Audra snorted. "I didn't save your life. Saved you a few bruises, maybe."
"Give yourself some credit. How many girls would've done what you did for me last night?"
Audra managed a smile. "Millions all over the world, I'm sure. The world would be a darker place without Jay Felix and the way his voice can creep into your heart and make you feel things that haunt you for days. That first song of yours, Necessary Evil, the way it blends darkness and light, about how you have to endure and what matters through all the evil is the end..." She trailed off as she found him staring at her. "What? I was having a hard time in high school when I first heard that song, and it stuck in my head. It was as if you'd seen into my soul when you wrote it. And it...it helped."
"I didn't write it. The band's songwriter did when she was...still recovering." Jay strode forward, picking up the pace so Audra had to break into a jog to catch up. When she did, she wasn't sure she'd wanted to, his face looked so dark and forbidding.
No talking about evil, then, necessary or otherwise, she told herself, saving her breath for the hike. She needed it, too – not long after, the path ended as red rocks rose up and blocked the way.
"Come on, this way." Jay shoved through the pandanus and skirted the rock. Audra followed, using the towels to push the spiky leaves aside so they wouldn't scratch her legs. His warm hand grabbed hers and tugged. "Up here."
The boulder was cracked down the middle, the shattered pieces forming a rough set of steps that were just close enough for her to climb, with occasional assistance from Jay.
"Take a look at this." He held out his hand and she climbed up beside him. "Highest spot on the island." He slid an arm around her waist and extended his other arm to point. "That's one of the mining islands, I think. Occasionally you can see the trucks on their way into the pit. The resort's over on the other side of the lagoon, but you can't see this rock from there because it's just under the palm tree canopy. On a clear day like today, you can see clear to the mainland and the pearl farm."
Audra's gaze followed his pointing finger and she spotted the carrier boat crossing the aqua-blue expanse between the farm and Romance Island. "Look, there's the boat with our laundry. Fresh uniforms for me and probably more supplies for the kitchen. Today's the day to order fresh lobster or oysters because the oysters would've only been out of the ocean for a day, maybe less."
"I only have oysters if I have a big, hot night planned. Have you changed your mind, Audra?"
She shrugged out of his embrace and shook her head. "Some people eat oysters because they enjoy them. The world doesn't revolve around sex, you know."
"Sure it does."
"Which way off this rock?"
"This way." Jay lifted the picnic basket and led the way to a cleft in the rock. "You have to jump." He backed up a couple of steps and leaped, the basket swinging from his hand as if it weighed nothing.
Audra sidled up to the edge and looked down. Dark water roiled at least ten metres below. "No. This is crazy."
"I'm a rock star. Crazy's part of the deal. But this is actually pretty tame. Look, give me your hand. You could almost step across, but it's just easier to jump. I won't let you fall."
She wanted to believe him. "Jay..."
"Count of three, right? Give me the towels and your bag. I'll put them over here so all you have to worry about is yourself. And I'll catch you, so you don't need to worry."
Audra handed over her things, dreading watching them fall to the water below, but Jay didn't drop them.
"Now your turn." He held out his hand.
It's just like Point Peron when she was a kid. Her brothers would jump but a girl couldn't possibly...ha, she'd showed them. Point Peron was only a couple of metres into shallow water, though. Not a ten-metre drop with rocks and sharks in the water. Wouldn't be a problem if she didn't fall. Just like Point Peron. As long as she didn't look down...
Audra shook her head, backing up a few steps as she'd seen Jay do. Every bit of her body screamed at her to keep retreating until she returned to the villas, but Audra was determined. Just like Point Peron.
"One, two..."
She didn't wait for three. She broke into a sprint and leaped, smacking into Jay as she hit the other side. His own fault for getting in the way. Warm arms surrounded her and her eyes snapped open. "Let go of me."
With what looked like reluctance, Jay released her and gestured toward her belongings. "Not far now."
