Mismatch

by Tracie Delaney

  Jayne laughed. “I’m looking forward to meeting them already.”

  “Well, be prepared, ’cause I’m going to rip the shit out of Cash for caving. Honestly, I swear if Tally asked him to strip naked and run down Miami Beach with his arse on fire, he’d do it.”

  She laughed again. “Should make for a fun night.”

  Jayne bit down on her nerves as she and Rupe waited at the restaurant for Cash and Tally to arrive. She had no idea why her stomach was churning. She wasn’t normally bothered by meeting new people. In her line of work, she had to do it all the time. But something about how important these two people were to Rupe, and how she’d translated that into desperately needing them to approve of her, meant she was much edgier than normal.

  “There they are,” Rupe said, waving his arms in the air. Jayne followed his gaze and had to swallow her surprise. She didn’t know what she’d expected, but coming towards them was possibly the most attractive couple she’d ever seen. Cash was tall and broad shouldered but lean rather than heavily muscled. He was extremely handsome and perfectly matched by Tally. She had waist-length chestnut-coloured hair that fell in waves over her shoulders, piercing navy-blue eyes, skin like porcelain, and the most amazing prominent cheekbones. And her body… what Jayne wouldn’t have given for some of Tally’s curves.

  Cash and Rupe clapped each other on the back while Tally smiled and stuck out her hand.

  “You must be Jayne. We’ve heard so much about you.”

  “Please don’t believe everything he says,” Jayne said, cocking her head at Rupe.

  “I heard that,” Rupe said, while Tally chuckled.

  “Good to finally meet you, Jayne,” Cash said.

  “Likewise,” Jayne said as they took their seats.

  Cash and Rupe immediately began to take the piss out of one other.

  Tally rolled her eyes. “They’re like this every time they get together. We may as well be part of the furniture.”

  Cash broke off from joking around with Rupe and snaked an arm around her shoulders. He kissed her temple. “Sweetness, you know you’re the centre of my world.”

  His expression as he looked at his wife was one of reverence, adoration, and intense love. Jayne could barely tear her eyes away as she watched them silently converse. A connection like that between two people was so rare.

  “So, Jayne,” Tally said when Cash began speaking with Rupe again. “I hear Rupe is taking you on a whistle-stop tour of the Caribbean.”

  “Yes. It’s a shame I can’t get more time off work, but fighting couples await.”

  Tally laughed. “I can’t imagine how difficult your job must be. I’m just glad Rupe had you in his corner—that’s all I can say.”

  Rupe rose from his chair and leaned across the table. He picked up Tally’s hand and kissed it. “Thank you, darling.”

  Jayne could have sworn she heard a low growl coming from Cash.

  Rupe chuckled as he dropped Tally’s hand and sat back down. “Seven years, dickhead, and you still get jealous.”

  “Seven years, and you still don’t learn.”

  Rupe laughed as Tally’s eyes cut to Cash. “Will you two behave, please?”

  As the evening wore on, Jayne began to relax. Tally was one of the most genuine women she’d ever met. There wasn’t an ounce of bitchiness in her, and her obvious love for Rupe made a twinge of envy pinch at Jayne’s gut. She had friends, of course, but nothing on the scale of the connection between Rupe and Cash, and Tally seemed to be the ship that anchored them.

  When coffee was served at the end of the meal, Tally got to her feet. “Just off to the ladies’,” she said, giving Jayne a clear indication to follow her.

  Jayne slung her bag over her shoulder, more than a little curious about what Tally wanted with her, although it wasn’t very unusual for women to go to the bathroom in pairs.

  “Rupe seems to like you very much.” Tally removed a lipstick from her bag and began to apply a thin layer. She dabbed her lips with a tissue. “So what about you? How do you feel about him?”

  Jayne held back a look of surprise at Tally’s direct approach. “I’m not sure that’s any of your business,” she said, making sure she softened her words with a smile.

  Tally tilted her head to the side. “I understand that you’re going through a nasty divorce.”

  Jayne’s eyes widened. “Does Rupe tell you and Cash everything?”

