Island Fling to Forever

by Sophie Pembroke

  ‘Thanks.’ Leo got to his feet.

  Rosa tried to resist the urge to say anything more, and failed.

  ‘Leo? She’s actually doing really well. If you are going to make matters worse then stay away or I’ll make you sorry you ever messed with my sister.’ Threat made, she turned her attention back to the stage, clearly dismissing him.

  ‘Warning understood,’ Leo said and walked away.

  ‘It better be,’ Rosa muttered, under her breath. But then Jude, still up on stage, started speaking, and she forgot all about her sister’s problems for a moment.

  ‘This is my last song tonight,’ Jude said, to a chorus of groans and calls for more. He held up a hand. ‘No, really. But I just wanted to say, before I play it, that I wrote this one here, on La Isla Marina. I think this island has romance woven into its soil and stone and sand, because I’ve never felt as inspired as I do here. Although, that might be down to a certain muse re-entering my life, too.’ He looked straight at Rosa as he said it, and her heart stuttered at everything she saw in his eyes. ‘I’ll be leaving the island soon, but I know my memories of this place will live on. And, Valentina, Todd...if your marriage is half as happy as I’ve been here on the island, you’ll be very fortunate indeed. And I hope that it’s twice as happy as that. So, this one is for the bride and groom.’

  But it wasn’t, Rosa realised as he started to pluck the strings, in the traditional Spanish style. It was her song. The one he’d written for her as she’d lain naked in his bed the night before.

  She watched his face as he sang, saw all the emotion that was bursting to escape from her heart echoed there. And as his bright blue gaze met hers as he sang of water on skin and moonlight overhead, a bone-deep truth resounded through her.

  She was in love with Jude Alexander.

  And there was nothing she could do about it, because he was going to leave her, this time.

  For good.

  * * *

  The week that followed the wedding had been planned as five days of non-stop entertainment for the wedding guests. Since Anna had left for Oxford (with Leo in tow, after what must have been a lot of grovelling on Leo’s part, Jude imagined) Rosa was in charge, which meant she was rather busier than Jude would have liked. Given that it was their last week on the island together, he’d have preferred she had nothing to concentrate on but him, but apparently that wasn’t how this worked.

  ‘Sorry,’ she’d murmur against his skin as she slipped out of his bed in the morning. ‘There’s cookery lessons at the villa today.’ Or, ‘I’m taking a group horse-riding over on the mainland.’

  ‘Can’t you skive off, just for one day?’ he’d asked, on the second morning. ‘Stay here with me. We can go skinny-dipping again. Or you could finally show me the secret door to your bedroom...’

  ‘Sorry,’ she’d said again, smiling sadly. ‘Anna left me in charge. And for once, I’m actually trying to live up to my obligations.’

  And how was he supposed to argue with that?

  There were a few trips he joined in with, though—namely the tapas tour of Cala del Mar, and the wine tasting at a local vineyard on the mainland. Rosa was too busy to dedicate all her time to him on those trips, but just the shared smiles across the room or a moment enjoying a plate of gambas together was enough to keep him going until the evening.

  And the evenings, once all the entertainment was over, were magical.

  It was as if, with their limited time together shrinking by the hour, they’d both been possessed with a sense of urgency that outshone even their previous passion. Jude didn’t know how Rosa was coping on so little sleep, but she never seemed tired when she arrived at his bungalow in the evening. They’d fall asleep in each other’s arms hours later, and then, before he knew it, Rosa would be slipping away, murmuring her apologies.

  The coldness she left behind only made him more intent on enjoying every last second they had together.

  But if their nights brought them closer than ever, the days seemed to put a strange barrier between them. He was a guest, no longer helping Rosa with the arrangements, but dancing attendance on Valentina and the others instead. Just being surrounded by the sort of people he was used to partying with in New York made him feel hemmed in again, and he seemed to spend his time dodging conversations about life in the city, or his plans for after the week was up. Most of all, he seemed to be avoiding Sylvie, who never had been very good at reading when a person didn’t want to spend time with her.

  Rosa, of course, charmed everyone she spoke to. She swept through the events and the days with a smile and a ready hand, fixing whatever needed fixing, keeping everything running so smoothly even Anna would be proud of her, Jude thought. But he was sure the only reason her easy charm never failed was because she knew this was only temporary. Five days of making nice with celebrities and rich folk and she’d be back to her real life.

  Except this was his real life, to a point. He would be going back to this soon enough.

  Was it so wrong of him to want to spend his last few days on the island with Rosa?

  But she had work to do, so he let her get on with it, smiling at her across rooms and waiting for night to fall so she could be just his again.

  For their last night on the island, Rosa had arranged a moonlight picnic on the beach for everyone. Given how late the sun set, quite apart from his objections to spending his last evening with Rosa with a crowd of people, Jude thought this was kind of stupid, but Valentina had assured him it was romantic.

  ‘You should definitely come,’ she’d said, with a sly smile. ‘You need more romance in your life.’

  ‘I have plenty of romance,’ Jude had replied, thinking of Rosa naked in his arms.

  Valentina, seemingly reading his mind, had slapped his arm. ‘That’s not romance, Jude. Come on, join us tonight. And bring your guitar.’

