With what looked like considerable effort, the girl turned away from Jason. "Where are the blood test results? As soon as I was released from Emergency, I had them do a blood alcohol screening. Other drugs, too. Who knows what he was tanked up on before he tried to kill me?"
Jason forced his grin to stay in place as he replied, "Mango beer. I'd been enjoying a few brews and a bit of good food with some lovely ladies at the pub. I liked it so much, I decided to bring more back with me to the hotel. Where I could drink responsibly, of course." Fuck. He'd been drinking since breakfast and a blood test would show that for sure. There went his driver's licence and the PR team would be after his hide. If the rest of the band didn't skin him alive first.
"Sure, we got the results back. It shows some residual alcohol in his blood, but not enough for him to be over the limit." The Inspector raised his eyebrows. "Mr Felix, under the circumstances, I'm going to let you off with a warning. Once the paperwork's sorted, and provided you don't pose a threat to my constable here without your car, I think we should all forget the whole incident. No charges, no reporters, no lawyers and no hard feelings."
Jason eyed the two police officers. No charges and no reporters would be a relief for him, but the Inspector was worried about his lawyers. So he bloody well should be. If he had no evidence against him, he could sue the police for this.
What would a rock star do?
Jason hitched up his grin and drawled, "Well, that sounds reasonable. If you bust me out of this place and help me get back to my hotel, I think we have a deal. Inspector – " He wracked his brain for man's name and dredged it up. " – Burgess," he finished triumphantly.
Burgess nodded. "Uncuff him."
Constable Nelson drew in a deep breath, making her boobs swell so Jason couldn't possibly look anywhere else. "Inspector."
"Now, constable."
Metal clinked as she produced the keys and set to work on Jason's restraints. "This isn't over," she hissed. "If I ever see you driving in my town again, I'll have the breathalyser out before you can blink. If you blow over the legal limit, I'll have you slapped with a drink-driving charge faster than you can take your keys out of the ignition. Take a good look at these handcuffs, because you'll be seeing them again." She held them up and jingled them ominously.
Jason wanted to rub his wrists, but he was in full rock god mode now. "Oh, I see them, Constable Nelson. But next time you use those on me, make sure you're wearing your sexiest underwear because you'll need to be at your best when you go to bed with me." He winked again. "I've never slept with a real policewoman before and first impressions stay with you forever, you know? I am pretty unforgettable, after all."
She turned bright red and couldn't seem to formulate a reply.
"Thanks for coming in, constable. You enjoy your days off." Inspector Burgess dismissed her. She nodded curtly and left. Burgess dropped his tone so it wouldn't be heard outside the room. "She's a good officer, Mr Felix. If she said you were drunk, you're a lucky son of a bitch you had time to sober up before she thought to breath or blood test you. Not to mention the blood transfusions you had while you were unconscious. Diluted your blood alcohol quite nicely, I'll bet. Next time, she won't make the same mistake. And neither will I. You put one foot over the line of the law in my jurisdiction again and I'll have you in the lockup. You won't get a nice private room like this. Not even a pillow. And most of the guys we have in the lockup are in for drunk and disorderly, violent crimes. Looking for a fight and someone else to beat up. So you'll have a roommate from hell. And my first call will be to the press. All the money and lawyers in the country won't get you off. Are we clear?"
Jason nodded. He understood, all right. "But you're busting me out of here, right? No more nurses molesting me?"
Burgess flashed a feral smile. "Sure. As soon as we're done with the paperwork."
TWENTY-SIX
Audra finished restocking the milk and coffee in Albina, trying to hide her shock at how much the executives had consumed in less than twenty-four hours. Between them, they'd consumed enough caffeine to stay awake into next week. What was wrong with these people?
