Wish You Were Here

by Phillipa Ashley

  He rolled out the deep laugh that softened his face and took years off him. Beth felt herself smiling too, with a pleasure that spread to her whole body, untangling knots of tension, unwinding her resolve to be angry with Jack. It was at moments like these, simple things like sharing a meal, that reminded her why they’d connected so quickly in the first place. They really were two of a kind, both longing to escape from the nine-to-five, both truly at ease out here in the mountains. But that was only on the surface, wasn’t it? They weren’t alike in the things that really mattered: like commitment and responsibility.

  A shiver rippled through her.

  He noticed immediately. ‘Are you getting cold? Shall I stoke up the fire?’

  She shook her head and scrambled round for a change of subject. ‘Do you think Camilla will still write a feature on us, after what’s happened?’

  ‘After Olivier’s sweet-talked her and invited her to the family villa, I’ve no doubt; she’ll be eating out of his hand.’

  ‘Still, who knows what she’ll write. It may not be the report we were expecting.’

  ‘I can live with that,’ he said, collecting his plate and holding his hand out for hers. ‘At least she didn’t break her ankle or fall down a cliff. Being pursued by a multi-millionaire can’t be that bad.’

  He set the plates aside and crouched down by the stove, ready to boil up the coffee. He held up a silver flask. ‘Night cap? Warm you up?’

  ‘Is that Olivier’s?’

  ‘He thought we might enjoy it.’

  She knew she should refuse, but then thought what the hell? One wouldn’t do her any harm and she had to admit, anything that helped her sleep tonight had to be worth a try. Because sooner or later, one of them would have to talk about what had happened the other night in the hotel, she thought, as the fire grew dimmer and the sky darker. Soon, the coffee was finished.

  ‘Better call it a day. I’ll see you in while,’ he said, getting up and throwing the dregs of his coffee on the fire, he disappeared downstream.

  She waited a minute or two before wiping out the coffee mugs and crossing to the tent. Their sleeping bags were lying rolled up together at the entrance. She shook out hers and laid it down on top of her bedroll. She didn’t have a clue what to do with Jack’s and, earlier, had considered leaving it on the ground, taking him at his word that he’d be happy to sleep under the stars. Now she had calmed down, it seemed such a petty and infantile thing to do. She wondered about bringing it into the tent and unrolling it next to hers, but if so, she might as well hold up a card saying she wanted to rip his boxers off. Brushing her teeth brought no solution so she crawled inside and stripped to her T-shirt and pants. The sleeping bag lay at the entrance, still rolled up, lonely and neglected—and Jack would be back any minute.

  ***

  How long could a man reasonably take to have a pee and brush his teeth, without it looking suspicious? wondered Jack. Both of those tasks he’d accomplished within a few minutes of leaving Beth. Now, as he sat on a rock overlooking the campsite, he was at a loss what to do next. How long dare he wait until she was asleep and he wouldn’t have to go through the excruciating ritual of offering to sleep on the ground outside?

  More important, how long would it take for him to lose his bloody hard-on? If he was like this just at the thought of sleeping in the same tent as her, what would it be like if he actually did sleep in the same tent as her? Half of him fantasized that when he got back and unzipped the flap, she’d be lying stark naked on the sleeping bag with a come-hither look and a willingness to listen to all the things he wanted to say to her. He hadn’t dared to take that kiss in her room any further that night, even though he’d ached to make love to her on the big, old bed. Part of him had regretted even touching her because, while she’d hinted her relationship with Marcus was on the rocks, she was still his employee. Then Camilla had turned up and everything seemed to have been blown apart. Yet today, alone together, sharing their passion for the mountains, he’d thought that a connection had been made between them.

  He kicked at a stone and sent it rattling down the rocks then took his time climbing back up to the camp spot, noticing every night sound, seeing insects scurrying for cover when the flashlight beam caught them in its light. It was sleazy to try anything. He had a responsibility to care for Beth and that didn’t include making her life even more complicated than it already was.

