“I hung out with Dash this morning. He seems really nice.”
“Hey, hands off, sister.”
I laugh. “I didn’t mean it like that. I was trying to say that I understand why you like him. Have you tried talking to him yet?”
“No. It’s so dumb. I’m usually totally fine with going up to guys and making my intentions clear. But with Dash…I don’t know. I guess I worry that if things didn’t work out, it would be weird with us living and working together.”
“You asked me to be your wingwoman the other day. I can still do that if you like?”
“Maybe just wait a bit for now. Anyway, what about you? Did you hear back from that girl?”
“Actually, I did. She’s engaged to Seb.”
“Oh no.”
“I think that’s probably for the best. It means I can well and truly get closure now.”
“Yeah, but she was your friend!”
“I know. And I guess I do wonder how their relationship started. But does it matter? The outcome is the same.”
“True. We’ll just have to find you a little hottie around here somewhere. Could you handle a fling with one of the construction guys?” She tilts her head over to where three of them are carrying some timber down the path.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure I should be looking within the resort for that kind of thing.”
“Oh, right. Because you’re the important boss woman,” she teases.
“Well, no. I know I’m not that important. But I am part of management.”
“I get that. Sorry, I was being silly. I guess we’ll just have to do more trips back to Marley’s and see if we can find you a guy there. Although, maybe we’ll ask Noah to pick us up later in the day next time.”
“Yeah, I’ll need to rethink that whole scenario if I’m ever going to party on the mainland again.”
The wind picks up, and I notice dark grey clouds blowing in.
“Looks like there might be a storm coming,” Sasha says. She gets out her phone and squints at the screen. “Yep. The radar shows a pretty intense weather cell coming through soon.”
“What does that mean?”
“Just that we should finish up here and go inside.”
I glance over and see Noah loading some boxes into the back of a small truck. “Are you doing okay over there?” I call out.
He looks up and smiles. “Yeah, I think I should be fine. I just need to get this stuff over to the east villas before it rains.”
“Let us help you.”
“Only if you have time?”
Sasha pipes up. “Actually, it’s my turn to cook tonight, and I have a ton of prep to do. Would it be all right if I skipped helping you?”
I nod. “Oh, right, yes, of course. Sorry, I shouldn’t have offered for both of us. I’ll see you back at the staff quarters soon.”
“No problem. Have fun!”
I head over and help put a few boxes in the truck. “What is this stuff?”
“Mostly small kitchen appliances and furnishings.”
“Ah.”
We finish loading everything into the back, and I climb in the passenger side. Noah secures the contents and joins me in the front before we drive along a service road that I didn’t know existed. I know I’ve only been here for a week, but I feel like I should know most of the island by now.
“Are your mum and aunt still here?” I ask.
“No, I dropped them back first thing this morning. We knew they’d probably be stuck another day if they didn’t leave early.”
“They seemed really lovely.”
He smiles. “Yeah, they’ve been so good to me. I’m lucky to have two people that care so much.”
I feel that same sense of sadness I felt earlier when I realised I didn’t have anyone in Brisbane I could count on. But I suppose Sasha is already proving to be a caring friend. And Noah is awesome. I’ll just have to make my own family.
We pull up out the front of the villas and quickly begin unpacking everything.
But even though we work fast and dump everything in the room closest to where we parked, the rain starts falling before we’ve finished. Noah quickly closes up the truck and ushers me inside. The rain is pelting down, heavier than I’ve seen in a long time.
It rained a lot in Vancouver, but it was often just a light drizzle. The downpour here is crazy, like solid sheets of water. Lightning cracks through the sky every thirty seconds, followed by deafening booms.
Noah closes the door to stop the rain coming in, and we stand there, dripping on the timber floor.
He peers out the window and checks the weather on his phone. “I think we’re going to be here for a while. That service road can get a little dicey in the rain, so we should probably wait it out.”
I look around at all the boxes. “I suppose we could start unpacking some of this stuff.”
“Good idea. But first…”
He goes over to the cupboard and retrieves two bathrobes. “This room has a clothes dryer, so we can wear these in the meantime.”
“Uh, sure.”
I suddenly feel self-conscious, but I understand he’s just being practical.
“You can get changed in the bathroom if you like.”
“Thanks.”
I take one of the robes and head to the bathroom.
I’m afraid of what Lani will say if she finds out about this.
NINETEEN
Noah
Since Emily is in the bathroom changing, I take the opportunity to get out of my wet clothes and put on the other bathrobe.
It’s a slightly unorthodox situation, but one I am very glad not to be facing while still with Lani. I could just imagine her reaction if she were to see me now.
Not that I care. She has obviously moved on with Pete, and I don’t have the energy to expend thinking about her or them any further.
I hate to admit it, but I’m not as devastated by the breakup as I thought I would be. After so much time together, I actually feel relieved. Free. Way more relaxed than I have in a long time.
