What Happens in Paradise (The Love Hotel #2)

Chapter 10

10

JASMINE

As soon as Bob pulled into the car park at Dunn’s River Falls, I flung the door open and bolted outside.

I needed air. It was hot and sticky, but I didn’t care, because I’d added a few extra feet of distance between me and Alejandro.

My body was already on high alert when I saw him walking towards me at reception. My temperature had risen a few more degrees when he opened the door then slid onto the seat beside me. His woody scent hit me like the smell of fresh bread wafting from a bakery.

And when he called me beautiful in his ridiculously adorable Spanish accent, goosebumps exploded on my skin. Especially when he declared it as a fact.

That was nice to hear. When the husband I thought I’d be with forever not only cheated on me, but also traded me in for a younger woman, it’d dented my confidence.

And although I didn’t tell Alejandro my age, I got the impression that even if I did, he wouldn’t care. Deep down, he had to, though. Everyone said age is just a number but they never really meant it.

The truth was, age did matter. Especially for women. Unlike men, we couldn’t just wake up one day in our fifties, sixties or beyond and just decide to have children. At almost forty, of course it could still happen, but as the media frequently reminded me, the clock was ticking.

Not that I necessarily wanted children. Once upon a time, I did, but Kane always said he didn’t want them. Funny because less than a year after cheating on me, he got his secretary knocked up (such a cliché) and last I heard, they had another child on the way.

Anyway, after wasting so many of my years slaving away to build a business that I thought would secure my future and then having the rug pulled from beneath me, now I just wanted to focus on myself.

But if in a couple of years I decided that I was ready to date, whoever I met definitely couldn’t be younger than me. The guy would want children and by that time, it’d be more challenging.

That was why age was important and why no matter how good Alejandro looked or how hot I found his unapologetic confidence, I absolutely had to get over this attraction.

‘Yuh good?’ Bob stepped out of the car.

‘Yes, thank you. We need to buy water shoes, right?’ I asked.

‘Ya mon!’ Bob declared.

‘Okay.’

‘We should get the tickets,’ Alejandro said.

‘Likkle more,’ Bob added, which I remembered meant see you later , then he gave us his number and said for us to call when we were ready.

I wasn’t convinced that his name was really Bob Harley and he wasn’t the kind of chauffeur the Love Hotel would typically hire, but he seemed fun. And as stereotypical as it was for him to play Bob Marley songs throughout the entire car journey, I had to admit, I liked it.

Alejandro and I made our way to the ticket office. There wasn’t too much of a queue. Nadine had said that when there were cruise ship stop offs, it could get particularly busy, especially in high season, but seeing as it was October, it was much quieter.

Once we’d bought the special water shoes that were recommended for climbing the waterfall, we went to the toilets to change into our swimwear.

As I stepped into my swimming costume, I felt self-conscious. It’d been ages since I’d worn one so publicly.

Although we had a pool at the hotel in Spain, it was for guests. Occasionally, I went for a dip in the sea that was part of our resort, but only when there was no one else around. I preferred to go to more remote places. Away from anyone I knew.

I wasn’t in my twenties any more. My body wasn’t as toned as it used to be and like most women, I had stretch marks and flabby bits.

That was why when I’d flirted with the idea of wearing a bikini, I’d immediately dismissed it. It wouldn’t be appropriate for a work setting.

I smoothed down the front of my plain, black swimming costume, wishing that I could’ve at least taken a kaftan with me to cover up a little so I wouldn’t be exposing this much skin.

A kaftan wouldn’t have been practical, though. I just had to go as I was.

I looked in the mirror and attempted to tell myself that I looked beautiful, but felt like an idiot. I was confident at work, yes, because I knew I was good at it. But I’d never considered myself to be beautiful .

Clearly, when it came to my appearance, I didn’t have the same level of confidence that Alejandro had.

It was easier for him though because I was sure there wasn’t a person on the planet who wouldn’t agree that he was incredibly good-looking. At first, when he’d asked me whether I thought he wasn’t beautiful, I’d hesitated to reply. But then I realised that to deny how handsome he was would’ve been more suspicious.

