Taking the Heat (13 page)

Anyway. Today …

At breakfast, I loaded a plate and sat next to Clara. ‘Hey, how are you doing?'

‘Just fucking great.' She was toying with a grapefruit half, covered in Splenda. ‘Date day. Bring it the fuck on.'

‘That's the spirit.' I hoed into a croissant, trying to stay positive. ‘Who do you hope it is?'

‘I know who I hope it's fucking not.'

Her eyes narrowed as Toshi appeared behind her and said, ‘Clara, can I just …'

She stood up, spun and hurled her grapefruit straight at his head. It hit him on the nose and pink pith flew everywhere.

Clara sat back down as if nothing had happened and answered me calmly. ‘As I was saying, I fucking hope it's someone who isn't a total cheating fucking pig.'

‘Fingers crossed,' I said, meeting Toshi's tragic black eyes. He opened his mouth to speak again and I shook my head at him. His shoulders wilted and he walked away. The drama between him and Clara—that's not a wound that's going to heal quickly. Pushing her when she's that angry was only going to end in violence. And a lot of ‘fucks'.

Back in my room, I smiled happily at the sight of my dress on the hanger; it was a classic cut, with little cap sleeves and shell-coloured buttons trailing down from the modest neckline to the knee-length hem. In a floral pattern of mainly yellows and greens, it spoke of old-school Europe, like something from a French film. The white low heels set the look off, and Mama Ruby had made the wise choice to braid my long hair in a thick rope down my back.

As the knock sounded at the door, I grabbed my extra-wide-brimmed sun hat with a green ribbon trailing behind and set it prettily on my head. Opening the door, I hoped it was someone I really liked—I felt like I looked pretty damn good and it would be nice to share that with one of the guys who mattered.

My face fell when I saw Dante standing there. ‘
Bella!
You look magnificent!'

He leaned in and gave me air-kisses, while I did my best not to show how disappointed I was. ‘Hi, Dante. What are we up to today?'

‘A way to a man's heart is through his stomach. We eat, of course!'

Chapter 13

Half an hour later, we arrived at Dante's chosen lunch spot. He'd had a picnic set up for us on what I'd mentally named Chris' Hill—the cliff top overlooking the south beach. A red blanket covered the grass and a basket sat in the middle. The inevitable camera crew zoomed in as we settled down.

I searched for something pleasant to say. ‘This is nice.'

‘It is,
sì?
' He cracked open the top of the basket and pulled out two glasses and a Perrier bottle. He handed me both and said, ‘Pour us a refreshment,
Bella
.'

Slightly annoyed by his tone, I did so. As I handed him a glass, I observed him carefully, trying to work out exactly what it was about him that I didn't like. With his hair slicked back immaculately and his fitted white button-down, he was the image of iconic Italian sophistication. Too bad almost every word out of his mouth made me want to slap him.

Thirsty from the walk to the picnic spot, I drained my glass in a few swallows. Dante nodded in approval. ‘You have strong throat muscles. Do you deep throat when you suck a man's
belino?
'

‘Excuse me?' I thought perhaps I'd misheard him, but then he grabbed a banana from the basket and mimed a blow job.

‘Like this! Do you take him all the way down?'

Stupefied, I said, ‘That's not something I feel comfortable answering, Dante.'

He looked at me with distain. ‘Why not?'

‘Because, that's not who I am.'

Laughing, he said, ‘Of course it is! Every woman here is a
baldracca.
'

‘I don't know what that is, but I'm telling you, I'm not.'

‘If you say so, little one.' He pulled out two sealed containers and handed me one. ‘Greek salad.'

‘What's in yours?' I said, suspicious about the clear difference in the contents.

‘Ravioli.' He popped the lid and smelled the pasta in its red sauce with a rapturous look.

‘Why don't I get ravioli, Dante?'

‘Because, a woman should be looking after her figure.'

Hotly, I said, ‘I look after my figure, thanks.'

‘I see you with your bacon,
Bella.
You need to watch your little belly, no?'

‘Actually, I run and I don't really eat sugar and not that it's any of your damn business, but I like having a little meat on my bones.' I stood. ‘I'm not interested in eating with the kind of person who wants to calorie control my diet.'

