"I can help you," a shaky male voice said. Patel, Audra presumed. She heard the squeak of running sneakers and ducked behind a linen trolley, hoping Penny didn't see her as the girl rushed past, the front of her uniform streaked with fluid that Audra could only presume had come from Patel.
"Oh, so this is the kitchen! And the call girls come to you, to service you on shift. Shit, that's a nice perk of the job. Wish I could get a blowjob while I'm working."
Audra snorted. If the stories were true, Jay had enjoyed more such perks than Patel would in his lifetime.
Jay ordered a picnic basket, which the chef promised would be delivered to his villa in an hour. Jay waved and thanked him, then marched outside, shooing Audra ahead of him.
"Library," Jay managed to say as he fought down the same laughter that threatened to make Audra lose control.
They made it to the library before Jay fell to his knees on the floor and laughed so hard that tears streamed down his face. "Fuck, Audra, your colleagues are worse than roadies with groupies! Did you see that bloke? If he can get a blowjob, no wonder this place has rules about staff sleeping with guests. That chick would fuck anything with a boner."
Audra agreed, but didn't dare say so. Anyone could be listening outside the door and Penny hated her enough already.
Instead, she swallowed and headed for the bookshelves. "What do you want to read? There's plenty more rock star books." She grabbed the three nearest and held up the bouquet of shirtless men. "Pick your pleasure."
"I'm not into naked men," Jay said, wincing as he clambered to his feet. "Shit, that one looks like me. I should send a copy to my agent and get him to look into it."
"I doubt you can copyright even your sculpted six-pack," Audra said, lifting a couple more off the shelf. "What about these?"
Jay pulled off his glasses and grinned at her. "I knew you'd noticed! They're sexy, right?"
"That's why they're on the cover of so many books here, I imagine."
"What's with the shelf markers? I've never seen bookstores with labels like this." Jay scanned the shelves and pointed as he read, "Rock stars. Billionaires. Motorcycle clubs. Kilts. Seriously? Cowboys. Mail-order brides? Fuck, who gets a bride by mail order?" He grabbed one off the shelf.
"They're historical romances. When Australia and America were settled, it was mostly men, and they got lonely, so they put ads in newspapers and things for brides and were pen-pals for a while before they finally met." Audra didn't want to admit it, but she'd had a thing for mail-order bride romances when she'd first arrived and she'd read every one on the library shelf.
"Sounds like it's still a thing. This one's an email-order bride," Jay remarked, reading the back of the book in his hand.
"Seriously?" Audra snatched it from him. Sure enough, he was right. "I haven't read this one."
Jay snorted. "Be my guest. I don't want it. There's something you'll never read. The rock star's email-order bride." He eyed the pile of books Audra hadn't put back. "I should check out this one, just to see if he's anything like me."
Exactly like him, and yet completely different, Audra thought, recognising the book as one she'd read. No fictional rock star compared to the complex reality of Jay Felix and she was okay with that.
"Right, got your book? Let's go back to the house and get our stuff for the beach. We should have lunch delivered in fifteen minutes or so, and then I can whisk you away to my secret spot." Jay winked and beckoned. Shaking her head, Audra followed him home.
THIRTY-EIGHT
"Got your bathers on?"
"If you're not going in, then neither am I," Audra said. "It's my job to keep an eye on you, and if I'm underwater while you're on shore, I'm not doing my job."
"And here I was hoping to see those perfect tits again." Jay sighed. "You're cruel. I'm going topless. You should, too."
Audra frowned at him. "It's not the same. And you promised you wouldn't talk about it. That you'd try to forget about last night."
"I said I wouldn't tell anyone about it. Judging by your blush, you remember it as well as I do. Better, maybe, because you were conscious for all of it."
The blush heating her cheeks crept lower, warming her throat and reminding her of how hot his hands had been as they traced the curve of her breasts last night. Shoving the memory out of her mind, Audra draped the towels over her shoulder, hiding the curves in question. "We going or what?"
