Flirting in Florence Read online

  ‘You’ve never felt like that around me, have you?’ he pressed.

  ‘That’s not the point. Who says a month or even a year down the line that won’t change? It’s not now I’m worried about.’ She let him see her honesty, hoping he’d get it.

  ‘Even if I believed you could just walk away if you got ‘bored’, isn’t it my risk to take? Ciara, I don’t want to be without you.’

  She imagined giving in all too easily. They’d be happy for a while, maybe even longer than a while. If he could talk her into a relationship then why not marriage and someday, kids? Then she’d have more on her conscience when the day came that she couldn’t fight the jittery burn that came with repetition.

  ‘No, I’m sorry. I can’t risk doing that to you.’ She rose to go and he did too, trapping her against him and the table. ‘Zack, please don’t do this.’

  ‘Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you. Tell me if this is something you’ll always miss, always crave, or can imagine never wanting again.’

  His mouth met hers with a fierce determination that knocked her off-kilter. All she could do was cling to him as he pushed through her resistance, kissing her like he’d never kissed her before.

  Though she kissed him back, tears ran down her cheeks because she wanted this, she couldn’t imagine never wanting this but she couldn’t see the future. Statistics and experience was all she had to go on and the likelihood that she’d leave was favoured by her calculations.

  So when he pulled away she tried to let her apology shine from her eyes, but she was too devastated by his cold expression to speak.

  ‘You don’t need to say anything else, I get the message.’ He pulled away and the chilly air that replaced his heat might as well have been liquid nitrogen. ‘There’s something for your dad in the bags and something for you too.’

  ‘Zack…’ Her voice was just a whisper. She didn’t have a clue what to say.

  ‘Don’t.’ He held up a hand. ‘Honestly, I wish I could say I have no regrets but that’s not true.’

  ‘I’m so, so, sorry.’ But he didn’t hear her. He was already on his way out of the kitchen.

  Glancing over his shoulder, he said, ‘I thought what my granddad was offering was the worst thing for me, but I never expected this from you. Scared or not, I never thought you’d give up love so easily, especially after what your mother did.’

  Love? Was that why her heart felt like it was shattering into a thousand tiny splinters in her chest? Before she could process the thought or control the heartache the front door slammed shut, shattering the silence with his departure.

  She sunk into the chair, pushed the pizza box out of the way, let the tears flow free and her chest rip through the sobs.

  ***

  That night was the longest and most depressing of her life. Zack hadn’t returned, neither had Gem or Elle and all she had for company was his drawings of her, the wooden carving of the cathedral he’d bought for her dad and a personalised phone cover he’d had made with pictures of Gem, Elle and her from LA to Santorini.

  It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done and more than once she’d had to stop herself from calling him and saying she’d made a mistake.

  But reality always won out. He was hurting now and so was she but it could be much, much worse if she gave in.

  The sun had long since come up when her tears ran dry and sleep claimed her, but in no time at all she was being shaken back to consciousness.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked, her voice still groggy from sleep.

  ‘We could ask you the same thing!’ Gem said at the same time Elle demanded, ‘Where’s Zack?’

  She sat up, rubbed her eyes and realised it was dark outside. Shit, she’d slept through the whole day?

  ‘I don’t know where he is,’ she said, wondering if he came back to talk and she’d missed it.

  ‘Did you two have a fight?’ Gem asked, sitting down next to her. Ciara nodded. ‘Why didn’t you call us?’

  ‘I didn’t want to ruin your dates.’ She’d made a mess of her love life, why should her friends suffer more of the same?

  Elle’s eyes narrowed. ‘So you’re saying this happened last night. What else aren’t you telling us? Zack can be stubborn but he’d never leave you alone for a full day without calling me.’

  Her vision blurred again – and here she’d thought she was all cried out. ‘We broke up.’

  ‘Aw Ciara,’ Gem said, wrapping her arms around her.

  ‘You mean you dumped him.’ Elle folded her hands across her chest, looking more pissed off than she’d ever seen her. ‘How could you?’

  ‘How could I not? We were going to go our separate ways tomorrow anyway. I just realised that it was getting too deep so stopped it before anyone could get really hurt.’ But even she knew it was too little too late.

  Elle shook her head. ‘I suppose the puffy eyes you’re sporting are from laughing all night? Do you honestly believe that shit you’re talking?’

  ‘Elle, stop,’ Gem pleaded.

  Elle threw her hands in the air. ‘Why? I’m sick of hearing it. You know what I think, Ciara? That you’re not trying to protect guys but instead so terrified to fall in love in case they leave you one day like your mum did. And so you’ve fucked over every single one who’s been unlucky enough to like you and now Zack, who I actually believe really loves you.’

  She couldn’t respond, not to deny or agree because it felt more like Elle had kicked her in the ribs than shouted at her.

  ‘Elle, stop being a bitch. She’s hurting.’ Now Gem was the one scowling.

