Island Fling to Forever

by Sophie Pembroke

  It all felt so different this time, she realised, for all that it was the same. This time she was older and, yes, maybe even wiser. She didn’t have to be afraid of getting drawn in and tied down to Jude. They both knew what this was—an island fling. When it was over they’d go their own ways, still friends, she hoped. It was a better ending than she’d ever hoped for, after she’d left him in London three years before.

  And in the meantime...she intended to enjoy every moment they had together. The time limit made everything more intense, in her experience. That was why she kept reliving the night before over and over in her head. Why she couldn’t wait for night to fall again so she could take him to bed...

  ‘Right. Is that it?’ Jude jumped down from the chair he was standing on and Rosa bit her lip as his loose shirt rode up displaying those tight abs again. Tonight... ‘Are we done?’ Jude asked, dragging her back to the present.

  Rosa checked her clipboard for the list Anna had given her, and scanned the area they’d been working on. ‘Believe it or not, I think we are.’

  ‘In that case, I’m off to take a shower.’ Jude tossed her a smile as he started unbuttoning his shirt halfway to the path. ‘I’d invite you to join me, but there’s no way you’d ever be ready to meet the bridal party then.’

  ‘Mmm, probably not,’ Rosa agreed, her eyes still fixed on his chest. ‘Tonight, though?’

  ‘Definitely tonight,’ Jude agreed. ‘I’m hoping you might even show me where that secret door that leads to your bedroom is...’

  ‘Ha! You should be so lucky.’

  In two swift strides, Jude headed back into the courtyard and kissed her. Thoroughly. ‘Oh, I am.’

  Rosa smiled after him as he finally left. Then she ran into the villa, through the secret door, and up the twisting wooden stairs to her childhood bedroom in the turret to get ready herself.

  * * *

  ‘It looks good down here,’ Anna said as Rosa appeared. ‘And you look nice, too, actually.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Rosa said, surprised by the unexpected compliment. She’d dressed in a hot-pink sundress she had a feeling that Jude might enjoy stripping off her later. Her wet hair was piled up in a messy bun, and her make-up was minimal, but she felt beautiful all the same. As if she was glowing.

  And she knew that was all down to Jude.

  ‘Their boat arrived a few minutes ago,’ Anna said, all business again. ‘I’ve got four staff members down there taking their stuff to the bungalows, and another one bringing them straight here for welcome drinks.’ She indicated the table set up with pink champagne in flutes, just inside the courtyard.

  Rosa heard a noise further down the path from the villa and stepped forward to the open doorway. ‘Here they come.’

  ‘Okay.’ Anna took an audible breath.

  ‘Are you nervous?’ Rosa asked. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen that emotion in her sister before.

  ‘Of course not.’

  And then it was too late to press the issue, because the bride—instantly recognised from a million online photos—and her bridesmaids were there, all giggling and talking over each other.

  Anna stepped forward and introduced herself to Valentina, who took her hand and pulled her into a hug. ‘The island looks so beautiful! Thank you so much for managing to fit us in here for the wedding. It means so much to me and Todd!’

  ‘It’s our pleasure,’ Anna said, sidestepping the weeks and weeks of work it had taken to be ready for the wedding.

  Mind you, given how much Valentina was paying for the privilege, Rosa supposed that was only fair.

  ‘This is my sister, Rosa,’ Anna said, and Rosa braced herself for the over-enthusiastic welcome hug from the Internet sensation. ‘Now, if you’d like to come through to the courtyard we have welcome drinks for you all, before we take you down to get settled into your accommodation before tonight’s dinner.’

  ‘It seems to be going okay,’ Rosa murmured to her sister half an hour later, as waiters topped up the glasses of the bridal party—all except Valentina, who was far too busy opening last-minute wedding-week presents from her friends to hold a glass. So far she’d opened monogrammed slippers, robe, nightdress and underwear. Rosa was almost afraid to see what was in the last packages.

  ‘It does.’ Anna sounded relieved. ‘And here come our men,’ she added, nodding in the direction of the arch from the villa.

  Rosa didn’t correct her. Just the sight of Jude standing beside Leo on the edge of the courtyard, pale where the other man was tan, but both tall and broad and gorgeous.

