Page 37 of The Love Position

Jessica sat on the bench and unzipped her bag, pulling out a baseball cap and jamming it onto her head.

She shrugged. ‘Something different? And it’ll be good for my résumé. I was owed vacation time and was in the area, so… Why not?’

Sophia sat next to her. ‘Are you a therapist?’

‘Hell no, I’d be goddam terrible. My advice is usually “go bother someone else with your problems”. I work in the yachting industry as a stewardess. I’ve just come off a boat in Saint Martin.’

‘That sounds very glamorous.’

Jessica pulled a face. ‘If you like being nice to rich assholes all day and sharing a cabin with a dude who snores and farts in his sleep.’

‘You have to share with a man?’

‘Sometimes. The boat I was just on is only a hundred and fifty feet, so crew quarters are a little cramped. I wanna get on a billionaire’s boat. Tips will be better there, too.’ Jessica frowned at her. ‘Hey, have you done much yoga before?’

Sophia shook her head. ‘I started a class earlier in the year, but I’m not very good. You?’

‘Nah. I’ve followed a few videos online, that’s all.’ Jessica held up her hand for Sophia to high-five her. ‘We can hide at the back together.’

The tension in Sophia’s stomach eased. She’d found a friend with even less yoga experience than her and wouldn’t be the odd one out.

‘So, whadda you do in the UK?’

‘I’m an archaeologist.’

‘Cool. Digging up old bones and shit?’

Sophia grinned. ‘Usually shit. You can learn a lot about a culture from a midden.’

‘Is that like a trash pile?’

‘Yep. Everything from human waste, to animal bones, to potsherds.’

‘What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever found?’

Pain lanced Sophia’s chest as the wound Marcus had made tore open again.

She forced a smile. ‘Earlier in the year, I was part of a team that discovered the grave of an Iceni warrior.’

‘No way? When was he alive?’

‘Around two thousand years ago.’

‘That’s awesome. Any treasure?’

‘A bridle-bit, coins, a sword, pottery. It’s going to a local museum.’

‘Neat.’

In the distance, coming towards the jetty, was a wooden boat with a small cabin up front, and the rest of the deck open with an awning to protect people from the sun.

Sophia glanced at her watch. ‘This must be it.’

They stood as it approached, the brown seaweed parting before it.

It slowed to a stop beside the dock and a heavyset man wearing white baggy trousers and an orange t-shirt hopped out and secured the bow line. A handful of people climbed out with their luggage, then started making their way towards the airport terminal.

‘Hi,’ Jessica called out. ‘Can we come aboard?’

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