  ‘It’s her choice to hurt! If she didn’t dump him she’d still be happy. If you’re going to feel sorry for anyone it should be Zack.’ Elle’s face was flushed with fury as she shrieked out the words, each one feeling like a lash of a whip to her skin.

  Ciara didn’t back down though, because she knew she’d done the right thing. Even if it was a little too late. ‘I know I deserve to be upset, I deserve much worse for letting things get this far. But what about later, when he is in love with me or if we ever got married and have kids? It would be worse then. Much worse.’

  Elle got in her face. ‘You’re walking away from the best thing that’s ever happened to you because of some lie you tell yourself. You might share a selfish bitch gene with your mum but boredom isn’t an illness, Ciara.’

  ‘Elle, Cia, please. We shouldn’t be fighting like this!’ Gem said, and Elle turned her fury to their friend.

  ‘So what? I just ignore the fact that she broke my cousin’s heart. And even if I could, do you know what this means now? Our granddad doesn’t just want him to take over the business but thinks Zack marrying Vanessa would be a perfect way to secure the partnership between our company and her dad’s. The only reason he managed to get out of the shot gun wedding in Munich was because he cared about Ciara.’

  She was too stunned to speak. But that explained so much, especially his misery when he got to Ibiza.

  Elle turned to her and poked a finger into her chest. ‘And, since you heard our conversation in the kitchen you’ll know he was given an ultimatum. He could leave and do what he wanted but without a salary or funds to help him set up, or stay at the company and hopefully see sense about Vanessa. He said either way he’d be giving up something he couldn’t live without and you were one of those things.’

  Gem’s mouth popped open. ‘What was the other thing?’

  ‘Granddad. He was pissed off that Zack left to come with us for a girl he’d never met and didn’t trust. Zack thought he’d lose him if he chose Ciara.’

  ‘I didn’t realise staying a director would mean he had to marry his ex,’ Ciara said, gobsmacked that he left out that little bit of info.

  ‘It wouldn’t, not when granddad calmed down. He doesn’t want Zack wasting his life and thinks at thirty he should be settled down already. From what I hear the fight was awful.’ Elle seemed calmer, like she’d gotten the worst of her fury out.


  Ciara rubbed her temples. ‘It all sounds insane.’

  Elle shook her head and crossed to the dresser, picking up Ciara’s phone. ‘What’s insane is that you haven’t called him yet. Here,’ she tossed over the phone. ‘Tell him you’re sorry and ask if you can talk. He’ll come back, Cia.’

  She stared wide-eyed at the little bit of plastic. If only what Elle said changed something, changed her even, but it didn’t. All she knew now was that she’d broken his heart, just like she’d feared all those weeks ago that she would.

  ‘I can’t do that, Elle. We’re over.’

  They stared at each other until her eyes stung. Finally, something cracked through Elle’s expression that looked suspiciously like hatred.

  ‘You’re not the person I thought you were. I don’t have time in my life for callous shits like you.’

  Ciara covered her mouth to stop the sob as Elle turned around and left. Like Zack last night, she just slammed the front door and she had a horrible feeling Elle wouldn’t be back either. After all, they could easily send for their things and get a rescheduled flight home.

  ‘Gem, I don’t think she’ll ever forgive me.’ Ciara couldn’t hold in the sobs anymore.

  ‘I think you might be right,’ Gem said, pulling her close and letting Ciara cry against her shoulder for what felt like hours.

  The fun continues…

  Join the girls on the final stop of their round-the-world trip!

  Deliver to Dublin…With Care

  Aimée Duffy

  All my life I’ve been dreaming up stories. My mum said when I was little I used to make all the My Little Pony figurines talk to each other and even fall in love. Later, it was Barbie and Ken. In my teens, I played matchmaker with my friends at school.

  When I wasn’t creating imaginary scenarios, I had my nose stuck in books, reading across genres and there was one thing I loved more than the escapism—the fact a story could touch me so deeply, like I was experiencing everything along with my characters. I knew from early on this was something I wanted to do for others.

  Fast forward a few years and the dream almost got lost in real life, but I still couldn’t shake it completely. Now I write sizzling romance with the hope of making my readers’ hearts race as if they are falling in love for the first time.

  You can follow me on Twitter @AimeeDuffyx.

  About HarperImpulse

  HarperImpulse is an exciting new range of romance fiction brought to you from the women’s fiction team at HarperCollins. Our aim is to break new talent from debut authors and import the hottest trends from the US, bringing you the very best in romance. Whether that is through short reads for your mobile phone or epic sagas that span the generations we want to proudly publish romance fiction that gets everybody talking.

  Romance readers, come and meet the team at our website www.harperimpulseromance.com, our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HarperImpulse or follow us @HarperImpulse!

  Writers, we are simply looking for good stories! So, what are you waiting for? To submit, e-mail us at [email protected].

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