Island Souls
Page 7
She sat down in one of the comfortable sofas with a view out over the patio and into the garden beyond. He took a single chair opposite her, waiting for her to speak.
‘You make me happy, JJ. Like no one else has ever done.’ His nostrils flared as he sucked in a sharp breath. Good, she’d shocked him. She wanted him off balance tonight.
‘But I want to know if I make you feel the same way?’
‘Rosa …’ He pulled himself forwards so he balanced on the very edge of the seat, knees resting on elbows. Time seemed to stand still for seconds on end. This was the make or break moment in Rosa’s mind. How JJ chose to answer would define their relationship from this moment onwards. She’d dropped the bombshell and laid it directly in his lap.
‘You know we can’t do this,’ he finally replied.
‘That’s not what I asked.’ She crossed one knee over the other and fixed him with her fiercest frown. He stood up and started pacing back and forth over the floorboards.
‘I can’t answer that question,’ he said, his face pulled tight in a grimace as if he were being tortured. She wanted to bounce up and enfold him in a hug, tell him it was all okay. Instead she used all her willpower to stay seated on that sofa.
‘Yes you can, JJ.’ This time when he glanced at her there was naked fear in his eyes. But still she kept her seat, stared at him while he continued to pace, willing him to say the words.
‘Jesus! Yes, you make me happy. I don’t know why, we’re as opposite as any two people could be. But I can’t deny how you make me feel.’ The words exploded out of his mouth as he turned to face her. ‘But that doesn’t change a thing. We still can’t be together. If we are then you’ll lose the million, and I couldn’t live with myself if that happened.’
Her chest was about to shatter violently into several million pieces, either that or she was having a heart attack.
He wanted her.
She leapt up and jumped into his arms. And those big arms wrapped around her, holding her so tenderly, as if she might break if he squeezed too hard.
Lips pressed against his, she clung tightly to him, her legs clasped around his waist, arms around his thick neck. JJ returned her kiss with such a mixture of fervour and sweetness. She drowned in the feel of him, in the beat of his large heart, his chest pressed against hers, in his tongue exploring her mouth, demanding more of her lips, in the sheer size of his heated body. Never before had she felt this … connected with a man. This right. Like he’d said they were as opposite as any two people could be. But perhaps two halves could make a whole. His sternness could offset her wilful optimism. Her verve could give life to his dark past.
She wasn’t dumb enough to think his problems stemming from the mission-gone-wrong in Turkey were just going to go away. But she might be able to help. After all, she’d survived a terrible tragedy in her own life, and perhaps she could help him find a pathway through his own nightmares and the demons that haunted him.
In a way, she owed him. He was part of the reason she’d decided to trust the male half of the species again. JJ was living proof that not every man in this world was a disgusting weasel after only one thing. He was valiant and courageous and honorable.
After what seemed time immemorial, she withdrew her mouth and stared up at him. ‘It’s okay. I’ve got a plan to handle all that. I’ve decided if I do win the million dollars next week, I’m going to donate it to charity.’
‘What the …’ He nearly dropped her, but she clung like a monkey to his neck, grinning as he spluttered and coughed. ‘You can’t mean that,’ he said when he finally found his voice.
‘Ah, but I do. And you should know me well enough to understand I always stick to my convictions once I’ve made a decision.’
‘Rosa, you can’t do that,’ he sputtered again. This time he managed to put her gently down on her feet and unwrap her arms from around his neck, but he kept hold of both her hands in his.
‘I used to think the money was important to me, but I found out I was wrong. The island taught me some things are even more important than money. And anyway, we don’t even know if I’ll win.’
‘So what is important to you? That much money would change your life.’ His voice was hoarse. The tension percolating through him was more than evident in the way he squeezed her hands so tightly with his own. His concern for her welfare touched a chord deep inside.
‘Maybe it would, maybe not. But there is something I know will change my life forever.’
‘What?’
‘You.’
‘I don’t want you to give up the prize for me?’ There was real anguish in his tone. And now his hands were practically trembling with fear and agitation. He eyes darted around the room and she thought he might start pacing again so she held on tight to his hands, needing him to see the truth in her gaze when she answered him.
