Fuck. What kind of bloke thought he could talk to a guy while he was pissing? Fucking rude, that's what it was.
"Something like that," Jason mumbled, tucking his tackle away. He shoved through the door and strode to the bar.
What was wrong with people? His plans were none of their fucking business. Why couldn't they see that? All he wanted was a bit of sympathy and distraction, and to take a piss in peace. Was that too much for a man to ask?
The maid at the hotel had understood. She'd looked sad, like she felt his pain, given him a hug and not protested when he'd stared down the front of her shirt at her tits. Admittedly, she hadn't gotten them out for him, but she'd still shown more sympathy than anyone else. And those perky tits...
Why the fuck was he here after some random, nosy chicks when the one he wanted was at his hotel? He just needed to persuade her to get over her inhibitions and sleep with him. Maybe if he bought her a present and then got her drunk, she'd agree...
What was taking the bartenders so long to serve him?
He held up his hand to catch the older bartender's eye.
"Yes, sir?"
"Finalise the bill for my table. I'm closing the tab."
"Yes, sir." She paused. "A receipt, sir?"
"Nah." Shit, he needed a present. He thought of the hotel maid and her Cupid's bow lips kissing the top of a beer bottle last night. More than once, he'd caught her closing her eyes and humming as she savoured the taste of the sweet brew. "Get me a case of your mango beer to take home, though."
She beckoned to one of the glassies and he returned less than a minute later, carrying a carton. Jay nodded his thanks, hoisted the box onto his shoulder and headed out to his car. He shoved the box in the back seat and slid behind the wheel.
Jason gunned the engine, then crunched the car into gear. Now he remembered what had gotten into him last night, why he'd begged the girl to stay. It was all that pent-up passion inside her. He could see it in every sip she took of her beer, every time she glanced at his bare chest – of course he'd taken his shirt off; he knew what the sight of his six-pack did to women. She played her part in life as well as he did. Showing one thing while feeling another. Always putting on a show. But she'd seen through his act just as he'd seen through hers. He wanted to be the one to shatter that brittle shell so she could shine like a fucking beacon.
The only girl he wanted in his bed tonight was Audra. Shit, he even remembered her name. It had to be love.
Jason slammed his foot down on the accelerator and screeched out of the parking lot. He had a helicopter to catch, and a woman to romance.
TWENTY-ONE
"What in hell did you do in here?" Audra surveyed the grisly scene in the gym. It looked like there'd been a bloodbath and there were suspicious, red splatters on the ceiling, too. "Where are the bodies?"
Serge coughed. "Um, he's resting in his room and his girlfriend's tending to him."
Audra waved her arms at the blood-soaked walls and floor. "One man lost this much blood and he's still alive?"
"It's not all blood."
Audra sighed. "Does Annette know about this?" He nodded. "Fine, then. I'll help you clean it up, but you're going to do half the work and while we're working, you'll tell me how you turned the gym into a slaughterhouse."
"Well, it started with this kid who wanted to impress his girlfriend, so he showed up at the gym but refused a session with the personal trainer..."
Audra wiped down the walls on one side while Serge took the other, telling her the whole story.
The kid had come to keep his girlfriend company at the gym. While she did her cardio on the bikes, he'd decided to show his awesome muscles off by bench-pressing some weights. His sweaty, straining hands had slipped, though, and he'd managed to smash the barbell onto his nose. Blood spurted, he'd sneezed and most of the weights area, along with the wall behind it, had gotten sprayed in blood. A trail of it had followed the kid and his angry girlfriend out the door to the first aid room.
Serge had called Housekeeping and Annette had sent Penny, who'd claimed she was an expert in cleaning carpets and using the shampooing machine.
Audra knew otherwise, but she just shook her head. Perhaps it hadn't been quite as bad as she suspected.
Actually, it was worse.
Penny had filled the machine with foam, switched it on and set to work. Serge had headed over to the free weights area to work with a client. The next thing he'd heard from Penny was some shrieked swearing before the carpet cleaning machine exploded. Bloodstained water coated the walls, the ceiling and the carpet. Penny had picked up the gym phone and called Annette, whining about the faulty equipment that had almost killed her. Before she could hang up, Serge grabbed the phone off her and requested a more senior member of the Housekeeping staff to help with the mess, as this girl evidently needed first aid.
