by Aimee Duffy
‘You two go have fun. I’ll watch our stuff.’ And the wine, though she was planning on doing more than look at it.
‘You sure?’ Elle asked, but Gem was already out of the chair and fawning over the male performer.
She laughed. ‘Really sure. It’s a pity I don’t have a camera. Snapping you two would keep me busy.’
‘Here!’ Elle dug out her own phone and handed it to Ciara. ‘Snap a few and Instagram them. The good ones I mean.’
Her eyes widened. Elle didn’t hand over her ‘baby’ to anyone.
‘It’s the least I can do. I should have told you earlier whether you wanted to hear it or not,’ Elle said.
Ah, so it was an offering to ease the guilt. Ciara didn’t care, she’d take it. Even though she really shouldn’t. Having Zack’s number within a few taps on the screen was a bad idea.
‘Go have fun. There’s still lots of wine here to keep me company,’ she assured her friend. Gem had already taken off. From what she could see, she was getting the hot dancer to show her some moves.
Elle followed her gaze and laughed. ‘She wasn’t down for long.’
The reminder of the night in Paris when they got a little too close to real trouble made her shiver. ‘We stay together okay? And go home at the end of the night.’
Elle got serious. ‘Definitely. I’ll peel Gem off him, even if it ruins my new manicure.’
She relaxed a little more. Having Elle on side would mean they’d get out unscathed. ‘Go learn how to dance, I know you’re dying to.’
‘Learn?’ she bitched, but got up. ‘You just make sure you snap all my sexy moves.’
Ciara tapped her way to the camera, switched the flash on then snapped a picture of Elle who posed like a pro in record time. ‘You’re not Kate Moss you know.’
Elle wrinkled her nose. ‘Thank God for that. The whole junkie rocker look is so not my type.’
‘Johnny Depp?’ she asked.
‘Maybe him. If he’d scrub up a bit. Keep the bad pictures on the phone, we can have a laugh at them later,’ Elle said.
Her friend must feel bad. Elle refused to be teased ever.
She waited until Elle found a female dancer and started swinging her hips as instructed. Of course, she picked up the new dance fast and Ciara did as promised, zooming in and snapping the sexy moves.
When she spotted Gem, she laughed. No way did their other friend have two left feet, but Ciara wouldn’t guess by the mess she was making of the dance. The instructor pulled her really close and danced with her then voila, Gem got it right! Rolling her eyes, she snapped a couple of pics, making sure to really capture the gorgeous guy and get one of his behind. Gem would love that.
But after a while she got bored and the wine bottle got empty. She scrolled through the pictures she’d taken, then onto the ones from the club in Paris. It was before she’d drank her weight in bubbly stuff and the way the Givenchy dress hugged her made her giddy and gooey eyed, but that whole night was one she’d sooner forget, so she flipped to the pictures from Miami.
Cringing, she saw exactly what Zack meant about her looking sloshed in the bar. A massive jug of cocktails downed in record time would do that to a girl. But the red stain on her chin from the drink made her remember that night all too well. And the night after, riding with Zack along Ocean Drive and into Little Havana.
Then later, with the ice cream and his way too talented tongue…
Ciara slammed the phone face down on the table and necked the last of her wine. The temperature seemed to shoot up about a hundred degrees and she was sweating all over. She tried to convince herself it was the body heat from all the customers dancing that made the place too warm, but it was such a lie.
No matter what she did, she couldn’t get Elle’s cousin out of her mind.
Eyeing the phone, Ciara tried to convince herself that trawling through a friend’s messages was wrong. Then again, it was the first thing Elle had done when she handed over her phone earlier that day.
Her hand made up her mind for her, reaching out and grabbing the thing. She tapped out of the camera and into the messages. Her heart launched into her throat when she saw there was a conversation with Zack and today’s date was the latest message. How could she not open it?
For Christ sake, Zack. Answer your phone!
That was from Elle. Today. Other than one above apologising for being a bitch which she must have sent in Paris, there were no other messages. She tapped out and hit the call log, almost biting her lip off.
