Page 27 of One Week in Paradise

We return to the lobby, hand in hand, bracing ourselves for another onslaught of verbal abuse from Lacey. But when we get there, Lacey and Danny are nowhere in sight.

Penelope is there now, nervously chewing her bottom lip as she frantically stabs at her iPad. When she spots Cash and me, her eyes go wide, and she hurries across the floor to meet us in the middle.

‘Bailey. Cash. I am so sorry about everything that just happened.’

I shake my head. ‘Penelope, it’s fine. This has nothing to do with you or the resort. Don’t worry about it.’

Penelope speaks at a million miles an hour. ‘No, but I’m supposed to be taking care of you and making sure you’re having a good time. I’ve noticed that she’s been a little off with you these last few days, but I didn’t want to say anything or pry, but I should have.’

‘It’s fine ,’ I say, a little more firmly now. I glance around the lobby, half expecting Lacey to be lurking behind a large potted plant. ‘Where are they?’

‘They’re going to spend the day enjoying the resort,’ says Penelope through slightly gritted teeth.

‘I cannot tolerate a guest treating another guest like that. Not under my care. It’s just not right.

Whatever issues you have between you two, we expect our guests to remain civil with one another.

We’ll keep you separate for the rest of the trip.

You won’t have to worry about her anymore.

Now, are you ready to put all this behind you and enjoy the day we’ve got planned? ’

We both nod, and Penelope guides us to the rest of the group. Cash keeps his arm firmly around my shoulders, his lips twisted into an uncharacteristic frown. His entire demeanour is a subtle warning to the others, but it’s unnecessary.

As soon as we approach, Sara launches herself into my arms and gives me a hug.

‘Are you okay?’ she asks. ‘That was horrible , Bailey. So horrible. I don’t know what got into her.’

‘She got even worse after you guys left,’ says Meera. She shakes her head in disgust. ‘I think it really bothered her that we all didn’t immediately jump on the Bailey Hate Train with her.’

‘Well, why would we?’ Bea scoffs. She waves a hand at Cash.

‘Anyone with eyes can see that this idiot is madly in love with you. The Instagram stuff was weird, yeah, but we knew there had to be an explanation.’ She glances pointedly at Cash’s arm, still holding me tightly, and the way I’m leaning into his chest, and smiles. ‘And it seems like there was.’

I look between Bea, Meera and Sara and feel tears begin to pool. Outside of my friendship with Amber, I don’t think I’ve ever felt such a warm sense of camaraderie before. It’s beautiful.

I’m suddenly struck with the knowledge that I’m leaving Jamaica with more than one new relationship.

Bea swings her legs up and pushes herself out of her seat. ‘Now, let’s go and do some rafting.’

‘We need to go on a date.’

We’re back in our suite after a truly amazing day of bamboo rafting down the river.

We were both fully able to enjoy the day without the pressure and anxiety that comes with having to fake a relationship, and we’ve made memor-ies that will last a lifetime.

My camera roll is nothing but smiling faces and videos filled with laughter and shrieking.

I can’t wait to pull them all together into a vlog once we get back home.

The only downside of the day is when Bea and I get a quiet moment to ourselves, and I finally discover why Lacey was so hell-bent on targeting me.

‘Danny’s cheated on her a couple of times,’ Bea told me. ‘She’s just incredibly insecure and was never able to confront the girls he cheated on her with. I guess you were the next best option for her.’

It sounds stupid. After all she’s put me through these last few days, I can’t help feeling sorry for her.

As horrible as she was to me, she doesn’t deserve that.

Nobody does. I know first-hand just how easy it is for a bad relationship to tear you down until you become an unrecognisable husk of yourself.

Back in the suite, I search for her on Instagram, intending to message her and let her know that there are no hard feelings on my mind, but I quickly discover that I’ve been blocked.

Never mind. My sympathy is capped.

‘Earth to Bailey.’

A balled-up pair of socks hit me slap-bang in the middle of my forehead. ‘ Hey .’

Cash laughs and expertly dodges the return fire. ‘Did you hear what I said?’

‘No.’

He rolls his eyes. ‘We need to go on a date.’

I crawl over to him and lay my head in his lap. His fingers come up instinctively to run through my hair. ‘Hasn’t this whole week essentially just been one long date?’

‘I suppose. But I still want to take you on a date. As amazing as this has all been, it’s not how I planned to make you mine.’

‘Oh?’ I quirk a brow. My heart flips at his casual use of the word mine . ‘You’ve had a plan?’

‘At least ten years in the making.’

Ten years.

I can’t believe we’ve missed out on ten years of this.

My mind plays back every wasted moment from the last decade of our lives.

How many times have I looked at him, thinking there was only dislike and irritation bubbling under his surface when it’s really been love the entire time? I feel like an idiot. I am an idiot.

‘Hey.’ Cash’s hand slides along my jaw, tilting my head up to face him. ‘What’re you thinking?’

‘Thinking about you,’ I say, and my honesty surprises me. I have no filter with Cash. Not anymore.

‘Oh.’ He wiggles his brows. ‘Bedroom thoughts?’

I roll my eyes and shove him slightly with my shoulder. ‘Keep your head out of the gutter, please. I’m thinking about you. I’m thinking about us.’

‘What about us?’ His voice is soft.

‘About how easy this all feels,’ I say quietly. I link our fingers together and hold our hands in the air to make my point. ‘Why is that?’

‘Because we’re good together,’ Cash says simply. He pulls my hand towards his mouth and kisses it. ‘Does that scare you?’

‘A little bit,’ I admit. ‘It’s never felt this easy – this right – for me before. Not with Ethan. Not with anyone.’

I know that hindsight is everything, but looking back on my two years with Ethan, I can’t remember ever feeling this content or safe with him.

‘Why is that a problem?’

‘It’s not,’ I say. My brows knit in the middle. I’m frustrated that I can’t get the right words out. ‘I just feel like we’ve wasted so much time. All this time, we could’ve been together. We could’ve been us . I don’t know. I just feel like an idiot for missing it all these years.’

‘Hey.’ He pulls me onto his lap, snaking his arms around my waist. ‘ You didn’t miss anything. If anything, this is on me. If I’d said something, you never would’ve spent years thinking I hated you.’

‘In that case, let’s agree to blame Dane.’

He laughs, rocking forward slightly as his head dips into my neck. ‘I can get behind that.’ He pulls back, his gaze turning serious. ‘Don’t overthink this, okay?’

‘Okay,’ I agree.

His lips quirk upwards into a grin that’s more sly than anything else as he scooches back on the bed until his back hits the headboard.

He presses his lips against mine, and his hands begin to wander.

They leave a fiery trail in their wake as they dart under the hem of my T-shirt, and I grin into our kiss. I’m not going to waste any more time.

I know what I’ve got in front of me now, and I don’t plan on letting it go.