Audra nodded and shouldered her bag and the towels. Jay squeezed between two rocks and even Audra found it a tight fit, though not for long. The rocks hid a perfect white beach beside the lagoon, curving invitingly around a rock pool. Lagoon water splashed over the side of the pool, and Audra caught a glimpse of purple coral before the rippled surface hid it from sight.
"Next time we come here, we should bring snorkelling gear."
Audra found herself agreeing with him, but then reality hit her. There wouldn't be a next time. By tomorrow evening, Jay wouldn't need a babysitter and she'd be back in her room, focussed on her job application. Her future lay far from here and even further away from him. She spread a towel out at one end of the beach and laid the other one in the shade of a palm tree at the other end. Several metres of sand separated them, and an ocean of life and experience, too. "Do you want your book?" Audra dug out the library books and held out his.
Jay grabbed it and tapped the title. "Sure. If nothing else, I want to find out how it's possible to steal a tattoo."
Audra knew the title was the band's name in the book, but she didn't bother telling him. Let him find out for himself. Throwing herself down on the shaded towel, she cracked open her own paperback and settled into a fantasy that didn't involve rock stars.
THIRTY-NINE
A shell landed on her page. Audra brushed it off, looking for the source.
Jay stood beside her. She had to twist around to squint up at him. "What?"
"Didn't you hear me calling you?"
Audra shook her head. She'd been engrossed in her book. Too engrossed, she realised, when she should have been keeping an eye on Jay. "Sorry."
"I'm having a drink. Want me to get you one?" He didn't wait for an answer. Instead, he dragged the basket over beside her towel and settled in the sand next to her. No, not the sand – he'd shifted his towel over already. Within arm's reach of her. So much for separation distance. "Okay, morning tea is...iced coffee and cake." He pulled out a thermos and cups, then reached into the basket for the cakes. Peering into the box, he added, "They look like tarts. Wonder if they were made by the blowjob chef or his tart?"
Audra laughed. "Penny told me she trained to be a chef, but I think she gave that up around the time she poisoned her housemate. I hope neither of them made our food." She took the tart and bit into it. "Well, it tastes all right and it isn't burned. Patel tends to burn stuff when he's preoccupied with Penny. Sometimes he burns the guest dishes and they make it to the staff dining room instead of the restaurant buffet."
Jay stared at her. "They make the staff eat burned food?"
"No! They don't make us eat anything, but our dining room has a buffet, so sometimes we get stuff that's a little overcooked or singed around the edges. Anything that's deemed not fit for guests. Patel's speciality is mango chicken. Even when he burns it, it's good. That's why I haven't reported him and Penny before – because that's the dish that usually suffers, and it's my favourite."
"You like your mango. Chicken and beer," Jay said, stretching out on his side, facing her. He twisted the squeaky cap of the thermos until it popped open. He poured, then waited until Audra had her mouth full of iced coffee before he added, "But you don't like me."
She swallowed. "Of course I like you, Jay. I like all hotel guests who don't make me clean blood off the ceiling or chocolate out of the carpet."
His eyes widened. "Blood on the ceiling? How the fuck did someone get blood up there? Now I know I could never do your job. I don't even want to ask..."
Audra
shrugged. Telling him the story about the bloodbath in the gym beat confessing that she liked him a lot more than she was willing to admit. So she told him about Serge's surprise, warming to her tale as Jay laughed in all the right places.
When she was done, he lay back, staring up at the sky, and said, "So that's why you don't like me. You're dating the personal trainer."
"No. Serge and I aren't like that at all. We're just friends. His family, they – " Audra swallowed. Serge's secrets weren't hers to tell. "He's someone to talk to who understands, that's all." She drained her iced coffee and threw the cup on the sand.
"I bet he'll listen to you talk about almost anything if he gets to stare at your tits while you're talking." His eyes hardened. "I bet he's thinking of fucking you all night and doesn't hear a word you say."
