by Vivian Arend
Having her dreams about to swirl down the toilet made it difficult to watch others head into their futures full of shining optimism.
McKenzie handed her a plate. “Isn’t the resort the most amazing place?”
Good. The resort and the weather. Those were nice, safe topics. Paige nodded. “Kylie’s found a little bit of paradise to live and work in.”
McKenzie waved her free hand, her adorable button nose wrinkling slightly. “I can’t imagine living here all the time, though, too quiet for me. It’s fantastic to visit, but I enjoy the city better. Could never do things like Mason and Trent. Pack it all in and explore the wilds for months on end? Not for me.”
Months on end? “Getting out and seeing new things is something I’ve always loved.”
“Whee, they have shrimp! Oh, I know. Mason told us about you joining him and Trent on getaways. I’m glad you found a couple of like-minded people to explore Australia with.” McKenzie passed the serving spoon to Paige. “I’m surprised you’re not going with them on their often-discussed, finally-happening, travel-to-the-ends-of-the-earth experience. When they told me they’d bought a freaking ship I thought they’d gone off the deep end.”
The serving ladle slipped from her fingers, back into the salad bowl. Paige retrieved it as smoothly as she could. What the hell? The guys had bought a ship? McKenzie obviously considered this common knowledge.
Paige didn’t have the energy to explain the ins and outs of casual fucks versus family and lovers. She glanced over her shoulder, but both her guys were deep in discussion with Kylie a few meters back down the line, and out of earshot.
She scrambled to find something to say to get more information without revealing she had no idea what McKenzie was talking about. “Well, it’s not always easy to get time off.”
“Believe me, even if I could make the arrangements, there’s no way Mason could convince me to go sailing for six months, destination unknown.” McKenzie shook her head. “No bloody way, not even with my best friend.”
Paige felt a touch nauseous.
Mason and Trent had bought a boat and were going on a sailing adventure for six months?
The pain that hit froze her to immobility. She’d admitted to herself she’d fallen in love, but she hadn’t been honest about one thing—the part inside her that still hoped that the affectionate way the guys had been behaving meant they had felt more for her as well. More than she was a good bud they could screw.
They hadn’t bothered to tell her their plans. This couldn’t have occurred in the two weeks since she’d seen them last. All the while she’d been storing up memories to last her when she left, they’d been preparing for an adventure of a lifetime that didn’t include her.
Fair enough. They didn’t have to tell her. The rules of the relationship were clear, and she’d stood by them every second. She’d known coming here it was to say goodbye before she messed things up. Announcing to them both that she was head over heels in love—wouldn’t that be the most awkward thing ever? Especially since it was crystal clear she was only a fling to them?
“Paige?”
Her head snapped up as McKenzie’s voice broke through. The other woman was already a step farther down the buffet line, frowning in concern. Paige shook herself slightly and stepped forward. “Shit, sorry. Woolgathering.”
Somehow Paige found the energy to carry on and not drop her plate. Not run and disappear like she wanted to. She’d been strong this long, she was more than capable of finishing this façade.
Everything around her was a blur, though, as her mind raced. Her feet may have been slowly following the shuffle of the person in front of her, but her brain whirled with images. Memories. All the things she and Trent and Mason had done together over the past year. The hikes and excursions. The practical jokes they’d played on one another as they worked through boring sections on the trail, or the times of sheer adrenaline during tense and dangerous adventures. It wasn’t just about sex, not to her, and, she could have sworn, not to them.
She placed her plate on the table and sat gingerly. Voices continued to swell around her. She pasted a smile on her face and silently picked at her food, but no one seemed to notice. They were busy with happy laughter and smiling faces. Old reminiscences, and “Do you remember the time…?”
Through it all, the heat from Trent’s body warmed her left side. He’d casually draped his arm over the back of her chair and leaned her direction as he spoke across the table to Aidan. Mason pressed on her other side, his chair close, the seating allowing him to be right freaking there in her personal space.
It was exactly where she wanted to be, and exactly what she couldn’t have. Had never had? To be surrounded by them both. Her body.
Her heart.
The overhead speakers clicked on and a sexy, rough-tinged voice broke through the cheerful rumble of conversation. All heads turned toward the stage where a lone male was spotlighted. He perched on a tall stool, a beat-up guitar casually held in his lap.
Nick Blackthorne strummed the strings, just a gentle brush, and the room fell silent. Oh man, this was Kylie’s surprise for the evening? A famous rock star providing the music?
A sudden memory of making love with Mason and Trent as one of the singer’s songs played in the background burned through her and she squeezed her eyes shut. The rush of blood pounding in her ears drowned out everything else. From the shadow-filled stage, Nick uttered something about love, something about life, but the screw twisting in her belly blurred the words together into incomprehensible babble.
An involuntary gasp of pain escaped.
Trent squeezed in tighter to whisper in her ear. “You okay?”
She hesitated, longing to ask him about the ship. About why they hadn’t mentioned it. To beg to be allowed to come along and join them. Paige took a deep breath and frantically considered her options.
