Page 18 of One Week in Paradise

I spend the rest of the day in bed.

Cash is kind enough to give me all of twenty minutes to myself before he slips quietly into the suite. I’ve wrapped myself in a cocoon of blankets, and I don’t turn to look at him as he enters.

‘Bailey?’ he says, his voice quiet and uncertain. ‘Are you all right? Do you need me to get you anything? Paracetamol? Water?’

‘I’m fine,’ I rasp, wincing as I hear myself. It’s obvious that I’ve been crying. I cough to try and mask the obvious emotion in my voice. ‘Go back outside with the others.’

There’s a moment of silence, and then his footsteps pad closer towards the bed. The mattress dips slightly, and I realise that he’s crawled onto it.

‘Cash—’

I freeze, my voice locking in my throat. Cash has slipped under the blankets and pulled me flush against his chest. His arms wrap around me, and he gives me a gentle squeeze. ‘You’re okay, Bailey. You’re okay.’

The floodgates immediately open, and I bawl into his chest. He doesn’t say a word. He just lays there, gently rubbing my back as I incoherently wail. I don’t think anyone’s ever been this gentle or patient with me before.

When my sobs eventually die down and become infrequent sniffles, Cash pulls back slightly and rubs a thumb along my tear-stained cheeks.

‘You want to talk about it?’

I shake my head. ‘Not yet.’

I expect him to push, but all he says is, ‘Okay,’ and we fall back into an easy silence.

‘Are you sure you don’t want to go back outside?’ I ask, my voice slightly muffled in his chest. ‘Seriously, you don’t have to wait in here with me.’

‘I want to,’ he says simply.

I curl myself closer to his chest. The sound of his heartbeat against my ear is oddly soothing. ‘I’m sorry,’ I murmur.

‘Nothing to be sorry about.’

‘You’re wasting your holiday in here with me. You should be out there, enjoying the sun.’

‘I already told you,’ he says. ‘I want to be here. Stop trying to push me away. Let me be here for you.’

My heart swells with… What is that? Warmth? Gratitude? Love? ‘Okay.’

It feels like I belong here, nuzzled against Cash’s chest. His body is warm beneath mine, and I never want to let go. ‘I could fall asleep like this,’ I murmur against his chest.

‘Go on then,’ he says softly. ‘I’ll be here when you wake up.’

‘You promise?’

He leans forward and presses his lips against my forehead. The touch is so fleeting. For a second, I’m sure I’ve imagined it, but it sends shockwaves running through my body.

‘I’m not going anywhere, Bailey.’

He keeps his promise.

When I wake hours later, Cash is still curled up beside me. One hand is wrapped around me, and the other is gently combing through my hair. He gives me a lazy smile as I shake off the sleep and blink up at him.

‘Hey.’

I return the smile. ‘Hey.’

‘You feeling any better?’

‘A little,’ I say. Lacey’s words are still there, looming in the back of my mind, but I feel safe here with Cash.

‘Do you want to talk about it?’

I feel like I owe him the truth. Or at least some version of it. ‘I’m guessing you know about my ex, Ethan?’

Cash nods. ‘I’ve seen photos of you two together, and I know you had a messy break-up.’

‘That’s putting it lightly. He was cheating on me the entire time we were together.’ I take a deep breath, steeling myself for the next part. ‘And I was the other woman.’

I bury my face in Cash’s chest to stop myself from looking up at him. I don’t want to see the disgust or judgement that must be flitting across his face right now.

‘I swear, I didn’t know,’ I say hurriedly. ‘He’s a photographer and gets a lot of work from high-fashion brands, so he was always travelling to Paris for work. I never suspected that he was really going back and forth to see his long-term girlfriend who lives there.’

Now that I’ve started talking, the words flow freely, and I feel a sense of relief as they come out.

‘She eventually caught on somehow and realised something wasn’t right.

She flew to London to confront him and caught us having dinner.

She came storming up to our table and went on this wild rant accusing me of being a home-wrecker.

’ I pause, my heart thudding as I recall every painful second of that night.

‘Then she threw a glass of wine all over me. She was recording on her phone the whole time, and when she uploaded it online, it went viral.’

‘Is that why you’ve been so quiet online recently?’ Cash asks.

I nod. ‘I don’t come off very well in The Video.

I’m shouting back at her, telling her to get lost. And Ethan doesn’t even try and defend me.

He immediately chases after her when she eventually leaves.

It makes me look really guilty and everyone immediately believed her side of the story.

It went viral, and overnight, nobody wanted anything to do with me. ’

I tell him about how my face was plastered over gossip blogs for weeks and how my comments were filled with nasty trolls calling me all kinds of cruel and untrue names.

I lean back and force myself to look into his eyes. ‘But I didn’t – I would never —’

‘I know,’ he says.

He says it like it’s the most simple thing in the world.

Like there’s no doubt in his mind that he knows I would never purposely ruin a relationship.

Other than Amber, he’s the only person who knows who has immediately reacted like this.

There’s no sign of judgement or disgust in his gaze. Just pure, raw acceptance and kindness.

It makes my stomach flip.

I look away before I do something stupid, like lean in and kiss him.

‘Most people aren’t as nice as you,’ I say quietly. ‘Especially Lacey. Turns out she’s an acquaintance of Ethan’s real girlfriend, and she thinks I’m just the worst person in the world.’

‘She should take a look in the mirror.’

