The Wedding Date

by Zara Stoneley

  ‘So if this isn’t your car, whose is it?’

  ‘Let’s just say one or two people owe me favours.’ He trails his forefinger down my arm slowly and I gulp. Oh my God, what have I let myself in for? Is he part of some kind of mafia gang? Do you still call it abduction if you go willingly?

  We zoom past a Mercedes in a very satisfying way. I really should stop worrying about things and live in the moment. That’s what calm, happy people say isn’t it? That is how I will live my life. For now.

  Chapter 28

  ‘Bloody hell.’ I am so busy deciding I will live in the moment that I missed the fact we’ve pulled off the main road and are speeding across shiny, black tarmac, and now we are spinning. Fast. ‘Shit.’ We’re going to die. But at least I’m dying with a man at my side, in a red Ferrari.

  Hell, we are doing a Jeremy Clarkson, or rather the car is, spinning round and making screechy tyre noises that are even louder than my screams.

  We stop. I breathe. And blink. ‘Where the hell are we?’

  ‘Sorry, I’ve always wanted to do that.’ Jake grins. ‘It’s a private airstrip. Your chariot awaits.’ He indicates out of the window and I look. It is a plane. A tiny plane. Like a toy one. He drives closer, more slowly with no spinning. It is bigger than a toy plane. Slightly. He turns off the car engine. ‘Ready?’

  ‘Can we do the spinny car bit again, now I know what to expect?’

  I don’t have to ask twice. Jake is well up for it. It is quite like you imagine Top Gear to be, when you’ve got an almost deserted airstrip and a car that will go really fast. I have never ever done a handbrake turn. By the time I was old enough to have boyfriends who could afford proper cars, I was going out with Liam. Enough said.

  We’re both laughing hysterically by the time Jake stops the car. I feel more alive than I ever thought possible, every bit of me – apart from my toes because I jammed them down on the floor to brace myself as we hit the corners.

  ‘We’re honestly going in that?’

  ‘Honestly. Come on, I’ll get your case.’

  ‘Shit.’

  ‘I didn’t think ladies swore.’

  ‘They don’t, and they don’t do this either.’ And I grab him before he has chance to get out of the car, and kiss him. He actually looks rather chuffed with himself. He has the same look that Harry had when he managed to get a grip on Liam’s sporran.

  ‘Come and meet my mate Andy. It’s his plane, he’s taking us to Paris.’

  He takes my hand in his and helps heave me out of the car. I really am going to have to read up on how to get out of car like this, just in case it happens again. ‘Paris?’

  ‘Paris.’

  I’m still saying it over and over again as we walk up the steps. ‘Paris!’ I can’t stop saying it.

  I’m ashamed to say I have an overwhelming desire to kiss him again, at the top of the steps before he’s even in the plane.

  ‘Sam.’ He leans across to check my seatbelt is done up, and his lovely lips are so close to mine I’m tempted to steal a kiss again. ‘Do you want to know what really made me dump Mark and come back for you?’

  I wait.

  ‘You taught me to trust again. You taught me to trust my heart, my instincts and who I want to be. I wanted to, but I was scared before.’

  ‘Oh. And who do you want to be?’

  ‘I want to be as brave and determined as the gorgeous and funny girl I’m looking at right now. I want to be the man who whisks his girl off to Paris for her birthday, and I want to be the man who makes her smile, if she’ll let me?’

  I grin inanely.

  ‘And I want to have a close look at that bluebird.”

  And that, dear reader, is how I ended up drinking champagne and contemplating the benefits of being a member of the mile high club on the evening of my 30th birthday. I didn’t get full membership – there wasn’t quite enough time. This was Paris, not some far flung destination, and he is a man who likes to prepare properly, thoroughly, for each role. But I think my dress was quite a suitable choice.

  I will leave it to your imagination to work out what actually happened during the flight, but let’s just say I didn’t know method acting involved THAT.

  Acknowledgements

  My thanks as always to my amazing, kind, and talented editors Charlotte Ledger and Emily Ruston. Thank you for all the words of encouragement, and your support, hard work and advice, I feel incredibly lucky to be able to work with such talented people.

  Thanks also to my fabulous, and funny, agent Amanda Preston, your enthusiasm is infectious and your advice invaluable.

  And a big thank you to you, for reading this story, and being so supportive.

  Loved The Wedding Date?

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  Also by Zara Stoneley

  Blackberry Picking at Jasmine Cottage

  Summer with the Country Village Vet

  The Holiday Swap

  A Very Country Christmas (Tippermere Free Short Story)

  Country Rivals (Tippermere Book Three)

  Country Affairs (Tippermere Book Two)

  Stable Mates (Tippermere Book One)

  About the Author

  Zara Stoneley was born in a small village in Staffordshire and wanted to be James Herriot when she grew up. After completing an IT degree, working as a consultant, running a dog grooming business, teaching, and working at a veterinary practice she decided she had more than enough material to write several books even if she would never qualify as a vet!

  She now splits her time between a cosy country cottage in Cheshire and an apartment in Barcelona, and writes fun, romantic stories set in the British countryside that she loves so much.

  Zara Stoneley is the author of the Tippermere series (Stable Mates, Country Affairs and Country Rivals) published by HarperCollins, as well as several standalone novels.

  @ZaraStoneley

  http://www.facebook.com/ZaraStoneley

  www.zarastoneley.com

  About HarperImpulse

  HarperImpulse is an innovative, award-winning digital imprint. In the five years since launch, we have continually hit digital bestseller lists, hosted the UK’s first online romance festival, published into over ten countries and grown an exciting stable of commercial women’s fiction authors.

  Readers, come and say hi to the team and your next read…

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  Writers, our vision is to publish the very best in digital-first commercial women’s fiction and we are simply looking for good stories! So, what are you waiting for? To submit, e-mail us at harperimpulse@harpercollins.co.uk.

  About the Publisher

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