He pushed to his feet as well, his face lusty and twisted. ‘God,
fighetta,
you are cute when you are angry! You make me so
arrapato.
My cock, you can see it is hard through my pants!'

‘You're a pig,' I said.

He moved towards me, hands out, oblivious to my ire. Channelling my inner Clara, I swiftly reached down and picked up the tub of ravioli. As he lunged for me, I slung the container, watching as the pasta splattered all up his shirt and face.

‘
Argh!
' He clutched at his clothes, trying furiously to scrape the sauce away.

While he was occupied, I took the moment to say, ‘Maybe this is how people court in Italy, but I'm an Aussie. And you can go fuck yourself.'

‘
Porca!
You'll be sorry you did that to Dante!'

Looking back over my shoulder as I left the hill top, I grinned at his mussed hair, ravioli decorating him like an abstract painting. ‘Maybe. Right now, I'm not sorry at all.'

***

I skipped back to my room, happy to be rid of the wretched Dante and his revolting ways. Feeling dirty from his words, I ran a bath, going heavy on the bubble mixture. The aromatic scent filled the bathroom and I slid happily into the suds.

With my eyes closed, I heard banging at the front door.
Makeup are early …

‘Come on in!' I yelled, unwilling to get out just yet. ‘Just set up, I'll be out soon.'

The door creaked open and a voice said, ‘Would you like me to get you a towel, then?'

‘Chris!' I gasped, clutching my hands to my breasts. Not that you could see anything through the bubbles, but still.

He leaned against the open door of the bathroom, dark lust in his eyes. In a fitted rash vest and boardies, he was dripping wet and still, like candy for my eyeballs.

‘What are you doing here?'

‘I didn't mean to catch you in the bathtub, but you did say come in …'

‘That's not what I meant.'

‘I know. I was on a snorkel date with Mila and a crew member told me you had a run in with Dante.' Worry creased his face. ‘I just needed to see that you were okay.'

‘It's fine. I threw pasta on his stupid head.'

‘Watch out for that guy. I don't like him.'

‘You don't like anyone I talk to.'

‘True.'

Even though I had full bubble coverage, I could feel his gaze probing me. Under the water, my nipples were already tight buds, pleading for touch. My core tingled and I squeezed my thighs together, trying to crush the feeling. It didn't work.

‘I'm sorry about your date,' I said, my words husky.

‘I'm not. I'd rather be here.'

‘You're meant to be giving me space.' I looked away from his hands, from the fingers I wanted on me, in me.

‘I'm trying, babe. It's just not that easy.'

‘Try harder,' I squeaked, with the last of my self-control. The next words out of my mouth would have been,
take me …

‘No promises,' he said, leaving the room, and leaving
me
in a twisted, horny mess.

***

Dinner was served in our rooms. I wondered if the producers were getting concerned with the amount of food being thrown in anger.

After I polished off my chicken and quinoa salad, I checked my reflection and headed for the bungalow. Above me, an electrical storm brewed, the air heavy with unshed rain.

I was the last to arrive. Miles beamed at me and gestured to a seat. I sat, smoothing the lines of my white linen skirt, and he started. ‘Welcome back, contestants! Another date day, another two secrets! Who shall it be tonight? Oh, this is so hard for me …'

I'll bet.
I crossed my arms crossly, finding this part of the competition even more loathsome than the idea of forced copulation or snogging with Dante.

‘First off, our American gentlemen! Did you know that Chase, our banker extraordinaire, was once indicted for insider trading? Gasp!'

‘BFD, Miles.' Chase waved a hand from his seat next to Pauline. ‘Indicted, not convicted. Besides, most of Wall Street has had insider trading accusations. It's practically a rite of passage.'

The rest of us look similarly unmoved and Miles widened his eyes in mock-surprise. ‘Well, I'm glad the NYC district attorney saw fit to let you walk the streets as a free man.'

‘Come on, Miles! What else have you got!' Chris' voice drawled across the room, simultaneously lazy and commanding.

Miles smiled evilly. ‘How about a secret from one of our ladies?'

His eyes settled on me and my pulse began to pound in my head.

