people, but he had me cornered and ball of panic was rolling up my throat. Oxygen was becoming less of a certainty by the second.
“No,” I repeated.
“Please. My family’s newspaper needs this. We need to expand off the island, otherwise my cousins will overthrow me as senior editor. They do not even know how to make up the news.”
“Can’t you just make this up?”
He opened his mouth. I would never know what was supposed to come out, because a shadow fell over us and the reporter rose up off the ground, hoisted by his large ears.
“She said no,” Nick Merrick said. There were more words after that—Greek words—and the color drained out of the reporter’s skin. If he’d had a tail, it would be tucked between his legs as he bolted along the narrow, labyrinthine streets of Nera. He glanced back before he disappeared around a corner, probably to check that Nick wasn’t in pursuit.
I hastily shoved the onion into my pocket.
Now that he was gone, Nick turned his attention to me. His gaze prowled over me, checking for damage. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
“He was pushy. He wanted me to agree to leak information about the show and didn’t want to take no for an answer.”
“There will be others. Greece’s Top Hoplite is the country’s most popular show. Everyone wants spoilers.”
“Well, they won’t get them from me. I signed a contract.”
“First they were taking pictures, and now this. Stay at the hotel, Kathleen. Please.” His voice dipped into the dessert tones on that last word. On the heels of the honeyed way he always spoke my name, I almost melted into a puddle at his feet. None of this was helping my crush. “There’s security there. You’ll be safe.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Seems like you’re doing a pretty good job of watching my back.” I aimed for levity but the words struck like stones. Nick didn’t look happy about the way the conversation was going.
“And if I’m not around next time?”
Something occurred to me. Nick had ridden to the rescue fast.
“How did you know I needed help?”
“I didn’t. I went to my sister’s place to see if you wanted another swimming lesson, but you were already gone. One of her neighbors told me where you were.”
“How did they know?”
“Everyone knows everything here. There are no secrets. Very few, anyway. Ana didn’t warn you?”
“She told me that gossip is currency here.”
“She’s right. I can guarantee everyone on the island knows we’re walking together right now.”
We were walking. While talking, we had fallen smoothly into step alongside each other, going nowhere in particular. Just strolling through Nera’s pencil thin streets, dodging clumps of tourists and the merchandise that served as colorful honeypots to attract their euros.
“We’re hardly gossip worthy.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Right now we are two of the hottest topics of conversation on the island.”
“Because of the show?”
“Partly.”