  ‘Now the truth comes out. I knew you only wanted me for my music.’

  Valentina had laughed. ‘I think Rosa and Todd would object to me wanting anything more, don’t you?’

  So that was how he came to be playing all the usual songs in an unusual place, sitting on a piece of driftwood on the beach, watching the moon play on the water. They’d lit a bonfire a little way away, and the staff were providing marshmallows and sticks to toast them on. They also had a full barbecue set up a little further away, as well as the picnic buffet. By the look of the amount of food and alcohol laid on, they were expecting this thing to go on all night. In which case there’d be a lot of hung-over guests staggering to the boats to catch their flights home tomorrow.

  Maybe he and Rosa could escape early, though, once everyone was suitably sloshed.

  At least it wasn’t the same beach where he and Rosa had gone for their fateful swim. He wasn’t sure he’d have been able to keep his mind on the music if his brain had been reliving that night over and over. As it was, it was hard not to remember Rosa emerging from the sea, naked and glistening like a water goddess.

  A discordant twanging sound came from his guitar, and he realised he’d managed to break a string, just imagining Rosa naked. Thankfully, everyone was so busy talking, eating and drinking no one was even paying all that much attention to his playing, so he retrieved a spare string from his case and set about restringing the instrument.

  ‘You okay there?’ Rosa sank to the sand in front of him, her legs folded under her, as he finished fixing his guitar. Her eyes shone in the firelight, her dark hair curling loose over her shoulders for once, just as it was in bed at night.

  ‘Depends,’ he said, tuning up. ‘Do you think we can get out of here soon?’

  Rosa gave him a cheeky grin. ‘You’re just never going to see the ocean the same way again, are you?’

  ‘Apparently not.’ No point denying what he’d been thinking about. Not with Rosa. Especially since he was almost certain she’d been thinking the sam
e.

  ‘Play me my song again,’ she said, softly. ‘One more time, and then I’ll take you to bed.’

  ‘Your wish is my command,’ Jude said, and started to play.

  They only had one more night together. He’d give her anything she asked.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THE FAMILIAR NOTES rose up into the night, circling above the fire, the beach, the crowd, the sea. Rosa closed her eyes and let them wash over her. She couldn’t look at Jude as he played, even less so when he sang. The words cut too close, piercing her chest and brushing up against her heart.

  She’d spent so long keeping everything away from there, ensuring that no one could lasso her heart and use it to keep her tied down. But it seemed that Jude had snuck in there against her best defences, anyway.

  She was in love with Jude Alexander. She’d hoped that sudden truth of feeling might pass, but the week since the wedding had only confirmed it for her. She’d spent her days running events for the wedding guests, her brain only half functioning—because the other half was still thinking about Jude. And her nights...nothing about her nights with him had gone any way at all to persuading her to fall out of love with him.

  The worst part was, she was starting to think nothing would.

  She was irrevocably in love with Jude Alexander, and it was entirely possible she had been for the last three years and was only now coming out of denial.

  She’d tried to tell herself that it didn’t matter. It didn’t change anything. Their situations were still exactly as they had been, so what difference did her feelings make? She’d vowed to make the most of their last week together, and then she’d move on. Just as she had a hundred times before. Easy.

  But now she was down to counting in hours, and he was singing her song, and nothing about it felt easy at all.

  How had she let this happen? She’d been so careful, always, not to let anything trap her with obligations and expectations. She’d rebelled against her father’s academic expectations, lived down to Anna’s expectations for her family life, run away from Jude’s hopes for love and a future for them...and she’d ended up here, anyway.

  Maybe Jude was right. Maybe them both being on the island at the same time was fate, or destiny. A way of making them face up to their demons.

  But when her demons were as good-looking as Jude, it was so damn hard not to be tempted by them.

  ‘I’ll always see you in the moonlight,’ Jude sang, the song coming to a close with a few more notes, and when Rosa opened her eyes he was staring right down into them.

  She could stay lost in those blue eyes for eternity. And that terrified her almost as much as it excited her.

  ‘Let’s go,’ she whispered. ‘Now.’

  Jude’s slow smile was all the agreement she needed.

  Rosa’s body thrummed with anticipation as they slipped away from the beach, treading the familiar path back to Jude’s bungalow. But for once, it wasn’t the expectation of his hands on her body that made her blood buzz. This was something entirely new.

  This wasn’t sex. This was love.

  Because she had to tell him. She couldn’t let him leave without knowing how she felt.

  Maybe it would change nothing, but she knew she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t try. And as her family well knew, Rosa didn’t know how to not say whatever was on her mind.

  The moment the bungalow door closed behind them, Jude dropped his guitar case to the floor and his hands were at her waist, his mouth at her neck, and it took all her mental strength to say, ‘Wait.’

  If they started this, she wouldn’t be able to stop it. And they needed to talk first.

  Jude pulled back, just enough to look into her eyes. ‘What’s the matter?’ The concern in his voice was a warm comfort around her heart.

  He’d loved her once. Maybe he could again.

  Maybe even enough to give her what she needed to be able to have this.

