All the Romance You Need This Christmas: 5-Book Festive Collection. Romy Sommer

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      ‘Yeah. It has. For a couple of days now you’ve avoided hanging out with me, preferring to mooch around town for hours on end…’

      ‘I haven’t been “mooching” anywhere, as you put it. I just haven’t felt much like skiing, that’s all. And you know that’s not the main reason for me coming here anyway.’

      Matt leant back against the wall, folding his arms. ‘So, and I might be wrong here, Sis, but, I’m going to hazard a guess that all this effort you’re making tonight, well, you’re not dressed up like that just to have pizza with me and the lads, are you? Although, Gary’s always had a bit of a crush on you so I’m sure he wouldn’t mind copping an eyeful of you in that get-up.’

      I looked at myself in the mirror. Had I really made that much of an effort? Due to where we were, dresses weren’t the ideal thing to wear – heels weren’t exactly a safe or practical footwear choice in the snow – so I’d decided on skinny black jeans and an off-one-shoulder, loose-fitting, pale-green top, leaving my hair down because anything more elaborate would only go to waste anyway the second I stuck a hat on it, and there was no going anywhere without a hat in this place. Not if you wanted to feel your head for the rest of the night. It was an outfit that, okay, was probably a touch more “glamorous” than the kind of stuff I usually wore, but the skinny jeans meant I could wear boots other than my snow boots, and it was an outfit that wasn’t going to get crumpled or creased underneath my thick padded jacket. I just hadn’t been aware that I’d gone to any real effort. I’d just wanted to look nice.

      ‘You’ve met someone, haven’t you?’ Matt asked, a grin spreading across his face. ‘You have! You’ve met someone! That’s why you haven’t wanted to hang around with me, Gary and Jake. Good for you, Sis! I knew this holiday would do you good; it’s just what you need. A little bit of fun.’

      I turned away from the mirror and leant back against the dressing-table, noticing the almost relieved expression on my brother’s face. I couldn’t really lie to him, could I? It was quite obvious that I hadn’t got dressed up to go to dinner by myself, Matt had already sussed that. But, at the same time, he didn’t need to know too much about Zac either. Not yet. I didn’t want anything to spoil what I’d just found – another possible chance at a happiness I’d been convinced I’d never experience again.

      ‘Okay, yes, I’ve met someone,’ I sighed, trying not to let my smile get too big, trying not to let Matt see just how happy I really was.

      ‘I knew it!’ Matt whooped, before coming over and hugging me tight, swinging me round. ‘Believe me, Jess, it’s just what you need. After all this time… So, who is it then? You said you’d met someone – Mikku? That was his name, wasn’t it? A Sami guy?’

      I shook my head, resuming my hunt for the green eye shadow, breathing an inner sigh of relief as I found it nestled underneath a compact of pressed powder. ‘It isn’t him. He’s just a friend.’

      ‘So… who are you having dinner with tonight, then?’ Matt asked, watching me as I tried to apply the eye shadow, my hand shaking slightly. ‘And where did you meet him?’

      ‘Jesus, Matt, can we quit with the brotherly interrogation please? I’m not some teenager about to embark on her first date, I’m a grown-up, remember?’

      ‘I’m only concerned, Jess. Like any brother would be, especially after everything you’ve been through.’

      I closed the eye shadow compact and put it into my make-up bag, turning to look at him, smiling. ‘I know, I’m sorry. I guess I’m just a bit nervous, y’know? It’s been a long time since… since I did anything like this. Oh, and by the way, don’t you dare tell Mum I’ve met someone, okay? Not one word. It’s bad enough having you around trying to find out every last little bit of information without having her ringing up asking questions too. So keep this to yourself, alright?’

      He held up his hands, leaning over to kiss me quickly on the cheek. ‘Alright. I hear you. Okay then, I’ll leave you to it. Where’s he taking you?’

      I half-smiled as I opened the door, pushing him out of it. ‘Nice try, Matthew. I’ll see you later.’

      I shut the door behind him and leant back against it, closing my eyes for a second as a warm shiver of excitement ran right through me. Excitement. Another feeling I hadn’t experienced for so long. But, here I was, all dressed up and excited to see what the night had in store. Excited to spend some more time with Zac – the man who’d given me back something I’d thought I’d lost forever. Hope.

      *

      Zac pushed his hands through his hair, roughing it up, shaking it out, and Tyler watched in amusement from the comfort of the sofa as his friend ran around like some nervous teenager, getting ready for what Tyler could only assume was one hot date.

      ‘Y’know, mate, I can almost forgive you for deserting me yesterday afternoon because watching you right now is classic entertainment as far as I’m concerned. She must be one amazing woman to have you in this state.’

      ‘What state?’ Zac asked, stopping what he was doing for a second to look at Tyler. ‘I’m not in a state.’

      ‘Yeah. You are. Look at you! It takes you ten minutes to get ready when you come out with me and the guys, but tonight you were in that shower for half an hour.’

      Zac ignored him, turning back to check his reflection in the mirror. If truth be told he was nervous, but that was only to be expected, wasn’t it? This was all happening really quickly, but at the same time he didn’t want to waste time taking things too slow because he didn’t want to risk messing things up. Meeting Jessie, it was something he’d never thought would happen, not after Evie. After Evie he hadn’t thought he’d ever feel this way again, but the fact that he did, and that Jessie seemed to feel the same way too, that was something he couldn’t ignore. Fate. Four letters that could change everything.

      ‘So, this mystery woman you’re meeting, then?’ Tyler went on, jumping up off the sofa. ‘She must be something really special. To have you running around like this.’

      ‘She is,’ Zac said quietly, staring at his own reflection for a few seconds, remembering everything that had gone on in the past, all those things that had helped seal his decision to come here to Lapland. Because he hadn’t just come here to ski, he’d come here to find something – and now he was sure he’d found it. ‘She really is.’

      ‘Do I get to meet her then?’ Tyler asked, cracking open a can of beer.

      Zac turned around, grabbing his jacket from the back of a dining chair. ‘Come on, Tyler. It’s a bit soon for all that. I mean, I haven’t even had a chance to get to know her myself yet, have I?’

      But even as Zac said that he knew, deep down inside, that he already knew everything he needed to know about her. He already knew.

      *

      The taxi dropped me off close to the restaurant in town, so I only had a few metres to trudge through the snow, the still-rising excitement I was feeling at the thought of seeing Zac again making me forget how cold it was.

      Pushing open the double, glass-fronted doors of the restaurant I was hit with a wall of warmth as I stepped inside and stopped for a second, whipping off my hat and shaking out my hair as a smiling maitre d’ approached.

      ‘Let me take those СКАЧАТЬ