Shaking her head, she turned her trolley toward Maxima. Empty Maxima, she already knew. She didn't want to go inside the lonely villa. Last night she'd seen the photos on social media of Jay drinking and enjoying himself with some of the tourists in town. He'd evidently decided the loneliness and isolation on Romance Island weren't for him and he'd stayed in town. Probably shacked up with half a dozen of the bikini-clad tourists from the photos. Always the rock star, up for a good time. It made the last day of her work week much easier. In exactly ten minutes' time, she'd end today's shift and start two, much-needed days off, during which she intended to finish her job application and submit it before the deadline on Friday. Only four days away. There was a weather station with her name on it waiting for her next year, she was certain of it. No more cleaning floors or dealing with unruly guests who invaded her erotic dreams. She swore nothing would make her miss this year's deadline. Nothing.
Her wristband beeped and she glanced at the display.
URGENT CALL. RECEPTION.
The phone in Maxima was closer, so she swiped her ID and entered the villa. Picking up the phone, she punched in the number for Reception.
"Hel – "
"Heloise, it's Audra. You said it was urgent?"
"It is. He refuses to speak to anyone but you. Putting him through now."
Audra's heart sank. It had to be Tad. She hoped he hadn't hurt himself yet.
A male voice cleared his throat.
"Tad?" she began. "Tell me you haven't done anything stupid. Please."
A snort. "It's Jay, not Tad." Far more self-assured, too. Not to mention sexy. "Most girls don't forget me that easily. And stupid really depends on your perspective. Reckless, yes, but I'm a rock star. It comes with the territory." Jay's laughter was deep and infectious.
Her heart slid out of her throat and back into place as Audra's panic faded. "Mr Felix. What can I assist you with?"
If he said he wanted his things packed up and sent to town, she'd eat the strawberries herself. Yes, with the chocolate. She'd only had fondue once in her life and she'd make the most of this one. He'd never know.
"My recklessness has landed me in hospital and the matron will only release me if I'm kept under observation for another forty-eight hours. She's threatening to send a nurse with me. Can you talk to her? I don't want to spend another night in hospital. Save me, Audra."
He knew her name. Jay Felix, rock god who could have any woman he wanted, actually remembered her name. As for saving him...
"Audrey?" The voice belonged to an older woman, not Jay. "Audrey, your boyfriend here's been in a car accident."
Audra spluttered. "He's not my – "
The woman wasn't listening. "He lost a lot of blood and he might have a concussion. The doctor wants to keep him under observation for another two days, him being a high-profile patient and all. We want to make sure he's okay. But he says you'll stay with him the whole time, won't leave him alone for a minute."
That was taking twenty-four-hour, on-call maid service way too far. "Look, I – "
"Do you have any first aid training, Audrey?"
"Yes, but – "
The matron launched into a list of symptoms she needed to watch out for and continued with instructions on what to do if Jay showed any of them. Audra grabbed the notepaper and pen from the counter and started scribbling furiously. She'd have to rewrite the whole mess later for someone else to be able to understand it, because there was no way in hell she'd stay in Maxima with Jay Felix.
"Have you got all that, Audrey?" The woman paused for breath, then ploughed on, "If he loses consciousness, I want you to call the hospital immediately and ask for Helen. That's me. I'll talk you through what you need to do until the Flying Doctors arrive."
Audra found herself nodding and making affirmative noises. All she was agreeing to was ensuring that
one of the hotel's VIP guests was well taken care of, she told herself. Not that she'd take care of him personally. No one worked forty-eight hours without cease. And tomorrow was her day off. She wouldn't give that up for anyone, not even Jay Felix. As for masquerading as his girlfriend...
Finally, the woman shut up and Jay came back on the line.
"Audra, you still there?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Thank you. I swear, I owe you huge for this. Whatever you want, just name it."
A rock god who owed her a favour. Audra sighed. If only he'd said that before she'd forked out for concert tickets to see his show. Ah, he probably didn't mean it, anyway. He'd forget the offer as easily as he forgot her name. Sooner, maybe.
"Can you get to the helipad? I'll have the pilot pick you up before he comes to get me. They're taking me to the airport in an ambulance and if you don't come, they'll send a nurse with me. I don't want a nurse. I want you."