Saying that he was a very attractive man was an understatement. The man was hotter than a bucket of spicy jerk chicken sauce.

And that was a fact.

Anyway, I didn’t have time to think about how gorgeous he was. I had work to do.

After picking up my bag, I headed outside.

Bloody hell.

My jaw fell open.

I knew I should at least attempt to drag it up off the floor, but it was difficult, because stood just a few metres away was Alejandro.

Sorry. Let me rephrase. It wasn’t just Alejandro .

It was a topless Alejandro.

God. Help. Me.

I was aware that I’d just said I shouldn’t be thinking about how hot he was, but come on.

When he looked like that , how could I not?

I’d only ever seen him in a chef’s jacket or T-shirt. Sometimes a vest. But never, I repeat never , with his bare chest on show.

And wow .

His body was so defined, it looked like it’d been carved by angels.

His golden olive skin glowed.

Then there were his broad shoulders.

His toned pecs.

His muscular biceps.

Oh, and his six-pack.

I swallowed hard.

None of the men I’d ever dated had a body like that.

My ex was nine years older than me, so when we met, he already had the makings of a dad-bod. And I didn’t mind. I loved him for him.

As far as I was concerned, muscular, sculpted bodies were what models and film stars like The Rock, Michael B. Jordan and the Hemsworth brothers had. Not people in ‘real life’.

But turned out I was wrong, because Alejandro could give all of those men a run for their money.

‘H-hi,’ I stuttered. ‘You ready to go?’

‘I…’ Alejandro’s gaze travelled from my head to toe and I winced inside. I knew this swimming costume was frumpy. ‘Sure. We should put our things away.’

A weird silence hung in the air as we walked to the lockers.

We joined a tour guide and a group of other tourists and I was grateful that we were no longer alone.

The tour guide explained that if we didn’t want to walk up the waterfall, we could take the stairs. He also told us that there were many different access points so we could start midway, or climb say halfway up the waterfall then take the pathway for the rest. It was up to us.

‘What do you think?’ Alejandro asked. It was probably the only thing he’d said to me since we’d both got changed.

‘I’d like to walk up the whole waterfall. I’m not the best with heights, but I’m here for research, so I need to try it properly so I know what our guests will experience.’

‘ Vale ,’ he said.

‘You don’t mind, do you?’

‘No! I love this kind of thing.’

‘Great,’ I said. ‘This is only six hundred feet high. If I can do the Caminito del Rey walk in Spain, hopefully I can do this too!’

We headed down to the beach so that we could start right at the bottom.

As I took the first steps in the water, I shivered a little. It was cold but so clear and beautiful and the more we walked, I got used to it and found it was actually refreshing.

I stepped up onto the next level. At the base, it was quite flat and relatively smooth, but when I looked up, I noticed that it became a lot steeper and more uneven higher up.

There were a range of different people in our group. Looked like some were couples, others perhaps friends or family. Everyone was dressed in swimwear and from the sound of the chatter around me, most people were from English-speaking countries, although I think I heard some German being spoken too.

The next level up was too steep to climb easily. The guide explained how best to navigate ourselves and advised where to step to avoid slipping.

‘I will go first,’ Alejandro offered. ‘Then I can help you up.’

That was sweet, but I couldn’t agree. Being beside Alejandro was challenging enough. The sensation of holding his hand would probably cause me to fall off the waterfall.

‘I’m okay, thanks. I’ll be fine.’

I struggled up the slippery rocks and when we got to the next steep level, I saw several people in front of us, holding out their hands to help others climb up.

Alejandro went ahead and once he’d reached the level, he offered his hand.

‘I’m good,’ I insisted, even though I wasn’t. I needed help and for a second, I even contemplated taking the hand of a stranger. Anything to avoid making contact with his big, manly palm.

‘Jasmine.’ Alejandro’s deep voice boomed and my body immediately straightened. ‘I know that you are a strong, independent woman and you can climb this rock or the highest mountains by yourself, but just because you can, it does not mean you must. Why struggle and risk slipping when you can take my hand and make it easier? There is no shame in asking for help.’

