Island Fling to Forever

Wincing, Jude nodded, reluctantly. ‘Yes.’

CHAPTER FOUR

ROSA SMILED. This guest list featured some of New York’s most celebrated and fabulous citizens—of course Jude, rock-star celebrity, would know them. And probably know them well enough to be able to tell her who shouldn’t be sat next to whom, and which of them were likely to cause the most trouble. She might not like doing the admin and organising side of things—she’d always been more of the ‘make it up as you go along’ type, like her mother—but if she had to do it, then some insider knowledge would most definitely prove helpful.

‘You can help me, then,’ she said, and saw Jude wince again. What was the problem? These were his friends—he should be looking forward to seeing them. Except...she flipped through the guest list. ‘Hang on, why aren’t you invited to this shindig?’

Jude sighed. ‘Probably because one of the bridesmaids broke up with me six weeks ago.’

‘Sylvie. Right.’ That might explain all the wincing. ‘So, was it her or the book that you ran all the way to Spain to escape from?’

‘Bit of both,’ Jude murmured, but didn’t elaborate.

‘I guess you won’t be staying for the wedding, then?’ At least his answer had proved her right about one thing—Jude was hiding. But how bad an ex-girlfriend were they talking about that he had to run away to a decrepit Spanish island to escape her?

Mind you, she’d run to the other end of the earth to escape him, and he’d been pretty much perfect.

Of course, that was why she’d run. Perfection was terrifying—especially in the face of all her faults.

‘Depends, I guess,’ Jude said. Then he shook his head. ‘I honestly don’t know. I came here to get away from everything, but now...maybe this is meant to be. Maybe it’s time to face some demons from my past.’

His gaze caught hers as he said it, and suddenly Rosa felt the knowledge that they weren’t just talking about his ex, or some book any more weighing heavy on her heart.

She’d tried not to think too much about Jude after she left—that way, she was pretty sure, madness lay. Or at best, running back to him, just when she’d escaped his thrall. Rosa wasn’t the sort to dwell. She moved on, got over it and kept going. That was all she knew.

He talked about being here to face his demons as if it were a good thing. If Rosa had the choice, she’d be running as fast as she could in the opposite direction from everything and everyone on La Isla Marina.

‘So...you’re planning on staying?’ Rosa asked, surprised. ‘And I kind of have to stay.’ At least, if she wanted her family to speak to her ever again. Although she’d gone three years without that from Anna and her father already... No. Rosa didn’t have so much family that she could be quite that cavalier about losing them.

‘So we’re both here. On the island. For the duration.’ Jude’s gaze was heavy and meaningful, and Rosa had an awful feeling she knew exactly where he wanted this conversation to go: back to the night she left, and searching for explanations why.

Yeah, she really wasn’t ready to have that talk yet. Let him deal with his other demons—whatever they were—first, and come back to her last. Like when someone was taking for ever to make up their mind choosing from the menu in a restaurant, and asked the waiter to ask them again at the end.

But Jude wasn’t a waiter. And if she couldn’t avoid Jude any longer, she might as well take advantage of the fact he was there. Apart from anything else, giving him something else to focus on—like the impending arrival of his ex—might distract him from their own past. And honestly? She could use the help.

Pasting on a bright smile, she ignored the vibes and merrily changed the subject. ‘Great! Well, in that case, you can definitely help me out with all these tasks Anna’s left for me. I’m sure your insider knowledge will be invaluable.’

Jude didn’t seem particularly excited at the prospect. In fact, he didn’t look as if he wanted to change the subject at all.

‘Rosa. Don’t you think we need to talk—’

‘Not really,’ she said, honestly. ‘I think we were friends, three years ago, before anything else. Maybe we can be that again. I have too much to focus on here for this wedding to even think about anything else right now.’

He didn’t agree with her; she could see it in his face. Jude was the talking sort, and she, well, wasn’t. Not unless she had to be.

