Talking of which... ‘But—I have to—Cameron asked me—’
‘Wait.’ Jake opened the fridge, lifted out a bottle and filled a glass with iced water then handed it to Lola. ‘Drink this. Okay, I’ve already phoned Miss Rice. It’s all sorted.’
‘You called her? Oh, my God, what on earth did you say?’ This was it. She was fired. Gone. Back to London. Regretting everything...except the part where she’d kissed Jake. Twice.
Whatever, she was doomed.
He grinned, obviously pleased with himself. ‘I explained what the issue was, and that I hadn’t a clue what I was doing. She took pity on me. She was delighted Cameron wanted to sample her clothes and we guessed her size. She’s sending an assortment of this season’s garments over tonight, different sizes just in case.’
Lola tiptoed to kiss his cheek, but thought better of it. The last time she’d kissed him things had gone downhill pretty quickly. ‘Great, thanks. That’s brilliant. You are brilliant.’
‘I know.’
‘And very modest too. So the only other major thing I need to do today is arrange a beautician for tomorrow evening for before the dinner.’
This time he gave her a very satisfied look. ‘Done.’
‘What?’ He was a revelation.
‘Evelyn recommended someone. I called, she’s fitting Cameron in. In fact, she’s rearranged her whole day for that divine woman. Her words, not mine.’
This time she did give him a quick peck on the cheek and neither of them seemed to mind. ‘Double brilliant. Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.’
‘I know.’
‘But what I don’t understand is why.’ To think that only a few days ago she’d never even met the man, and now he was doing her job for her, tending to her leg. And not trying to sleep with her... Maybe he was just an altogether good guy.
Apart from not trying to sleep with her...
‘To save your ass. The last thing you needed was to make a drug-slurred call to a top designer. Not a great look. Now...’ He took her hand and walked her out to the deck. In the distance someone was playing soca music, light and lyrical. ‘Sit down. Chef is sending dinner over in ten minutes. Watch the sunset...or something. I’ll just check on the dogs.’
‘Oh. Wow. Yes.’ She gazed out and wondered whether the drugs were having an effect on her vision—because the view was breathtaking. It looked like someone had taken a paintbrush and daubed the brightest colours they could find right across the horizon.
The sky met the ocean in a deep molten orange that reflected across the water. A bright yellow globe dipped into the sea and shimmered almost golden. To her left, palm trees swayed in silhouette, black against the ombre haze. And there, just in front of her, were two large torches, flames flickering in the gentle breeze, and a table set for two with candles and white linen.
Her phone was there, too, next to her script. The pages were held down with pebbles at the place where he’d stopped reading. The End.
All this had happened while she’d been asleep?
‘The more time I spend here the more impressed I am.’ He pulled out a chair and indicated for her to sit. ‘The dogs are fine. Asleep. Cameron’s busy. Sit down.’
‘You read my script?’ She sat. Heat burnt her cheeks. She might as well have been naked in front of him. Worse. What could be worse than laying open her naked self to him?
Ah, yes. Laying open her heart. That was something she didn’t want to do. Flirting and fun were one thing, but she didn’t need him to know about the clutch of her heart when she’d kissed him. She didn’t want him to know how much she admired him. Some things she had to keep to herself to protect her heart from the fallout.
He sat opposite her and was about to speak when the chef arrived with a tray of food. Lobster, crab, potatoes, fruit. An amazing array of delicious local delicacies. She turned down wine and stuck to water, not wanting to mix the painkillers with alcohol and befuddle her head even more.
After a couple of mouthfuls and uninhibited groans of delight at the fresh flavours, he put his knife and fork down.
‘So, yes, I did read your script.’ He was unabashed, as if reading her words hadn’t been like peering into her soul.
‘And?’
‘It’s excellent. Really, I think you should do something with it.’ He drank some rosé wine, took up his cutlery again. ‘But what do I know? I’m a doctor. You need an expert opinion, not mine. Show it to Cameron, she’s an expert on tap.’
Lola almost choked on her lobster. ‘I couldn’t do that. I’d rather die than press it on her and beg her to read it. Believe me, she wouldn’t anyway, she has far too much to do. She doesn’t even know I write.’
‘Well, she should. That story deserves a home. You’re right, it is surprisingly funny. Although I shouldn’t be surprised—it’s just an extension of you. With all the things you are—funny, smart, witty, brave.’
‘Wow. Thank you. Thank you so much.’ She felt a surge of confidence. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever believe it’s ready to go out into the big wide world.’
‘Email it to your dad.’
This time she felt the thuds in her heart go on and on at the mention of her dad. But she wasn’t going to have that conversation with Jake. ‘Yeah...maybe.’
‘Tomorrow?’
‘Pushy.’
His tone got serious. ‘What are you waiting for? You want a career in this? Yes? You’ve given up everything to come out here for this?’ He stabbed his finger at the paper on the table. ‘But you’re still at first base. You won’t get on if you don’t do things. You know the old saying—if you want something to work for you, you have to make it work. Right?’
‘Right.’ She was almost carried along with his enthusiasm. Sure, she was dedicated, ambitious, hard-working...but putting herself out there? There was too much at stake for her right now. He was talking about things he had no knowledge of. ‘Are you this demanding on everyone?’
‘Usually just myself.’
‘Why?’
He looked down at his food. ‘We work hard... Look, my parents didn’t have much, but they taught me that you can achieve anything if you’re prepared to put the hours in. Now, about that script...’
It didn’t escape her notice that he’d changed the subject back to her as soon as he could. Talking about his family clearly wasn’t a favourite thing of his. Well, snap to that. ‘Yes. Okay. I’ll get it out there as soon as I can.’
‘Send a copy to me too so I can take another look at the medical scenes. Soup them up a bit. You’re in a prime position to change your life, Lola.’
‘Yes, yes, I am.’ He was good at this—voicing the feelings she’d arrived with in LA. ‘Have you always been this in control of your own life? Planning world domination?’
He grinned. ‘Like I said, my career’s fine, thanks. Going right according to plan. No need to analyse that any further.’
‘So what do you do when you’re not working?’
‘Like that happens.’
‘You must do something. You can’t work all the time.’ At his shrug she realised he really, truly, probably did. ‘You don’t have hobbies?’
‘I work out. Hike. Surf, if I get a chance. Haven’t done that for a while. I’ve been building my practice—these things don’t just