‘He’s my, erm…’My latest shag.‘The, erm, boss here at LoveIt Holidays. He’s Australian.’Like that’s got anything to do with the price of bread.‘And he came to the marina to…’To spy on us.I might as well let Jackson finish the sentence for me while I catch my breath. I glance over at him.
He clears his throat, looking embarrassed. ‘I’m here to see the boat and meet the passengers.’ He extends a hand. ‘Pleased to meet you, Emir. I’m Jackson.’
Emir scrunches his nose while shaking Jackson’s hand politely. ‘I thought you said he was checking spots?’
Ah.Emir has an extraordinary memory for detail. I must remember not to say too much around him.
‘That’s right,’ Jackson says. ‘I’m here to do a spot check. Seems like everyone knew I was coming.’
I shrug guiltily.
‘Why don’t we get you back to your parents, Emir?’ he says softly. ‘Would you like that?’
Emir gives a non-committal shrug.
We head back to the restaurant. ‘How did you even know about the first twenty minutes thing for finding missing children?’ he says.
‘I’m a statistician. It was part of my degree.’
‘I thought you were analmostaccountant? Only one point offsumma cum laude.’ His attention to detail is very impressive, if a little facetious. I return his smirk with one of my own. It’s very hard to stay annoyed with him when he does kind things and he’s nice to children.
While I work out how I’m going to explain Emir’s late arrival due to me losing him, Jackson walks slightly ahead of us looking for rogue holiday reps. I hadn’t appreciated how broad his shoulders are or quite how athletic looking he is. He is in perfect proportion. His gluteus maximus is the best I’ve ever seen. It’s like watching two bowling balls rubbing together at the top of long, slender legs.
Stop staring at him.
Stop it.
Focus. Honestly, what a time to get distracted!
I glance down to see Emir is giving me a peculiar look. ‘Maddie. Why are you looking at his bum?’ He can barely breathe for giggles. I shush him to be quiet. If anything, it has the opposite effect.
‘Yes, you are. You are staring at hisbum!’
Jackson spins round in surprise.
I drag my gaze to meet his. ‘No, I definitely was not. How preposterous. As if I would do such a thing… at such a critical moment… a time of crisis… when we’ve just been…’
Yes. Yes, I was. I should be so ashamed.
18
Luckily for me, the bizarre exchange ends conveniently quickly as Emir’s gaze ping-pongs back and forth between us, his astute eyes assessing the information. ‘So you are the boss of everyone?’ he asks Jackson.
‘Yup. I work over at head office.’ Then he glances at me. ‘Just like Maddie will one day… soon.’
I put my hands on my hips, keen to steer the subject away from being caught ogling Jackson’s rear end. ‘Just like I would becurrentlyif someone hadn’t had a change of heart and put me on rep duty with a bunch of morons for no good reason. Um, Emir, forget you heard that last part, please.’
‘It was more so that you could get a feel for the company from the ground up,’ Jackson says, his smile slipping.
‘Oh, really? Even after I expressly askednotto work with Bodrum South and that I’d be a much better fit with the other team instead?’
‘That wasn’t really up to me.’
I tut loudly. This conversation isn’t quite going to plan. A lot like all of our other conversations. ‘Who was it up to? I thought you literally just said you were the boss of everyone.’
Emir is loving this exchange. The bickering. The tittle tattle.
‘Erika suggested it. She… erm, she said… best keep you out of trouble and away from irate holidaymakers. What with all the complaints we had in about you. And I, erm, agreed.’
