“Let’s play a game,” she said.
He glanced out through the balcony doors. The cobbled street below wound away down the hill, lined on either side by tall houses, leant against each other for support. In the distance he could see the harbour, then the ocean, then the sun, sinking slowly. “Do we have time?”
“We have time. So the way it works is…”
“I’ve never played before, but I think I know how strip chess works,” he interrupted.
“The way it works is,” she continued, “every time you take off a piece of clothing, you get to take one of my pieces.”
“That’s not the way it works.”
“I thought you said you’d never played?” she raised an eyebrow.
“I haven’t, but…” he trailed off.
She sat back in her chair, stretching, one hand moving to the buttons on her shirt. “The carnaval starts in an hour. Do you want to play or not?”