Page 21 of She Devil
He chooses not to respond to my jibe and out of the corner of my eye I see him continue to eat his meal.
The silence is tense and as soon as we’re both finished and have carefully placed our cutlery on our empty plates he gives a frustrated sigh and shakes his head.
‘Look, April, can you at least try to relax? I’m not that much of a bastard, am I?’
‘Relax?’ I scoff, crossing my arms and leaning back in my chair. ‘How do you expect me to do that when you have me captive here, just waiting to exert your will?’
He waves a dismissive hand at me. ‘You know that’s bullshit. You could leave any time you like. I won’t stop you. Just say the word and I’ll sail you straight back to the mainland.’
‘But then you won’t sell me your company,’ I point out.
‘Well, no. That was the deal we made. Which you agreed to,’ he says with a wolfish grin. ‘So don’t try to make out I’m some sort of sexual deviant. This is a business exchange. Where we both win, remember?’
‘You’re only doing this to pay me back, Jamie. Don’t try and pretend it’s anything else.’
He lays his hands on the table and fixes me with a serious but friendly look. ‘Think of it as closure, April, pure and simple. So we can both move on. Losing my father forced me to reassess my life and I’ve decided it’s time we put our resentment towards each other to rest. Don’t you agree?’
I pause, wanting to refute this, to say I can never get past it. That too much has happened between his family and mine for that to be possible. But I don’t. Because that would inevitably open up a whole new conversation with him that I really don’t want to have. I buried the past ten years ago and there’s no way I’m going to exhume it now. Nothing good can come of talking to Jamie about it. Especially so soon after losing his father. He’ll only hate me more for my involvement in it and I can’t afford to let that happen.
‘Yes, I guess this ridiculous feud has gone on too long,’ I say slowly, uncrossing my arms and placing my hands neatly onto my lap. ‘We’re adults now. We should be able to handle being around each other without fighting. Let’s agree that we both made mistakes, but it was a long time ago. I can forgive if you can.’
‘Good,’ he says, a wide smile flattening his lips. ‘Then let’s forgive each other.’
But I’m not that stupid.
I know this is just a trick.
Jamie
She looks guarded, sitting there all prim and proper, as we both lie through our teeth to each other.
I know there can be no way she’s actually forgiven me for the way I behaved after we spilt up, and I certainly can’t forgive the anguish she put me through when she so callously cut me out of her life.
But perhaps we can put it to one side, if only for this evening.
In all honesty, having her here on the island has made me realise just how much I miss the April I used to know—at least the person I thought she was, until she turned her back on me. We’d had such a good time together when we were young. We’d fitted. And for some unknown reason life keeps throwing her back in my path.
It’s really fucking with my head.
‘Want to go for a stroll on the beach before we lose the light?’ I ask as an awkward silence descends between us again.
Is she thinking the same things I am? Wouldn’t that be something?
I’m not quite sure how I feel about it, to be honest.
‘Sure,’ she says, standing up from her chair and smoothing down the skirt of the dress I knew she’d look incredible in. She has the most perfect body. It’s all soft curves and strong, toned limbs. I remember the glorious sensation of her long legs wrapped around my waist and her arms circling my shoulders as I held myself still inside her in that dark office and my body heats with the promise of what’s still to come.
Or who. Hopefully both of us.
We follow the path across the chamomile lawn I’ve had planted in front of the house and down to the beach. Birds leisurely swoop across the darkening sky, getting in one last blast of exercise before bedding down for the night.
The sea is still calm and makes gentle lapping sounds against the wet sand as we walk down to the shoreline.
April’s hair shines in the dying rays of the sun and I can’t help but stare at her. I can barely believe she’s actually here with me. I never thought I’d see the day when we were alone together and not fighting.
How has my life come to this—where I’ve practically had to kidnap her in order to find out the real reason why she left me the way she did ten years ago.
‘It’s a beautiful island,’ she says, dragging me out of my musing.
