Page 68 of Pervade Montego Bay

“True.”

“James, you seem happier here.”

Because you’re here, Em.I didn’t say it though. Instead I went with, “It’s a beautiful place. Easy to relax.”

Xavier made a noise of chastisement, like he knew I was denying, or at least hiding, my true feelings. He shook his head in quiet condemnation.

“How did you end up in England?” asked Emily.

“At eight I was sent to further my education at Ludgrove in Berkshire.”

“Why were you sent there?”

“My dad attended the same school.”

Xavier came over. “His mum died so he was sent away from his beloved Jamaica to attend a stuffy boy’s school. That’s why he’s so mercurial.”

“Eight was very young.” She pointed at me. “I see through that hard shell of yours, Mister.”

“You only see what he wants you to see,” quipped Xavier.

Emily stared at him as though sensing he’d already chipped away at the details of my past.

“One day he’ll treat you to his Jamaican accent,” said Xavier. “You’ll fall hard when he does.”

Emily looked at me with an expression that said she had already fallen.

What could have been…

But she belonged to him.

Just as I had once.

And I knew the power of his love—that all-consuming passion from a man able to read the whispers of a soul.

Should I allow myself to follow what my heart desired? How did anyone sustain a ménage à trois for a lifetime? It was too easy with us and surely that was where the flaw began.

“Why did you lose your accent?” Emily broke into my meandering thoughts.

Xavier looked pained. “The school bullied it out of him.”

I placed my book on the small table beside me. “You can take a boy out of Jamaica…”

“I enjoy hearing your stories.” Emily flicked a wet strand of hair out of her face. “I like getting to know you better.”

She was unwittingly taunting me by standing so close, looking windswept and sexy as hell. I wanted to grab her hand and pull her on top of me…run my fingers through her damp locks and caress her sun-kissed skin.

“You had no brothers or sisters?” she asked.

“Just me.”

“Were you lonely?”

Xavier huffed out a sigh. “He threw himself into his studies and James ended up being one of the youngest commanders the Navy has ever seen.”

“In a nutshell,” I replied.

“You climbed the ranks fast like your father,” Xavier added.