Whiskey & Wildflowers

Chapter 36 - Epilogue

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Josie asked, clutching her phone tightly in one hand as she watched Henrik tug on the rope he'd just anchored around the base of a tree. "I feel like we probably should've started indoors."

Seemingly satisfied that the rope was secure, Henrik stood up and brushed the palms of his hands against one another.

"You'll be fine," he replied, glancing over at her. "You go to the gym."

He grabbed his gear bag and began digging through it.

"Lifting weights at the gym isn't the same as this." She motioned at the edge of the cliff they were standing on. "And I haven't been nearly as consistent with it as I used to be."

Life after Love Island had been a whirlwind so far, leaving barely any time to work out. Right after the finale, they'd sneaked away to a cabin off-the-grid in Wales, but they were only afforded a few days' privacy before duty called them to London for the post-show press tour.

Far from missing out on sponsorship opportunities, their disappearing act had the opposite effect — creating buzz about the missing couple, with rumours rampant about where they were or what was going on. Suddenly, every media outlet wanted to talk to them, brands wanted to work with them, and Josie's Instagram follows skyrocketed even more than they already had.

It turned out that people had loved her 'redemption' story — there was a ton of hate for her during and after Casa Amor, and many had suspected she wasn't genuine in her feelings for Henrik, but she'd slowly won them over. Her final act of sacrificing her ambitions so that another couple could stay in the villa had won her a lot of good favour. There were still doubters, but they could think what they liked — she was more confident in her feelings for Henrik than ever, and didn't feel the need to prove anything to anyone.

Who would have expected when she'd stepped out of the Jeep in front of the villa that first day that she'd find both success and love?

"If you get tired, I'll just pulley you up," Henrik said. "It's fine."

"Oh, that'll be real dignifying. Can't let the tabloids catch wind of that."

"You'll be fine. Here." He pulled out a contraption consisting of straps and loops and tossed it to her. "Put this on."

"If I'd known this is what you were into..." Josie teased as she caught the harness and dangled it in front of her. "So, um... exactly how do I put this on?"

He chuckled and stepped over to her to help, indicating which loops were for what purpose. She raised her phone to film some footage of him explaining it, thinking to post it on the Instagram account he'd let her set up for him — the account was sparse so far, but they'd finally gotten away from the city for a few days, and she was hoping to start building his brand of short instructional videos and hiking/climbing montages.

Henrik held out the harness, and Josie stepped into it, letting him pull it up around her hips. And then he went to work making sure each strap was in place and tightening them for safety. Her heart fluttered at his nearness, her skin warmed at the feel of his fingers brushing against her as they pulled on straps and tugged to ensure the fit was right. She couldn't help but place a palm on his chest, her breath hitching as his eyes lifted to meet her gaze. He yanked one of the straps, and she gasped as the harness tightened around her hips.

Then he raised his hand to her face, cupping her jaw and pressing his thumb to her lips, dragging over the bottom one. His eyes darkened, his lips parted, and he breathed out her name.

The phone slipped from her fingers as she reached around his shoulders, grabbing a fistful of his hair and tugging his head down until his mouth was on hers, stealing her breath away. In this, nothing had changed since they'd left the villa — they both still had an insatiable need for each other, no matter how many nights they spent together. Lavender had become an aphrodisiac for her, his mere proximity enough to make her want him.