what you said but I’m guessing it was pretty creative.’
Her face burned, adding more humiliation to this scenario. ‘I’m glad you didn’t, it wasn’t very polite. Sorry.’
Zack didn’t seem appalled, thank god. He pulled her to her feet.
‘So where in Ireland did you grow up?’ he asked.
A quick glance at the bikini top to make sure the triangles were still in place – check – and she felt a tiny bit better. ‘Blessington. Not too far from Dublin.’
‘I’ve never been, but keep meaning to. The accent is adorable.’
There goes the flame again, heating her face all the way to her scalp. ‘It’s a great city.’
Time to move away from him before she tripped up and fell through one of the windows or something worse. Pulling up the case, she turned to go but Zack lifted the whole thing off the floor like it didn’t weigh more than she did.
He lifted an eyebrow. ‘Compared to Elle and her mum, you definitely travel light.’
‘Thanks,’ Ciara said, not sure what else to stay.
Following him down the corridor she tried her best to keep her eyes level with his shoulders. But they were wide and strong looking, and this really wasn’t going to help keep her mind off him like she’d promised she would.
At the end of the corridor next to yet another set of stairs, he opened the door and led her in. This suite didn’t look the same as the others. It had too much space, a walk in wardrobe she’d never be able to fill with all the clothes she’d owned from birth to now and what looked like a massive ensuite.
This had to be the master bedroom, and since Zack had lain her suitcase on a bed big enough to sleep ten people, she guessed he was giving it to her.
‘I can’t take this,’ she protested.
‘Why not? Elle thinks I’m here anyway.’ He headed for the door but she blocked the way.
‘I’d rather not fight with Elle. I’ll just take another.’
He grinned and his eyes glowed, honey-like and melting. ‘Relax, Ireland. My cousin’s bark is worse than her bite.’
‘Ciara, not Ireland and I’m not coming into my friend’s house and taking the best room from her.’ If he wanted to fight with Elle he could go right ahead but she wasn’t being piggy in the middle.
She grabbed the case, pulled it off the bed and narrowly avoided crushing her toe.
‘Give me that,’ he said, not as friendly as he’d seemed before. ‘Go pick a room before my poor arms break.’
She reckoned it would take a lot more than her luggage to bend those biceps but didn’t point that out. She found a room quickly and let him place the case on a more reasonably sized bed.
Before he left, he said, ‘Enjoy LA, Ireland. And don’t let Elle bully you.’
Her eyes narrowed at the empty doorway for a second but she couldn’t stay annoyed for long. She kind of liked that he’d given her a nickname.
And she decided to take the first part of his advice. These were her last eight weeks without worries so she was going to make the most of it if it killed her.
Gem let out a low, star struck squee. ‘Don’t look now, but Shakira’s behind you!’
Ciara turned anyway, pretending to dig something out of her bag and saw the same thing Gem did. A woman with a mass of gorgeous blonde hair ordering a smoothie at the outdoor café they’d taken a break at. And there was no mistaking who it was – those hips didn’t lie.
‘I love LA,’ Elle said. ‘There’s pretty and celebrity everywhere.’
There definitely was. Elle and Gem had dragged her around the designer shops all afternoon and they’d spotted movie stars, an opera singer and the host of a reality TV show. But the high was mixed with anxiety when Elle got an outfit that probably cost more than her house back home and Gem’s wasn’t far off. Part of her wished her friends hadn’t scored tickets to the premiere later, but when would she ever get the chance to go to something this amazing again?
‘You know, you can get a new outfit too, Ciara,’ Gem said, waving her father’s plastic Amex around. It was as tempting as the double fudge and raspberry sundae they wouldn’t let her order (they had dresses to squeeze into later, after all). ‘I don’t have a limit.’
‘I told you, I don’t want to spend your money,’ she insisted, again.
They didn’t understand, since technically neither had paid their bills ever. One of the only things that frustrated her about her friends was that they hadn’t a clue how much money was worth – and how hard it was for the normal people in the world to get it.
They didn’t get how tempting it was to ditch her morals and let them get her the prettiest dress, shoes, handbag and jewels in all of LA, either.
But they got the important stuff. The first night she met them she was studying in the library at uni and it had hit her hard that she was really alone. At school she’d always gone home to her da and been able to tell him about her day but all bets were off in England. That’s when Gem and Elle had found her.
She’d escaped to a quiet corner in the library when the waterworks started. They’d cheered her up, comforted her and made her feel like she had other people in her life who cared. People she could rely on.
They’d grown so close over the years they even knew her worst fears and insecurities – mainly that she’d end up like her ma.
But, more importantly, they knew how much she hated charity.
‘Okay, so if you don’t want to hit our plastic, but you’re miserable about having nothing—’
‘I’m not miserable and I do have something,’ she said, cutting Elle off.
‘That’s why you’ve been all smiles since we left Gucci?’ Gem asked.
‘Is this pick on Ciara day?’ She wasn’t budging, or spending enough to buy her da a house for one party. It was madness. Wasn’t it?
Elle relaxed back into her chair with a calculating gleam that kept Ciara sharp, despite her wavering. After sipping on her ice tea, Elle said, ‘Okay, so you rent. You can afford that, surely.’
‘Rent?’ she asked.
Gem clapped her hands. ‘Yes! Why didn’t I think of that?’
‘Because I’m trained to see every angle and you’re trained to see whatever’s in front of you,’ Elle suggested.
Before a fight erupted about business management verses biological science, Ciara jumped in