  Except neither of them were looking at her or Anna.

  Leo, understandably, headed straight for his sister, embracing her warmly. Seeing them together actually made Rosa feel a little brighter about the possibilities for her own sister’s relationship. Maybe there was more to Leo than the gossip websites would have her believe.

  But when she watched Jude, her optimism for their own fling took a little knock.

  How had she forgotten, even in her happy haze of lust, that his ex-girlfriend would be here? She scanned the gaggle of bridesmaids and picked out the only redhead. Sylvie Rockwell-Smythe, even more beautiful in real life than she was in her photos.

  Why hadn’t she prepared herself better for this? Because she didn’t want to imagine it, Rosa admitted to herself. And because her time together with Jude here felt like such an escape from the real world, she didn’t want any of it to intrude on it.

  But when the tall, willowy redhead squealed with delight and ran across to embrace Jude, Rosa was pretty sure reality had come to find them.

  ‘Jude!’ Valentina broke off from opening presents to welcome him, too, the redhead still hanging off his arm. ‘Sylvie didn’t tell me you were coming! How wonderful!’

  ‘I didn’t know!’ Sylvie gushed. She batted Jude on the arm. ‘He must have flown out here to surprise me.’

  Rosa winced, thankful that Anna had headed inside to deal with the catering staff and wasn’t there to see this.

  ‘Not exactly,’ Jude said, his voice cool.

  ‘Sorry?’ Sylvie’s brows knitted together without wrinkling her forehead at all.

  Suddenly Rosa looked up to find Jude’s gaze on her, his eyes beckoning her over as he disentangled himself from Sylvie’s hands. ‘Sylvie, Valentina, have you met Rosa Gray?’

  CHAPTER NINE

  THE FIRST THING that struck Jude as he reached the courtyard was the noise—the high, excited voices of Valentina and her bridesmaids, so different from Rosa’s warm, low, laughing tones. And then he saw her—Sylvie—her bright red hair and perfect body shining in the Spanish sunlight.

  He’d thought he might love her, once, he remembered, but somehow it no longer felt real. Nothing from that world did—not when compared to swimming naked in the ocean with Rosa, with holding Rosa in his arms.

  That was real. Rosa was real.

  But it was Sylvie throwing herself into his arms, believing he’d arrived on the island just to surprise her.

  Well, that was a misunderstanding he could clear up right away.

  ‘Sylvie, Valentina, have you met Rosa Gray?’ He gazed at Rosa, loving how she knew what he wanted, was almost halfway across the courtyard before he said her name.

  He just hoped she’d play along a little longer.

  ‘We have,’ Valentina said, smiling happily, as a bride-to-be should. ‘So, is she what brought you to this beautiful island—if you’re not here for my wedding?’

  ‘Jude and I are old friends,’ Rosa said, returning an equally warm smile as she took his arm, pressing close in a way that showed everyone exactly what sort of friends they were. Jude’s heart seemed to settle back into a rhythm he hadn’t known it had lost as she touched him.

  ‘I thought I’d come spend a few weeks here visiting with Rosa this summer,’ Jude said, lightly. ‘It seemed l
ike a good time to be out of New York.’

  Sylvie’s cheeks flushed a little at that, and Valentina gave them both a knowing look.

  ‘I heard about the book,’ she said. ‘I didn’t read it, of course. But it does seem to be everywhere at the moment.’

  Strange to think that Valentina had built an entire career out of letting people see into her life—every moment, photographed and filtered and shared.

  ‘How do you cope with it?’ he asked, suddenly. ‘Everyone knowing every single thing that happens in your life, I mean?’

  Valentina laughed. ‘Oh, Jude. They know what I want them to know. That’s the joy of controlling your own brand, the way I do. They never see more than I’m willing to show them.’

  ‘You show them a lot, though,’ Rosa pointed out.

  Valentina shrugged her slim shoulders. ‘I owe them a lot. It’s only fair that I share plenty in return. But that doesn’t mean I don’t get to keep a few of my own secrets.’

