A Virgin for a Vow

Abby gave him a high five. ‘Game on.’

* * *

Luke was having such a good time relaxing with Abby—and, yes, having fun…that word he’d almost forgotten existed—that he forgot to charge his phone until two days before they were to leave the island. But when he gave it some juice he was a little horrified to see all the missed calls from his office in London. He called to find out there was a crisis with one of the major projects he had going. But what was even more shocking to him was how close he had been to unplugging the charger and ignoring the long list of text messages and emails.

‘You don’t have to rush back,’ his secretary Kay said. ‘It can wait a day or two. We just thought you’d better know in case—’

‘Of course I have to come back,’ Luke said. ‘I’m responsible for the project. I know all the codes and I can fix this in a snap. I can’t allow anything to go awry at this late stage. I’ll get the next available flight.’

‘But what about your holiday with Abby? Don’t you want to stay? You could do the recoding over the phone or on Skype or email them through.’

Luke did want to stay, which was the scariest thing of all. He never wanted to leave the damn island. He never wanted to leave Abby. But he had to. He was only making it harder on them both by allowing it to get this far. What had he been thinking? He couldn’t just drop everything and hang out on a beach and have picnics and make love at sunset. That stuff was for other people. People who hadn’t been stalked by tragedy and left to carry the guilt like an anchor in their gut. He had responsibilities and people relying on him. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I’m coming back. This is far more important than a holiday.’

* * *

After five days of swimming and snorkelling and plunging into the sea from a rock face, Abby was constantly balancing the scales of having fun with the harsh reality the fun was going to end once the week was over. Making love on the beach, sunset picnics watching the night sky appear star by star, planet by planet, long candlelit dinners and lazy breakfasts had made the days pass faster than she wanted them to. Luke had taught her to fish—something she had always wanted to do—and she had taught him to relax. They had two more days on the island before they returned to London, which meant their fling would be over.

But Abby had a feeling Luke might be rethinking the time frame. She’d seen him looking at her when he thought she wasn’t watching with a thoughtful expression on his face. And he often toyed with the diamond pendant around her neck when he was lying beside her, letting the chain slip through his fingers and the diamond rest against his palm.

Was she imagining his change of heart? She didn’t think so. She hoped not. She prayed not. Didn’t the last few days prove how good they were together? She had never seen him smile so much and the tight lines bracketing his mouth and the creases on his forehead had all but disappeared.

Why wouldn’t he want to stay in their relationship when they were so comfortable together?

Abby was putting the finishing touches to dinner when he came in carrying his phone and his overnight bag and frowning. ‘What’s wrong? That’s the first frown I’ve seen you give for five days.’

‘Sorry, Abby, but something’s come up at work,’ he said. ‘I have to go back early. No one else can fix it but me and it’s not something I can do over the phone. I’ve called the boat operator. He’ll be here in half an hour.’

Abby’s heart sank and the strings on her hopes severed. ‘But what about me?’

‘You can finish the holiday on your own. There’s no point rushing back with me now, as I’ll be stuck in the office for the next week by the look of things. You might as well make the most of the last couple of days.’

‘But it won’t be the same without you,’ Abby said. ‘What will I do with myself? There’s no one else on the island.’

‘I’ll arrange for someone to be with you. A staff member or—’

‘A staff member?’ Abby stared at him. ‘Why would I want to be here with a staff member when I only want to be with you?’

His features were set in tight lines. ‘Look, I don’t have time for this right now—’

‘Make time, Luke,’ Abby said. ‘This is important to me. You can’t just dash back to London as if the last few days didn’t happen. Didn’t they mean anything to you? Don’t I mean anything to you?’

He let out an impatient breath. ‘Look, if you’re worried about what people are going to say then I can’t see the problem. I’m not in any of the photos you post online so how will they know I’m not here with you?’