‘Couldn’t she?’ He huffed a humourless laugh. ‘This seems typical of her mischief to me.’
‘Was she ever malicious, as far as you know?’
‘Never,’ he admitted. ‘Not in all the time I knew her.’
‘Then why would she do this if she hadn’t wanted us to be together?’
And now she’d said too much. Or maybe not...
Rosie’s heart lifted as Xavier pulled away from the wall, but then it clenched with despair as he turned without another word and left the room.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
HE STOOD ON the deck, staring out to sea, wondering where they’d be now if their life experiences had been different. His best guess was that his aunt and Rosie would have found each other somehow, and that Rosie would be on the island right now, doing everything she could to help the islanders even with zero funds and only her eternal optimism driving her forward.
He certainly wouldn’t have come up with the plan that he had. If his childhood had been different, he would have visited the island regularly and felt comfortable there, instead of harking back to the bitter memories of childhood disappointment. Rosie had made him confront things he hadn’t thought about for years, which was ironic when her childhood made his seem idyllic by comparison, and the wounds he lived with nothing more than an indulgence.
He had to put the past to good purpose now, as she had, and use those lessons to move forward. She was right in saying that wealth meant nothing unless it could do some good, and life was certainly diminished without someone to share it with.
He hadn’t intended to make her unhappy. He hadn’t even realised how unhappy she was, but now he felt her pain as keenly as his own. All that mattered to him, he had discovered, was Rosie’s happiness. His ring was on her finger, and Rosie was in his bed, but what would it take to win her heart?
* * *
Doubt was still hammering down on her the next morning. She’d slept alone. Xavier hadn’t been near their stateroom, which left her with the growing suspicion that she had damaged something precious, like a green shoot she’d carelessly trodden down beneath the heel of her shoe. As she stood beneath the shower, she felt the loss of him keenly. She wanted the comfort of his arms, the thrill of his body, and the caring individual she’d increasingly seen emerge in him. The one thing she had never once considered was giving up—not on her relationship with Xavier, and not on her commitment to the island. So it was time to swallow her pride, get dressed, and go to find him.
Don Xavier was in his study, one of the stewards told her.
‘Rosie.’ Xavier stood as she opened the door. ‘Please. Come in...’
She felt his warmth reaching out to her. He was standing behind the desk at the far end of the room. Even in shadow, he was the most compelling man she’d ever met, Rosie concluded wistfully.
‘Is something wrong?’ he asked.
‘Just that I wish I knew you better,’ she admitted. ‘I wish I knew what made you tick.’
‘That’s easy,’ he said.
‘Is it?’ She stood by the door, knowing that if she came any closer her feelings would overwhelm her.
‘We’re the same, you and I,’ he said.
She shook her head ruefully. ‘I don’t think so. You’re frightened of feeling.’
‘Whereas you have no difficulty in expressing yourself,’ he countered with a wry look.
She knew one thing for certain. She would rather spend the rest of her life getting over Xavier than another night on the ship without him. She wanted to be close to him, to be one with him in every way there was.
‘You came here to say something?’ he prompted.
Yes, and the air was so still, it seemed as if the whole world were listening in. She didn’t know where to begin. Xavier was impossible to know, and impossible to live without.
‘Rosie?’ he prompted.
‘I want to understand you,’ she said.
‘Then take a look in the mirror,’ he suggested.
She frowned. ‘We couldn’t be more different, you and I. Parental love and family solidarity might seem like Shangri-La to me, but I’m not ready to give up on my dreams yet.’