Escape (7 page)

As the afternoon turned to evening, she found herself joking and laughing with the
others
. When the younger guy, Nick, asked her what she did back in London, she told him she had just graduated and hadn’t decided what she was going to do yet. The simple
lie made her feel like someone else. That, combined with the dress and the alcohol, gave her a confidence she didn’t normally possess. She talked too loudly and even flirted with the men, and when the time came to leave for the party she jumped up with the rest of them.

The ‘taxi’ was another open-backed SUV and they all pil
ed in the back. At first they traveled
the same way
as though they were going
back to the port, but then they took a turn off and h
eaded deeper into the bush, toward
the center of the island. The road was little more than
a dirt track and the deeper into
the island they went, the narrower the road became. They passed loca
l
s
’
homes; small wooden huts with chickens scratching around outside and even the odd cow tied up—a far cry from the relative luxury of the resort. Children playing outside looked up as the vehicle passed and waved wildly, running after the vehicle with shouts of ‘hello!’

The last of the light disappeared from the sky.

On the back of the taxi, Paulie crushed his empty beer can and threw it out into the thick foliage.

Lucy couldn’t believe what she had just seen.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“What?” Paulie looked at her as though she was the one who had blatantly littered this beautiful island. “I don’t care. All I care about is what is in the ocean!”

She stared at him. “What a stupid comment. Are you completely uneducated or are you just thick?”

Paulie’s mouth fell open, amazed someone dared to speak to him that way.

“Don’t you realize the majority of pollution in the ocean originates from land?
Whether it’s run-o
ff from over use of fertilizers
or just idiots like you littering!”

“What do you think you are?” he said. “Some sort of fucking marine biologist or something?”

“Now that you mention it, I do have a degree in biology.”

He turned from her, his eyebrows raised, nudging Nick who sat next to him, trying to drag him in on the argument.

“What’s got in her knickers?” Paulie said
, loud enough for Lucy to hear
. Nick gave Lucy an apologetic smile and ignored Paulie.

But
Lucy wasn’t going to ignore him
.
“Nothing has got in my damned knickers
! It’s not my fault I’
m sat with a freaking barbarian.” She shook with anger,
every muscle in her body tense
. The beers she had drunk earlier had gone to her head and she was probably reacting way out of line, but she couldn’t stop herself.

She shook her head and stared down at the floor, fuming. What was wrong with the men around here? Maybe she wouldn’t have reacted so badly if Rudy hadn’t upset her earlier, but she didn’t think she was out of order for telling Paulie off for littering. She couldn’t believe no one else had stuck up for her.

She glanced at Stacy and Leanne for support, but they were deep in conversation with each other. They hadn’t even noticed the argument. Lucy would get no help there.

Paulie turned his back on her as best as he could in the confines of the SUV and leaned down to pick up another beer. He flicked open the tab with a hiss. He took a long gulp, draining most of the can, and let out a long
belch
.

Lucy cringed in disgust and edged further away from him.

Mome
nts later, the bass from the party
came thumping through the trees. They pulled up to a clearing. The music was loud, loud enough that they had to shout to be heard. Lucy started to wish she hadn’t come. The beer made her groggy now and the argument with Paulie had ruined her mood.

UV flags hung around the proximity, making the clearing appear like a nineties rave. People filled the center, all dancing and drinking. A make-shift bar, made out of wood and covered in bamboo, stood at the far side of the clearing.

She saw Rudy straight away, talking to Rachel. He leaned against the bar, holding a bottle of beer. They weren’t alone. A shorter man with blond hair and another girl stood with them. They were all talking and laughing, as though they knew they were the best looking people in the place and had the confidence to match.

Lucy glanced away from the group, her heart immediately beating too fast.

But Stacy and the others all headed straight for the bar and, with a heavy heart, she followed, trying to be inconspicuous and hide behind the others. As they all lined up at the bar, she wasn’t left with much cover and she stood feeling awkward and self-conscious.

Rudy looked up and saw her.

His eyes did a double take down her body, checking out her dress, and then he looked up at her again. He stared at her with a surprise that was not unpleasant, but seemed slightly confused, as if he didn’t quite recognize her. With the extra confidence the alcohol gave her, she sucked in her stomach and pushed out the small amount of chest she had.

He smiled at her, but she didn’t return the smile. Instead she flicked her hair back and looked tentatively for the bartender. A slight frown marked his forehead as he turned back to his conversation.

Lucy stayed with her group and even bought everyone a round of drinks to try to make up for the argument. She tried to laugh with the others, but she felt
fake
and constantly had one eye on Rudy and his little group. He wore a plain white t-shirt, which only served to highlight his great tan. The close fit of the material meant she could see the muscles of his back moving beneath, flexing every time he lifted his drink.

