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“I do.” She’s in shorts, a t-shirt, and cute sandals. I’ve arranged for a boat trip to one of the islands, where we can snorkel and have lunch. It’s been years since I enjoyed the islands. The last time I came here was with the guys to celebrate Matt's birthday. The island has grown so much since then, with more hotels and new staff. We’ve developed the resort, adding newer amenities and increasing the luxury villas.
“Are you sure no one will go to the press about us?” Her smile falters, and I hook my arm around her neck, tugging her to me and dotting a quick kiss on her mouth.
“A good portion of this island works for me in some capacity, and the other gets work from all the tourists,” I inform her, but her bottom lip pouts, uncertainty clouding her big eyes. “I’m their boss—they know not to cross me.” She pulls in a quick breath, ready to remind me I'm her boss too. “You're different,” I deliver flatly, and her eyes roll. I peck her mouth again. “They won’t go to the press.”
“The staff in the villa seem to love you.”
“I hand-picked those for our stay. Look, Perry won’t want me to tell you this, but a couple of years ago, there was a groundskeeper who broke into one of the suites. This was before I had this villa built. It was in the hotel. Perry wasn’t alone, and it made headlines.”
Her face contorts in concern. “What did you do?”
“Nothing nice,”—my lips twist ruefully—“but those that I didn’t punish, I gave a pay rise. The islanders are good people, hard workers, and the guy who took the footage was shunned by the community. Those who didn’t question his whereabouts were let go, and anyone that profited from it was sued. I ruined the man's reputation, and so they know that if they look after me, I will look after them.” I shrug lightly.
“So the person Perry was with, were they okay?”
“Persons.” I laugh as her face gapes.
“Like a gang bang?” Her cute face wrinkles in disapproval. “Sounds like hard work. I struggle with just you.” Her face stretches into amused shock.
My laughter topples her perplexed face into a wide grin. “I’m a lot to handle.”
Chapter30
Lauren
Cain and I bob in the water. We’ve been here all afternoon, enjoying the peace of the island and swimming. We ate lunch on the beach and, after sunbathing, decided to head back in the water to snorkel again. Clear water laps at our shoulders, soaking our hair and dazzling under the blistering sun. I’ve got a healthy but light glow to my skin, and Cain is tanned and gorgeous. I worry that people will notice and put two and two together, but Cain shrugs, saying they have no proof.
Bright flicks of colour move around us, and I poke my face below the water, watching the fish go about their day. “I could watch them all day,” I say, breathlessly wiping water from my chin. Our snorkels grip tightly, obscuring our faces. I smile at Cain and dip back below, going completely under. Fish dart away and vanish between the coral, and then Cain is there beside me, another vibrant force swimming through the water. He twists and grips my ankle, tugging me. The pressure of the water has my bikini bottoms sliding down my hip, and Cain pulls on the tie before I kick away and breach the surface, cursing him. He appears before me and yanks his mask away. Indents line his face, and I laugh as I remove my own. “I nearly lost my bikini!” I shriek, kicking to stay afloat as I try to retie the small strands.
Grinning, he wades towards me, and kisses me, his fingers tracing my shoulder. “You’re starting to burn.” He lifts his chin towards the beach, and we swim back in.
This holiday has been the highlight of our relationship. Here, away from London, removed from the chaos, we get to be Cain and Lauren, no more and nothing less. The stress of the investigation is still hanging heavily over him, but I’m glad that between those tense moments, when his face is plagued by emotions and the truth of the ugly situation is eating at him, I can be a place of solace. We’ve dined together each night and lazed by the pool, and when he has taken an hour or so a day to keep abreast of the situation, he has planned for a masseuse or left me with my book, sunbathing. If I had only just met Cain and this was a holiday fling, I would be halfway in love with him. But I already was before we left the UK, and now I’m drowning in his attentiveness and addicted to losing myself in him. I’ve not admitted my feelings, but I’m sure he knows. Last night, we walked the beach and then made out like horny teenagers—we’d been animalistic and desperate for one another.
This thing between us was, at times, too much for me to comprehend and yet more than enough for me to know that he was, without a doubt,itfor me. It was fierce yet delicate, raw and unfiltered. It was so utterly consuming that it caught me off guard, stealing my breath and sending a heated wave of happiness to spread through me like untamed ivy, twining around any available surface and claiming it as its own.
He takes my hand and leads me up the sand to where our blankets and towels are. We pat ourselves dry and sit down, guzzling iced water from the cooler. “Pass the cream.” He screws the cap back on, and we swap bottles. He shifts me back and lathers my skin in cream as I gulp my water down, thirsty from swimming.
“I can’t believe this is our last day.” We fly out in the early hours, and I'm not ready to go home and return to normality. I like Koh Samui Cain. I like who I get to be with him here. We’ve done the tourist bit and visited landmarks. We hired a moped and whipped around the streets. It’s been such a refreshing change from playing it safe and waiting for the world not to be looking so we could snatch some time. I'm going to miss being able to walk over and kiss him, to hold his hand and talk freely without the fear of people pulling out the pitchforks and writing about it in some tabloid.
“We’ll come back. Every year. It can be our thing.”
“I thought cactus was our thing?”
“I want more than one thing with you.” The lid clips shut, and Cain drops back, and I twist as he rests his head on his hands.
“Such as?” I manoeuvre to lay over his chest, my fingers tracing the few beads of water left on his neck.
“Lots of things, big and small.”
“Cactus big?” I grin.
“Bigger,” he muses thoughtfully. My smile is wistful, and my emotions come racing back, racing around my chest and forcing words I have swallowed back time and time again to hide in the safety of my mouth. But I want to voice them.
Cain rolls us and gives me a lazy grin. The kind that only encourages those words to find a stage to speak from—that smile gives those words hope. I suck in a breath and stare up at him. His weight presses me into the sand. His fingers drag up my thigh and pull it aside to gain access between my legs.
“What's going on in that head? You look like you might cry and laugh at the same time.” He chuckles. I open my mouth but suck in a breath, internally at war with my emotions. “It can’t be that bad, can it?”
“I’m not saying this to hear it back. In fact, I don’t want you to say it at all.” I laugh nervously. “Because if you did, say it, I mean… I would think you didn’t mean it, but were trying to make me feel better. Because if you already felt it, you’d have said it by now…or maybe not,” I ramble, then groan as Cain's forehead creases in confusion. “Promise me that you won’t say it back?”