  “Pretty much.” Tally shrugged. “Look, I’ll lay my cards on the table. Rupe is one of the most important people in my life. I love him like the brother I never had. He’s a good person, a really good person, but beneath all his joviality lies a heart that would be easy to crush.”

  Jayne straightened her spine. “And you think I’m going to do that?”

  “I didn’t say that, but I know Rupe extremely well. I can tell by the way he looks at you that he’s falling hard and fast. If you don’t feel the same way, then please, leave him alone before he gets seriously hurt.”

  Incredulous, Jayne stared at Tally. “Wow… you’re warning me off?”

  “No. I’m asking you to search deep within your heart and figure out, bloody quick, whether Rupe could be the one for you, because I’m telling you now, he thinks you’re the one for him.”

  A fluttering set up in Jayne’s belly and wouldn’t quit. “Has he said that?”

  Tally shook her head. “Like I said, I know Rupe probably better than he knows himself. Please don’t hurt him.”

  Tally’s last words came out as a plea, and Jayne expelled a soft breath. “Look, I’ll level with you. I don’t know where this thing with Rupe is going. I’ve had my fingers burned, and I’m not in a rush to stick them back in the fire again. He’s good company, and I really enjoy being with him, but six weeks is no length of time to make lifelong commitments.”

  “Six weeks is long enough for some,” Tally said, almost to herself.

  Jayne smiled softly. “I’m not you, and Rupe isn’t Cash.”

  Tally grinned. “Fair point.”

  “You’re lucky you found your soulmate, but you have to remember, I already thought I’d found mine.” She laughed. “Although, looking back, I think I was more in love with the idea of being in love.”

  “I’m really sorry. About your husband, I mean. That’s an awful thing to happen, and with your best friend. Urgh. What a bitch.”

  Jayne chuckled. “Wow, he really does tell you everything.”

  Tally clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, God, I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It’s fine.” Jayne had a final glance in the mirror. “We’d better get back before they send out a search party.”

  When Jayne slipped into her seat beside Rupe, he gave her a quizzical look. She smiled reassuringly and rubbed his arm. “Well, I don’t know about you lot, but I’m exhausted after the long flight today.”

  Rupe glanced at his watch. “I’m not surprised. It’s four in the morning back home. Want to go?”

  “Yes, please.”

  As the four of them said their goodbyes with promises of a meetup when they were all back in England, Rupe slipped an arm around Jayne’s waist. She probably should have shrugged him off—she didn’t want him to get any mixed signals—but she was just too damned tired. She leaned her head on his shoulder as their driver took them back to the boat.

  “I could get used to this,” she murmured. “Great food, good company, chauffeur-driven cars.”

  Rupe gently kissed the top of her head. “I’m glad you liked my friends.”

  “I really did.” Her eyes began to droop. “They’re lovely people.”

  The car coming to a stop jolted her from sleep. Rupe walked her to her stateroom, and as she bid him goodnight, he hesitated and held her eye for a moment, but he only said, “Night, Jayne. Sleep well.”

  As he headed to his own stateroom, she watched his retreating back with a mixture of longing and regret. Putting her mixed feelings down to jet lag, she entered her room and promptly fel
l asleep.

  24

  Jayne dropped her beach bag on the floor and sank into the nearest chair. “I’m exhausted.”

  Rupe sat down opposite her. “Good day, though?”

  She nodded. “Grand Turk was beautiful. I’m sorry to be leaving it behind.”

  “I wish we had longer too, but it’s a three-day sail back to Miami, so we have to set off tonight if we’re going to make our flight home. Hopefully, next time you’ll be able to get more time off work.”

  A shiver of delight crept up Jayne’s spine. Next time. The last few days spent on Rupe’s boat had been just the tonic she’d needed. She’d been pampered by his fabulous staff, not to mention that Rupe himself had made sure that she got whatever she wanted.

  “Thank you for persuading me to come. It was exactly what I needed, although I still don’t understand how doing virtually nothing is so tiring.”