But then, just as Jude opened his mouth to argue, Sancia appeared in the doorway, holding a tray of tapas and flanked by Rosa’s father, carrying wine.

She had, quite seriously, never been so pleased to see her parents in her whole life.

‘Mama! Dad!’ She jumped up from her chair and bounced across the courtyard to help them with the plates. Her father in particular looked surprised at the welcome. Understandably, she supposed. They’d never been affectionate, the two of them. Professor Gray kept even people he loved and liked, like Sancia or Anna, at arm’s length, and he’d never known what to make of his younger, wilder daughter. It was as if blood was the only thing they’d ever had in common.

Until now. Now, they all had the future of La Isla Marina in common. And she and her father had the added connection of Jude’s friendship.

Now, they were all going to have to try and get along for a while.

And they could start by getting her out of a very awkward conversation with Jude. ‘Why don’t you come and join us? Jude has lots of questions about the island.’

Once Sancia got talking about La Isla Marina, it would be impossible for anyone to get a word in edgeways. Especially if that word was the one question Rosa really didn’t want to answer. Why?

Because, seeing Jude again, all of her reasons had already started to fade away. And she couldn’t afford to let that happen. Not when she knew she was leaving again, as soon as this wedding was over.

* * *

Jude awoke the next morning to the sound of the sea lapping against the rocks outside his bungalow window, the sun already shining through the thin gauze curtains. He lay for a moment just enjoying the peace, the solitude and the beauty of La Isla Marina.

And then his brain caught up with his body.

Rosa was here. Sylvie was coming here. And he’d promised to spend his day helping Rosa prepare for the socialite wedding of the year.

Just perfect.

His head suddenly aching, Jude forced himself out of bed and into the shower. So much for his idyllic secret getaway. From the look of Rosa’s clipboard, half of Manhattan was now following him there. And it wasn’t even the half he really liked.

Letting the water sluice over his skin, Jude thought back over the strange events of the day before. Had he been imagining it, or had Rosa been trying to avoid talking about their history together? She certainly hadn’t let on to her parents how close they’d been, once. Instead, she’d talked about him as just one more subject she’d photographed and written about.

Maybe that was all he was, to her.

Could he have imagined that connection between them? That instantaneous, shocking attraction?

Had she just been patiently listening three years ago, as he’d poured out his heart to her, in the hope that she’d find a good story?

No.

He shook water droplets from his hair as he stepped out of the shower, letting the warm Spanish air dry his skin.

He’d seen the same confusion and amazement in Rosa’s eyes, that first night they’d been together. That overwhelmed, overtaken look that had echoed exactly how he’d felt.

She’d been as rocked by their connection as he had. She’d just reacted differently.

And maybe now the universe was giving him the chance to find out why—whether she wanted to tell him or not.

Rosa might have distracted him last night with Sancia’s tales of the island, and the truly excellent wine and tapas she provided. But to

day was another day—and they’d already arranged to meet at the villa to go over the guest list and arrangements.

Jude smiled to himself as he pulled on his dark linen trousers and a crisp white linen shirt. If Rosa wanted his help, she’d better be prepared to pay in her secrets.

Especially since she already knew all of his.

* * *

The villa was deserted when he reached Reception, so Jude loitered in the cool shade of the tiled reception hall. The white painted arches overhead and the cool vistas reminded him more of a Middle Eastern palace than a Spanish villa, but he liked the feel of the place. It felt as if time had stopped, or at least slowed to a lazy, honey-slow meander. After the bustle of New York City, Jude was enjoying the change of pace.

Sancia had told him the romantic tale of how the island came to her in her family the night before: how Sancia’s grandparents had built the villa as their retreat from the world when they married, and how Sancia’s parents had built the resort around it when they inherited it. At one time, it was supposed to have been a jewel in the Med, the place for the movers and shakers of the time to be seen.

He supposed it would be again, soon. If they got all the necessary work done on time.