Chapter Twelve

Nina glanced at the departures board to check for her flight. “Okay,” she said to Isla. “I’m going to head through security.”

Isla hugged her tightly. “Thanks for coming and looking out for me.”

“No problem,” Nina said. “If there’s anything else I can do, just call me. That reminds me,” she said. “I found the details of a Scottish association who support female musicians. I’ll send you a link.”

“Thank you,” Isla said. “It might be the same one that Cam told me about me, though. He messaged me the details the other day.”

“He did?” Nina said. Hearing more about Cameron’s virtues was the last thing her fragile heart needed right now.

Isla studied her face. “Why don’t you stay?” she asked softly. “Talk to him.”

Nina shook her head. “I want to go home.”

Isla touched her arm. “It’s been a whirlwind few days, and drama-filled to boot. You guys never got the chance to talk, so you don’t know how he feels about you—or about this thing with Ash. You’re jumping to conclusions.”

Nina swallowed past the painful lump in her throat. “I feel like I need to be away from him.”

Isla sighed. “You need to tell him you’re in love with him.”

Nina’s heart thudded in her chest. “No, I’m not.”

Isla raised her eyebrows.

“Fine,” Nina said. “Yes, I am—but it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t feel the same way and might imminently be becoming a father to someone else’s child.”

“I reckon he does feel the same,” Isla said. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that Stars in Her Eyes is clearly about you. You need to give him a chance.”

Nina shook her head. “I’ll call you when I get back.”

“Okay.” Isla sighed.

Nina gave her one last hug then waved as she got onto the escalator and Isla disappeared out of sight.

 

* * * *

 

Cameron rubbed his eyes. Soon it’d be time to leave Ibiza and head back to LA. He had been hoping his current project would’ve been done before then, but he was making little headway. He leaned back, surveying the studio. He’d lost his inspiration, no doubt because his muse was gone.

He’d considered calling her once the results of the paternity test had arrived but then figured there was no point. She’d made her position known. She clearly didn’t reciprocate his feelings, otherwise she wouldn’t have used Ash’s pregnancy as an excuse to leave then not return his calls.

He decided to go fix himself a coffee. Maybe caffeine would kick start his creative process.

He climbed the stairs to the kitchen and put on the coffee pot. The villa seemed lonely, and yet it wasn’t Ash’s presence that he missed. It was Nina’s. And that was despite her being around only a few days, compared to weeks with Ash.

He poured the coffee and took a sip. His phone started buzzing, so he lifted it. Whenever it rang he had a burst of hope that it might be Nina, but he was always left disappointed and this time was no different.

“Hey, Isla. How’re things?”

“Great.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder on screen. “We’re in the Highlands, chilling out.”

He sipped his coffee. “Glad to hear it. You need a bit of time to yourselves. How’s Noah?”

“Awesome, thanks,” she said, as Noah passed by in the background and gave Cam a wave. “Although he’s a slow coach. We climbed Ben Nevis and these two guys and a girl overtook us and passed us again on their way back down before we even reached the summit.”

“Hey,” Noah said, and a small cushion appeared from off screen to bop Isla on the head.

Isla batted the cushion away and laughed. She turned back to Cam. “Did you get your project finished?”

“No,” he sighed. “I’m struggling in that department.”

She raised her eyebrow. “Oh yeah?”

“What’s with that look?” he asked.

She lifted her palm. “What look?”

He rolled his eyes. “If you’ve something to say, just say it.”

She shrugged. “Fine. You need to go see Nina.”

“Isla,” he said, “we talked about this weeks ago. She isn’t interested, and I’m not about to hound her like some crazy stalker who can’t take no for an answer.”

“Of course she’s interested,” Isla said. “Listen… I’ve kept quiet because I was hoping she’d tell you herself, but I guess she’s as emotionally inept as you are, so I need to intervene.” She took a breath. “She’s in love with you.”

He shook his head. “She can’t be. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have left.”

“She was trying to do the noble thing, Cameron. She’s a good person. She wanted to let you two work out what you needed to do without her getting in the way.” Isla sighed. “She didn’t know you loved her, either, because you never actually told her.”

He frowned. “I pretty much spelled it out. I wrote the song about her, and I described it as a labour of love.”

“That’s not the same thing as saying the words directly. She assumed you wouldn’t be interested in her because, in her words, she’s just a boring scientist and you’re a hot-shot world-famous producer.”

Cameron tried to let Isla’s words sink in. Is she right? Did I read it all wrong? “She told you that she loved me?”

“Yes,” said Isla. “And I tried to tell her that I thought you felt the same, but she wouldn’t believe it.”

Cameron sat there for a moment, absorbing everything and realising he’d let weeks slip by without acting. “Shit.”

“Yep,” Isla said. “You can say that again.” She brought the phone a little closer. “Did the results come back yet?”

Cameron stared into the distance. “Yes.” He snapped his gaze back to meet hers. “I need your help with something.”

She smiled. “If it’s anything to do with you contacting her to tell her the real deal then I’m in.”

He nodded. “I’m going to do more than just contact her.”