  Jude was glad, he realised. He’d hate for Valentina to feel the way he did—as if every inch of his personal space had been invaded, every precious memory passed from person to person to examine.

  Rosa squeezed his arm, and he found himself grateful again that the author of The Naked Truth had never found out about her. Maybe he still had a few secrets left, too.

  ‘Now, I hope you’ll join us for the wedding anyway, since you’re here?’ Valentina asked.

  ‘I’d hate to intrude,’ Jude started, but Valentina laughed.

  ‘Don’t be silly! The more the merrier. And of course, if you’d like to bring a plus-one, I’m sure that would be fine...’

  ‘Then thank you,’ Jude said, already calculating in his mind how happy Robyn would be about this one.

  Being seen at the wedding of the year could never be a bad thing. And having a beautiful woman like Rosa on his arm had to look good, too.

  The fact it would rub Sylvie’s nose in it a bit felt pretty great, too, if he was brutally honest.

  Leaving Valentina and her bridesmaids to the presents, Jude led Rosa off to the shadows of the villa.

  ‘So, that’s the ex, huh?’ she asked, glancing back out at them. ‘She’s beautiful. Like, absurdly so. Even more than the photos.’

  ‘She’s nothing compared to you,’ Jude said, making her laugh, although he couldn’t figure out why.

  ‘She’s a model, Jude. A six-foot-tall, beautiful, willowy redhead with perfect hair and a dozen modelling contracts. I am under no illusions about my own charms, but they’re not a patch on hers. You don’t need to lie to me to make me feel good.’

  ‘I’m not lying,’ Jude said, holding her close so she had to look into his eyes and see the truth of it. ‘Yes, Sylvie looks beautiful. She’s stunning.’

  ‘Not helping with the not lying part.’

  ‘But you...’ He stared down into her wide, dark eyes, her long lashes sooty against her skin, trying to find the words. ‘You’re alive. You have so much life, so much vibrancy... She could never match that. She looks beautiful. You live it.’

  He must have said something right, from the way she kissed him.

  ‘You’re such a poet,’ she said, fondly.

  ‘So you’ll come to the wedding with me? It won’t be any fun without you.’

  Rosa pulled a face. ‘I’ll need to check with Anna. I’m supposed to be working that day, of course.’

  ‘But she’ll be going with Leo, surely?’

  ‘That’s true. I’ll ask her, I promise.’

  ‘Tonight?’

  The smile Rosa gave him reminded him they had other plans for tonight. ‘Maybe tomorrow.’

  ‘Tomorrow works for me.’

  * * *

  ‘Anna, have you got a minute?’ Rosa had been looking all over the island for her sister after another day of work. Anna had been strangely absent for most of it, until Rosa finally spotted her heading down the path to the jetty.

  ‘Not now.’ Anna didn’t even look back at her. Wasn’t that always the way with her? She wanted to organise her life for her, but only when it suited her.

  Rosa took a breath and reminded herself she was asking Anna for a favour. She needed to keep her cool. ‘It’s about Jude. Valentina has asked him to the wedding and he wants me to be his plus-one. Will that be a problem? I can still oversee the seating charts and things, and you’ll be there with Leo anyway...’

  Anna finally glanced back, pushing her hair out of her eyes. ‘Leo hasn’t mentioned me accompanying him to the wedding,’ she said slowly. ‘We’re not, I mean, it’s not serious.’

  If Leo and Anna weren’t serious, then what on earth did that make her and Jude? ‘Oh, come on, I’ve seen the way he looks at you.’

  ‘It’s not serious,’ Anna repeated, and Rosa decided to worry later about whatever games her sister was playing now.

  ‘If you say so. So you don’t mind? It turns out Jude knows Valentina quite well, he used to go out with one of the bridesmaids—the redhead who complained that the bed is too hard and that we haven’t provided the right range of herbal teas—and it ended, well, horrifically. Long story short, she was involved with the book, so it’s a pride thing to accept the invite and bring a date, I guess. But what with the way we left things, I think...’

  Anna held up her hand to silence her, and Rosa got the feeling she was mentally counting to ten, as she used to when they were small. ‘Rosa, fill me in later. I have to go over to the mainland and I hate sailing over in the dark. Yes, go to the wedding. It’s fine.’

