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‘You’re lying.’ She held his gaze a little longer. ‘Why?’
He shifted uncomfortably on the lounger, then stood and walked over to the railing, turning his back on her and looking out over the ocean.
‘I’m right, aren’t I?’ Meena asked, watching his back. ‘You’re hiding something from me.’
‘I’m trying to do the right thing here,’ he said, turning around and leaning back against the rail, his arms crossed over his body.
‘Let me make that easy for you,’ she said, walking over to him, feeling perspiration prickle her skin in the late afternoon sun as she mirrored his crossed arms, holding his gaze and refusing to back down. ‘Tell me the truth.’
‘I don’t want to hurt you, Meena.’
There was something in the familiar tone of his voice, the way that his eyes softened as he looked at her, that told her most of what she needed to know. They weren’t strangers. Hadn’t been strangers even when she’d met him on the beach a week ago. He had known her before. Remembered her from when he had stayed at his parents’ resort on St Antoine seven years ago, before her accident.
That hole in her memory loomed before her, menacing with its secrets and the hidden parts of her soul. He knew what lurked in there; she was sure of it. And, if she wanted to know, she was sure that she could make him tell her.
Was it him? Was he the mystery man she had been looking for all this time? And, if he was, did she want to know for sure?
She knew she could find out now if she pushed. He would tell her.
But she didn’t know if she was ready.
‘I don’t want you to hurt me either,’ she told him.
Guy shook his head, arms dropping from where they had been crossed to grip the railing behind him. ‘Then don’t make me talk about that time.’
She thought for a few long seconds about letting this lie. About protecting herself from whatever it was that he thought would hurt her. She could leave this yacht and they could never mention this conversation again. When Guy was gone from the island, she would never have to think about him again.
But the unease in her chest as she considered it told her what she needed to know—she had to find out what had happened to her that summer. Who she had become. She had spent the last seven years of her life wondering about that time. She couldn’t turn away from this opportunity, even if it did mean more pain. What could be worse than not knowing who she had been? Who she was now?
‘I need to know, Guy. I need you to tell me everything.’
He let out a long sigh, lifted a hand and rubbed at his hair, and a chill went down Meena’s spine at the expression on his face. If they had been romantically involved before, if he was the man that she’d lost her virginity to, then she would expect embarrassment. Not fear. Not this pain that etched lines into his forehead.
‘I’ve already guessed that we knew each other that summer,’ she said. ‘But my memories are missing,’ she added, hoping that would prompt him to continue. ‘How did we meet?’
The look on his face had already confirmed what she had been starting to suspect. That he was her mystery boyfriend from that summer. But his expression was scaring her, rather than reassuring her. What had happened between them to cause the pain that was so clearly emanating from him?
‘We were friends, weren’t we? More than friends.’ She made it a statement, rather than a question.
She couldn’t tell him how she knew, though. Couldn’t tell him she’d known all along that she’d had a lover that summer because she’d been pregnant. Unless he already knew that. She’d been six weeks along when the accident had happened. Had she told him? Had she even known herself? This was why she needed to know.
Guy shook his head, and for a moment she thought that he was going to deny everything. If he did that, she wouldn’t know what to do next. She would know that he was lying. His face had already told her that they had a past. What she needed now were the details.
‘Yes, we knew each other,’ Guy said without meeting her eyes.
‘More than knew each other. We were...involved.’
He looked up then, meeting her gaze briefly before looking away again. ‘Yes. We were involved.’
CHAPTER FIVE
INVOLVED. THAT ONE word didn’t come anywhere near to what they had been to each other. He had never even wanted to reveal this much. But she’d looked at his face and read exactly what she needed to know. He’d expected her to have lost that knack. They barely knew each other any more. She shouldn’t be able to see into his thoughts like that. But, as usual, he had underestimated her.
So what if she knew that they had been involved, though? Could that be enough for her? Could he extricate himself from this conversation without having to open a vein and bleed every single moment of their history onto the deck in front of her?
‘We had sex?’ she asked, doing away with euphemisms.
His head snapped up at the question and he held her gaze. Her expression was fierce, and he knew that he couldn’t lie to her.