It’s strange how you can think something is fine and normal, but suddenly something happens, and you realise how badly you were deluding yourself.
I start unpacking a box containing electric kettles.
And then Emily reappears, and my hands seem to stop working.
The way that bathrobe wraps around her body…
Damn it. I’m a total hypocrite having these thoughts about another woman when I got mad at Lani for hooking up with Pete the other night.
Emily smiles shyly and comes over to help me with the kettles. Her hair looks like she’s just rolled out of bed after a night of…
Oh, God. I can’t let my brain go there.
But of course, as soon as you try to stop thinking about something, it’s impossible to focus on anything else.
She catches me looking at her and nervously adjusts the tie on her robe. “What?”
“Nothing. Sorry. I was just thinking about…whether we’re going to get everything done in time.”
“Yeah, we’ll be cutting it close, but I think at least the main parts will be ready. I was going to talk to Cal about sectioning off one of the pools and maybe a few of the other facilities during opening week.”
“I agree. Hopefully, you can get him onboard with that idea.”
She’s quiet for a moment. “Have you…uh…spoken to Lani about the day spa?”
“Oh, no. Not yet. She was going to announce an official opening sometime soon.”
“You didn’t seem particularly excited by what she’d done,” she says cautiously.
“Admittedly, it’s not what I would have chosen, but it’s a bit late to make any changes now.” I wasn’t going to say anything about our breakup yet, but it would feel weird not to mention it now. “And just so you know, we’re not together anymore.”
She stares at me, shocked. “Really? I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s probably for the best. It turns out we
wanted different things.”
“Still. It’s hard. You were together for a while, huh?”
“Yeah. Over three years.”
“Are you coping okay?”
“Actually, probably better than I expected.” I debate whether to say the next thing because I don’t want to look petty. But in the end, pettiness wins out. “And apparently, she’s doing all right too. I think she’s already seeing one of the construction guys.”
“Jeez. That sucks. Well, if there’s anything I can do…” She laughs. “Not that I know what I could do…”
“Just keep being you,” I say, smiling. “You’re very easy to have around.”
She blushes. “Thank you.”
We continue unpacking in silence, the rain the only noise.
“Tell me about your life before you came here,” I say suddenly.
She looks like she’s deciding something before finally making up her mind. “Well, you already know I worked as a tourism director in Vancouver for five years. But what I haven’t told anyone is why I came back.”
“And why’s that?”
“My boss was selling trade secrets, but he set me up to look like I did it. And because I was on a sponsored work visa and it was about to expire, HR didn’t want to renew it until they’d completed an investigation. But it dragged out longer than I was able to stay, so I had to come home.”
I experience a surge of outrage on her behalf. “That’s terrible.”
“I know. It was really unfair. I was pretty good friends with my boss before it all went down too, which made it worse. I wish I’d had a real chance to defend myself or get a reference for future employers.”
“Did the employment agency that hired you for this job not ask for one?”
“Nope. For the record, Cal should probably use another agency because that woman knew nothing about the resort. But I’m grateful I’ve been given this chance.”
“Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me.”
“I…I just…what you think matters to me.”
A loud crack of thunder explodes right near us, and we both jump.
Emily laughs nervously. “I never realised how crazy storms make me feel.”
“We usually only get this type of weather at the end of summer. It’s slightly unusual at this time of year.”
I look down and notice there’s a bit of packing tape stuck to the side of her robe near her hip. “Oh, hey, you’ve got…” I step forward and reach out to remove it.
And it’s like the electricity from outside has somehow made its way into the hotel room. Every nerve ending in my body has come alive.
I look into Emily’s eyes, and she returns the gaze head-on.
She reaches out and traces the contour of my jawline with one of her fingers before leaning in and brushing her lips against mine.
I don’t back away, tangling my hands in her hair and pulling her closer towards me. Our kiss deepens, and I sink into the feeling of our bodies pressed together.
She smells faintly of berries and the sun. And it’s so much sweeter and headier than any of the times I’ve ever kissed Lani. I can’t remember Lani ever kissing me with this much passion. Unless you count when we were in front of other people and she wanted to put on a big PDA.
I quickly wipe Lani from my brain and focus on the woman in front of me. This gorgeous person, so smart and generous…with the softest skin…the world’s most perfect lips…
My phone rings and I groan.
I reluctantly pull away and look at the caller ID. “It’s Cal.”
“You should probably answer it,” she says, breathing heavily.
I click the answer key and force my voice to sound normal. “Hey. What’s up?”
“Do you know what time it is in Kentucky?”
I frown. “You mean the state in America?”
“Yes.”
“Not off the top of my head. But I could look it up on my phone and text you after I get off this call?”
“Oh, right. Never mind. I’ll do it myself.”
He abruptly hangs up, and I roll my eyes. “Most pointless call ever.”
“What did he want?” she asks.
