Page 65 of The One That Got Away

‘Follow me.’

Jasmine led us away from the main part of the resort. It wasn’t as well maintained, with overgrown bushes and trees.

When we arrived at the front door, the paint was peeling. There wasn’t a key card to open it. Instead she pulled a rusty key out of her pocket and pushed it into the lock. After a few shoves, the door eventually opened.

A strong musty smell hit me as we stepped inside. The floral bed sheets looked like they were from the seventies. And the bright yellow walls and orange floors instantly gave me a headache.

‘I see what you mean about it needing to be renovated,’ Stella said.

‘Yes,’ Jasmine nodded. ‘This was what all the rooms were like before. Strictly speaking, we don’t allow guests to stay here because it’s not up to the standard we like.’

‘Can we see the villa now?’ I asked. Stella’s eyes bulged but I was pretty sure she didn’t want to stay here any more than I did.

‘Of course!’

Jasmine led us back to the main resort and along a path I hadn’t noticed before. A row of luxury detached villas appeared in view. Each one had a garden with lush palm trees and colourful flowers.

When we stepped inside, I gasped. It was immaculate, like it’d just been built. The living room was open plan with a big comfy sofa and a widescreen TV.

The modern white and charcoal kitchen was straight out of an interiors brochure.

‘Oh my God!’ Stella rushed towards the huge glass patio doors, slid them open and stepped outside. ‘It’s a private pool!’

‘Wow.’ I took everything in. As well as the pool there was a table and chairs, sun loungers and a daybed just like the one by the hotel’s main pool. And we had panoramic sea views.

‘Let me show you the bedroom.’

We followed Jasmine back inside then down the hallway and after we passed the main bathroom, she led us into the grand master bedroom, which had a huge four-poster bed.

If that wasn’t impressive enough, Jasmine slid open the huge glass double doors to reveal a hot tub.

‘This is amazing!’ Stella gasped.

It really was. I hadn’t noticed before because I was so blown away, but the patio outside the master bedroom stretched all the way to the living room’s patio, so we could access the private pool easily from here too.

Luckily the walls at the side of the villa were fairly high so we had privacy and our neighbours wouldn’t be able to see what we got up to. Not that me and Stella were gonna get up to anything.

‘Just imagine,’ Jasmine said, ‘chilling in the hot tub at the end of the day with a glass of bubbly. Or waking up and walking a few steps to take a dip in your own private pool. Or cooking dinner and then curling up on the sofa and watching a romantic film on that amazing cinema-style TV screen.’

‘I love a good hot tub,’ I said. ‘And that TV looks impressive.’

‘Everythingabout this place is impressive,’ Stella said. ‘Let me guess. You can’t wait to watch the football on that massive screen!’

‘No.’ My chest tightened. ‘Don’t watch it any more.’

‘What?’ Stella frowned.

‘This villa’s amazing.’ I quickly changed the subject.

‘I agree.’ Jasmine nodded. ‘But if you’d really prefer to stay in the old-fashioned rooms, rather than staying in separate rooms in this idyllic five-star luxury villa, of course I’ll honour your wishes.’

‘No!’ Stella shouted and I breathed a sigh of relief. ‘I’m sure we can make it work so we can stay here, right, Max?’

‘Totally.’ As long as I didn’t look at Stella for too long and avoided all forms of physical contact, hopefully I’d be able to keep my cool. ‘You can have the master bedroom if you like and I’ll take the other room.’

‘Oh, no, I couldn’t let you sleep in there. That bed looks much smaller. Your feet will hang off the edge.’

‘I’m sure you’ll find a solution!’ Jasmine said. ‘So are we good? You’re both happy to stay here?’

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