Page 10 of What Happens in Paradise

I should be over the moon about the fact that I’d get to spend two weeks in Jamaica. Yes, I knew it’d be hard work, but I was sure I’d get a least one day off a week to explore. It should be the opportunity of a lifetime.

And it would’ve been except for one problem: Alejandro.

Earlier, I’d praised myself for avoiding him for twenty-four hours. But if we were both going to Jamaica, that would be impossible.

We’d be travelling. On a plane for hours and presumably staying in the same accommodation.Together.

Neither of us would know anyone there, so we’d be forced to spend more timetogether.

How was I supposed to be in close proximity with him every day for a fortnight and not get lost in those gorgeous brown eyes?

How was I supposed to ignore his scent, muscular body, annoyingly attractive face, and that knicker-melting accent without wanting to jump him?

Oh dear God.

It was official: I was a creepy boss having inappropriate thoughts about a junior member of staff – oops, Fledgling Romance Rockstar was the appropriate term for someone whose position was more junior.

In any case, I should know better.

For a second, I contemplated throwing in the towel, but I’d worked too hard to get this far. I couldn’t lose my chance of a promotion over a man.

I was stronger than that.

I was Jasmine freaking Palmer and I could do this!

Couldn’t I?

We hadn’t even left Spain yet, but I already knew this was going to be the hardest two weeks of my life.

4

ALEJANDRO

Madre mía.

I could not believe that in just one hour, I would be meeting Jasmine at Heathrow Airport in London to catch a flight to Jamaica.

When Hazel had called me to her office earlier this week to tell me, I was surprised. Especially when she told me that I would be going with Jasmine.

We would be travelling together, living together and working together.

This was going to be very difficult. But I could do it. I had no choice. This was an opportunity of a lifetime. I was not an adolescent boy. I could control myself.

When a woman makes it clear that she is not interested, it is important to listen. And Jasmine had shown me that she did not want to pursue anything with me, so I would respect that.

We were going to Jamaica to do important work and help the team finish setting up the new hotel. Hazel and the management were relying on me and I would not let them down. If I did well, there was a chance that when I returned, I would be given the head chef position.

Hazel said that she could not promise, but Marco had not been performing well and I knew the management were not happy. They valued professionalism and reliability, two qualities that I excelled in. And if he continued to not take his position seriously, I could be next in line.

I wheeled my suitcase out of Lola’s house where I had slept last night.

There were no direct flights from Malaga to Jamaica. As the hotel had arranged for us to fly from London, I had left Spain yesterday afternoon so that I would get a chance to spend a few hours with Lola and her husband, John, before meeting Jasmine this morning.

When I arrived at the check-in desk, Jasmine was already standing in the queue and as I took in the sight of her, I swallowed hard.

The woman was a vision. She was dressed in an elegant, long, yellow dress with a smart white, linen jacket.

‘Hola!’ I smiled.

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