"Sure." Jay hefted the picnic basket and led the way outside. They passed the other villas – Pinctada, Albina, Margaritifera, Akoya and Penguin, the southernmost house – before the paved path gave way to a combination of crushed rock and beach sand, marbled into swirls of rust and cream.
"I wish I had a camera to capture this," Audra breathed, staring at the ground. No one would believe the spectacular artwork nature had wrought in this place.
"Capture this?" Jay's voice was sharp and unpleasant. "Your day with the rock star?"
Audra glanced up in surprise. "No. Everything isn't about you. I was talking about the rocks under my feet. The colours and the patterns..." She traced a curlicue with her toes.
She wouldn't need a photo to remember her time with Jay, even if she had a camera and was allowed to take one. Not just a day, but the whole week of working with him.
"Don't you have a camera on your phone?"
On her cheap prepaid one that didn't work up here? Audra shook her head. He wouldn't understand and she didn't want his pity.
"I'm sorry. I thought..." Jay didn't seem able to articulate his thoughts, so he changed tack. "Never mind. I'll get you a camera next time I'm in town. I want a photo to remember the girl who saved my life and won't let me thank her properly for it."
Audra snorted. "I didn't save your life. Saved you a few bruises, maybe."
"Give yourself some credit. How many girls would've done what you did for me last night?"
Audra managed a smile. "Millions all over the world, I'm sure. The world would be a darker place without Jay Felix and the way his voice can creep into your heart and make you feel things that haunt you for days. That first song of yours, Necessary Evil, the way it blends darkness and light, about how you have to endure and what matters through all the evil is the end..." She trailed off as she found him staring at her. "What? I was having a hard time in high school when I first heard that song, and it stuck in my head. It was as if you'd seen into my soul when you wrote it. And it...it helped."
"I didn't write it. The band's songwriter did when she was...still recovering." Jay strode forward, picking up the pace so Audra had to break into a jog to catch up. When she did, she wasn't sure she'd wanted to, his face looked so dark and forbidding.
No talking about evil, then, necessary or otherwise, she told herself, saving her breath for the hike. She needed it, too – not long after, the path ended as red rocks rose up and blocked the way.
"Come on, this way." Jay shoved through the pandanus and skirted the rock. Audra followed, using the towels to push the spiky leaves aside so they wouldn't scratch her legs. His warm hand grabbed hers and tugged. "Up here."
The boulder was cracked down the middle, the shattered pieces forming a rough set of steps that were just close enough for her to climb, with occasional assistance from Jay.
"Take a look at this." He held out his hand and she climbed up beside him. "Highest spot on the island." He slid an arm around her waist and extended his other arm to point. "That's one of the mining islands, I think. Occasionally you can see the trucks on their way into the pit. The resort's over on the other side of the lagoon, but you can't see this rock from there because it's just under the palm tree canopy. On a clear day like today, you can see clear to the mainland and the pearl farm."
Audra's gaze followed his pointing finger and she spotted the carrier boat crossing the aqua-blue expanse between the farm and Romance Island. "Look, there's the boat with our laundry. Fresh uniforms for me and probably more supplies for the kitchen. Today's the day to order fresh lobster or oysters because the oysters would've only been out of the ocean for a day, maybe less."
"I only have oysters if I have a big, hot night planned. Have you changed your mind, Audra?"
She shrugged out of his embrace and shook her head. "Some people eat oysters because they enjoy them. The world doesn't revolve around sex, you know."
"Sure it does."
"Which way off this rock?"
"This way." Jay lifted the picnic basket and led the way to a cleft in the rock. "You have to jump." He backed up a couple of steps and leaped, the basket swinging from his hand as if it weighed nothing.
Audra sidled up to the edge and looked down. Dark water roiled at least ten metres below. "No. This is crazy."
"I'm a rock star. Crazy's part of the deal. But this is actually pretty tame. Look, give me your hand. You could almost step across, but it's just easier to jump. I won't let you fall."
She wanted to believe him. "Jay..."
"Count of three, right? Give me the towels and your bag. I'll put them over here so all you have to worry about is yourself. And I'll catch you, so you don't need to worry."