Charlotte’s hand shot up.
Giannis fixed his sea-glass-coloured eyes on her and smiled.
‘You don’t need to put your hand up.’
‘Right, sorry. Yes, I’ve done it a couple of times on the Thames.’
‘OK. And you?’
Maddie could see his eyes roving over Sofia’s body before returning to her face. Like every other man who came within afew feet of her friend, he was about to feel the full force of the Sofia effect.
‘Me? Yeah, a few times in the South of France.’
Sofia kept her voice low and smooth, like she was auditioning for an M&S food ad. It was nothing like her usual clipped tones. Maddie, who’d seen the performance many times before, knew it meant Sofia was interested, but damned if she’d show it.
‘Excellent, that is excellent.’
Finally, Giannis swung his eyes round to her, reluctantly it seemed.
‘And you?’
‘Nope. Never. Not much call for it on the Manchester Ship Canal.’
His furrowed brow made her want to laugh.
‘Where is this place?’
‘Don’t worry. Forget it. No experience at all. I’m a paddleboard virgin’—Maddie pointed a finger at her friends—‘but these two tell me it’s easy.’
‘For most people, it is.’
His wince was a bit unnecessary. Giannis was giving her the once-over too, but in a very different way from Sofia. Solemn faced, it was like he was assessing her body for a structural survey and wondering if there was some rusty iron or dodgy concrete in there.
‘We will give it a try.’
‘So good of you to give me a chance.’
The megawatt smile was back.
‘You’re welcome.’
She wasn’t sure if Greeks did sarcasm, but on this evidence, probably not.
‘OK, lifejackets on. And into the water. Just up to our’—he pointed halfway up his leg—‘How you say? Cows?’
Sofia lowered her voice to a whisper.
‘He means calves.’
Maddie snorted.
‘Yeah, I think I got that.’
Giannis strode ahead with Sofia’s board and paddle tucked under one arm, while the others had to scramble to pick up their equipment with Sofia looking on, smiling smugly.
After dropping her paddle for the second time, Maddie’s patience was shot.
‘Sof, can’t you at least take this? Just till we get out there, please.’