Her fingers itched to pick up the cup and slam it into his sneering face. "Screw you, Jay. That's the last time I tell you anything. You turn everything into a suggestion about sex. I'm here to do my job and make sure you don't have brain damage, but it's damn hard to work that out when you keep saying stupid things like that. Do your millions of fangirls care that you're an arsehole?" She bit her lip, trying to stem the flow, but since she'd started, she might as well finish. In for a penny, in for a pound. "They don't care, do they? They think you're allowed to be because you're a rock star. Well, news flash, arsehole. If you're having trouble finding a girl for more than a passing fuck, that's why. Maybe your band breaking up is a good thing, because you'll have to learn a few manners and a bit of respect or the only sex you'll get is what you pay for." Breathing hard, she lay on her towel, staring fixedly at the palm frond above. He was going to report her and she'd lose her job, because the whole tirade would be recorded on her ID for all the world to hear...
"You don't like me because you think I'm an arsehole. Figures. I'm not, you know." Jay didn't sound pissed off at all.
"Yes, you are. And you're delusional if you don't think so."
"If I were as bad as you say, I'd have fucked you already. Kissed you senseless, sucked those nipples raw as I fondled those perfect tits until you spread your legs and begged me to fuck you. I want to. I've told you that. An arsehole wouldn't listen when you say no. He'd take what he wants and to hell with the consequences. If I had no respect for you, I'd take you now."
Audra shot to her feet. "If you touch me, I'm going to–"
Jay didn't move. He just kept staring at the sky. "Like I said, you don't like me. Go on, get it all off that gorgeous chest. It looks sexy as sin when it's heaving in fury."
"I used to like you," she hissed. "Loved your music and the band. I had posters of you in my room. Shit, I even bought tickets to your last concert. Spent half my paycheck on them. But you know what? I'm putting them on eBay when I get home. A dickhead like you isn't getting another cent of my hard-earned money."
"Sell 'em. I don't care. I'll give you VIP ones with backstage passes instead. You should've said you wanted to go."
Audra's mouth gaped, but she couldn't seem to form words. Finally, she found one that framed the tangle of questions in her head. "Why?"
"Because whatever you think of me, I like you, Audra. And I want to see you again when you're not working or angry at me."
Delusional. Not going to happen.
Audra dragged her towel to the other end of the beach and did her best to ignore everything Jay said for the rest of the day. It was her job to keep him alive. Beating him to death with a palm frond would make her lose her job as readily as sleeping with him, so she forced herself to resist. Some parts of her job were so much harder than the others.
FORTY
Audra lost count of the number of times she checked the time on her wristband. Counting down the seconds until her forty-eight-hour stint in hell was over. She'd read two books and said exactly twelve words to Jay in that time, but now she had five minutes left and she'd be free. She drummed her fingers on the kitchen counter, counting down the seconds until she could leave Maxima and Jay.
The crack and fizz of a bottle opening startled her. "We made it. Want a beer to celebrate?" Jay grinned as he held out the drink.
Audra almost didn't take it, then changed her mind and snatched it out of his hand. Five minutes and he could die for all she cared. No, four minutes and thirty seconds.
"Upset that I didn't die on your watch?" he asked cheerfully, taking a deep draught of his own beer.
She shook her head.
"Right. Because you'd have had to clean up the mess."
She met his eyes. "I'm not the arsehole here. I care when people are hurt or if they die. I worried when you weren't back that first night, gave up my days off to be here for you when the resort couldn't spare anyone else, and I would've done my damnedest to save you if you'd collapsed. Even though you threatened me with sexual assault. I have it all recorded on this." She tapped her ID. "Every damn word."
Jay's hand closed over her wrist. "No you don't. I remember my briefing when the manager took me on a tour of the resort, because I was thinking of buying the place. Those things only record when you're close to a guest's ID." He held out his bare arms. "Mine must've gotten lost when I crashed my car, or they cut it off in hospital. So you can relax. No one'll ever know what you called me and I won't say anything, except to thank you for taking such good care of me. I owe you a thank you gift, too. I'll get one on my next trip into town. Want to drop any hints, like your bra size, maybe?"
