This is the most in touch I’ve been with my emotions since I can remember. And it’s the most I’ve felt in so long that I start to cry. I cry with worry for Millie and with anxiety for myself. I take in a deep gulp of air, my lungs preparing for a sob, when I hear someone clear their throat.

‘Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you were out here.’ It’s Hugh. Of course it’s Hugh.

I want to retort ‘Where else would I be?’ or ask him what game he’s playing, talking about me behind my back, but I know my voice will betray me. It will come out cracking and hoarse. I worry the moon is so bright that he’ll be able to see the tears on my face.

‘I’ll just . . . head back in . . . I didn’t mean to interrupt,’ he says after a beat, but he lingers for a moment too long.

I want to ask him to sit. If he hadn’t thrown me under the bus with Vanessa, if he had just protected me from the shark and left it at that, I would have asked him to stay. But after how much he’s managed to get in my head after only one day, he’s the last person I trust to see me like this – so vulnerable. I can’t bring myself to say anything. Eventually, Hugh turns on his heel, his frown catching in the moonlight, and disappears around the corner.

Chapter 12

Moonlight is shining so brightly into our cabin that I can see our room like it’s daylight.

Hugh is next to me in my twin bed, our noses almost touching. He’s gazing at me with something like adoration. What is happening?! I think, confused but liking it more than I care to admit. How did we get here? Did he apologise for throwing me under the bus? He better have because he’s certainly a di— But then Hugh kisses me, so slowly, and so deeply that my toes crinkle against the sheets, and my confusion flies out the window. OK, so this is what’s happening . . . and I love it.

I wrap my hands around Hugh’s biceps and let them travel up his shoulders, fluttering against his tanned skin. His tongue is in my mouth, and I return the favour hungrily, biting gently on his lip. I feel him tense beneath me. ‘Andi,’ he breathes, whispering my name in the darkness. A shudder ripples through me, and there’s a heady pulse between my legs.

Hugh pulls away and kisses my neck, his lips searing a path towards my shoulder. I moan, gently, and his mouth returns to mine, his hand sliding around my waist towards the small of my back.