Nick caressed the strings again then started singing, and like a torn balloon, she let her hopes shrivel. It was too late, and this was no longer the time or the place.
Paige whispered in Trent’s direction. “I need a breath of air. Going to the washroom.”
She pushed back her chair quickly, trying not to disturb the others at the table. She needn’t have worried. Everyone’s gazes but Trent’s and Mason’s were fixed on the stage. Trent squeezed her hand before returning his attention to the singer. Mason frowned, concern creasing his forehead, a mirror image of McKenzie’s a scant time ago. Paige forced herself to smile and nod before turning her back on them and heading for the exit.
The haunting words of the song pierced her ears. Stabbed her heart. Pain rolled over her, flattening her completely, and all she could think about was to get as far away as possible from the hurt.
The adventure had been wonderful while it lasted, but it wasn’t for forever. And right now she couldn’t handle staying and faking it through two more days knowing when Sunday was over, she had nothing more to look forward to.
She turned in the doorway, cursing her need for one last look back. Her guys’ faces were offered in profile as they stared at the stage. Trent nodded his head in time with the music. Mason had rested his hand on the back of her empty chair, the clean lines of his cheekbones and jaw making her mouth water and her heart ache.
He turned to look at her. Even across the room his brilliant blue eyes were mesmerizing. He blew her a kiss, winked, then faced the performance.
Paige clutched her hand over her chest in an attempt to hold in the broken pieces threatening to burst out. She twirled, and left her soul behind as she fled.
…
The music was over. His sister and Mason’s were wiping their eyes. Low conversations resumed, but Trent had no interest in any of them. He looked back at the door and wondered for the millionth time where the hell Paige was.
“Where did she say she was going?” Mason leaned across the empty chair—Paige’
s empty chair—and Trent swore.
“She said bathroom. Or fresh air? Damn, what if she’s sick? I’m going to look.”
“We’re going to look.”
Trent’s legs wouldn’t work fast enough. She’d been fine this afternoon. More than fine. It had taken everything he’d had to force himself to stick to the agreement he’d committed to with Mason and wait until tonight to tell her about the ship.
It was time. Enough with dragging this out any longer.
Of course, when they made it to the washrooms he realized their mistake.
Ah fuckit. “We can’t go in there.”
Mason rolled his eyes. “You’re such a feckwit at times. Guard the door.”
He stuck his head past the doorway and gave a shout. No female voices answered back, so Mason slipped into the room. Trent eyed the hallway, hoping that Paige was okay.
There was a quick tap on his shoulder as Mason rejoined him.
“She’s not in there. You think she went outside for a walk? You said fresh air.”
“But why wouldn’t she ask us to go with her?”
Mason shrugged. “She’s not a trained puppy, Sullivan. She’s got a mind of her own.”
The doors to Bar Evoke popped open and the merriment spilled out. Trent’s concern rose. “We need to find her.”
“Fine, you want to take the front paths, and I’ll take the back?”
“Maybe she’s gone to our room. You want to check there? Got your mobile?”
“Yeah.”
Trent couldn’t explain the heaviness he felt as he ran the path toward the ocean. It had been a simply amazing day. Everything was in place for a wonderful evening. Was this sensation haunting him a foreboding of what Paige’s response was going to be to their suggestion of switching their relationship in a new direction? Mason seemed positive she’d be okay with it, but he still had his doubts.
He turned the corner and examined the beach. A few couples strolled together, hand in hand or arms around waists. No lone female figures waited for him to swoop in to carry her off into the sunset.
Although that was exactly what he wanted to do.
Trent looped past the swimming pool. This was frustratingly stupid. For all he knew Paige was wandering in a circle directly in front of him. He was never going to find her this way. He turned back to the resort, ready to interrupt the party and get his family to help him search. If she was sick, he wanted to find her fast.
He raced around a corner and jerked to a stop. “Ah, Kylie?”
Shit.
His sister untangled herself from the guy she’d been lip-locked with. “Trent. Hey, umm, did you meet Brad?”
That wasn’t the same bloke she’d had at her side during the party. Trent’s brain was on overload. “Oh God, I’m not even going to ask what the hell is going on. I don’t have time. Have you seen Paige?”
Kylie frowned. “Not since dinner. My chef is singing her praises, by the way. He’s halfway in love with her. He said any woman who could—”
“That’s great, but she’s missing.”
The man at Kylie’s side straightened. “What do you mean, missing?”
Trent’s pocket rang and he held up a finger as he snapped the line open. “Wood? She there?”
Mason’s voice shot from the phone like a lightning bolt. “I checked the kitchen first before I came up, just on the off-chance. She wasn’t there, so I hit the room. Bloody hell, she’s not here and her flipping suitcase is gone as well.”
Trent’s stomach fell. She wasn’t wandering somewhere just out of reach. “Why would she take her suitcase?”
“She’s disappeared, Sullivan. Vanished. And she left behind that necklace you gave her. You know the shell one, from the first day we got together?”
Trent shook his head in disbelief. “She loves that necklace. Did she drop it accidentally or something?”
“I doubt it. It’s on the freaking sex chair laid out in the shape of a heart.”
What the bloody hell is going on?
