Page 13 of Finding Cory

"Which was what Cory thought. The whole scene was just so unnecessary, and he told Jill that when he broke it off. She'd been jealous over nothing and he could see it inevitably happening again, every time he even so much as spoke to a pretty girl. He didn't want the drama."

And here I come with a history of nothingbutdrama, Olivia thought. "Thanks for telling me this, Rosie."

"You're welcome. I'd like to see Cory happy. I'd like to see Jill happy too, but the two of them just aren't suited for each other." Rosie shrugged, her irrepressible grin breaking out again. "I'm a natural matchmaker."

"What about you, anyone special in your life?" Olivia asked curiously.

A wistful look crossed Rosie's face briefly before she shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

"That look tells me that there's someone, though? Didn't Jill say you were seeing a pilot?" Olivia remembered the earlier conversation in the airport.

"Past tense, I'm afraid."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Olivia said genuinely.

"He was seeing multiple other girls"—Rosie's smile was wry—"and nice though he was—and honest about it, which was a big point in his favor—I'd like to be somebody's one and only."

Don't we all, Olivia thought. "Jill told me Cory was a player."

"Not in the least." Rosie shook her head vehemently. "Couldn't be further from the truth. Cory isn't one to start something unless he thinks it's going somewhere. He was genuinely broken up about ending things with Jill, but her jealousy was just too much for the relationship to bear."

"So me even hinting that I might be jealous would be a big red flag," Olivia surmised. "I'll keep that in mind."

"You should. Because there are silly young girls who try to throw themselves at him every other week here, and Cory will be watching to see your reaction," Rosie warned. She covered a huge yawn and laughed at herself. "God, sorry. Been a long day. I'm gonna go crash."

"Thank you for telling me the truth."

"You're welcome." Rosie surprised Olivia with a hug, which Olivia returned tentatively. "Don't let Jill get to you. If I see or hear her starting any crap, I'll try and pull her up; she listens to me."

Olivia thanked her again, and Rosie took her leave with a cheerful wave, leaving Olivia alone with her thoughts.

Lost in thought, Olivia sat for a while in silence. She was startled when the cabin door opened and looked up to see a tall redheaded woman who was probably a couple of years her senior entering.

"Hi," she said uncertainly.

"'Allo, you must be Olivia! I have heard so much about you already! I'm Suzannah, your roommate."

"Oh." Getting to her feet, Olivia smiled in welcome. "Hi—nobody mentioned you were French!"

Suzannah laughed throatily, stepping forward and kissing Olivia enthusiastically on both cheeks. "Eh, we are a multinational crew here; nobody thinks much of it. As long as they can understand your accent, that is."

That made Olivia smile. She liked Suzannah immediately, admiring her poise and confident air. "I swiped one of your sodas from the fridge earlier," she confessed, figuring she'd best get that out of the way first. "I'll replace it, I promise."

Suzannah waved it off with another laugh, heading to the fridge herself. "Want another? I'm thirsty, been a busy night in the kitchen."

Olivia accepted the offer and they sat to introduce themselves to each other properly. Suzannah was more than happy to answer questions, talking about her training at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and her past work in major hotels and famous restaurants. Olivia almost died of shock when Suzannah admitted to once having worked for Gordon Ramsey and having a glowing recommendation from the infamously critical chef on her résumé.

"Well, nothing I've ever done compares to that; you definitely win," Olivia said, very impressed, making Suzannah's throaty laugh ring out again. The French girl smothered a yawn then, admitting that she'd had a long day.

"Go sleep, we can talk more tomorrow. We've got plenty of time to get to know each other," Olivia insisted when Suzannah demurred, offering to keep her company. Left alone, she thought she should probably go on into her own room, in case she made noise in the lounge area and kept the weary chef awake.

At least the nightwear she'd brought was perfectly fine; she liked to be comfortable when she slept, so she just changed into a tank top and a pair of boyleg cotton shorts before slipping into bed and turning out the bedside light.

Sleep was nowhere to be found, though, and after a couple of hours tossing and turning, Olivia gave up. Getting out of bed, she went out onto her little veranda, sitting down on the chair and putting her feet up on the railing. It was blissfully cool outside now, whereas her room had been too warm; she sighed as the sea breeze washed over her and let her head tip back.

"Can't sleep either?" a low voice said, and she startled upright, yelping with shock as her feet fell to the floor.

"Sorry!"

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