by Liz Bower
Beck’s parents lived in the north of the island in Saint Paul’s Bay. An apartment that was all marble floors and white walls. As I walked through the doorway, I was enveloped in a floral-scented hug from Beck’s mum.
“I’m so glad you’re here. I have so much planned for us to do. We can go shopping and to the beach. Oh, and we have to go out to dinner by the harbour. And we can show you the palace and all the old buildings. They really are beautiful.”
“Okay, woman. Let her get inside before you start dragging her across the island.”
But I didn’t mind. Not in the least. I was as excited to be there as she was to have me
“Oh, shush you. Come on Kimberly, I’ll show you around the house.”
Beck’s mum grabbed my hand and led me down a corridor. I glanced over my shoulder and smiled back at Beck who watched us wander off.
She showed me to our room and left me to settle in. After a quick shower, I wandered out to find the others. As I passed one of the other open doors, I saw Alicia sitting on the bed staring her hands folded in her lap. I knocked on the doorjamb to get her attention. When she looked up, I noticed dark circles under her eyes and she seemed quieter than the last time I’d seen her somehow, and I wondered if it was more than just the long flight that was bothering her.
“Hi, Kimberly.”
“Hey, you okay?” She nodded but then I saw the tears fall. I rushed over to sit next to her on the bed and slipped my arm around her shoulders. She leaned her head against my shoulder.
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
I didn’t know her well, but if I could help I would. “It’s okay. Do you want to talk about it?” She shook her head no, but then started talking.
“I just got dumped.” She pulled away from me and ran her hands beneath her eyes.
“I’m so sorry.”
She waved my words away. “That’s not even why I’m upset. We’d only been together a couple of weeks. It’s just…I want what you and Beck have. But my relationships never seem to work out that way. To be honest, I’m getting tired of even trying.”
Wow. I wasn’t sure what to say to that except to offer tired clichés. “You’ll find someone. When you least expect it. I know everyone says that, but it’s true. When I stepped on that plane the first time to fly to Malta, meeting someone never even crossed my mind. And then there was Beck. It hasn’t been the easiest of journeys to get here, but it was worth it.”
Alicia stood, running a hand through her short hair.
“You’re right. I know you’re right. Ignore me. Come on before Mum hunts us down.”
I followed her out of the bedroom not entirely convinced, but if she didn’t want to talk about it anymore I could understand that.
I followed her through the living room. Beck had forgotten to mention that his parents lived in an apartment that had a stunning view of the bay. I wandered out onto the balcony to join him and enjoy that view. It wasn’t huge, just enough space for a table and chairs. But as I rested my forearms against the cool metal railing the view was more than big enough. Fishing boats painted blue and yellow and green bobbed on the turquoise sea of the bay. And across the way, high-rise buildings and hotels littered the beach. I could smell the sea. That ozone-y fresh flavour and the occasional whiff of fish.
When Beck’s dad joined us with a stack of plates and cutlery in his hands, I left them both outside to find Beck’s mum to see if I could help with dinner. She handed me a cold bottle of wine and glasses and shooed me out of the kitchen. Apparently making her son happy was more than she could ever ask from me.
I poured us each a glass of wine as we took a seat out on the balcony. Watched as the sea slowly darkened as the sun slipped towards the horizon. Beck’s hand found mine beneath the table as his mum and Alicia came to join us.
The others cleared up after dinner, leaving Beck and me alone. I was drawn back to the view of the harbour as I leaned against the railing. Beck’s arm slid around me to rest his hands on either side of my arms. Warm lips pressed against the skin of my neck above the vest top I had changed into. “It’s so beautiful,” I said. His lips lifted up into a smile I could feel against my skin.
“Not as beautiful as you.”
Turning away from the bay, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. He broke the kiss and leaned away from me, hand dropping from my waist and into his pocket. My eyes widened as the image of Beck down on one knee, ring held out, flitted through my mind. No, it was far too soon for that, wasn’t it? Yet the idea didn’t scare me as much as I thought it would.
He pulled his hand out of his pocket fingers curled around a black velvet pouch and drawn together at the top with a silver ribbon.
“Hold out your hand.”
I did as he untied the pouch and a silver bracelet slid out onto my open palm. Two flat curved pieces of silver connected by little hoops. A large hoop at the end that a bar fastened through. A charm hung from each hoop. One was a cupcake. I touched my fingertip to the plane charm and smiled. Surrounded by the beautiful scenery and Beck’s welcoming parents, I thought back to Beck telling me his reasons for visiting Malta when we first met. How I’d wished that I’d known I’d be welcomed with open arms to spend a week relaxing with my parents. Yet here I was with Beck’s parents welcoming me into their home as one of their family, and waiting for me this time. I’d had my family on the plane because that was Beck now. I still missed my parents, but learning to trust again meant I didn’t have to be alone anymore.