He was the last person she’d called and from what her phone said, the conversation had lasted over twenty minutes. No way was that just to his voicemail. She’d been cut off much sooner.
What had Elle said to him? She couldn’t exactly ask. Elle would know she’d been snooping. But the wondering was going to drive her insane, she could almost feel it coming. Still, it was none of her business. In fact, it was probably about exactly that, the Muirs’ family business. Made sense. Elle was going back to work there and Zack said their granddad wanted them to work together. Elle would know she’d have to make things right with him first.
She tried not to let that depress her, and failed.
Get a grip. Tapping out of the call log, she did just that and concentrated on Instagraming the best pictures of the night she could find. It didn’t stop her thinking about that which shouldn’t be thought about, but she took what distraction she could.
Chapter Twelve
‘Glad to see camel-toe isn’t joining us today,’ Gem said.
Ciara ignored her, walking right past the sun loungers where her friends were enjoying their early morning coffee with the gorgeous view of the ocean.
‘I don’t know, I kinda miss it,’ Elle said.
‘You two should do stand-up. You’re hilarious,’ Ciara said dryly, but didn’t stop for more. She was on her way to the pool to work off last night’s dinner. Not to mention the extra flab she was carrying around her hips.
‘Come on, Ciara. It was pretty funny,’ Gem said. ‘And you did snap a few beauties of Elle last night, so you’re even.’
‘There weren’t any bad pictures of Elle,’ she said, sure she wasn’t that drunk.
‘There’s a couple taken at dodgy angles that make my arse look square,’ Elle disagreed.
Ciara rolled her eyes. ‘Only you could see imperfection where it doesn’t exist.’
‘Stop being a crab, Ciara. I let you have my phone last night and everything. What else do I have to do to make it up to you?’ Elle asked.
Yes Elle had given Ciara the phone but it had haunted her all night, wondering about the call with Zack. She almost asked but then that would be like confessing to murder as far as Elle was concerned.
‘You can take me back to that restaurant tonight. I’ve not had a chance to wear any of the dresses I got in Miami yet.’ If they still fit, that was.
‘Deal,’ Elle grinned.
‘We were going anyway. Milo’s expecting me,’ Gem said, with a giddy look in her eyes.
‘Milo?’ she asked, then bit her lip before she laughed. Elle wasn’t so gracious.
‘What? I think it’s sexy,’ Gem protested.
‘I think it’s gay,’ Elle countered. ‘And by the way he dances you might be in for more heartache, Gem.’
‘Come on, he’s too gorgeous to be gay.’ Gem really was clueless at times.
‘Sorry, but I agree with Elle. He’s polished, he can move and I bet you two got on like a house on fire.’ Nothing like any first date she’d had, with a straight guy anyway.
Gem picked up her magazine and made like she was miffed and ending the topic. ‘Jealousy gets you nowhere. You two should concentrate on pulling your own Mediterranean Gods instead of dissing mine.’
Elle rolled her eyes and then got down to catching the early morning sun. Ciara took that as her cue to leave and got busy with her new workout regime.
***
The day was filled with more pampering and just as she was
about to go brain dead from boredom, they finally moved on to the restaurant. From what she could see on her journeys to and from town, there really wasn’t much to Santorini at all. But then in two days it wasn’t like she’d had a chance to go anywhere. At least she managed to enjoy herself at the party, despite being the most uncoordinated one there.
And even after witnessing Milo teaching another man how to bump and grind on the dance floor, poor Gem was still in denial.
The next morning all she did was talk and talk about her sexy fling to-be, ignoring any jibes Elle threw in about him being more interested in Aiden Price than Gem was. But come lunch time, Ciara had way too much energy to just sit there and have her feet and calves massaged like Gem and Elle. All this exercise was starting to perk her up, and not just because it was easier to button her trousers.
‘Why don’t we head out on the jet skis?’ she asked Elle.
‘Because I want to live to my twenty-fifth birthday,’ Elle replied.