‘I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for me.’
She let the truth of her words sink in.
‘Oh Jesus Mother of Mary,’ his words were quiet, only a whisper.
‘I know, that’s what I thought at first. But this … thing between us. It’s meant to be. We need to give it a chance. The money. It means nothing to me. That money won’t save me. But you just might.’
‘Rosa. I don’t know what to say.’
‘Just say it’s a deal.’ She laughed at the expression on his face. Utter confusion. Mixed with utter … was that yearning? Both her palms came up to rest along each side of his face and she stood on tiptoe so she could stare directly into his eyes. ‘Is it a deal?’
He turned his face and planted a kiss on one of her palms and his arms snaked around her to pull her in close. ‘How in hell am I going to explain you to my daughters? Or my ex-wife?’
‘They’re going to love me. Don’t worry, we’ll take it slow.’ Walking backwards, she directed him towards the sofa and when he sat down she clambered into his lap. Nestled in against his body, she revelled in the feel of his sturdy chest beneath her cheek. Then she looked up at him and the pulse in the vein in his neck quickened under her gaze. His eyes turned to molten chocolate as she brought her lips close to his, hovering so the tickle of his breath over her own was intoxicating.
‘I love you,’ she whispered. His reply was to take her lips in his and cradle her softly to him, funnelling a wave of desire and heat and love through into her mouth and straight to her heart.
‘Hello, everyone, welcome to the finale of Sea Quest,’ JJ’s voice cut through her memories of a week ago, booming into the quiet of the studio. ‘In just a few short minutes we’ll find out who’s the winner. Who will dig up the treasure and go home with one million dollars in their pockets?’ He gave her a wicked smile and even an enterprising wink, obviously getting into the upbeat vibe of the show, enjoying the spectacle of the whole thing. This was his job, after all, and he knew how to work a crowd to its best advantage. Just one more thing she loved about him.
‘I’ll count the votes now.’ JJ waved his arm towards a small wooden chest containing the votes cast by all the contestants back on the island. Then with a flick of his wrist he opened the lid and withdrew the first piece of paper. The silence surrounding the studio was palpable.
‘The first vote is for … Rosa.’
‘Oh,’ she squealed. This was going to be so much fun. Whether or not she won the money—while extremely interesting and electrifying if she did—was no longer of any consequence. She’d found her soul mate on the island. And that was all that mattered. They’d found each other.
If you liked Island Souls, you’ll love Island Redemption
Cilla Parsons’ life is turned upside down when she ends up on a deserted Thai island with seventeen other contestants, playing a reality game of survival for the one million dollar prize. The soft sandy beaches and crystal clear azure water don’t fool her; she knows this is no paradise. She’ll do whatever it takes to win the money and save her family home from foreclosure.
Until she meets one of the other
contestants. Broad-shouldered, irresistible Tam Connor.
Tam is a child psychologist, and is also desperate for the cash prize, so he can better the lives of the disadvantaged kids he works with.
As the two are pitted against each other in round after round of challenges, their game strategies unravel when an undeniable physical attraction begins to sizzle between them. But there can be only one winner, and Cilla is confronted with the ultimate choice; tell Tam she loves him and lose her chance at the money, or reveal her ruthless side and win at all costs.
This debut book follows the lives of contestants in a fictional reality game of Sea Quest. An easy-to-read romantic adventure, fast-paced and thrilling, culminating in an ultimate life choice.
Get Island Redemption and take a romantic adventure on a deserted island today!
About the Author
Suzanne Cass has always had a fascination with the tough resilience of people who live in our amazing red-dirt country of Australia. Much of her adolescence was spent working as a jillaroo in the Snowy Mountains, forming her love of enigmatic, outback heroes in wild, passionate, dangerous stories. When not writing about the characters inhabiting her head, Suzanne can be found roaming the Perth beaches with her border collie, or encouraging her two sons from the sidelines as they play their respective sports. Her debut novel, Island Redemption won the Romance Writers of Australia award for best unpublished romance novel of 2016.
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