  As the moon slid behind a cloud, he reached the campsite. He scraped his shin against a stump and cursed. As he rubbed it, he tried to make out the tent and tried to tell himself there was no significance in whether his sleeping bag was outside or in. He knew he was lying to himself: he wanted that sleeping bag to be inside.

  Ahead now, he could just make out the dark shape that was their tent. He’d seen no light from inside and he could hear no signs of life either. Which was good. The last thing he wanted to do was come across her in her underwear, no matter how appealing the prospect. Checking that the fire was out and there was no food left around to tempt any wild pigs, he took a deep breath and swept the beam of his flashlight over the ground outside the tent.

  There was nothing but a pair of boots with two socks stuffed in them.

  His heart beat a little faster as he crouched down and unzipped the tent flap. The rasping sounded loud in the still night air. Something buzzed against his face and he wafted it away impatiently before fully opening the flap and peering inside. A mummy-like bundle was lying on its side facing the outer wall of the tent. He was sure the mummy was only pretending to be asleep. It wasn’t breathing the slow deep rhythm of a sleeper and it looked as stiff as a corpse too.

  His heart beat a little faster. ‘I can sleep outside,’ he whispered.

  There was a pause before the mummy spoke. ‘I don’t object to sharing, if you don’t. We’re grown-ups.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘We don’t have a choice and I won’t sue you for harassment, if that’s what you’re worried about.’

  Well, it was hardly an invitation to share some skin, thought Jack as he stripped to his boxers in the dark and placed his boots on the other side of the flap. But it was a million miles better than the alternative. Carefully, he crawled inside the tent, trying to avoid shining the flashlight beam into her eyes. She didn’t say anything else to him so he wriggled down into his sleeping bag, faced the opposite way, and tried to think about next year’s budget figures.

  It was late into the night before he fell asleep and he still hadn’t got any further with the budget. Inevitably, their bodies kept touching. Their backsides had ended up pressed together pretty hard at one point. Even through the sleeping bags, the contact had caused him ten kinds of frustration. Later, she had rolled over until their noses were almost touching and he could feel her breath like a kiss against his skin. Her face, so close, brought a lump to his throat and knotted his stomach with longing for more than her body.

  As she gave a soft little moan, flung out an arm, and rested her upturned hand on his bare chest, he knew it was going to be a very long night.

  Chapter 24

  ‘Just how do you stand living in the city?’

  Beth was asking the question of herself as much as Jack. The two of them were standing on a ridge, looking out over the Tyrrhenian sea to an island floating on the far horizon.

  ‘God knows,’ he said.

  Without Camilla and Olivier, they’d pushed on after an early start. Beth had got up first, washed and dressed out of sight of Jack, then, by mutual agreement, they’d decided to tackle a different route—one that took them via a high ridge that was far too tough a climb for a novice walker. There were some steep climbs that had your heart working overtime, your breath coming in short gasps. A few scrambles that needed hands and feet and a head for heights. Now they were at the top of it, looking down on the rest of the world. Jack pointed to the distant island. ‘Elba,’ he said. ‘What a place to be exiled.’

  ‘I’m not sure Napoleon would have agre
ed.’

  ‘The prospect is pretty appealing thought isn’t it?’ he said, turning 360 degrees and spreading out his arms. ‘I mean with all this two hours away, why do we spend our lives in the city?’

  ‘Because we have responsibilities, I suppose.’

  Taking off his shades, Jack turned his dark eyes directly on her. ‘True, but when your six months is up, you can go home to the Lakes or wherever you want. I have to build a career; I owe the company and the staff. You’ll be free.’

  Free? She swallowed hard. She hadn’t thought beyond her contract. She might need to work somewhere else to help support Louisa. Probably would have to. As for leaving him for good? Right now, with the two of them sharing all this, she felt she could handle staying. As long as they were frozen in time, with no discussion of the past and no hand-wringing about the future, she could almost live with it.

  ‘It’s downhill all the way from here,’ he said.

  She checked the map and nodded. ‘Yes and it’s only four o’clock. We’ve made good time today, so we can relax a little.’