Gem threw her a look that questioned her sanity. ‘Lie back and enjoy this while you can. Trust me, you’ll be glad you took it easy this week when we hit Ibiza.’
‘If I haven’t died of boredom by then,’ she said, completely serious.
‘I can’t believe you’re bored of this after two days. I could do it forever,’ Elle said, relaxing back into the padded chair while the masseuse worked on her arches. ‘Sun, relaxation and don’t forget facials are next.’
As much as she loved all the foot rubbing and the temple grinding and even a good facial, each one came right after the other. There was only a pause to eat and that was a small, not so tasty event of plain salad without the dressing. The only thing Ciara had to look forward to was four in the afternoon when the staff left and they could get ready for dinner.
But the schedule for tomorrow was more of the same.
She really was going to go insane here. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was how her ma had felt spending every day with her?
Shaking off the thought, she thanked the masseuse and stood up. Elle wasn’t the only one with the tricks to get what she wanted. ‘Fine, I’ll go by myself. But I didn’t take you for a wimp, Elle.’
Just as planned, her friend’s eyes lit up like blue fire. ‘I’m no wimp, Ciara.’
‘Really? Then you must not think you can win a race. I know how much you hate losing. Better to avoid it than admit defeat, isn’t that right?’
Elle got out of the chair, murmuring something in Greek, then glaring at Ciara. ‘I can beat you two, any day! Gem, come on. We can finish this later.’
Gem muttered something unladylike, then said louder, ‘Why me? I don’t care about losing. I’m fine just here.’
Elle pulled her up. ‘If I’m risking my life out there then so are you. It’s what friends do for each other.’
‘It’s the sea, Elle. Not molten lava.’ Ciara tried to hold back a smile, but failed.
‘You won’t be saying that when you’re legs are covered in shark bites!’ Despite the protest, Elle marched across the deck to the small pier, shouting in Greek to a man scrubbing the deck.
He was on the jet ski next to the yacht in record time, then speeding out across the waves to the buoy where the others were. It looked so fun, but having Elle all revved up might not go well. Still, it beat lying down and being rubbed, buffed and plucked (or whatever else was planned), by a stranger.
As soon as all the jet skis were brought over, the man handed them life jackets. Then he helped them onto the machines and showed them how to turn the handle and control the speed.
‘You see those white buoys out from the coast?’ Elle asked, pointing to six points that highlighted a huge semi-circle area. ‘We don’t go past them because the current is too strong. We’ll do three laps round the inside of the markers, only going as far as those in front of the beach, and the winner gets to pick what we do for the rest of the day.’
Ciara was glad to see the old Elle was back, taking charge as usual. But she was determined she wasn’t going to lose and have another day full of mindless boredom. ‘Got it.’
‘Gem?’ Elle asked.
Gem was gripping onto the handlebars like she’d fall into the water if she didn’t. ‘I heard you.’
Elle nodded and grabbed her handlebars just as tightly. ‘Then on the count of three, we go.’
Ciara got ready, she knew what was coming and would be prepared for it.
‘One… Two…’
Before three was called Elle shot off, right when Ciara twisted the handle a little too far, but it meant she was neck and neck with Elle. Leaning forward, she ignored the waves crashing against the Jet Ski and soaking her face with salty water and concentrated on not toppling the thing over.
Her heart roared and adrenaline kicked in as they hit the first turn. Though she’d never done it before, the physics part of her course came back to her and she calculated the perfect speed to take the curve faster than Elle did, then she was zooming back to the pier where Gem was still shaking on her immobile jet ski.
The second lap brought Elle way too close. Her friend’s fear of sharks was nothing compared to her competitive drive and Ciara had relied on it to get them off their bums and out having fun.
‘You’re getting lapped, Cia. Don’t get comfortable up there,’ Elle shouted.
Ciara just laughed and risked the next bend a little faster than she should have. Shifting her weight to the side made up for the death turn and she put some much needed distance between them again.
