all that she'd passed out on his couch.
"I'm sorry – " she began.
He waved her into silence. "Nah, you looked wrecked last night. I asked if you wanted me to read you to sleep and you sort of nodded, so I cracked open that last – " he coughed " – romance book you got me and started reading aloud. Haven't done shit like that since I was at school. Got to admit, it was a bit of a relief when you started snoring. Doesn't do much for my rock star reputation, reading romance books." His eyes strayed to the sofa where he'd been sitting last night and Audra felt a little smug to see that the book lay face-down, open at a page well past the middle. So much for his reputation, if this ever got out.
Audra sighed inwardly. It wouldn't get out – it was her job to protect the VIPs' privacy, no matter how many ridiculous things they did. Romance novels were barely a blip on the radar, from some of the whispered stories she'd heard in the staff dining room.
Speaking of which..."I'd best grab some breakfast. Busy day of work ahead." She moved purposefully toward the door again.
"But I got you breakfast! Look, look!" He uncovered the tray and held out a sandwich on a plate. "It's for you!"
Audra smiled politely and continued backing away.
"You can't say no to a bacon sandwich! Breakfast of rock stars!" Jay started to look desperate.
"Sorry, I don't like bacon. And I'm expected in the staff dining room." Audra escaped, jogging down the path until she knew she was out of sight of the villas. Only then did she take a deep breath.
Bacon. Her kryptonite. Actually, any sort of pork. Ever since that field trip for uni, checking out the ventilation and odour management systems for the abattoir, and watching the live pigs get slaughtered and sliced and...
She dropped to the ground, hoisting her knees up until she could wedge her head firmly between them. Breathe. Smell the brine and the ocean and the sand and the jungle and the...had someone burned breakfast again? If Penny didn't leave that poor sous-chef alone, he'd lose his job for sure. Better burned cinnamon than bacon, though.
Rising to her shaky feet, Audra continued on to the dining room. If she finished first, she might get a few extra minutes in the communal showers before one of the other girls tried to beat down the door. Hey, she could hope. Warm water caressing her skin for a few more minutes was the best she could hope for, after all.
SIXTEEN
Jason climbed into the helicopter, irritated and intrigued and itching to get off the island. Hence the helicopter. Not that he was flying it; he left the difficult stuff to other people like the pilot. He knew the press release would go out today, telling the world about Chaya's farewell tour. His days as a hot rock god were numbered and it fucking pissed him off.
And that girl...refusing him like he was a nobody already. Who did she think she was? She was a hotel maid, for fuck's sake. Not a rock star or a doctor or even the hotel manager, but the girl who cleaned the floors and took out the rubbish. He wanted some solace from normal girls. The sort that swooned at his feet. Not made him read fucking romance books full of shit no rock star would ever do. Cook a girl breakfast? Put her pleasure before his own? Tell her stuff no self-respecting rock star would ever admit to feeling when there was enough alcohol in the house to deaden it? Shit, he needed a drink just thinking about all that emotional crap. The stuff crazy people told their shrink.
He scratched his chin, or at least the hair sprouting from it. Could a rock star get away with a hipster beard? He was almost there. It'd be a shame to shave it off now.
As they lifted off the helipad, he watched the hotel staff spilling out of a building hidden among the palm trees. His eyes zeroed in on the one person he'd recognise anywhere – the maid who'd fallen asleep on his couch. When she lifted her gaze to the rising plexiglass bubble, he deliberately turned
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