Silly question. She’d have fallen just as swiftly, especially without the first-hand knowledge of his family to put her off.
‘To forget? So...it didn’t work out...well, of course it didn’t work out or else you wouldn’t be here now, but...you know...goodness, this is a bit awkward. You just couldn’t write this.’
Madison’s flurry of words had Jasmine feeling a strange sense of guilt. They’d truly landed her in a pickle, not intentionally, but still, she felt bad and she wanted to reassure her that it wasn’t M’s system messing up. No, that was all down to her and Freddie.
‘Don’t worry, it’s not your fault and if I’m honest, your system did call it right. Freddie is as much my ideal man now as he was back then.’
‘But—but you parted ways?’
‘When we were eighteen, I actually... I called off our engagement.’
‘No way!’
‘Yes way. We were young, it was too much too soon, and it was tricky, with his parents and me being the housekeeper’s daughter—it was hardly an ideal match in their eyes, not when they had their sights set on a high society bride.’
‘I see.’
‘And my mother wasn’t best pleased, as you can imagine. They were her employers at the end of the day.’
‘And her employers didn’t think her daughter was good enough. Oh, no!’
‘Precisely.’
‘But, oh, my!’ Madison exclaimed. ‘You were star-crossed lovers! You were meant to be, but were separated by opposing forces. That’s so incredibly romantic, tragic but romantic.’
Jasmine laughed with a frown. ‘I guess you could put it like that.’
‘And here we are now—’ she could hear the budding excitement in Madison’s voice ‘—with a chance for you to rewrite your paths, make it work and put all that behind you.’
‘I’d like to think so.’
Maybe it was the loss of her mum, the realisation that life was too short, the realisation that what she felt for him had stood the test of time...she didn’t know. But those reasons for ending it when she had been eighteen held no weight now and had no bearing on their future either. Yes, changes would need to be made, the kind of changes she hadn’t been willing to make for Tim, but for Freddie, for the two of them...
But what was to say Freddie would feel the same? Even if he could trust her with his heart again, would he want to make space in his life for her?
‘You’re still worried about how his parents will receive you?’
‘No. Not really.’ And she wasn’t. She wasn’t the insecure teen she’d once been and she believed that, whatever happened, Freddie had already broken away and found a way to maintain his ties to them. A relationship with her would do no more damage than had already been done, but... ‘I’m not even sure Freddie will give us another chance to get to that hurdle.’
‘How so?’
‘He seems determined to go it alone.’
‘What? Life? That’s not the impression he gave us.’
Oh, dear, she’d put her foot in it. ‘I mean, I don’t think he knows how to share his life with someone else.’
She wasn’t sure that sounded any better either, but she was trying to be honest.
‘Then you just have to show him how good it can be.’
‘Oh, I’m trying.’
‘Have you been honest with him, told him that you want to try and make a go of it?’
‘Not outright. We’ve dealt with the past, though, and that’s something. As for the future...’
Freddie seemed so focused on keeping this week as just that—a week. But she wanted more, so much more.
‘Well, there you go, you just need to be honest with him and good things will happen!’
She wished she could share Madison’s confidence.
‘We’ve brought you together for a reason, Jasmine, a very good reason, I’m sure of it.’
‘I hope you’re right.’
‘I’m always right when it comes to love.’
She gave a shaky laugh and heard Madison let go of another dreamy sigh. ‘I can’t believe it. In all the days of M this is most definitely a first.’
‘It does feel rather unbelievable.’
‘Like a wish coming true.’
‘Yes.’ Jasmine had certainly wished for a fairy godmother to wave a magic wand back then, and now she had Freddie back in her life again she wished above all else to keep him there.
‘Second chance romances have always been a favourite of mine.’
Jasmine smiled. ‘Mine too.’
‘Well, I’d best let you get on with living your real-life fairy tale with Freddie. This has made my year and it’s only July.’
Jasmine grinned, buoyed up by Madison’s optimism. ‘We’re not quite hitched yet, you know.’
‘Ah, give it time and I’ll be adding a second chance romance to my repertoire. It doesn’t get any better than that...’
Jasmine was still smiling as she hung up the phone and busied herself getting ready.
Madison was right, there was only one way to find out if this was going to work and that was to be honest with Freddie, to lay her cards on the table and hope for the best.
Sooner rather than later.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
COOKING WITH JASMINE was an experience.
Her ability to burn something no sooner than she looked at it was quite special. But it was her continuous laughter and those dancing green eyes that were getting to him.
She’d been late arriving at the outdoor cooking pavilion because Madison had caught up with her. A call he’d not been as confident as her to take. He didn’t want to pick apart how he felt or lay out their history to an outsider, and he certainly didn’t want to lie.
Madison Morgan had a good heart, her business was quite clearly her passion, so it was bad enough that he’d strung the agency along to keep his parents at bay, but to speak to her now when he was struggling to keep a handle on how he felt...
