Page 33 of An Island Promise

The awkwardness she felt was more from embarrassment that they’d had sex than wishing they could rekindle and repeat.

‘I’m okay with it.’ He shrugged and lowered his voice. ‘It was only sex.’

Wasn’t that the truth, yet at the time it had felt like so much more –he’dseemed like so much more: a perfect, utterly gorgeous man who had stolen her heart.

‘I get that you must have had a different woman in your bed every week, but when I introduced myself at Ushuaïa, you didn’t remember me, did you?’

‘Is that a fair question when you assume how many women I’ve been with?’

‘I think it is.’ Belle held his gaze. ‘Particularly when you remembered Gem without me even saying her name.’

Something like surprise or shock or maybe even guilt flickered across his face.

Belle sighed. ‘But we really don’t need to talk about this, certainly not here. It happened, it was a long time ago and it’s not relevant any longer. I don’t want either of us to feel uncomfortable about something we did ten years ago, because like you said, it was nothing more than sex.’

‘Had you wanted to see me on your last night?’

A flicker of uncertainty flared inside her. Was it possible that he regretted missing out on their last night together asmuch as she had? If the abrupt text message he’d sent the next morning after she’d apologised for not meeting up with him was anything to go by, then no, he hadn’t regretted it. Yet despite him probably not feeling the same way, she wanted to be honest with him.

‘Oh my God, I wanted to see you so much.’ It was her turn to keep her voice hushed, aware of his family around them, Caleb most of all. ‘That whole night was a disaster and I had no way of contacting you until I got my phone back.’

‘Because Gem had it,’ Diego said with a shrug. ‘And you had to look after your friend.’

‘Yeah, I couldn’t leave her, and after I lost Gem and had no way of contacting her or you…’ Her voice trailed off.

The cologne he wore wasn’t as overpowering as it used to be, a more subtle vanilla and oak scent that she was only picking up on because they were leaning close. Ten years ago it had been strong and zesty and in-her-face, as bold as he’d been. And it was only talking to him now, remembering, that she was connecting things. There had been a zesty cologne on Gem too when she’d got back to their hotel after being out all night.

Belle sat up straighter on the bench as thoughts chased round her head. ‘You remembered Gem’s name,’ she repeated, ‘but only have vague memories of me…’

‘I did remember you.’

‘Only once I jogged your memory about who I was.’ Her thoughts spiralled tighter and tighter. ‘You just said Gem had my phone, but there’s no way you could know that, because I never told you. Unless…’ Suddenly her muddled thoughts were replaced by absolute clarity. ‘Unless you were with Gem that night. You were, weren’t you?’

Diego glanced around at his family, opened his mouth then shut it as he turned back to Belle. ‘It’s difficult to explain what happened and how we ended up together?—’

‘Oh my God, you really were! How the hell did you two…’ She held up her hand and lowered her voice. ‘Actually, I don’t want to hear any more.’ Her heart pounded and her skin crawled with a sudden uncomfortable heat. She scrambled off the bench and paced away from him. Feeling utterly foolish, she retreated inside to find the bathroom. The last thing she wanted to do was have a conversation about what he’d got up to with one of her best friends while surrounded by his family. While Caleb was here.

Everything she’d believed about Diego, about their time together, what he’d meant to her and what she’d possibly meant to him, had been destroyed by a well-hidden truth that she hadn’t had a clue about. Until now.

21

JULY 2013, TEN YEARS AGO

The ease Gem had felt the night before with Diego disappeared as quickly as the sun behind a cloud the instant she opened her eyes. Disorientated by being in a strange room, it took her a moment to realise her phone was ringing, the light too bright for her tender head. Before she could grab it, the caller rang off.

Diego stirred and rolled over, all tousled bed hair and unfamiliar features. They met each other’s eyes, groggy from lack of sleep and massively hungover. Immediate regret clamped around Gem’s heart. Diego’s eyes shifted from hers. He moved onto his back, ran his hands over his face and up through his dark curls. The shame she was feeling wasn’t because she’d cheated on Dan but because she’d cheated with Diego. He may have only been a summer fling for Belle but Gem was acutely aware she’d crossed a line that should never be crossed with friends. Yet the night had been epic, not just because it had ended with her having the best sex she’d ever had, regardless of being drunk, but because of all that had come before it: partying at Pacha with Diego, baring their souls and talking to each other about everything, connecting as much emotionally as they hadphysically. None of that could erase the sickening feeling of regret…

‘Last night was…’ Diego’s voice was raspy, as if his throat was dry.

‘A mistake,’ Gem said firmly. ‘You don’t have to say it, I know.’

He turned to look at her. His cheeks tightened and there was something in his expression that made her falter. ‘A mistake’ was what he was going to say, wasn’t it? Because however fucking good last night had been, it should never have happened.

And yet the way he was looking at her made her want to repeat it over and over again. She tore her eyes from his and grabbed her phone from the bedside table. Her heart dropped at the sight of the missed calls from Laurie’s phone. Nausea wound its way through her and her stomach constricted. The vice around her heart tightened, and her pulse raced like she’d overdosed on caffeine. She clicked on the voicemail Belle had just left.

‘Where the hell are you, Gem? Please tell me you’ve hooked up with some guy. I’ve been worried sick. If I don’t hear from you in the next ten minutes I’m going to ask reception to contact the police.’

‘Is everything okay?’ The care in Diego’s deep voice sent her insides swirling, because of course nothing was okay.

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