She tried to be discreet, hoping no one noticed how distracted she was. Then she glanced across at Rudy only to find him staring right at her.

Their eyes locked and quickly she looked away. But the damage had already been done; he had seen her watching him.

Her cheeks burned and she stared furiously at the ground.

She dared to look up again, only to see him saying something to Rachel. His hand lightly touched the ba
se of her spine as he spoke in
her ear. Then, to Lucy’s surprise, he turned away from Rachel and started to make his way over.

She tried to act as if she hadn’t seen him coming, pretending to be interested in something Nick was saying, but her heart thumped and she was aware of his position with every step he took.

Then he stood in front of her; all tanned arms and dark eyes.

“Hi,” he said, having to shout over the music. “I wanted to apologize for today. I over reacted and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

His brown eyes seemed genuinely sorry and he reached out and touched her arm. The simple touch made her catch her breath. She wanted to throw herself at him, but he intimidated her. 

She could feel Rachel’s eyes burning through her, conscious of Rudy’s hand on her arm. However nice he acted, he shouldn’t be making his girlfriend jealous like this.

Maybe that was all he was doing?

Lucy had seen them fighting on the beach. Of course, she had no proof the fight was about her, but it looked as if they had a fiery relationship. Maybe she’d just gotten caught up in a game; his way of keeping his gorgeous girlfriend on her toes.

She stepped away, breaking the contact.

“I’m fine,” she said, her voice hard. “Let’s just forget it ever happened.”

He reached out to her again. “Are you sure? Because it doesn’t feel like it’s fine. It feels like you’re still angry at me.”

Suddenly, a hard ball clogged her throat and her eyes burned with hot tears. The tears were caused by a combination of his kindness and the alcohol, and she didn’t want him to see.

“I’m fine,” she repeated, and she turned away from him, her head bent to the ground so he couldn’t see her face. She just wanted to get out of there, so she
started to walk
away.

Blindly, she pushed through the crowd, ignoring the shouts of protest as she pushed a person out of the way and trod on someone else’s foot.

She headed to where they had been dropped off, planning to get in the nearest taxi and get the hell away from this place.

“Lucy! Wait!” She heard his voice call after her. His footsteps hit the ground behind her as he broke
into a run. His hand caught her arm, pulling her back around to him. “Hey? Where are you going? What was that all about?”

She was ashamed to find more tears had filled her eyes and, angrily, she blinked them away.

“I told you to forget it,” she said. “Not everything is about you. Surely you’re not so vain as to think that?”

“Then tell me what it is.”

She stared at him, his face blurred through her tears. “Why? Why do you care?”

He shrugged. “I just don’t like to see someone unhappy when we’re in paradise.”

“What is your paradise,” she said, “maybe isn’t mine.”

And with that she turned and walked away from him, and this time he didn’t try to stop her.

Chapter Five

With a groan, Lucy
rolled
over in bed and pried
her eyelids open. She hadn’t thought to close the shutters before she fell into bed, so the harsh sunlight glared through the window, piercing her dehydrated brain. Desperately, she floundered around the side of her bed, finding her water and draining the bottle, despite it being warm.

She groaned again and fell back onto the mattress, her arm across her eyes, blocking out the light. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a bad hangover—probably not since her years as a student—and she now remembered all the reasons she didn’t drink excessively.

What had happened last night? She could remember going to the party, but then after that...

Lucy groaned again, remembering.

She should never have come here. What the hell had she been thinking? Did she think she could escape all her problems by running away to a fantasy island?

A gentle knock on her door made her sit up.

Who the hell is that?

She jumped up—
the movement making her
head swim and her stomach turn—
and gave herself a quick glance in the mirror. She rubbed at the black marks last night’s mascara had left under her eyes and tried to smooth down her hair. The knock came again.

“One minute!” she shouted, pulling on a clean t-shirt and a pair of shorts. The alcohol coming
from
her pores was probably enough to knock someone out, but she couldn’t leave whoever it was waiting while she showered and brushed her teeth.

Lucy crossed the room and swung open the door to reveal an empty doorway.

With a frown, she leaned out and looked onto her balcony. Rudy sat at h
er table and in front of him was
a platter of food—fresh fruit, orange juice, croissants and coffee.

“What are you doing here?” she said, shocked to see him.

He glanced up at her, head tilted to one side, eyes creased in the bright light. “I felt bad about upsetting you at the dive and again last night. Call this a reconciliation breakfast.”

“But...” she didn’t know what to say. He had completely caught her off guard.

He gestured to the spare seat across from him. “Please sit down,” he said. “You’re making me nervous.”