Page 12 of What Happens in Paradise

‘Once. My parents are Jamaican. They both moved to London when they were very young and they took me over when I was a child. I don’t remember much.’

‘You have family there?’

‘My grandad. Probably other relatives too, but he’s the only one I’ve met.’

‘You will visit him when we are there?’

‘I’m not sure.’

‘Why?’

‘Long story. Do you travel a lot?’ she said, changing the subject. ‘I’m assuming you’ve been spent time in an English-speaking country as your English is very good.’

‘Gracias. You are right. I lived in London for three years.’ My chest tightened as I thought about what led me there. ‘And my sister, she is married to an Englishman,’ I added quickly.

‘Ah, now it makes sense.’

‘I still make many mistakes, but I try.’

‘Well, your English is a lot better than my Spanish!’ She laughed again and I smiled.

I liked the sound of Jasmine’s laugh. It was soft and infectious. She was always so serious at work, so I liked seeing this other side of her. I wondered what else I would discover about her in the next two weeks.

My eyes dropped to her full lips and I thought about how much I would like to discover how they tasted.

As we arrived at the front of the queue, I came back to my senses. Thinking about Jasmine in that way was not appropriate.

The only thing that we would discover about each other during this trip would be work-related.

She would spend the day working on guest-related tasks and I would be busy in the kitchen. At the end of the day, we would both be too tired to socialise.

Now that I thought about it, there would be no need for us to spend a lot of time together, which was good news. That meant that controlling my attraction towards her would be much easier than I thought.

5

JASMINE

We’d checked in at the airport and were now heading to the business lounge.

I’d like to say I was doing a good job at keeping my cool, but I’d be lying.

When I saw Alejandro walking towards me, my heart skipped a beat.

It was strange. My ex-husband, Kane, was always immaculately dressed. Everything he wore was designer and he took great pride in his appearance.

Alejandro on the other hand had a more relaxed style. On the few times I’d seen him in his own clothes, he’d always worn something casual and understated.

Right now, he may only be wearing a plain white T-shirt and jean shorts, but man did he know how to make them look good.

His T-shirt accentuated his muscular chest and arms and his toned legs were made for shorts.

And his smile. Every time he looked at me, my stomach fluttered.

I liked his confidence too. My ex was cocky, but in an arrogant rather than a playful way.

Kane built himself up at the expense of others. He never hesitated to put other people down to make himself feel better.

But when Alejandro spoke about being an excellent chef, I noticed it was secondary to praising me. And it came from a place of confidence and self-belief rather than just blowing his trumpet.

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