He'd rid himself of Penny and Annette had suggested Audra. So there they were.
Audra sighed again. "I'll go get the shampooing machine. I'm sure it'll be fine when I put the reservoir in properly."
Serge shook his head. "No, that thing exploded. It's too dangerous."
"Were you or your client flexing your muscles during the training session?"
He snorted. "Weights training. It builds and flexes muscle. Of course. I'll show you, if you like." He dropped his cleaning cloth and took an eager step toward the dumbbells.
Audra waved him away. "I believe you. Some other time, maybe. Penny's easily distracted. She probably put too much shampoo into the machine, wasn't watching the foam and the pressure popped the reservoir. It's not the first time it's happened, though it wasn't quite as messy then."
Together, they finished cleaning the gym with the now-operational carpet shampooer and switched the gym sign from open to closed while the carpet dried. Afterwards, they walked back to the staff accommodation together to shower and change into their civilian clothes for dinner.
When they met again outside, Audra eyed his wet hair and her thoughts strayed to what would happen if she took Penny's advice and shared a shower with Serge. She'd never done anything aside from wash in a shower before, given how both hot water and shower time had been rationed at home in a house with seven people and one bathroom.
Serge gave her an exaggerated bow. "I owe you my eternal servitude for saving me from that mess."
"Don't you mean gratitude? You know, you're grateful for what I did? Servitude is like slavery and that was abolished years ago."
He waved a hand airily. "Either. Both. If you ever need a favour, just ask me." He grinned. "Now, the least I can do is take you to dinner."
Audra laughed. "The finest the staff dining room has to offer, I'm sure. I wonder what's been burned tonight."
Mango chicken, as it turned out, and they talked and laughed through the meal, as easily as if they'd known each other for years. Scrubbing blood off a ceiling together evidently did that to people.
After they were finished, Serge wanted to check on the dampness of the gym floor, so Audra bade him goodnight and headed back to the staff accommodation on her own. She glanced at the empty helipad, wondering if the pumping music and the shriek of the shampoo machine had drowned out the sound of Jay's return to the island. She hoped he was safely ensconced in his villa, entertaining his guest. If he needed her, he'd surely page her, but her wristband had remained mercifully silent since Serge's emergency call just after lunch.
Hoping to get an early night, Audra trudged back to her room and locked the door. She figured she'd check her emails and messages on her laptop, then go to sleep. Most of the messages were advertising, so she scrolled down the list, deleting as she went, until she came across an email from her sister, Sam, asking if she'd be free for an online video call. She'd sent it twenty minutes earlier, so Audra quickly responded that she was free now, if Sam wanted.
Five minutes later, Sam's excited face filled her screen. "Guess what, guess what!"
Thinking of her conversation last night with Serge, she said, "Mum finally won the lottery?"
Sam giggled. "She won thirty bucks last week – her first win in months – but no, she didn't win the jackpot, even though Mum still buys a ticket every week. No, better than that."
Audra couldn't think of anything better that she'd want to voice to her fifteen-year-old sister. "I don't know, Sam."
"Josh kissed me today!"
"Oh...but that's not your first kiss, is it?"
Sam rolled her eyes. "No, of course not. I'm fifteen, not ten. But it's my first French kiss with the captain of the Year Ten basketball team. And he didn't drool much!"
Audra fought laughter. "So this Josh is a good kisser?"
"Well..." Sam scrunched up her nose. "He wasn't at first, but we got better with practice. He only licked my nose once. After a while, like, all of lunch, my tummy felt all fluttery. Almost like I was in love. Tad laughed and said it was all the saliva exchange making me sick, but he's just jealous. Maybe he's right, though. Does kissing make you sick? Because I can't be in love with Josh."
Aw, first love. Audra couldn't hold back a happy sigh. "Why not? Love's not something you can control. It just sort of..." Creeps up on you, wrenches at your heart and breaks it when he leaves you.
Sam groaned. "I'm so not a kid any more! I'm in love with Jay Felix. Kissing Josh doesn't make me anywhere near as hot as kissing Jay would. I mean, just kissing his poster..." She blushed.