Page 66 of What Happens in Paradise

I’d come up with the idea when I joined because I thought it would be a good way to help the couples bond.

Basically, every day, I asked them to add at least five songs that reflected their feelings about their partner, so that by the end of the experience, they’d have a soundtrack of how they both fell in love.

And it worked. I’d lost count of the number of guests who’d commented about how much they loved the playlists.

But at the time, I never imagined that I’d be the one sharing music with a man. And definitely not the younger man that I worked with.

It was fine, though. This wasn’t the same thing. We were just two colleagues who surprisingly both shared a passion for music who’d decided to exchange playlists, that was all.

We weren’t doing it tobond.

And we definitely weren’t doing it tofall in love.

That would be silly. I’d already made a mistake kissing Alejandro in the car. So I definitely, absolutely, 100 per cent shouldnotwant to do it again.

At least that’s what common sense was telling me.

But the question now was whether I was going to listen…

24

JASMINE

We’d arrived at Rick’s Café. The red, gold and green circular plaque on the wall glowed in the sunshine.

After waving Bob off, we walked through towards the cliffside. I’d expected it to be popular and it really was.

In addition to the people standing by the edge in their swimsuits and trunks getting ready to jump, there were adults of all ages spread across every part of the grounds: by the pool that was located next to the bar, on both levels of the main building and in front of the stage which was presumably used for concerts.

‘Wow. There are a lot of people!’ Alejandro said, reading my mind. ‘I am not surprised. They have won many accolades.’

‘Really?’ I asked. I’d planned to research the place this morning, but I got distracted thinking about a certain Spanish man’s delicious lips…

‘Sí.’ he nodded. ‘When I checked their website, it said that they were voted one of the top one thousand places to see before you die and one of the best bars in the world. I think they were also voted one of the sexiest bars in the Caribbean too.’ His eyes darkened.

‘Oh, right, yes.’ I bit my lip. ‘I can see that. Maybe it’s a combination of the sun and the music.’ I tilted my head to the dance floor area in front of the stage where there were a couple grinding to a reggae song which was playing loudly.

‘I am going to get changed,’ Alejandro announced.

‘You’re going tojump?’ My eyes widened.

‘Sí!I could not come here and not try. You do not want to?’

‘I’ll sit this out. I’m not great with heights at the best of times. I pushed myself to do Dunn’s River Falls and the Caminito del Rey in Spain for our guests, but there were barriers there. Jumping voluntarily from a cliff’s edge is a completely different story. I’m just here to observe.’

Just as the words left my mouth, I heard collective gasps from the crowd around us and saw people pointing towards the sky.

When I followed their gaze, I saw a man scaling a thin, willowy tree and standing on a platform at the top of a tree.

‘Genial!’ Alejandro cheered.

‘I can’t believe you’re excited about the fact that a man is about to plunge from a very, very, high tree!’ My eyes popped.

‘Do not worry. He is sure to be one of the professionals. I read that they dive from around eighty-five feet into the water.’

‘Bloody hell.’ I gulped. Just thinking about it made my stomach bottom out.

Seconds later, the diver plunged into the water. I joined the crowds at the cliffside, my heart racing, hoping he’d be okay. Thankfully, soon afterwards, he emerged triumphantly from the water and everyone cheered.

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