Audra recoiled in horror. "Keep your gifts, arsehole. I'll stop by Reception and have them send you a new ID. I won't put any other staff in danger now I know what you are. A bullying, manipulative – "
"Hey! I only said I could have done it. Not that I would, or that I ever have. For the fucking record, I've never slept with a girl who wasn't willing. Enthusiastic, even. I don't get off on forcing women. If you say no when you really want to say yes, it's not my fucking fault. That's your choice."
Audra pressed her lips together. She wanted to spit some more insults at him, but grudgingly she admitted the truth. He hadn't threatened her – hadn't even touched her. And she didn't think he would, either.
"Tell me one thing, though," he continued. "Now you know your boss will never know your answer. If you wouldn't lose your job for it, and were free to do as you pleased, and I asked you to spend the night with me...dinner and drinks and the offer of mind-blowing sex if, and only if, you want it, any and every way you desire. Would you do it?"
"No," she spat. Her heart twisted uneasily at the blatant lie.
"Then I have nothing more to say, except thank you for your care and...your honesty."
Audra met his eyes, only centimetres from her own, and her resolve wavered.
Something warm touched her lips, tracing the top one and then the bottom. His thumb, she realised, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath to shout at him to take his hands off her.
"Aw, fuck it," she heard him say.
Warm breath wafting over her lips gave her a moment's warning that she didn't heed. His lips tickled hers as they brushed lightly over them. She inhaled sharply, tasting the sweetness of mango beer as he sealed her mouth with a kiss. Gentle at first, then more firmly as he drew in a breath. His tongue caressed hers, enticing her to taste and be tasted. And then they were entwined more closely than when they'd tangled on the bathroom floor two nights ago, but eagerly, willingly. Audra's hands ached to hold him, pull him closer, so she could take as much as she gave.
No. She'd end up giving more. Her job, her life, her dreams...for one night with this arsehole?
YES, her heart screamed.
Traitor.
Audra wrenched away from Jay.
"Stay for dinner. And a drink," Jay panted. Triumph flashed in his eyes. "I knew you liked me."
"I've been nothing but professional, Mr Felix," Audra said coldly, summoning every half-learned lesson from her high school acting classes to make her sound believable. "I've merely done my job and no thanks are necessary. I like you no mor
e or less than any of my other guests. And now that I'm off duty, my time is my own and I won't be spending it with you."
Even as her heart screamed at her to take it all back and tell him the truth, Audra turned on her heel, grabbed her bag of belongings, and strode out of Maxima and Jay's life.
FORTY-ONE
As soon as she was out of sight of the Pearls, Audra slowed her pace to match her exhaustion. She'd barely slept, jumping at every noise as she half expected Jay to make good on his threat. Bluff. Whatever it was he'd said on the beach. It wasn't until his kiss...assault...tonight that she'd admit to herself that it wasn't him she didn't trust, but herself. She wanted him. It didn't make any difference, though. She needed a job more than she needed a night of hot sex. And that's all it would ever be, she reminded herself. Jay Felix was a man whore of the first degree.
But he wanted her...
Just because she refused him. She was a challenge, that's all, and he'd grow bored and move on after she gave in. Every girl wanted him. He was her high school crush, like a million other girls, she was certain. If she stayed away long enough, he'd forget about her completely and never trouble her again.
She'd kissed Jay Felix. If she had a bucket list, that would've been on it. Not sex, just a kiss. And he'd even initiated it.
"Oh, look, the slut's back."
Audra raised her head to peer blearily at Penny.
"Did the VIPs send you back for a refund because fucking you's like doing a blow-up doll?"
Audra wanted to punch the bitch, but she was too tired to even lift her arm. She had to get a new ID for Jay, then she could go into her room, lock the door and sleep for the next twelve hours. Tomorrow, she had a job application to write to get her the hell out of here.
"Or are you picking up more lube because you've run out, trying to get him to fuck your tight arse?"
Maid for the Rock Star Page 13