  “It’s your mind’s way of forcing you to rest,” Rupe said as his phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket and answered it with a frown. “What’s up, Aaron?” After listening for a few seconds, he nodded. “Give me five minutes.” He hung up. “Can you entertain yourself for an hour? Something has come up that I need to take care of.”

  “Of course,” Jayne said. “Go do what you need to.”

  “If I’m not out in an hour, come and get me. I’ll be in my study.”

  Jayne wandered to the bow of the boat and stared at the twinkling lights of Grand Turk harbour. The waves lapped against the sides, and the warm Caribbean breeze blew her hair around her face. She’d had an amazing time during the past few days, and even though they still had three days of sailing ahead of them, melancholy swept over her. All too soon, she’d be back at work, and the responsibility of her job would once more weigh heavily upon her. Something had to give. She couldn’t carry on using work as a crutch to avoid facing up to her real life, as complicated as it was.

  The minutes scraped by, and as soon as the hour was up, Jayne went in search of Rupe. She found him frowning at his laptop, intense concentration making him squint at the screen.

  “Almost done?” she said.

  He lifted his head and smiled. “Five minutes?”

  “Sure.” She turned to leave.

  “Stay,” Rupe said, pointing at a chair opposite his desk. “I really have almost finished.”

  “Okay.” She sat down and looked around. Screens lined one wall. Shelves full of books on software and coding lined another. A couple of printers sat atop a low mahogany table. Notebooks filled with Rupe’s black scrawl lay open on his desk. “You really have got the whole setup going on here, haven’t you?”

  “Yep. I guess you could call this the head office for my company. At least, it’s where I work most of the time.”

  A knot formed in her stomach. Even if she could allow herself to trust again, what sort of relationship would she and Rupe have if he spent most of his time on this boat and she was locked away in an office block in London? She pushed the errant thought aside. It was all moot anyway.

  “So what are you working on—the next ‘Call of Duty’?”

  He stopped tapping on his computer and closed the lid. “It’s a pet project, actually, but one I’m really passionate about. I can’t say much as it’s all a bit hush-hush, but it’s basically an app that allows people to be tracked.”

  Jayne narrowed her eyes. “That sounds like a terrible invasion of privacy.”

  Rupe nodded. “You’re right, but that in itself isn’t new. Tracking software exists already. But what I’m doing is a little different, and trust me, I plan to use it as a force for good. If my partner and I can iron out the glitches, it’ll be a great tool for the security services to use. That’s the eventual plan. Free of charge to the right agencies, of course.”

  “Very philanthropic,” Jayne murmured.

  Rupe chuckled. “It might look as if I treat everything like a joke, but I do have some depth.” He stood and walked around to her side of the desk. He held out his hand. “Come on, let’s eat. I’m starving.”

  As she took it, a fluttering set off in her abdomen. I’m starving too. And not for food.

  25

  Jayne stretched her arms overhead as she languished on the soft, thick-piled sunbed on the top deck of Rupe’s boat. All around, the deep-blue waters of the Caribbean gently rocked her, and above, the sun beat down as it had for the past nine days. As it dipped lower in the sky, the heat began to recede.

  “I can’t believe we’ll be docking in Miami tomorrow and then flying home,” she said as one of Rupe’s deckhands topped up her mojito.

  Rupe lazily turned on to his side, his deeply tanned body making his abs even more pronounced. For God’s sake, stop it, Jayne. Ever since they’d left Turks and Caicos, she’d found it harder and harder to stop her fingers from reaching out and exploring every ridge, every muscle.

  The more time they’d spent together, the less she wanted to be just friends. That was what he’d offered, and that was what she’d accepted. A deal had been struck. Yet all she wanted was to add a codicil to their unwritten contract—something along the lines of “Screw friends. Just screw.”

  She repressed a giggle. She’d definitely changed these last few days. The heavy weight she’d carried on her shoulders from the pressure of her job and the deep hurt from Kyle’s betrayal had been blown away on the warm Caribbean breeze. Maybe it was because she’d finally signed the divorce papers—or maybe it was the sun and the sea, the good food and good wine.