Her stomach did a sort of flip-flop of excitement. It couldn't be because of his words. No, it was the thrill of new things. Audra had never been in a helicopter before. Staff usually took the carrier boat back to the pearl farm and caught a lift into town from there. Helicopters were for rich guests. "All right."
She was going to regret this, she was certain of it. But first, she'd enjoy the flight.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Audra hurried to get her trolley back into the linen room. A stack of towels fell off, but she didn't have time to pick them up. She broke into a run, already twenty metres down the path before the door clicked shut on the mess she'd made. The helipad. Would the helicopter already be waiting for her?
Hospital. Her niggling worry had been right – Jay hadn't been enjoying himself on the mainland. He'd been lying unconscious in hospital, injured, just like Leon. And if the medical staff wanted him under observation...what state would he be in? Would he be able to walk? What if...
She pulled up short as she reached the gates to the helipad. The helicopter was nowhere in sight and she couldn't hear even the faint thumping of rotors that told her when one left the pearl farm. That meant she had at least five minutes, maybe even ten. Time to get out of her horrible work uniform and don civilian clothes, seeing as she was officially off-duty now. If he'd told the overbearing nurse that she was his girlfriend, she'd better dress the part. As if she owned the sort of designer labels a rock star's girlfriend would wear.
Oh wait – she had just the thing. Digging through her drawers, she unearthed the fake designer shirt and shorts Leon had brought back from Bali from his Leavers trip last year. The logos proclaimed them to be an expensive surf brand, but Leon had assured her they hadn't cost more than the price of a beer. The sound of throbbing blades told her she'd run out of time. Shoving her feet into her sneakers, she pelted down the path to the helipad. Just in time, too – the blades slowed as the pilot jumped out, scanning his surroundings for his passenger.
Audra waved and shouted, and she was rewarded with a double thumbs-up from the pilot as he leaned against his aircraft.
"I'd have waited for you, you know," he said, watching her double over to catch her breath.
"He said...he said he'd been in a car crash."
The pilot shrugged. "That the one who claimed he was a rock god? If he was capable of making phone calls, that means he's alive, right? Can't have been that bad a crash."
Her head whirling with thoughts of Leon, Audra stopped dead. "What do you mean?"
"I'm just a charter pilot. Royal Flying Doctor Service has its own helicopter for emergencies and so do the State Emergency Service. So it isn't an emergency. It's just a spoiled rich boy pulling your strings. And you came running, didn't you?" He laughed softly.
Audra shook her head. "I'm hotel staff. I just got pulled off my normal work to do nursing duties in overtime. One of my brothers was almost killed in a car accident last year."
The pilot's smile vanished. "In that case, I apologise. I hope your brother's okay. And cheer up. Your job includes some nice perks – getting flown out to meet the guests. This guest must be a pretty demanding one. I've never had to fly staff to the mainland before."
Audra smiled tentatively back. "I've never flown in a helicopter before, so that makes two of us."
"I get to pop your cherry and someone else is paying for it? How do you feel about taking the scenic route, if it's your first time?"
She blushed. "You're the pilot. As long as we get to the airport in one piece and then back here with my patient, or whatever he is, the flight route's up to you."
He stuck out a hand for her to shake. "I'm Shou, anyway."
"Shoe?"
"No, Shou. As in Japanese for soar."
Audra's smile broadened. "So you were born for your line of work, Shou. I might say the same. I'm Audra."
"Audra? Not Audrey?"
"Right."
"Audra means something to do with flying, too?"
"No, Audra means storm. I've just finished a degree in meteorology. I hoped to see a cyclone while I was up here, but only if I get to stay on through the wet season."
Shou passed her the tiny lifejacket belt. "You know how to use one of these?" At her head-shake, he launched into the fastest flight safety briefing she'd ever heard, finishing up with, "You can sit in the co-pilot's seat, if you want."
"But I don't know what I'm doing."
"Sit down, put your headphones on, and enjoy the view. That's all my co-pilots ever get to do. Nobody flies my baby but me."