As I looked around, everyone was getting help. If I kept insisting I could climb each level by myself, but then slipped, I’d look like a fool.

Was I going to risk ending up at the bottom of the waterfall with broken bones just because I couldn’t control a stupid crush or be sensible and take his hand?

‘Okay.’ I stretched out my hand like it was no big deal.

But as my palm connected with Alejandro’s, I realised that my initial concerns were right. This was a very big deal.

Alejandro’s palm was warm and welcoming. The sensation was like sliding a mug of hot chocolate into your hands on a cold winter’s night. It was so comforting.

He helped me up effortlessly like I was as light as a feather.

‘ Todo bien? ’ he asked, checking that I was okay.

‘Yes, I’m good. Thank you.’

My cheeks heated and in that moment, I was grateful that my feet were immersed in cool water. Hopefully, it’d help regulate my body temperature as right now, my blood was bubbling with heat.

I looked down and realised that Alejandro was still holding on to my hand. I knew I should let go, but I didn’t want to.

‘W-we should go,’ I quickly moved my hand away. Alejandro’s face fell and my stomach twisted, but although I could’ve done it more gently, I’d done the right thing.

I was grateful that he’d helped me, but we couldn’t go wandering around hand in hand like some loved-up couple. That was for our guests to do in the future. Not for us.

We continued making our way up and I saw more of the group holding hands.

‘I read about this,’ Alejandro turned to face me. ‘The human chain is a tradition. Holding hands makes it easier.’

Just as I was about to protest, a woman stretched out her hand.

‘Come on, you guys!’ she said in an American accent. ‘Join us.’

I reluctantly slid my right hand in hers and then turned to face Alejandro. I looked down at his hand. There was no other option. I’d have to hold it again. Shit . I could already feel the eyes of the other tourists burning into me.

‘If you don’t want to hold his hand, I will!’ a British woman quipped.

‘Ding dong!’ A guy in red shorts who also sounded British, licked his lips in agreement.

I extended my hand and Alejandro took it. I couldn’t read the expression on his face, but it looked like he was maybe wounded? Upset?

Once again, the sensation of having my palm wrapped in his sent shivers shooting up my spine.

Ten minutes later, Alejandro was still holding my hand, but hadn’t said a word to me.

‘Everything okay?’ I asked, just as the chain broke apart and the guide explained something about the waterfall to a couple on my right.

We stopped and this time, Alejandro pulled his hand away. I instantly missed the warmth and the cushion of his palm.

‘ Sí ,’ he replied, avoiding my gaze, but I didn’t believe him.

‘Did I do something to upset you?’ I frowned.

‘You really want to know?’ he asked.

‘Of course.’

‘You looked at my hand like it is dirty. Before, I thought you did not want to touch it because you prefer to be independent, but now I think it is because you just do not want to touch it.’

‘No!’ My stomach twisted. ‘It’s not that.’ I paused. How the hell was I supposed to explain that I didn’t want to hold his hand because every time I did, my whole body lit up like a fireworks display?

I absolutely could not let him know that I was attracted to him. It was embarrassing.

‘Then why?’

‘It’s because… I was worried about being… unprofessional. We’re colleagues.’

‘And?’ He shrugged. ‘I was offering to help you, not fuck you.’

My breath caught in my throat and my eyeballs bulged.

As I pictured Alejandro laying me down on the cold, wet rocks and burying himself inside me, a tingle raced between my legs.

‘I… uh, I know you wanted to help me. And I’m grateful. Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. It looks like it’s getting steeper.’ I pointed upwards. ‘Would you mind helping me again?’

I held out my hand. I knew that it was going to be difficult holding it again, but I’d rather voluntarily put myself through sexual torture than make Alejandro feel bad.

I knew how it felt to be rejected.

Alejandro reached out and when he put his hand in mine, my stomach somersaulted and my body tingled again.

At this rate, once this walk was over, I’d need to sit under the waterfall for an hour just to cool down.

I knew spending time with Alejandro would be hard, but this was proving more challenging than I thought.

Wish me luck.

Something told me I was going to need it.