  The mainland? What on earth could she be going there for? Everything for the wedding had already been delivered. Unless this wasn’t to do with the wedding...

  ‘What’s so urgent?’ Rosa’s voice sharpened, as she took in her sister’s appearance for the first time. ‘Are you okay? You’re very pale. Do you feel ill?’

  ‘Rosa, don’t fuss. I just have to do something.’ Yeah, that wasn’t very reassuring—especially if Anna didn’t want to tell her what she needed to do.

  ‘I really think you should wait till morning.’ Then, as Anna shook her head, ‘In that case I’m coming with you. I’ll drive the boat. The way you look you won’t be able to get it out of the harbour!’

  Anna wanted to refuse, Rosa could tell. But she wasn’t going to let her.

  Not waiting for an answer, Rosa took the boat key out of Anna’s hand and led her the rest of the way down to the jetty. It was pretty clear that Anna didn’t want to talk about whatever was going on, so Rosa didn’t press her for details, concentrating instead on steering the dinghy over the short distance as speedily as possible. She pulled up alongside the jetty on the mainland with a smooth flourish. ‘Right, where next? Anna, I’m coming with you. Don’t argue.’

  Anna opened her mouth to protest and then shut it again. Rosa smiled. For once, she was in charge.

  Sancia always kept a car in the car park near the jetty, for whenever they needed to run errands on the mainland, and Rosa was relieved to see it there waiting for them. Anna pulled the key to Sancia’s ancient rusty small car from her pocket and handed it to her, not responding as Rosa’s hand closed over hers with what she hoped was a reassuring squeeze.

  ‘The town,’ she said, her voice husky. ‘The pharmacy. There’s one on the retail park this side of town, it’s not far.’

  The pharmacy. Oh, that didn’t sound good at all.

  Now Rosa was really worried.

  The roads were deserted and it didn’t take long to clear the small village and head towards the town. Rosa drove at her normal speed—ten kilometres above the speed limit—more concerned by the fact that Anna wasn’t issuing her usual warnings to drive carefully than by the sharp turns and corners.

  Something was definitely wrong here.

  Spotting the retail park, and the pharmacy, Rosa swung the car into a free space
and killed the engine. ‘Do you want me to come in with you?’

  ‘No. Thanks.’ Anna made no move to get out of the car, though.

  ‘Anna, let me go.’ Rosa had a feeling she knew exactly what this was. And it was bigger than any argument that had ever been between them. ‘Do you need me to buy you a pregnancy test? Is that what’s happening here?’ What else could it be? Rosa knew that panicked, lost look on her sister’s face. She’d seen it on her own, once.

  Anna froze. ‘Leo doesn’t want a family.’ Rosa had a feeling that wasn’t what Anna had intended to say. ‘He’ll think I’ve betrayed him.’

  ‘Anna, honey, it takes two to make a baby. Leo’s a grown man. If you are pregnant, he’ll understand.’ And if he didn’t, then Rosa would beat understanding into him. Not that she was going to mention that part to Anna yet.

  ‘No, he won’t. He told me from the start, no promises, no commitment. It’s bad enough I’ve fallen in love with him. How can I be so stupid as to get pregnant, too? It’s like Sebastian all over again, only much, much worse. I only thought I loved Sebastian.’

  Okay, that was a surprise. But actually, it explained a lot. ‘You were pregnant back then? Why didn’t you tell me? Why do you never let anyone help, Anna?’ The old frustrations rose up in her. If she’d known, she could have helped. She could have done something. ‘You don’t have to do it all alone. You don’t have to be perfect. You can ask for help...’

  ‘Last time I needed your help you walked away.’ It was always going to come down to that between them, wasn’t it?

  Rosa bit her lip. Anna was never going to understand why she couldn’t stay. And now really wasn’t the time to confess all the other reasons—the ones that had nothing to do with Anna or their father. ‘Things were complicated then. I’m sorry. But I’m here now and, I promise you, you’re not alone. Now let me go and get the test for you and then, if you are, we’ll figure out what to do. And if you’re not then you and I need to have a long-overdue talk. Deal?’