‘Don’t you like it?’ Jasmine frowned at him from across the candlelit table, calling his attention to the fact that he’d barely touched the dish they’d cooked together, and the way she was looking at him suggested she’d been watching him for far too long.
‘Sorry, I zoned out.’
‘A penny for them?’
His laugh was tight as he shook his head. ‘You don’t want to know.’
‘You’d be surprised.’
He smiled at her and dropped his eyes to the dish, loaded up his fork. ‘I think it’s nice. What about you?’
He gestured to her plate, aware that they were very much alone again, and she’d chosen to time her question with their first dose of privacy since the cookery lesson had begun. It felt like the opening to something much deeper than talk over the food and he wasn’t ready for it.
‘Yes, it’s tasty. I have to admit I’m glad we made the grilled fish and satini. I really didn’t fancy the flying bat dish.’
His laugh was much easier now. ‘Les Roussettes certainly gives it a better ring.’
‘Until you realise what it means! And I’m surprised you didn’t know. You aced languages at school.’
‘In my defence, it’s not often you discuss fruit bats in class.’
‘True.’ She grinned, her eyes turning skywards just as the said roussettes swept overhead. ‘Although now I feel bad, insulting them when they’re flying above us right now.’
‘Er... I think they’d actually be relieved we don’t want to eat them.’
She smiled, but steadily the humour dissipated in her expression, her brows easing together, the curve to her lips turning down.
Definitely a conversation brewing, and definitely not one that he wanted. They’d done enough talking at the waterfall.
He threw his focus into eating, though tasting was pro
ving impossible with the uneasy churn in his gut. By the time they’d devoured dessert, he was more than ready to cut off the discussion with more of what he knew how to give and enjoy—pleasure.
He stood and held out his hand. ‘Shall we?’
She blinked up at him, those big green eyes working a magic that went far deeper than he was willing to allow.
She slipped her hand inside his. ‘I was hoping we could take a walk...on the beach?’
‘Walking wasn’t quite what I had in mind.’
She laughed, the sound joyous after the strained quiet, her playful nudge in his side with her elbow all the more so. ‘Freddie!’
‘What? I’m here on a beautiful island, with a beautiful woman. I think it’s completely understandable that I might want to do something other than walk.’
‘Well, tough. We’re walking.’
And talking...he reluctantly acknowledged. Though it was silence that accompanied their stroll along the subtly lit trail down to the beach. Glass-dome-covered candles were being used to ensure the sense of romance was never far away. M truly had chosen well with this resort.
And M was the reason he knew this conversation was brewing now.
The sounds of nocturnal wildlife filled the silence, the incessant chatter taking the edge off the silence stretching between them.
‘And they say New York is the city that never sleeps...’ He was making conversation—safe conversation. ‘This place seems to have a constant on switch too.’
She smiled up at the stars as she released his hand and hooked her arm through his, drawing him closer. ‘I like it, though; it’s comforting to know you’re not the only one awake when you can’t sleep.’
‘Do you often find yourself feeling that way?’ There was just something in the way she’d said it...
‘What way?’
‘Awake and...’ He shrugged. ‘Feeling alone?’
There was that word again: alone. But it beat lonely...even though he knew he meant it in the same way. The same way she’d meant it when she’d said it to him that first night at dinner...
‘Sometimes. Nature certainly beats the sounds of the city, and though you get the odd cat cry or shrill fox call, this is definitely more soothing.’
He nodded as he tried to ignore the way his chest ached. The idea of her lying awake in an empty bed, feeling that way. The idea that he could be beside her too swift to follow. No. Just no.
But the image nagged at him anyway. As did the uneasy realisation that he’d let her believe countless women had shared his bed over the years, when the truth was very different.
‘You know when I told you...’ He cleared his throat ‘...when I implied that I rarely slept alone, it wasn’t quite true...’
‘No?’
She looked up at him and he could sense the smile on her lips, not that he dared look as he explained, ‘The truth is I hardly have time for even that. More often than not it’s more trouble than it’s worth.’
‘It’s only trouble if it’s the wrong person.’
He risked a glimpse, saw so much shining back in her gaze and looked away just as swiftly.
‘Perhaps.’ She’s right and you know she’s right, came the nagging inner voice.
‘It seems to me we both need to get a better work-life balance. We should find a way to make time for—for finding the right person.’
He didn’t miss her hesitation and he knew what she wasn’t saying. That they’d found the right person, they just needed to find the time to carve out a future together.
‘I thought you had as much interest in finding love as I did?’
He tried to inject a joviality to his tone, make it into a tease, but it fell flat.
‘I’ve had time to think since then, to reconsider what it is I want from life, and talking to Madison kind of helped put it into perspective for me.’
He tried not to tense up, but he knew his arm locked in hers as his step faltered just a little.
‘Did you—Did she manage to get hold of you? She said she tried to reach you before she called me, but there was no answer.’
He swallowed, kept his eyes fixed on the waves crashing in the distance rather than on her upturned face. The sea was rougher tonight and it matched his mood. The tumultuous chaos of what this was, what it could be, and the fact he wanted to run and stay in one.
