She needed to be able to talk to someone and he was it. Which meant they couldn’t let a little sex make things difficult between them now.
‘Absolutely,’ Zoey said with a firm nod.
‘Good.’ Plus, as long as they kept talking, stayed close, it would give them a chance to figure this out.
Whatever was between them, Ash had a feeling it wouldn’t be put back in its box as easily as Zoey seemed to think it would.
He just wished he could shake the feeling that she was keeping something from him. That her reasons for calling things off weren’t as simple as she was making out. They made sense, of course, whether he fully agreed with them or not.
Still, he was certain there was something else.
‘Zo?’ he asked softly. She bit her lip as she looked down at him. ‘Is there something else? Anything else that’s bothering you. That you’re worried about?’
Her lips parted just a fraction, as if she were about to say something. Then her gaze darted away from him and out towards the ocean beyond, her eyes widening.
‘Look! A boat!’ Bounding over him in a move that caused her body to sway in a way that made Ash catch his breath, Zoey waved her hot pink dress over her head at the sailors. Ash reached for his trousers and pulled them on, less comfortable with his own nudity than Zoey apparently was.
Or perhaps she’s just so desperate to get away from me, from this conversation, that she doesn’t care about being naked in front of strangers.
He shook the thought away. Why would she be running from him?
Except she was. Tugging her dress over her head as she ran, Zoey raced towards the boat—a rescue service from one of the local hotels, by the look of things—laughing and calling out to their rescuers.
Apparently, their escape to paradise together was over.
CHAPTER SEVEN
IT WASN’T UNTIL she was safely on the boat that Zoey considered what she was heading back to.
Until then she’d been far too busy remembering what she was leaving behind.
Ash was quiet on the journey, and she knew the question she hadn’t answered had to be weighing as heavily on him as it was on her. But how was she supposed to say, I’m terrified that if I spend any longer with you this way I’ll fall so deeply in love I can’t get out again?
He didn’t want for ever—he’d had that. She knew that Ash made a point of living in the moment these days—even if it drove his father, and shareholders, crazy when it came to the business. He’d already had what she was still searching for.
And she had to believe that one day, against all the odds, she’d find it.
Then maybe she could make it through an actual wedding of her own.
‘Want me to come with you to talk to David?’ Ash asked quietly from beside her as the stood at the rail and watched the hotel grow closer and closer.
Zoey shook her head. ‘I think I’d better do this one alone.’ She looked down at herself. ‘Hopefully after a shower and a change of clothes.’
The boat docked and two men jumped over the rail to tie it up. Ash helped her step over onto the jetty, just like he had the night before, in the middle of the storm. How different things were now, though.
Since last night everything felt different. Most of all Zoey herself.
‘Where the hell have you been?’
Zoey winced at the voice. She’d been expecting David, but no. First on the scene were her parents. Just perfect.
Her father’s face was bright red as he stalked down the jetty towards them. Part sunburn, part fury, Zoey decided dispassionately.
‘We didn’t fly all the way out here just so you could run off with some other bloke the night before your wedding!’ He waved a hand vaguely at Ash, who sensibly put his hands in his pockets and looked away.
No, you came here for the free bar and the chance to cosy up to potential clients, Zoey thought, but didn’t say.
‘I’m sorry, Dad. I couldn’t go through with it. Ash—You remember Ash, right? Grace’s husband?’ Her father looked blankly at him. Zoey wasn’t all that surprised. It wasn’t as if she’d spent a lot of time socialising with her parents and friends together, or filling her mum and dad in on the events of her life.