Page 101 of What Happens in Paradise

He smiled and my stomach flip-flopped.

Ugh.

‘Hola chicas!’ he greeted us.

‘Hey, Alejandro!’ Nadine beamed. ‘I was just saying to Jasmine that it’s been ages since I’ve seen you guys.’

‘We have both been very busy.’ He looked at me.

‘So I heard! I hope you still got to do some bumping and whining during your time off?’ She smirked.

Alejandro’s eyes popped.

‘She means practising the dance moves we learnt.’

‘Oh…’ His shoulders loosened.

‘You thought I meant…’ Nadine laughed. ‘I hope you got some good, good lovin’ too!’ She looked between us then gave a knowing smile.

Did she know?

My heart raced, then I remembered that even if she suspected something, like Alejandro said when I told him about Hazel, she didn’t have any proof. And I trusted Nadine. It was fine.

‘I’m going to miss this place.’ I changed the subject.

‘Me too,’ Alejandro said.

‘Aww, you’ll have to visit when it’s open!’

‘I might take you up on that,’ I said.

I’d like to visit the hotel, but I’d also love to see my grandad. Despite trying to reach him several times on the phone this week during my short breaks, there was no answer. That was to be expected. He almost never answered. I wished I’d had more time here so I could’ve tried to visit again.

‘Your driver’s here.’ Nadine signalled to a stiff-looking chauffeur in a smart, grey suit and hat, standing beside a shiny, black Mercedes.

My heart instantly sank. Although I’d given him a hug and said goodbye when he dropped me back to the hotel after my trip to the waterfall, I was still hoping to see Bob one last time.

I hadn’t had a chance to look into his sacking yet, but I was making it a priority when I got back.

‘Okay,’ I said. ‘We’d better get going. Thanks again for everything.’

‘Sí,’ Alejandro added. ‘Muchas gracias.’He stepped forward and gave Nadine two cheek kisses which instantly caused my brain to replay the memory of his mouth pressed on mine.

After I gave Nadine a hug, I headed over to the driver with Alejandro.

‘Good morning, sir, madam. My name is Egbert and I will be your driver for today. Please, allow me to take care of your luggage.’

Egbert was perfectly polite and fitted the Love Hotel criteria perfectly. But he was formal and a bit robotic. He didn’t have the same warm, energetic personality that Bob had.

‘Nice to meet you, Egbert,’ I said.

Just as we were about to get into the car, the sound of Bob Marley & The Wailers’ ‘Could You Be Loved?’ boomed through the air. My head snapped up and I saw Bob’s car racing towards us.

‘He came!’ Alejandro’s face broke into a smile.

Bob parked haphazardly in the middle of the driveway, then casually got out of the car, the track still blaring.

‘Tank jah mi ketch yuh!’

---