  ‘It helps when you haven’t got someone wanting a foot massage and a nice glass of champagne all the time.’

  ‘Or a guide who keeps disappearing to show her the wildlife? I wonder what they’re doing now?’

  He gave a wry look. ‘Maybe I should phone Olivier and find out. That is if he hasn’t decided to visit his Sardinian villa.’

  ‘Sardinia?’ she said Beth, slotting the map in a plastic wallet. ‘Has he got a place there?’

  ‘Three,’ said Jack.

  ‘As you do,’ laughed Beth, leading the way down to the campsite.

  An hour later they were shrugging off their backpacks, feeling pleasantly tired and very hot. Jack stretched his arms out in front of him, laced his fingers together, and grimaced as bones cracked. ‘What do you think of camping here for the night, then we can just walk down to the rendezvous point tomorrow in an hour or so?’ he asked as she leaned against a rock, reveling in the warmth of sun on her face, the way her whole body tingled with exercise. She scanned their surroundings. The campsite was flat and graveled, on a tiny plateau next to a stream, almost a river that cascaded down over pink and grey rocks. Where the water spilled over the edge of a boulder, it had scooped out pools, some no bigger than soup bowls, some as large as bath tubs.

  ‘It looks great to me,’ she said.

  ‘I think so too and there are supposed to be some great swimming places down the valley where the river’s been dammed with rocks. That’s if I remember rightly. Shall we set up, then?’

  As she set up the camping equipment, Beth tried not to dwell on Jack’s words. If he remembered. Even though she knew they were in a totally different part of the island to their first trip here, she felt overwhelmed by the past. The scent of the maquis, the way the light slanted through the trees, the sound of the river tumbling down the valley. All of it brought to life, in fresh detail, the memory of what had happened between them. She thought those memories had faded away, were fast disappearing, but here they were again.

  And Jack was here too.

  As she watched him working, the memories replayed again. Almost from the moment he’d collected their trekking party from the airport, she’d been lost. He’d been tall, tanned, and scarily confident. Always encouraging her and the other trekkers to try their hand at scrambling, canyoning, and other activities. Reassuring with those who needed it, gently teasing people who needed bringing out of themselves. By the second evening, she was melting every time he looked at her and turning to mush when he offered his hand to help her up a climb. By day four, they’d kissed and by the end of the first week, she’d found herself in his tent in the middle of the night. The next morning she’d crawled back to her own sleeping bag, her body boneless, her heart about to burst with happiness.

  She glanced across at him. The tent was already up and he was standing in front of it, talking to the office on his BlackBerry. Flopping down under the shade of a tree, she pulled out her mobile to try and call her sister. Having switched her phone off for a while to conserve the battery, she punched in the code and saw the little mail icon appear on the screen. Louisa at last, she thought, smiling. Jack appeared as she was about to open the message.

  He wiped his hand across his forehead. ‘It’s still really warm. I think I’m going for a swim.’

  ‘Um, OK,’ she said, not sure whether she was relieved or disappointed that he hadn’t asked her to join him.

  He nodded at the phone. ‘Is that what you’ve been waiting for—a message from home?’

  ‘Not really,’ she said, guessing he’d hoped she would elaborate.

  ‘See you later, then.’

  Turning on his heel, he set off downstream over the rocks. When he was out of sight, she clicked on the text icon. Her message was not from Louisa and certainly not from Marcus.

  Beth

  Hope u r having gr8 time and working hard on the boss.

  C u soon.

  Freya x

  Beth had to smile. Freya was such a laugh.

  Switching off the phone, she lay back, hands supporting her head. Above, the sky was deepening to sapphire as the afternoon drew to a close. A bead of moisture slid down her spine and an insect buzzed inches from her face. There was grit in her boots and her whole body ached from exertion. She imagined the cold shock of water against her skin. How exhilarating it would feel to wash away the dust and dirt of the day.