‘One lady here has been hiding who she really is. Don't you think it's time you owned up …' he looked past me, ‘… Meghan?'

Everyone turned to look at the Irish girl, her cheeks flaming red with the attention. ‘No …' she whispered.

‘Megs? What is it, girl?' Nik sat next to her, looking at her face, worried.

‘Our darling Meghan was a stranger to all of us when she arrived on the Island—all except one. Callum! Would you come up here, please?'

‘Not like this. Not like this.' Megs rubbed her arms for comfort, and even though I knew what was coming, it was so hard to watch.

Callum walked to the front of the room, looking bewildered. His burgundy hair shone under the lights, while his lean build showed through his tight green shirt.

‘Callum, good sir, do you recognise the girl on the screen?' Miles indicated the TV behind him, showing a gorgeous head shot of Meghan.

He shook his head. ‘No. I mean, that's Meghan, but I only met her the first night here, you know?'

Miles laughed. ‘What about if we do this …?' Miles clicked his fingers and the picture on the screen changed from an adult Meghan, to a freckled-faced child version.

‘Wait …' Callum's face creased in concentration. ‘That's Han. She was my … my Han.' He looked across to Meghan. ‘Is it you, love? Is it really you?'

Nik looked between the two of them. ‘Megs? What's goin' on?'

Megan turned to him in anguish. ‘Nik, I'll explain later—'

‘Han! My little Han! I cannot believe it!' Callum strode towards her. ‘I never thought I'd see you again!'

He went to embrace her and Meghan, avoiding a strike, pulled away. ‘Callum, wait!'

‘No, I won't! Twenty years I've been hoping we'd meet again. I'll be dammed if I'll wait another minute!' He lunged forward again, and Nik jumped up to block him.

‘Shove off, Kiwi, this isn't your fight.' Callum's eyes changed from happy green to malicious ivy as Nik stood between him and Meghan.

Nik was like a giant wall of tattooed flesh. ‘Nah, bro. It is my fight.'

‘She's my girl!'

‘You didn't want a bar of the woman she is until you knew who she was. You don't deserve her, bro.'

‘I'm not your brother.'

‘Thank fuck for that, ay.'

‘Stop it! The both of you!' Meghan yelled at them, with a strength I wouldn't have believed the tiny redhead possessed. ‘Callum, settle down. I'm not yours, and I'm not Han anymore.'

‘Han … Meghan, I didn't know, I'm sorry.' All the bluster gone out of him, Callum sagged like a deflated balloon animal. ‘I should have realised that first night.'

‘But you didn't.' She folded her arms.

Callum shook his head. ‘So, I just lose you?'

‘I loved you once, Callum, but I don't know you, and you don't know me. Let's talk on our date, yeah?'

‘What about him?' Callum indicated Nik with a jut of his chin.

‘I'm getting to know Nik too.' She looked at the New Zealander and smiled. ‘I'd like to see the both of you, while we're here.'

Nik cut his eyes at Callum. ‘You're welcome to get to know him, Megs. I just don't think you'll find much there.'

‘Nik, I'm confident in what we have, but I owe it to the Callum I knew as a girl. Do you understand?' Her gigantic chocolate eyes batted at him.

‘Sure, girl. You know I can't say no to you.'

The tension began to ease. Behind me, a cameraman sighed and whispered to a boom operator, ‘Dammit, I really thought he was gonna punch that guy.'

‘It'll happen one day. Ten bucks on the Kiwi.'

I turned and gave them both a filthy look and they fell silent.

Meanwhile, Miles looked very pleased with his handiwork. ‘We're all learning so much about each other, don't you think? What fun tomorrow's challenge will be!'

Chapter 14

Transcript of Tara M's video diary: Day 6

It feels like I've been here for months—not less than a week. Maybe because each day feels so epic, I don't know.

Breakfast was served in my room, which sucks because I really wanted to check in with Clara and Meghan. I'm a bit worried about the girls.

(Assistant director, off-camera:
What do you think is going to happen with Meghan after last night?
)

I don't know. She surprised me, actually. I know she's crazy about Nik, but her head will be saying she's more compatible with Callum. They're from the same country, they know each other's backgrounds and families, and all that. But you can't fight how you feel.