Elle was good on the straight run though. She zipped right past Ciara full speed, standing up on the machine to balance the front out. Ciara did the same and caught up a little, but after her take-off she had visions of flipping the thing right over if she went any faster.
The bends weren’t Elle’s strong point and Ciara threw everything into it until her knee skimmed the surface of the ocean. On the straight she took a deep breath and stood. Ignoring the jitters in her stomach she leaned her body forward and twisted the handle until the bottom of the Jet Ski barely skimmed the waves.
‘Bitch!’ Elle screeched.
But Elle didn’t have to worry. Despite twisting the handle right back she was going too fast to slow down enough for the next bend. Instead she shot through the boundary and took a wide arc toward the beach.
When she was back on the straight she saw Elle shooting across to the pier and knew she was fecked. Another day of boredom it was then.
The trip back was slower. All the excitement and thrill had been sucked out of her.
When she got to the pier, Elle was already standing with her hands on her hips and a smug smile on her face. ‘You should know better than to challenge a Muir, Cia. We’ll always accept and we’ll always finish first.’
‘Those things are terrifying. Sorry Ciara, but I’m glad Elle won. I wouldn’t get on that thing again even if Aiden Price bribed me with marriage.’ Gem was on the pier too, looking paler than she had after the horrible night in Paris.
‘And you two accuse me of not knowing how to have fun?’ she grumbled, getting off the Jet Ski and hoping she’d get the chance to have another go soon. But she had lost to Elle once, and she knew she’d never get the chance to again.
‘That’s not fun, it’s horrifying and I’m soaked with salt water.’ Elle pulled at her vest top. ‘Shower time and then a much needed facial to get that dirt out of my pores.’
A shower sounded good since she was drenched too, but she could do without the facial. Still, Elle had won.
‘Yay. Facials,’ she said with as much false enthusiasm as she could muster.
‘It’s not like I asked you to have your nails peeled off,’ Elle said.
She climbed off the Jet Ski and onto the pier, ‘Too bad,’ she grumbled, ‘That sounds more fun.’
***
Ciara didn’t know what was worse – having thick, sticky, green paste covering her face or the whale music Elle thought would help them relax. Her friends had fallen
asleep in the upstairs spa, waiting the allotted time before more strangers were back removing the gunk and purifying their pores.
She still had a good half hour and sleep wasn’t happening for her. Peeling the sliced veg off her eyes, she slid off the table and snuck out of the room. The walls facing the ocean were made completely of glass which, with the white walls everywhere, made this officially the brightest place she’d ever been.
It was a lovey house though, and totally modern. She had wondered if Zack had a hand in designing the place with all the twisty staircases to the different levels but the house looked older. More likely he’d been so inspired by their holiday home that he had decided architecture was what he wanted to do.
And there she was again, thinking thoughts she shouldn’t.
Though she knew it wasn’t going to help a thing, Ciara made her way to the kitchen. Comfort food hadn’t done her favours so far, but she’d spied aubergines in the fridge earlier and after the restaurant’s amazing traditional Greek food, she’d decided they were her new favourite vegetable.
A little steamed aubergine and some feta would definitely pass the time before she was preened some more.
Rounding another maze-like corridor, she found herself in one of the sitting rooms looking out over the beach and swore. She wasn’t even on the right level!
‘Still swearing like a sailor? Tut, tut, Ciara.’
She whirled around at the sound of his voice. Zack was here, looking just like he had in LA and Miami wearing an easy grin and a pair of shorts. His laptop was propped on his knees but she only noticed because it blocked the most important part – his bare chest.
He laughed. ‘Is that you, Ireland? I recognise the voice but can’t be sure with all that gunk.’
She turned away from him, mortified that she’d forgotten about the facial. ‘Give me a minute.’
Or a year to live the shame down. She bolted out of the room, on the hunt for the first bathroom she could find. As soon as she got in, she shut the door, ignored the mirror and got busy washing her face in the pearly sink. Green sludge fell onto the porcelain, making her cringe even more. After furiously splashing her face, she towelled off, took a deep breath and faced the mirror.
