Page 27 of What Happens in Paradise

The point was, I knew Jasmine was older than me, but I did not care.

I still liked her.

And the strange thing was, whereas before I was convinced that she had zero interest in me, now I was starting to question whether that was true…

10

JASMINE

As soon as Bob pulled into the car park at Dunn’s River Falls, I flung the door open and bolted outside.

I needed air. It was hot and sticky, but I didn’t care, because I’d added a few extra feet of distance between me and Alejandro.

My body was already on high alert when I saw him walking towards me at reception. My temperature had risen a few more degrees when he opened the door then slid onto the seat beside me. His woody scent hit me like the smell of fresh bread wafting from a bakery.

And when he called mebeautifulin his ridiculously adorable Spanish accent, goosebumps exploded on my skin. Especially when he declared it as a fact.

That was nice to hear. When the husband I thought I’d be with forever not only cheated on me, but also traded me in for a younger woman, it’d dented my confidence.

And although I didn’t tell Alejandro my age, I got the impression that even if I did, he wouldn’t care. Deep down, he had to, though. Everyone saidage is just a numberbut they never really meant it.

The truth was, agedidmatter. Especially for women. Unlike men, we couldn’t just wake up one day in our fifties, sixties or beyond and just decide to have children. At almost forty, of course it could still happen, but as the media frequently reminded me, the clock was ticking.

Not that I necessarily wanted children. Once upon a time, I did, but Kane always said he didn’t want them. Funny because less than a year after cheating on me, he got his secretary knocked up (such a cliché) and last I heard, they had another child on the way.

Anyway, after wasting so many of my years slaving away to build a business that I thought would secure my future and then having the rug pulled from beneath me, now I just wanted to focus on myself.

But if in a couple of years I decided that I was ready to date, whoever I met definitely couldn’t be younger than me. The guy would want children and by that time, it’d be more challenging.

That was why age was important and why no matter how good Alejandro looked or how hot I found his unapologetic confidence, I absolutely had to get over this attraction.

‘Yuh good?’Bob stepped out of the car.

‘Yes, thank you. We need to buy water shoes, right?’ I asked.

‘Ya mon!’Bob declared.

‘Okay.’

‘We should get the tickets,’ Alejandro said.

‘Likkle more,’Bob added, which I remembered meantsee you later, then he gave us his number and said for us to call when we were ready.

I wasn’t convinced that his name was really Bob Harley and he wasn’t the kind of chauffeur the Love Hotel would typically hire, but he seemed fun. And as stereotypical as it was for him to play Bob Marley songs throughout the entire car journey, I had to admit, I liked it.

Alejandro and I made our way to the ticket office. There wasn’t too much of a queue. Nadine had said that when there were cruise ship stop offs, it could get particularly busy, especially in high season, but seeing as it was October, it was much quieter.

Once we’d bought the special water shoes that were recommended for climbing the waterfall, we went to the toilets to change into our swimwear.

As I stepped into my swimming costume, I felt self-conscious. It’d been ages since I’d worn one so publicly.

Although we had a pool at the hotel in Spain, it was for guests. Occasionally, I went for a dip in the sea that was part of our resort, but only when there was no one else around. I preferred to go to more remote places. Away from anyone I knew.

I wasn’t in my twenties any more. My body wasn’t as toned as it used to be and like most women, I had stretch marks and flabby bits.

That was why when I’d flirted with the idea of wearing a bikini, I’d immediately dismissed it. It wouldn’t be appropriate for a work setting.

I smoothed down the front of my plain, black swimming costume, wishing that I could’ve at least taken a kaftan with me to cover up a little so I wouldn’t be exposing this much skin.

---