  Her thoughts turned to Jack, who by now, would be swimming in the cool of the mountain pool. With it came an image, unbidden, shocking, of his body naked and glistening in the water. It slid into her mind and wouldn’t be banished, no matter how hard she tried. In her imagination, he stood there, water droplets running down his chest, over his stomach, and down his thighs. She flipped onto her front. Of course he would be naked. He was alone, it was hot. He was hot.

  She tried hard to resist the melting sensation spreading through her body.

  Jack. Naked. Soaking wet.

  She only felt even warmer, drowsy and aroused all at the same time.

  After lying on her stomach for another minute, she finally sat up. Maybe Jack had the right idea after all. Maybe she needed to cool off too. If she called loudly enough, she decided, as she pushed herself onto shaky feet, he would hear her and have time to put some clothes on.

  ‘Jack!’ she shouted, her words echoing off the white rocks as she set off for the pool.

  As she scrambled down the rocks, her legs felt like jelly. She was only going to cool off, she told herself. She didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to. Almost losing her footing on the unstable boulders, she made her way carefully downhill. The noise of the waterfall that had created the pool grew louder. Soon she caught flashes of jade water through the trees. Her hands were chalky from the rocks and her throat was dry. Suddenly, a few meters below, she caught sight of a splodge of red on some flat rocks. The red, she realized as she drew closer, was Jack’s T-shirt.

  There was no sign of his boots or shorts.

  He must have gone for a walk, she guessed. Shading her forehead with a hand, her eyes sought him. At any moment she expected him to emerge from the trees that sprouted above an overhang on the far side of the pool. Below her, the water glittered invitingly in jewel colors that were ridiculously bright. They varied from olive at the edge, through emerald and jade, to almost black where the rocky bed dropped away sharply from the shore. She couldn’t tell how deep it was.

  Dropping down from her rocky plateau onto the little beach, she sat down and unlaced her boots. If there was ever a time to go for a swim, this was it, while Jack wasn’t here. She pulled off her socks and shoes and stood up, scrunching her toes, feeling gravelly sand between them. One more glance round and she’d unzipped her shorts and let them slither to her feet. She kicked them off but left her panties on.

  Her T-shirt was half over her head when she sensed rather than saw a movement opposite. Maybe it was the cry of a bird
or the crunch of stones underfoot. Maybe it was a sixth sense. Whatever, it had her tugging her top back down and her heart pounding almost as hard as the water into the plunge pool.

  Jack was standing on the tiny cliff opposite her. She couldn’t read his expression from here, but she couldn’t ignore the crazy, unbidden desire that shot through her at being watched undressing by him.

  ‘Decided to cool off?’

  His words echoed off the rocks and her heart drummed in her chest.

  ‘It’s very hot. Who wouldn’t?’ she called, flailing a trembling hand in the direction of the water.

  His feet were planted square, his hands on his hips, as if challenging her. Daring her… ‘Even if that means you have to share this pool with me?’ he called.

  ‘I’ll have to manage, same as I did last night,’ she shot back.

  She stepped carefully over sharp stones to the edge of the water which lapped gently at her toes. ‘Where have you been?’ she asked.

  ‘Exploring.’

  He sat down on the cliff top and stared to unlace his hiking boots.

  ‘Did you discover anything?’ she asked.

  ‘Not really.’

  The boots were gone now, she could see his bare feet.

  ‘Are you going in?’ she said beginning to shiver.

  He stood up and peered over into the pool as if checking the depth. ‘What do you think?’

  Whether he’d heard her or not, she couldn’t have prevented the gasp that escaped as Jack unzipped his shorts. In a moment he’d whipped them off along with his boxers and was standing on the edge of the overhang. She could have sworn her eyes were popping out of her head. She knew her heart was popping out of her chest. Oh God, he was even more magnificent than she’d remembered. Long muscular legs, powerful thighs, a flat stomach, broad chest—the years had only added power to his body.

  ‘Jack…’ she whispered, but maybe it was inside her head, her voice seemed so frail and he wouldn’t have heard her, because he’d dived into the pool and disappeared between the jade-black water.