  ‘I need to...can we talk? Just for a moment?’

  If he said no, this wouldn’t last any longer, anyway. And if he said yes...then there was no rush any more. They could take all the time in the world.

  The expanse of for ever stretching out before them, together, for the first time didn’t feel like a life sentence. Like a punishment.

  It felt like the ultimate in opportunity.

  As long as it could happen her way.

  ‘Sure.’ Frowning, Jude led her to the small seating area, pouring them each a glass of wine from the carafe on the counter. ‘What is it?’

  Rosa bit her lip. She wasn’t good at subtle; she never had been. And she couldn’t twist words and make a fancy argument as Anna could. She relied on her pictures, an image to tell a hundred stories, with just a few words where necessary to illuminate the subject.

  She wasn’t a poet, like Jude. She couldn’t express her emotions in clever rhyme and melody.

  All she had was her truths.

  What she knew to be true. So she started there.

  ‘You need to leave New York.’ Okay, so it wasn’t the most romantic opening, but it was true.

  Jude looked taken aback. ‘Okay...why, exactly?’

  ‘Because it’s dragging you down. Your guilt for Gareth, your promises...and that place. When I met you three years ago, you were full of music, of life. And now...now it’s all about the brand and the label and negotiations with the rest of the band and...don’t you want to be free of that?’

  ‘Maybe.’ Jude put his glass down on the counter. ‘But I owe it to Gareth’s memory—’

  ‘No! No, you don’t.’ That was what was keeping him back. The memory of a friend who couldn’t ever be satisfied when he was alive, let alone now he was dead.

  ‘You don’t understand,’ Jude started, but Rosa interrupted him again.

  ‘Yes, I do. I understand that you made Gareth a promise to keep him alive. But you couldn’t save him. No one could. It wasn’t me being there, or even me leaving that made you break that promise. Gareth was an addict. He was sick, and he needed more help than one best friend saying, “That’s a bad idea.” And he needed to want that help. He needed to seek it out and find a way to break that addiction and he didn’t. If he’d been ready to be helped, it wouldn’t matter what was going on in your life. And even then...you couldn’t give up your life to save his. He wouldn’t want that, and you know it.’ She felt breathless, saying all the words she knew he needed to hear but wouldn’t want to.

  ‘Maybe,’ he acknowledged. ‘But even if you’re right, I still owe him. I made another promise, when he died, remember?’

  ‘And you’ve fulfilled it! You found the fame you swore you’d both fight for. You’ve lived his success for him.’ When would he see that he’d done everything he could? It was time to live his own life, his own choices now.

  But Jude looked away. ‘It’s not enough.’

  ‘It’ll never be enough.’ Rosa grabbed his hand where he stood beside her, willing him to understand. ‘Nothing ever was, for Gareth. Even now...when does it stop? When do you say, I’ve gone as far as I can go?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Because that point doesn’t exist!’ She’d seen it before. And he had to believe her. ‘You’ll keep living your life for someone else—someone who isn’t even here to see it—for ever. And you’ll never be happy. And he’ll never be satisfied.’

  Jude shook his head, and Rosa knew he wasn’t hearing her. ‘It’s not just about Gareth’s memory, anyway. I also want to keep having a career, you know. Music was my life long before you came into it.’

  ‘You’ll always have that,’ Rosa replied. ‘Your music is iconic now. You could write advertising jingles for the rest of your life and it wouldn’t take away from what you’d already accomplished.’

  ‘Thanks for that vote of confidence in my musical future,’ Jude said, dri
ly.

  Rosa waved a hand vaguely. ‘You know what I mean.’

  ‘I really don’t.’ His eyes serious, Jude moved to sit opposite her. ‘Rosa. What, exactly, are you asking me to do?’

  This was it. This was her last chance to put everything out on the line, and have him take it or leave it.

  Take her or leave her.

  And Rosa had never been more scared in her life.

  She took a deep breath.

  ‘Run away with me.’

  * * *

  Run away with me.

  How many times over the years had he dreamt of hearing that from her? Of knowing Rosa wanted him with her, as she explored this wide world? Of having her choose him, for once, over her freedom?

  Except she wasn’t, was she? That was what it came down to.

  She wasn’t ready to give up what they had, but she wouldn’t give up anything else, either.

  Rosa didn’t just want to have her cake and eat it, too. She wanted the damn bakery to deliver.

  ‘You want me to give up everything I have—my band, my career, my life in New York, my future—to travel around the world at your beck and call until you get bored of me again?’ Anger rose up in him, hot and furious, as he realised the truth of this.

  This wasn’t love. This wasn’t for ever—because they both knew Rosa couldn’t offer that. She never had been able to.

  This was convenience. It was using his unsettled feelings, his vulnerabilities after the book’s release, after Gareth, to get what she wanted.

  If she’d approached it differently—suggested he extend his sabbatical away from the city until the buzz about the book died down—maybe he’d have considered it. But it was always all or nothing with Rosa. No compromise, no middle path. She didn’t know how, and she wasn’t willing to learn.

  He looked down into her wide, dark eyes, and realised the truth.

  He loved her. Of course he did. But that simply wasn’t going to be enough.