I mean, it sort of was, but as I considered my predicament, I had to admit that I didn’t want to leave – not before I’d had it out with Tommy. I hadsomany questions. And I wanted answers, no matter how difficult they might be to hear.
So, despite what I’d decided only hours ago, when he came to my villa, I wasnotsending him away. I’d hear him out, then I’d puthimin the hotseat.
* * *
The thing about waiting for someone when you don’t have firm plansandthe stakes are highandyou have a tendency to overthink is that it sucks.
I was two Metaxas in and Tommy still hadn’t shown up.
Meanwhile, I’d practised every style of greeting imaginable.
Nonchalance:Oh, Tommy, I completely forgot you were coming. I was about to get in the bath.
Curt:I’m not inviting you in. Just say what you have to say, then leave.
Hurt:I can’t imagine there’s anything you have to say that I want to hear.
That one was a lie, of course. I wasdyingto hear what he had to say.
I even contemplated opening the door wearing nothing but a smile, but I quickly ruled that out. Seducing Tommy was a terrible idea. TER-RI-BLE.
I glanced at the clock – 6.48p.m. We’d been back on Aetheria for nearly two hours. Where the hellwashe? This waiting game was excruciating.
‘Well, bugger this,’ I mumbled to myself.
I stood up and gauged my level of inebriation. Could I walk an imaginary tightrope? I toe-heeled-toe-heeled across the room without swaying or losing my balance. So not drunk then. Definitely tipsy though and despite thinking I wouldn’t need dinner after that enormous lunch, I was starting to feel peckish. I’d pop out for a quick dinner in the restaurant and if he came by when I was out, then that was on him.
I went into the bathroom and checked the mirror, assessing that I needed a five-minute zhuzh. I spread a dollop of tinted moisturiser over my face, tidied my brows, added some shimmer to my eyelids, and dotted on some cream blush. A swish of mouthwash and I was good to go.
I stared into the mirror. Would the tumult crashing about inside me be visible to anyone else? I smiled, but my eyes were slightly wild. I dropped the smile.
‘Whatareyou doing?’ I asked myself.
And I didn’t just mean waiting for Tommy. Why was I on that island in the first place? Why had I agreed to help Julian? I didn’t owe him. If anything, it was the other way around.
And as soon as I’d realised Tommy was on the island, I should have packed up and left instead of sabotaging my own wellbeing. Julian could have found someone else if I’d insisted.
Round and round my thoughts went until a knock at the door startled me – even though I’d been expecting it.
Before answering, I gave myself a pointed look. ‘Get it together, Ally.’
But when I swung open that enormous wooden door and saw him standing there, everything I’d rehearsed flew straight out of my head.
‘Hi,’ I said softly.
‘Hi. All right if I come in?’
I nodded, then stepped aside.
He moved past me, smelling fresh, as if he’d just showered. I glanced at the nape of his neck, and his hair was damp. I didn’t want to think aboutwhyhe needed to shower, but sex came to mind. Which made perfect sense to my tipsy, catastrophising brain. His girlfriend met him at the helipad and they snuck back to their bungalow where they indulged in nearly two hours of mind-blowing sex. And, as Tommy was a gentleman, not wanting to rub his sexual conquest in my face, he’d showered before he came to see me.
‘The villas are nice, aren’t they?’ he asked, and I came back to the room with a jolt.
‘Er, yes. Did you want something to drink?’
Look at me, being the consummate hostess. So much for demanding an explanation, then sending him on his way.
‘Um, no thanks. Wait— Actually, yes.’