I brushed my fingertips over the silver heart that was attached to the largest hoop and engraved with the date we met. I glanced up to meet his gaze.
“Now you’ll always have a piece of me with you. I love you.”
My eyes blurred and my chest felt so…full. Like my heart was trying to break free to get to Beck. “I love it. I love you. So much. More than I thought it was possible to love someone.”
He fastened the bracelet around my wrist. I lifted my hands to his jaw, watching as the charms swayed with the movement. Then wrapped my arms around his neck, my lips meeting his.
THE END
Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking the time to read Disaster in Love! I know your time is precious and I hope you enjoyed it. It would mean so much to me if you took a moment to write a review of Disaster in Love on sites like Amazon, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, and your blog or website. For a new author, reviews make all the difference in helping other readers find this book.
I loved writing Beck and Kimberly’s story and can’t wait to start on the next in the series. Up next is Beck’s sister, Alicia, in Hot Disaster.
Feel free to stop by my website, drop me an email, or find me on social media. If you’d like to see the inspiration behind all my books you can find it on my Pinterest boards.
Until next time, happy reading!
Liz
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Liz has lived in a lot of places including The Middle East and southern Spain. But her heart has always been in Lancashire where she is originally from in the UK. This picturesque county in the northwest of England is the inspiration for many of her books.
When not writing, Liz loves to curl up on the sofa with a cup of coffee and her Kindle. She also enjoys walking her dog (Barney) in the beautiful surrounding countryside—except when it’s raining!
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Email: [email protected]
ALSO BY LIZ BOWER
Obsession - A romantic suspense novel
There’s a fine line between love and madness… Obsession
Jo Water
s finally has her life back on track. Since her boyfriend cheated on her romantic entanglements aren’t on her priority list. That doesn’t mean she can’t look. Right? Especially when it comes to her sexy new colleague Dan.
But when Dan becomes the scapegoat for something he isn’t responsible for, she ends up in a whole lot of trouble trying to defend him. When confronted by her boss about her uncharacteristic behaviour, Jo panics, and lies. Unfortunately, it’s a lie that sets off an unstoppable chain of events including the need to find a man she can pass off as her boyfriend. And it is the most unlikely of men who her best friend offers as a solution—her brother, Marco. Which would be fine except Marco is annoying and far too full of himself, and has been the bane of her life since high school.
But when her life gets thrown off track again it turns out that Marco is the least of her problems. Someone is making violent threats towards those close to her. And to make matters worse Jo’s boss thinks she is the obvious suspect.
As the threats become increasingly more disturbing and widespread, just how far will Jo have to go to protect the one she loves?
Keep reading for an excerpt.
CHAPTER ONE
There comes a time in every girl’s life when she has to take a stand for what she believes in, for the man in her life. I truly believed that, so I couldn’t sit there any longer listening to the lies spewing from Amy’s mouth.
Amy gave women a bad name, fluttering her eyelashes and flashing her cleavage to get what she wanted. Just like she was doing to our boss, Alex, right then.
“No,” I said. I stood so quickly my chair toppled over, ensuring I had everyone’s attention. Thrusting a finger in Amy’s direction, I carried on. “Just … no. Dan’s only been here for a week, so you can’t blame him for why the release date might be missed. You’ll be blaming Toby next just because they started on the same day.”
I grabbed the spreadsheets off the desk and thrust them in Alex’s face. “Every single outstanding issue with this version of software is one that she is supposed to be testing. But she’s been too busy flirting and flashing her cleavage at Dan this week to actually do any work. Instead, she’s been strutting around the office in that belt she wears as an excuse for a skirt—”
“Enough,” Alex shouted.
I shrank back from where he was standing next to me. That was the first time I’d heard Alex shout or lose his air of control.
He grabbed the spreadsheets from my hand. “I’ll go through these and we will discuss”—he twirled a finger in the air—“this when everyone has calmed down.”
I turned to pick up my chair and sank into it. Before I could say anything else to make the situation worse, I pulled my lip beneath my top teeth. I leaned over the desk and let my fringe, along with the longer strands of hair that had fallen loose from my ponytail, fall forward over my face. The only sound in the room was the shuffle of papers before Alex spoke again.
“I don’t think there’s any point continuing with this meeting, so let’s call it a day. I’d like an update from each of you on what you have outstanding and what you need to complete that before the deadline. After today, I think it might be best if you do that by email.”
Alex stalked off behind me and left the meeting room. I quickly gathered together the rest of my files and made my escape, back to the relative safety of my desk. Dumping the files into the tray, I sank into my chair and dropped my head to the desk, the fake wooden veneer cold against my forehead. What was I thinking? I banged my head softly against the desk.
