He gave her the look, the one she had come to associate with things he didn’t want to talk about. She never pushed it. He would tell her when he was ready. Just like she would tell him that she was seventeen…as soon as she wasn’t seventeen anymore. God, why do I have to have a July birthday?
“Nothing. Just go to sleep. When you wake up, we’ll be in paradise.”
She smiled up at him and let the issue slide. All she could think about as she drifted off to sleep to the sound of him clicking away on his laptop was how much she wished she could tell him everything about her.
One day, she wouldn’t have to hide from him the things everyone else already knew about her, but she didn’t think she would be able to share things he only knew about her heart with anyone else. Despite the secrets piled up between them, she felt she was utterly and unequivocally falling for this mysterious man.
THEY TOUCHED DOWN at the tiny St. Barts airport at around two in the morning. Jude had a car waiting to take them away, and Bryna snuggled up against him in the backseat as they drove the short distance to their destination.
Their illuminated beach house revealed an enormous red-roofed villa right on the water. Even in the dark, it looked like something she couldn’t have even dreamed up. The villa itself had six bedrooms and seven baths with a crystal-clear rectangular pool, a covered cabana, and the most spectacular view of the ocean.
Jude deposited their bags in a massive master bedroom complete with a full sitting room, a bed large enough to comfortably sleep a half dozen, and a walk-in closet larger than her one at home. The bathroom had a Jacuzzi tub that she could swim in with a window overlooking the pool.
All in all, Jude had been right. It was paradise.
The next morning, Bryna woke up to the sun rising over the ocean. After exploring the villa in the daylight, they drove into town to get breakfast. Bryna purchased a couple of new bathing suits at a boutique nearby even though Jude had kept whispering in her ear that he was just going to take them off. Then they returned to the villa and spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in the sun and swimming in the pool.
They had been enjoying their days by the water and their nights in the bedroom so much that Bryna was surprised when she woke up on Thursday to realize that Christmas was already here. Living in Los Angeles, she had never had a white Christmas unless her family vacationed in Paris or New York City. But with highs in the mid-eighties and not a cloud in the sky, Christmas in St. Barts felt even more surreal.
Or maybe it was that she wouldn’t see any of her family. She tried not to let that fact bum her out, but she had this unexpected feeling of unease as soon as she woke up. She hadn’t heard from her mother in months. Her father was busy in New Zealand. Who knows if I’ll even hear from him today? She had no brothers and sisters, and she refused to even consider her stepfamily as relatives she should be missing on this holiday. Even though people constantly surrounded her, she felt very…alone.
Maybe she should be used to it. After all, it wasn’t like this was some new thing. Her father loved her, but he spent more time working than he ever did with her. She had been closer to her mother when she was younger, but as she grew up, her mother had become more and more distant. It was hard not to blame that on herself rather than on the fact that her parents’ marriage had come apart at the seams.
So, what’s different?
Jude.
For the first time in a long time, she felt completely wanted. He treated her right, cared about her, and gave her the affection that she had been lacking in her life. With everyone else, she could wear her confidence on her sleeve. She didn’t need friends or family or a boyfriend. She was strong, brilliant, and ready to take over the world. But Jude disarmed her, and when she was with him, she realized how alone she had always felt before this.
At that thought, she rolled over to wrap her arms around Jude, but she realized that his side of the bed was empty—again. A moment of panic hit her when she thought about how he had left her that first night they had been together, but then she recovered. They were on an island in the Caribbean. Where could he possibly go?
“Jude?” she called, walking out of the bedroom in nothing but a sexy red baby doll.
She padded into the living room and heard the sound of his voice coming from the kitchen. She almost entered but stopped when she realized he was on the phone.
“No, I’m not going to be over today.” There was a short pause. “I know what you want, but I’m away on business. I’m not even getting back until right before New Year’s.”
Hmm. She wondered who he was talking to. She hadn’t expected him to tell anyone that he was away with her, but it kind of hurt that he was blatantly lying. Even if she had done the same thing…
“Yes. Then I have to go away again right after.”
So, he would be gone for New Year’s. Guess that made it easier to decide on her plans. Though she would have preferred to ring in the New Year with him, she understood if he actually had to go on a work trip.
Unless he was lying about that, too…
Slippery slope.
“I’m sorry. I really can’t talk right now.” He sounded frustrated and impatient to be off the phone. “Stop trying to guilt-trip me!” he shouted.
Bryna peeked around the corner and saw him run an irritated hand back through his hair. His face was contorted into a scowl that she had never seen him use around her before. She swallowed hard at the realization of who this might actually be.
“I’m getting off the phone now. Have a merry Christmas.” He tossed the phone onto the granite counter, rested his palms on the edge, and hung his head forward.
She knew she should give him a minute, but she wanted him to know she had heard at least part of his conversation. No reason to hold that back.
“So, that was your wife, huh?” Bryna asked, stepping into the kitchen.
Jude jumped and then turned to face her. “Bri.”
“I thought you were separated.”
“I thought you were asleep.”
“I woke up,” she said with a shrug.
“How much of that did you hear?” he asked.
She wasn’t sure exactly what he was thinking. He wasn’t one to wear his emotions on his sleeve unless he wanted her to see them. Did he not want me to know he was talking to his wife?
“Enough to realize that someone calling you on Christmas morning and asking about your New Year’s plans is probably someone important. Oh, and she upset you. I’ve never seen you upset,” she told him point-blank.
“Was,” he corrected. “She was someone important, and we are separated. That’s why I’m here with you.” He walked across the tile floor and wrapped his arms around her. “This is the only place I want to be. She doesn’t matter to me.”
If Bryna were a typical girl, she might have just let the subject drop. After all, it was Christmas, she was in St. Barts on vacation, and the man she was falling for had just said that there was nowhere else he’d rather be.
Except she wasn’t typical.
“So…are you guys getting a divorce then?”
Jude took a step back and sighed. “Merry Christmas to you, too.”
“Oh. Merry Christmas,” she said. “In California, I know you have to be separated for at least six months before a divorce is finalized.”
“Can we not talk about this?” he asked. He looked weary of the topic of discussion.
“Ever?”
He grabbed her by the back of her thighs, hoisted her legs around his waist, and then carried her to the island in the middle of the kitchen. “Not while you’re here in nothing but skimpy lingerie.”