  Or maybe it was being with Rupe.

  “You know, for a blonde, you tan well, Janey,” he said, his eyes half-closed as he looked at her.

  “Janey?” she raised an eyebrow.

  “Yeah.” Rupe raised himself up on an elbow. “That name suits you better out here. Once we get back to London, you’ll reassume the serious-lawyer armour plating, and it’ll be back to ‘anything but’ plain old Jayne.”

  Jayne rolled her eyes even though she’d been having the same thoughts herself not one minute earlier. She pushed herself upright and took a sip of her mojito.

  “Isn’t plain old Jayne good enough for you any more, buddy?” she said with a grin.

  “I said anything but plain old Jayne. And if I’m honest, I’ll take you any way I can get you.” His face grew serious. “It’s been good to see you let your hair down and relax. It suits you.” He rolled on to his back and laced his arms behind his head as he closed his eyes against the bright sun.

  An uncomfortable feeling stirred in Jayne’s chest. The conversation had taken a turn in the direction she wanted to go but was scared to tread. Deciding she needed to lighten the atmosphere, she scooped an ice cube out of her glass and dropped it on his belly. He yelped and leaped to his feet, and Jayne did the same. She ran around the other side of the pool, but Rupe was too quick, and before she could plead her case, he picked her up and threw her into the water.

  Jayne came up choking and spluttering. She pushed wet hair off her face and pointed at Rupe, who was doubled over with laughter at the side of the pool.

  “You are a dead man,” she said.

  He laughed harder and threw his arms out to the side. “Come and get me if you think you’re tough enough.”

  Jayne swam to the side and climbed out of the water. She expected Rupe to run, but instead, he gathered her in his arms and jumped back into the pool.

  When the pair of them surfaced, Jayne shoved him hard in the shoulder. “You’re an idiot.”

  Rupe grinned inanely at her. “But a fun idiot.”

  “That’s debatable,” Jayne muttered.

  He laughed, turned away from her, and began to swim lengths of the pool. Jayne leaned against the side and watched as his lean, lithe body cut through the water. You’re on dangerous ground, Jayne. Her feelings were changing, deepening. This was no longer about great sex, although just how amazing the sex had been the one time they’d slept together constantly drifted into her mind and made her stomach clench with need.
Was she ready? Could she trust her patched-up heart with this man? Therein lay the problem, because she just didn’t know.

  After an early dinner, Jayne made a lame excuse about too much sun and headed off to her stateroom. She took a quick shower and changed for bed. As she lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling, her mind wouldn’t stop whirring. She closed her eyes, but the image of Rupe’s tanned, tightly honed body kept playing on a loop behind her lids.

  She pushed herself upright and turned on the lamp beside the bed. Her iPad called to her, and despite promising herself a full ten days off, she opened her email account. A few things had blown up at work. Jayne scanned for the most pressing ones and answered them, even though Darren would most likely give her a telling-off when he logged on in the morning.

  What should I do now? She picked up a book, but after realising she’d flicked through several pages without being able to recall one single word, she put it back down.

  If she went to Rupe, what was the worst thing that could happen?

  He could reject her—unlikely, given his previous comments—or he might welcome her with open arms and they could spend the night exploring every inch of each other’s bodies.

  But what if she freaked out like last time? On the yacht, there was nowhere to run to. She couldn’t exactly dive overboard and swim for shore. God, this is so frustrating.

  She covered her face with her hands and rubbed hard. She was thirty-two years old and procrastinating over a bloody man. She wanted him. There, she’d said it. She wanted him more than any other man she’d ever slept with. Not that she’d been with a whole lot. Five, if she counted that one ill-fated night with Rupe. It wasn’t as if she had a hundred men to compare him to, but still… the reactions, sensations, and noises he’d drawn from her were all new experiences. She’d always believed movie sex, or the sex found in romance novels, was just make-believe. But Rupe had demonstrated, with significant expertise, that it was possible to experience that kind of sex in real life—with the right man.