She turned to walk away. And it surprised him just how much he actually didn’t want her to. If you’d asked him if he wanted to come face to face with Rachel Johnson again he’d have said, Not in this lifetime. But reality was sometimes stranger than fiction.
She stopped at the door. ‘How’s Charlie?’
The question caught him off guard and his answer was an automatic response. ‘Charlie’s fine. Not that you would care.’
She sighed. ‘That’s not fair, Nathan, and you know it.’
He shrugged. ‘Why? You didn’t want to hang around when I had to look after my little brother for a couple of years. Why bother now?’
She shook her head. He could see her biting her lip. She probably couldn’t find the words for why she’d run out on them both. ‘I always loved Charlie. He was great. Did he finish university?’ A thought must have flickered across her mind. ‘How was he when you were away?’
‘Charlie was fine. He finished his engineering degree and got a job before I left for my last mission. He’s married now with two young children.’
She gave a little nod of her head. ‘Glad to hear it. Tell him I’m asking for him.’
She walked out of the door, letting it slam behind her. Nathan picked up the bottle of water on the table and downed it in one, wishing it was a beer. No matter how he tried to avoid it, his eyes had settled on her backside and legs as she’d walked out of the door. Eight years on and Rachel Johnson was as hot as ever.
And eight years later she still drove him crazy.
I always loved Charlie. The words echoed in his mind. ‘Just as well you loved one of us,’ he muttered.
She’d thought the cabin was hot but outside was even hotter and the high humidity was making the sweat trickle down her back already, probably turning her hair into a frizz bomb.
She stopped for a second to catch her breath, leaning against the metal bodywork and hoping to feel a little of the coolness on her body.
Trapped on an island with two exes. You couldn’t make this up.
A little wave of nausea rolled over her. Nathan Banks. Eight years had done nothing to diminish the impact of seeing him again. Her hands were trembling and every hair on her arms stood on end. She’d never expected to come face-to-face with him again.
His blond hair was a little shorter. His build a bit more muscular. But his eyes were still the neon green they’d always been. They could stop any girl in her tracks—just like they’d done to her.
They were supposed to be continents apart. What on earth was he doing in Australia? She knew he’d spent five years working for Doctors Without Borders. He was still friends with a lot of the people they’d trained with. And even though she’d pretended not to, she’d spent the last five years searching mutual social media sites with her heart in her mouth, hoping she wouldn’t ever hear bad news about him. That was the trouble with working in humanitarian missions—sometimes they took you into places with armed conflict.
Trouble was, five minutes in Nathan’s company could make her mad. No one else in her life had ever managed to spark that kind of reaction from her. But there was just something about Nathan and her alone in a room together. Sparks always flew. Sometimes good. Sometimes bad.
It was clear he still hadn’t forgiven her for leaving. She couldn’t blame him. But if she’d told him why she was really leaving he would have put his life—and Charlie’s—on hold for her. She hadn’t wanted that—she couldn’t do that to them. They’d just lost their parents; they’d needed to focus on each other.
And if she told him now why she’d left, she would be betraying Darius’s trust. Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
She stared out at the perfect blue Coral Sea. It was no wonder they’d picked one of the Whitsunday islands for this show. At any other time, with any other person, this would be perfect.
Too bad Nathan Banks was here to spoil it for her.
‘EXACTLY HOW LONG will this take?’ The director was scowling at them both.
Nathan shrugged. He couldn’t care less about the man’s bad attitude. ‘It’ll take as long as it takes. We need to see every participant and have a quick chat about their medical history—then we’ll be able to tell you if anyone is unsuitable for the challenge tomorrow.’
The director stomped out of the door, closing it with an exasperated bang.
Nathan smiled at Rachel. ‘Now, where were we?’
Rachel lifted the printed list. ‘Okay, we have nine celebrities and one backup that we’ll need to assess if he arrives.’ She frowned. ‘This doesn’t seem right. Aren’t they all supposed to be filmed jumping from a plane and rowing or snorkelling their way here? What are they doing already on the island?’
Nathan shrugged. ‘The magic of television. They arrived yesterday when I did. They plan to do the filming later on today, pretending they’ve just set foot on the island. But they haven’t seen the camp yet. They spent last night in one of the cabins and you want to have heard the list of complaints.’
She shook her head as she looked over the list. ‘More fool me. I had no idea they faked their arrival. Want to take a bet on how quickly one will bail?’
He held out his fist. Old habits died hard. He and Rachel used to do this all the time. She blinked as if she were having a little flash of memory, then held out her fist, bumping it against his. ‘Six days.’
He shook his head. ‘Oh, way too ambitious. Four days.’
She frowned. ‘Really? But they’re doing it for charity. Surely someone wouldn’t give up that easy?’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘You really think these people are doing it all just for charity?’
‘Of course.’ She looked confused and Nathan sighed and picked up the list.
‘Let’s see. Darius Cornell—actor—let’s leave him for now. Diamond Dazzle—model—she’s looking for a lingerie contract. Frank Cairns—sportsman—he’s looking for a presenter’s job somewhere. Molly Bates—comedienne—she needs the publicity for her upcoming tour. Tallie Turner—actress—she just needs a job. Pauline Wilding—politician—always likes to be in the papers. Fox—boy band pop star—he’s hoping some teenagers remember his crazy name. Billy X—rapper—with his past history he’s probably about to be arrested for something, and Rainbow Blossom—reality TV star. She probably doesn’t want to fade from the spotlight. Are any of these people actually celebrities? Do any of them have a real name?’
He saw Rachel’s lips press together and waited for her to immediately go on the offensive for her apparent ex. But she surprised him. She didn’t.
‘I didn’t realise you were such a cynic.’
‘I guess we really didn’t know each other at all, did we?’ he shot back.
The words hung in the air between them. He sounded bitter. And he was. But even he was surprised by how quickly the words had come out. They’d never had this conversation before. She’d just told him she was leaving and hotfooted it out of the hospital as if she were being chased by a bunch of killer zombies.
Five years of missions for Doctors Without Borders had loosened his tongue. He’d dealt with armed conflict, natural disasters and epidemics. He was less willing to placate and tolerate. Life was too short—he knew that now. He and his brother had lost their parents to an accident eight years ago, and he’d lost too many patients all over the world.
She