“Something he could have found out by using Google. I really don’t know how that guy manages to function in a day-to-day capacity.”
“Yeah, I’ve wondered that too.”
The energy that drove our kiss moments before has disappeared. “Uh, about just now…”
“No, please, don’t say anything. I got a bit carried away, but it was just a kiss. I’m kind of your boss, and you just broke up with Lani…”
“Yeah…”
“So, we don’t have to overthink it. It won’t happen again.”
I nod. “Agreed.”
“Maybe we should check on our clothes,” she says.
“Good idea.”
Not that I really do want Emily to be wearing more clothes right now. I would actually like to see her in a lot less. But the timing and circumstances aren’t right at the moment.
I check the dryer and find that our stuff is ready to put back on. I reluctantly dress in my shorts and shirt and carry Emily’s clothes back to her.
She takes them, and I see a trace of disappointment in her eyes. I hope it’s because she’d rather be doing the opposite too.
“I suppose we should start putting these appliances in the other rooms,” I say.
“Good idea. I’ll help you in a minute.”
She heads off to the bathroom again, and I try to focus on the job at hand.
But my brain won’t stop thinking about that kiss.
I think my life just got more complicated.
TWENTY
Emily
Jeez. I did exactly the opposite of what I should have done with an employee. But damn, that kiss was ah-mazing.
I change back into my clothes and re-join Noah, transporting the kettles into the different rooms and then moving onto toasters.
The rain is still coming down in buckets, but the villas’ awnings aren’t too far apart, so we manage to avoid getting wet again.
Part of me just wants to drag Noah onto one of the beds and stay there with him for the rest of the day. But the other part knows that is a very bad idea.
For a start, he’s on the rebound. I don’t know anyone who has gone on to have a successful relationship with someone they started seeing days after ending another long-term partnership.
Secondly, I only just got the news of Seb’s engagement, and I worry that I’m confusing my attraction for Noah as wanting to get over that final rejection. I know it seems silly to be so affected by someone I haven’t seen in person for five years—or spoken to for four—but I think I always kept him in the back of my brain as a security blanket. And since I was never able to find out what he was doing, I could fill in the blanks to suit my own narrative.
And then of course, there’s still the fact that Noah is a colleague lower in the corporate hierarchy. I cannot make him feel like he needs to do whatever I want in order to keep his job.
Now I worry that maybe he just kissed me because I kissed him first. Is that even what happened? The whole moment seems like a blur.
A beautiful, sexy blur.
Noah unpacks another box, this one containing small alarm clock stereos. They look like they have Bluetooth connectivity, so I plug one into the wall. “You want to select the tunes this time?” I ask him.
“Maybe some Matt Corby? Or Tame Impala?”
I grin. “You have pretty good taste.” I have both those artists on a playlist I listen to regularly, so I set it up to play.
Noah looks at me for a moment.
“What?” I ask self-consciously.
“I like that you like Matt Corby and Tame Impala.”
“Well, they’re kind of great. What’s not to like?”
“My thoughts exactly.”
We get into an easy rhythm of unpacking each box and transporting the various items into their respective rooms.
“The other day, you talked about how the resort used to operate. If you were in charge, is there anything extra you would implement?” I ask.
“Are you sure you want to go there?” he teases. “Once I get started talking about that kind of stuff, I never stop.”
“Good. Go for it.”
“Well, I like the low-key side of things. Even though this island is amazing, the one thing that has always bothered me is that it’s not a cheap place for guests to visit. I feel like everyone should be able to experience paradise, not just the rich.”
“I get that. And I agree. It’s a shame society mostly works that way.”
“I know you need to charge a certain amount to make the place profitable, but I don’t like businesses that only care about maximising returns for their shareholders. If I were in charge, I would formalise what the guys are doing down on the beach and rent out bell tents to guests for a much lower rate. But they’d still have full access to the facilities.”
“I really like that idea. And I think you have a better understanding of tourism than a lot of people. You live it every day. You’re probably even better suited to it than me.”
“I don’t know about that. I think you have a pretty good eye as well. And if you spent five years in a role that required you to have a sponsored visa, you must have been doing something right.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me. I never want to think about that company ever again.”
“Sorry. But if I can be completely honest, I’m glad you left. Otherwise I never would have met you.”
I smile. “Yeah, okay. It’s definitely a plus that I got to meet you too.”
***
The rain finally lets up just before 5pm. Noah drops me back at the staff quarters while he goes to finish off a couple of things. I head inside and find Sasha elbow deep in flour.
“It looks like you could use a little help there,” I observe.
She wipes a hand across her brow, leaving a white trail behind. “I thought pizza would be easy but making enough bases to feed everyone is proving more time consuming than I expected.”
“Tell me what to do. I’m good at following instructions.”
She nods her head in the direction of three bases already rolled out. “You can start by topping them with sauce and chopping some onions.”
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