Audra laughed, settled into her seat and secured her headphones snugly over her ears. Shou climbed into the pilot's seat beside her and started flipping switches. If she'd thought the rotor noise outside was bad, she hadn't counted on it being worse inside the helicopter. How could anyone even hear themselves think over the thumping blades?
"You'll get used to the noise," Shou's voice said in her ear. "And that's why you have a headset with a mike. So we can still talk. And no, I didn't read your mind. It's what every newbie says on their first trip." He lifted the helicopter smoothly, rising until the entire Buccaneer Archipelago lay sprawled below them. "Ever wonder why the resort's called Romance Island?" He pointed.
For the first time, Audra saw that the heart-shaped logo on all her uniforms was more than just a cute concept – it was a simplified picture of the island. Teal-blue water paled as it rose to form the heart-shaped cay enclosing an equally valentine-themed lagoon. The Pearl Villas clustered around the eastern bump, ending in Villa Penguin and its private jetty as the heart tapered to its point. What she hadn't seen in her night-time picnic with Serge was the triangular swimming platform at the end of the jetty, making it look like an arrow's point. The western bump housed the rest of the resort buildings and the wide loading jetty with its boat pens feathered up either side, much like the fletching on Cupid's arrow. "That can't be an accident. Was the island really that shape to start with?"
"The island, yes. The lagoon, no. They get a dredger in there every year to keep it that shape or it becomes more of a teardrop than a heart as it silts up. I have it on good authority that the architect who designed the resort drew the jetties that way as a joke, but the owner liked it so much he chose that design over the ones that were closer to his original specifications."
He pointed out the various sights along the way, naming each island and building with the ease of a tour guide, for that's what he was, flying tourists to and from the resort. There were two major pearl farms on the way, along with the fabled Cable Beach, bordered by more expensive resorts. Teal waters and creamy sand gave way to pindan red as they headed inland to the airport. The town seemed so small, surrounded by red desert as it huddled close to the coast.
"Beautiful," Audra breathed, sighing as they started their descent.
"Cheer up. As soon as we have your boy aboard, we'll be back in the air and you can see the whole trip in reverse." He skimmed over the tarmac, avoiding the other helicopters and choosing a spot near a building marked with Flying Doctor a
nd ambulance signs. His landing was a barely perceptible bump; a far cry from the rough jet landing when she'd arrived in Broome.
No wonder rich people preferred helicopters to flying in commercial aircraft. If she ever won the lottery, Audra swore she'd set aside a little of the money to charter a helicopter every now and again. Ha, if she ever bought a ticket. She'd leave the gambling to her mother and save her money instead. And enjoy this amazing experience while it lasted. She'd be cleaning floors again, soon enough.
Shou cracked open the door. "Right, let's go inside and get your boy."
Reluctantly, Audra climbed out after him. Despite Shou's reassurances, dread still crept in. How badly was Jay injured? Just because he was conscious and capable of talking, it didn't mean he was okay. What if he was confined to a wheelchair?
TWENTY-EIGHT
Jason let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding as the helicopter's landing skids touched the tarmac. He wanted to run out to meet it, but his rock star reputation was at stake here. She had to come to him. The pilot jumped down, offering a hand to someone inside the cockpit, hidden from him by the reflective glass.
Audra emerged slowly, smiling slightly as she made her cautious descent. Jason grinned. Yep, that was the only woman in his head since he left the pub. Thank fuck she hadn't worn that horrible, shapeless bag of a maid's uniform. Instead, her t-shirt revealed her curves without clinging to them and her shorts showed plenty of leg. He longed to have her legs wrapped around him, nothing else between them, but not with these onlookers. No, he performed best with an intimate audience. As soon as they were at the hotel, away from the matron and police, then he'd offer her the private performance of her life.
The airside door opened with a sucking sound as if the air-conditioned interior didn't want to allow any more hot bodies inside. Audra stepped through, pausing to let her eyes adjust to the dimly lit waiting room after the bright afternoon sun outside. Jason waited for her to notice him.
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