I don’t say anything because guilt has begun to gnaw at me.

There’s something else I need to tell him, but I can’t bring myself to do it.

Because when I do, everything will change.

He’ll be on Lacey’s side just like everyone else, and I’m not ready to let go of this tentative friendship we’ve built just yet.

I want to hold onto it for as long as I can.

‘Are you hungry?’ he asks suddenly, sensing my apprehension to talk any further about Ethan. ‘Let’s order room service.’

He grabs the phone on his bedside table, and thirty minutes later, we’re sitting up in bed with a tray of food and snacks in front of us.

I can’t get over the sense of comfort that blankets me as we dig into our meal, like this is something we’ve done thousands of times before.

I can immediately picture us sitting squashed together in bed back home in London, with a pizza box between us and the latest Netflix sensation running on the TV in front of us.

I realise, with a jolt, that I want that.

We’re splitting our dessert – a ridiculously delicious vanilla layered berry cake – when Cash’s phone vibrates.

He glances at it and immediately picks it up. ‘It’s my mum. Do you mind if I—’

‘No, not at all. Go for it.’ I shift a little to the side so I’m not in frame when Cash answers the call.

‘Hello, my heart,’ Cash’s mum’s voice crackles out through the speakers. ‘How are things? Are you wearing sun cream every day and hydrating properly?’

‘Hey, Mum,’ Cash says, the tips of his ears turning pink. ‘Everything’s fine. Yes, every day. Yes, plenty of water.’ He gives me a subtle eye roll, and I have to stuff a piece of cake into my mouth to smother my laugh. ‘How’re you?’

I can’t help but glance over at the screen. Cash’s mum is an adorable-looking woman with a head of long salt-and-pepper-flecked hair and kind green eyes. I can see so much of her in Cash’s face.

‘… Bailey?’

The use of my name snaps me back to attention.

Cash clears his throat. ‘She’s here with me right now. We’re having a room service night.’ He tilts his phone towards me, and I have half a second to school my expression into something that doesn’t scream pure terror.

‘Hello, sweet Bailey,’ Cash’s mum says. Her ruby lips are stretched into a wide smile. ‘Still so beautiful. All that sun is doing you well, darling.’

‘Hi, Mrs Reid,’ I say with a nervous laugh. I don’t think I’ve ever directly spoken to her before, but I remember her face from all the times she picked Cash up from our home growing up or dropped Dane off after a day at theirs. ‘It’s so lovely to see you.’

‘Are you having a good time?’ she asks. ‘I hope my son has been treating you well on your trip.’

‘He’s been the perfect gentleman,’ I say truthfully. ‘We had a dance class last night.’

‘A dance class ?’ Her eyes light up. ‘You know, dancing is the best way to learn everything you need to know about a man? Does he know how to lead but also know how to let you shine? All very important things to know about a man, my dear.’

My lips twitch, threatening to pull into a smile. ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’

‘I’m really enjoying all the photos Caspian has been sending me,’ she says. ‘You both look like you’re having a wonderful time.’

Photos ?

‘We are,’ I say. ‘The resort is stunning, and the company isn’t too bad either.’

‘I’ll let you two get back to your evening now. Give my love to Dane when you get the chance, and tell your parents I said hello. And Caspian ,’ she says suddenly. He turns the phone back to himself. ‘Remember what I told you.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ he mumbles. His face is so red. It looks like he’s been out in the sun all day. ‘I will. Talk to you later, Mum. Bye, love you.’

They say their farewells, and he ends the call. ‘Sorry about that.’

‘It’s fine,’ I say. I scoot a little closer to him in the bed until our arms brush against each other. ‘What did she tell you?’

‘Nothing,’ he says quickly. Too quickly. ‘Just more reminders about wearing sun cream.’

Hm. He’s lying, clearly. But I decide, given how nice he’s been to me this evening, to let it go. Instead I ask the next pressing question I have. ‘What photos have you been sending her?’

He hesitates and then opens up his camera roll. It’s filled with lots of beautiful landscape shots of our surroundings or overhead shots of the delicious meals we’ve been eating. It’s also filled with photos of me .

Me, laughing at something.

Me, posing with Bea and Sara.

Me, sipping a cocktail.

Me, taking a photo of myself.

Me, red-faced and out of breath on our hike.

Me, sitting by the edge of the pool, my legs submerged in the clear water.

And us.

There’s the photo we took when we landed, just outside the airport, our cheeks pressed together as we smile up at the camera. But there are more. His camera roll is filled with photos of us I hadn’t even realised had been taken.

‘Penelope, Meera and Bea have been sending me any photos they’ve taken of us,’ Cash explains quickly, apparently sensing my confusion.

There’s us on our first night at the resort, sitting at the cabana bar with everyone. I’m draped over Cash’s waist, his hand on my thigh. Heat scorches through me as I remember where that evening led. I quickly swipe to the next photo.

It’s the one Lacey took of us on our hike of Cash leaning into me like we’re about to kiss.

The next bunch are all from our dance class, and I can’t help but smile as I scroll through them.

He’s holding me close in every single one, and I’m looking up at him like the world will fall apart if I dare to look away.

I hadn’t even realised the others were taking photos of us the entire time.

‘You’ll have to send me all of these,’ I tell him as I finish scrolling through them all. ‘There are some real gems in here. We look so happy in all of them.’

‘I am happy,’ he says with a shrug.

And, you know what? I am too.