Paradise Found

“Fuck you!” he spits back quickly.

“The night before our date, someone at the club told her they had just spent the night with me. She thought after I promised her I would only go to the club with her, that I’d been going there behind her back. She was risking her job to be with me.”

“Were you there?” Jasper asks.

“Fuck no! I wasn’t there, but they said there was a Mr. King, and one of the girls working there assumed it was me. Elle said there was only one King on the books, which was me,” I explain to him.

“Did they type in the wrong name?” he asks.

“I have no idea. But it was convincing enough to make Elle bolt.”

“That’s strange,” my friend adds. “We should ask Alex, see if he can find out who the guy was.”

“He’s loved-up with Ivy, I don’t want to bother him. Plus, he’s going to ask questions, and I can’t get Elle fired from her job … she needs it.”

“I have my ways. I can find out,” Jasper tells me.

“Legal ways?”

“Do you really want to know?” He chuckles.

I shake my head. “I don’t want Elle in trouble, but I do want to know who this fucker is that pretended to be me.”

“Leave it with me,” Jasper says. “How do you feel about her being back in your life?”

“I was angry at first, fucking furious. I didn’t understand how she could walk away from what was happening between us. Just disappeared the way she did. Then Mum called me about the wedding, and it interrupted things.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah. It was shit. George put her up to calling me and making sure that I wasn’t going to turn up to his wedding and make a scene.”

“That slimy fucker,” Jasper curses.

“Right? The audacity of him after everything he has done to me,” I say, shaking my head.

“What happened?” he asks.

“I walked out of the villa onto the beach and couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was having a panic attack. Seeing Elle and then my own mother questioning me was all too much.”

“What did Elle do?” Jasper asks.

“She was there for me. She didn’t push me. She listened to me vent, and then she apologized. I could see how bad she felt about ghosting me while I was dealing with family stuff.”

“Ibet she did.” Jasper chuckles, but I don’t appreciate the inflection in his voice.

“Fuck you! And don’t speak about her like that,” I warn him.

“Okay, okay … I get it. You’re still into this girl. If you’re that into her, why don’t you invite her to the wedding?”

“Do you have better plans?” I ask him as he’s supposed to be my wingman.

“Fuck, yeah. Anything is better than going to that farce of a wedding. I was only going to be your date because of the free food, but honestly, I think you should invite Elle.”

“She will look better in a dress than you,” I joke.

“Hey, I’ve got great legs, and you know I put out on the first date.” He chuckles.

I shake my head at my best friend. “She’s probably working on the island.”