“Trent—what’s happened?” The concern in Kylie’s voice dragged him back to the path. The romantic setting felt colder than he thought possible.
“It’s Mason. He says it looks as if Paige packed up and left.”
“How could she leave? Does she have a boat in the harbor?” Brad asked.
Trent shook his head, “She flew in.”
“Why would she leave?” Kylie poked him in the chest. “Did you do something to upset her?”
“Of course not.” Trent pushed down his indignation for a second to double-check his actions. Nope. Couldn’t think of a single thing. “She was happy enough this afternoon when Mason, she and I used that—”
He slammed his mouth shut.
Kylie’s brows shot skyward. “Oh dear. We won’t want to have that conversation if you were about to tell me what I think you were about to tell me. Didn’t you say that you were going out with her?”
All his hesitation at telling anyone about their unusual situation fled, driven out with the rising fear that he’d somehow fucked things up royally. “We’re both seeing her. Mason and I. We’re both in love with her. Happy? Now help me figure out where the hell she’s gone.”
Kylie leaned back against the tall tower of man beside her. “Okay, don’t panic. The only flights are regularly scheduled—there’s no way she could leave that way. Unless she knows someone with a speedboat, the only other ships belong to guests, like your Paradise, and the regular supply barge.”
Oh God. “Paige would know about the supply barge, wouldn’t she?”
“Possibly. She did help me with the kitchen problem. I’m not sure what—”
“How can I find out? Is there a radio?” What mattered now was not figuring out how Paige knew, but if she was even on the thing.
“Come on.” Kylie indicated the main resort building. “There’s a radio in the kitchen. We can check if she’s on board. In the meantime, I’ll get the staff to do a grounds check. It’s a good test of the emergency search system, although I hate the idea we’re using it to find someone you love.”
Trent’s heart hovered somewhere in his throat the entire trip to the kitchen. He filled Mason in on their idea before shoving his phone into his pocket and urging Kylie forward. By the time she’d gotten through to the barge and explained what she needed, Mason had joined them.
“She ran off on us? Why the hell did she leave without saying a word?” Mason dragged a hand through his hair.
“I have no idea.”
Mason held up the necklace. “Is this some kind of message? Because I’m totally too stupid to get it.”
“I have no idea.”
“She’s there,” Kylie announced, hand covering the mic.
“Oh, thank God.” Trent stepped back. “I’m going to get her.”
“We’re going. But with Paradise? Paige will be on the mainland before we even get the ship under way,” Mason protested.
Brad stepped forward. “If you need a rapid means of transportation, allow me to offer a solution.” He held up keys.
Kylie nodded. “Take him up on the offer, guys. If you’re serious about catching up with Paige, Brad’s boat is bloody fast.”
…
The water didn’t just rise on either side of the sleek craft, it parted like the Red Sea, spray flying up and landing far behind in their wake. Trent adjusted the wheel slightly, following the GPS designations Kylie had obtained from the captain.
“She bloody well left without saying goodbye.” Mason shouted to be heard over the roar of the engine.
“That’s the tenth fucking time you’ve said that. Yes, she left. I don’t know why. Now shut up and let me steer.”
“I’m telling her everything when we see her. No more waiting.”
Trent nodded. “Agreed.”
/> They sat in silence, the loud buzz of the engine the only thing cutting through the constant repeat flipping through his brain.
She left you. She left you.
The ache in his heart was going to kill him. Paige leaving was not an option. He’d been afraid she wasn’t going to accept their offer, but now that he’d actually thought about living without her in his life, he’d come to an even more radical conclusion. If she did have an issue with the threesome continuing, he’d do anything to make her happy. Anything.
Even—and the thought made his entire body turn to stone—even let her be with Mason alone if that’s what she wanted. He’d still get to see her, spend time with her. Be able to enjoy seeing her laugh and live life with enthusiasm. It would kill a part of him to not be able to hold her, touch her. Make love to her.
But if that was what she wanted, then that was what he would agree to.
The slow-moving bulk of the barge appeared on the horizon, its shining starboard lights twinkling in flashes as he propelled the speedboat through the waves in an intercept path.
There were only a few meters to go before they took the next huge step. And right now he was totally unsure whether he was going to shake her to pieces or kiss her to death.
Chapter Seven
Paige hadn’t noticed when the engines stopped, too caught up in her world of gloom and pain. Hours remained before she could totally escape Australia. Maybe time would eventually help her forget.
Something stirred in her peripheral vision, and Paige stared in shock as two familiar figures crawled over the edge of the rail to stand on the deck, their heads twisting side to side frantically.
No. It wasn’t possible. She wanted to cower farther into the corner. Hide herself away and disappear, because she simply couldn’t take any more heartache.
Then something flipped inside, and she got mad.
She stormed from the storage room onto the deck, her feet pounding on the sturdy metal. The limited lighting left her partly in the shadows.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she yelled as loudly as she could. Shouting released a tiny bit of the rage racing through her veins. Here she’d managed to pull herself away. Cut the cord and run before the tortuous pain could take her. And now they were back, and she would have to do it all over again?