‘No. She rang, but...’
He let his silence do the rest, and she lowered her gaze, leaned her head into him. ‘I know. It’s a difficult conversation to navigate.’
‘Did you tell her everything?’
She snuck a look up at him and still he couldn’t look at her. ‘Yes. Well, I had to, really. I was always a rubbish liar and let’s face it, M outdid themselves matching us together.’
‘That’s true.’
‘I only gave her the high-level details, enough for her to understand what went wrong. She called us...’
Her voice trailed off and he frowned down at her. ‘She called us what?’
Her smile was small, a hint of colour in her cheeks just visible in the moonlight. ‘Star-crossed lovers.’
His chuckle was tight. ‘Quite the contemporary Romeo and Juliet.’
‘Well, not entirely as our families weren’t sworn enemies.’
‘No...’
‘It came down to social standing.’
‘It was as much an issue for your mother as it was mine.’ He didn’t know why he felt the need to even out the blame, but he did. And still he felt guilty as she nodded her acceptance of it.
‘Ultimately, I guess it was.’
They reached the end of the path, the white sand stretched out before them, the moonlight reflecting off the water as the waves continued to crash into the night.
‘I meant what I said, Jas. No more avoiding. I will set my parents straight. I know I’m hurting our relationship more by not dealing with it.’
She turned to give him a small smile, and he hooked his hands around her waist, looked into her eyes.
‘The thing is, deep down I know they’ll stand by me. That they might be annoyed, disappointed even, but ultimately I’m still their son...’
‘They’ll still love you,’ she said softly.
‘Yes.’
Her brow creased, her eyes lowering to his chest. ‘It makes me wonder...’
‘Wonder what?’
She met his gaze, quiet for a beat. ‘Whether we could make it work now... Whether we could try and—’
‘Don’t, Jas...’ The tension coiled back through him exponentially. ‘Let’s not ruin what we have now with talk of an impossible future.’
‘Why is it impossible? You’ve already said you’re going to make a stand against your parents so there’s no reason we can’t take control of our own destinies, write our own future. Together.’
‘Is that what Madison said to you?’
She shrugged softly. ‘She may have said something like that, but these are my thoughts, my words. We are stronger now, wiser. We can make this work if we both want it enough.’
‘Why is now any different to how it was back then? My family are still the same, the circles they move in, that I will move in...’
‘But we’re not the same.’
He shook his head, looked to the heavens as though they would throw him an answer that would end this torture. Because it was torture to be handed everything he had ever wanted and not be able to take it.
‘We have less time now than we ever had. You and Tim broke up because your work came first. I’ve been there too. We don’t have time for ourselves, let alone others.’
‘We can make time.’
‘It’s not that simple, and you know it. I have the charity, I have the company and I have a future back in Scotland—an estate, a title, responsibilities that I have to take on.’
‘Together we can—’
‘Jas, stop it. Please.’
‘Why? What is it you’re so afraid of?’
‘History repeating itself! Don’t you see, Jas, we do this, we commit and it falls apart...’ He couldn’t even breathe for the pain of it, and he gripped her shoulders, dropped his forehead to hers as he sought the strength he needed. ‘You wouldn’t risk me hating you ten years ago, and I won’t risk you hating me now.’
‘I could nev—’
He pressed his thumb to her lips, stared down into her eyes. ‘Please, Jas. Don’t throw my words back at me.’
She went very still and he wanted to take it all back, the hurt he knew he was inflicting, but he couldn’t. He wouldn’t give her the hope he’d once foolishly possessed, but he would take the strength she’d once possessed to walk away.
He eased his thumb from her lips, cupped her face in his hands. ‘We agreed a week, no harm, no foul...no pain.’
‘But don’t you at least want to try?’ She raised her hands to his hair, her fingers gently caressing. ‘Don’t you want to take the opportunity M has given us to take a chance on us now? Madison reckons—’
‘Madison reckons!’ He started, anger sparking that she would ask him to take a chance on them when she hadn’t been willing to all those years ago. It didn’t matter that the anger was irrational, unfair even, sparked by panic, fear—he just needed this conversation over. The dizzying mess with hope at its heart. Hope that Madison, that Jasmine were right. The kind of hope that had the power to crush him all over again. ‘Madison is a romantic, an idealist, and it’s in her interest to see us work out. I would take what she says with a pinch of salt.’
Her fingers stilled in his hair. ‘That’s a bit harsh.’
‘Harsh was what you were back then!’
Her sudden pallor gutted him, her paleness so much worse for the light of the moon as her hands fell away.
‘I’m sorry—I didn’t—I don’t...’
There were no words in the face of her pain and he hated himself for hurting her, but he hated their past and the confusion more.
The heavy night air surrounded them, the insects and the waves punctuating the strained silence, but there was nothing he could say, nothing he could do.
Surprise Reunion with His Cinderella Page 12