Page 56 of Plot Twist

‘I don’t bloody know, do I? I’m not a woman, despite what you thought.’

‘This is definitely not what I signed up to,’ I said, looking around at the sunbeds adjacent to the hot tub. ‘It is so much better.’

A white fluffy bathrobe was waiting for me in the luxurious bathroom, and I slipped on the swimming costume, which was too big around the chest area for me and a bit tight around the thighs. I moved it around my shoulders and walked towards the patio area, looking towards the mountains and breathing in and out.

Riley was already in the tub as I walked out, his head resting against the edge with the bubbles dancing around his broad chest. I pulled the bathrobe tighter around me as the cool air hit my legs. Summer in Ireland could clearly be every bit as cold as Scottish summer.

He opened his eyes.

‘Hey,’ he said. ‘Surprise.’

He leaned over and handed me a glass of Champagne from the small table set up beside the hot tub.

I clutched onto it and took a sip.

‘Cheers,’ he said, raising his glass. ‘Get in!’

I slipped the bathrobe off and clambered in, suddenly feeling very self-conscious in front of this person that I’d conversed with so freely for weeks now. My face flushed as I thought of the time I told him about going for a bikini wax. And the whole smear test thing. And flashing him my old bra on our impromptu night out. I’d mentioned childbirth at one point, in our messages, expecting Riley to go into elaborate details about it the way any woman who’d had a child seemed to want to do. I’d thought it was so refreshing when the comment had been ignored. Now I could see why.

‘This is just so kind of them both,’ I said. ‘I can’t believe they’ve done this for us. They’ve done such a great job with the place, it’s absolutely beautiful.’

‘Two bedrooms though,’ Riley pointed out, raising an eyebrow. ‘Not a trope in sight.’

He was thinking it, too. About us. Our friendship. Was he thinking about the possibility of more?

The bubbles continued to dance enthusiastically around us. I sipped my Champagne and took a seat. The water was deliciously hot. I looked at Riley. He closed his eyes and moved with the rhythm of the water.

‘This is exactly what I need right now,’ Riley exhaled. ‘Not a care in the world.’

His leg brushed against mine in the hot tub and an electric current zipped up my thigh. I moved my body quickly out of the way. I shouldn’t even think about confusing things with Riley. I was in a weird place. I was grieving. He clearly had all sorts of baggage too. While I loved spending time with Ivy, I knew that all she desperately wanted right now was her mum. I wasn’t ready to get involved in anything else.

‘I can’t help but get the feeling that the two of them are trying to matchmake us,’ Riley said, his eyes still closed. ‘I’m sorry about that, by the way. I know you’re not here for that. You came here to get away from all your problems, not to gain some more.’

We were still playing a big game of hide and seek with our baggage, only addressing things when we had to. He hadn’t even told me his ex-wife’s name. I’d had to hear it from Ellie and Bridget. I sat up a little straighter.

‘And all you want to do is be able to write your story. I get that too. But I have a bit of a theory. It’s been playing on my mind,’ I said.

I gulped, wondering where my courage had suddenly come from. Perhaps he would tell me to mind my own business. But I had to take the chance, while Ivy wasn’t around, to find out more about Riley. If he’d let me.

‘Go on, then,’ he said.

I took a sip from my glass and put it on the edge of the hot tub, brushing against him again on the way past.

‘I think if you want to be able to write your romance novel, you’re going to have to open up a bit more about your ex. And your past. I think it’s holding you back from moving on with your story,’ I said.

I watched closely for his reaction. He raised his eyebrows.

‘You do?’

‘Look, I’m not just saying this to be nosy. I really think so. Your first book was all about heartache. It captured all the raw feelings and emotions of a break-up and make-up but this second book outline is meant to be a new romance and you’re struggling to write it. I think it’s because you need to let go of your past first. Like your very own second-chance romance.’

‘What, and jump into a new relationship, for the book’s sake?’

‘Oh no, that’s not what I meant.’ I flushed.

Gawd, he thought I was hitting on him. I absolutely was not.

‘Look, I know you’re not exactly going to have trouble with finding a new relationship. The whole yoga class flirts with you. The author event was full of women gaping at you. Mrs Rivers from down the road swoons so much when she sees you driving past that I think she might collapse.’