It might be the right thing to do, to take a stand for what I believed in, but the middle of a meeting probably wasn’t the best time to make that stand. Especially not over a man who wasn’t even mine to defend. Wishing that he was mine had nothing to do with my actions. Absolutely nothing.
My computer dinged with an alert. I lifted my head and jabbed a finger against the mouse to wake the screen.
A meeting request. From Alex.
I didn’t need to be Einstein to figure out what the meeting would be about.
I moved the mouse over the accept button. Did I have any other option? It said request, but I was pretty sure that declining would be unacceptable. I clicked and the request disappeared.
Along with my dreams of a promotion.
My gaze flicked to the corner of the screen. Quarter to five. I closed my email and shut down the computer. If I left fifteen minutes early, it was unlikely to make things any worse for me.
As I waited for my computer to shut down, I stood and saw Amy heading my way. My heartbeat picked up; that meeting was more than enough confrontation for one day, but I didn’t think that would stop Amy.
She looked me over as she came to a stop much too close for my liking, and I leaned back from her. Her mouth twisted into a sneer as though I smelled like something unpleasant she had trodden in.
“Yeah, you should leave. If you ever talk shit about me like that in front of Alex again, I swear I will make your life hell. You think you can swan around here like you’re my boss?”
She let out a snort as her gaze dropped to my chest.
“Let’s face it, you’re only jealous. If you actually had cleavage to flash, you wouldn’t be hiding it under that excuse for a shirt even my gran wouldn’t be seen dead in.”
My face flushed because she was right. About me not having cleavage, anyway. Even if I had, I still wouldn’t flash it around the way she did.
Amy was everything I would never be. Long blonde hair with the perfected shampoo advertisement flick of it over her shoulder, legs that went on for miles and boobs men drooled over. She leaned in towards me.
“You walk around the office with your mousy brown hair scraped back in your uptight ponytail, thinking you’re better than everyone else. Trying to suck everyone in with those baby blue eyes as though you’re so bloody innocent. But if you think for one minute that you stand any chance with Dan, then you’re seriously mistaken. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay out of my way.”
She spun on her heel, blonde strands of hair whipping across my cheek as she stalked off to her desk. I slumped against the back of my chair and dragged in a deep breath. She was right. Again. Why would Dan be interested in me? I wasn’t tall and curvy like Amy. It wasn’t like I even had a sparkling personality to fall back on. Most of the time, I was either at a loss for words or rambled incoherently. And while I didn’t believe Amy was a master of conversation or wit, at least she had other attributes which more than made up for that.
I grabbed my handbag from the desk drawer, slung the strap over my shoulder, and then shoved my chair under the desk with a little more force than needed. My gaze flicked around the office as I slunk towards reception, hoping no one would notice me leaving. With a sigh of relief, I pulled open the door and left the office.
Not paying attention to the direction I was heading, I ended up wandering towards the high street. Too late I realised it was market day. Gartdale High Street on market day was as bad as shopping in Manchester when the Christmas markets were on. It didn’t help that coachloads of tourists were shipped in for the day, lured by promises of the beautiful surrounding countryside and a bargain buy followed by a cream tea. I weaved through the throng of shoppers and veered off down a side street towards the river.
Normally I enjoyed the walk home this way, following the meandering riverside path. Enjoyed watching people feeding the ducks, the suits hurrying home from work and the joggers out in their neon running clothes. But not that day.
As the sun glinted off the river, the gleeful shriek of the little boy feeding the ducks seemed to mock me. The frustrated huff of the suit I almost walked into reminded me of Alex’s earlier irritation at my outburst. And I was pretty sure the joggers were actually aiming for me at that point as I tangled limbs with one of them. I just wanted to be at home, to shut out the rest of the world until reality thrust itself back in my face the next morning.
Climbing the hill towards the outskirts of
the town centre, I left the river behind me, along with the houses with their balconies overlooking the sprawling lawns and the view of the river through the trees. I made my way through the maze of terraced houses with their concrete gardens and the view of the street decorated with empty crisp packets and cigarette butts instead.
Finally, I reached the end of the street and my house. It might’ve looked a little tired, might’ve been a little too close to the unsavoury end of Gartdale, but it was still home. And it was the best Gabi, and I could afford to rent when we had moved in together five years before, after she had finished university and I had scraped together enough money from the numerous crappy office jobs I’d had after leaving college.
I hurried up the cracked steps that led to the front door as I hunted for the keys in my handbag. When I turned the key in the lock, the door swung open enough for me to be greeted by the sound of Gabi’s raised voice.
“Just leave it alone, Marco.”
Great, Gabi’s brother is here. I slammed the front door behind me to announce my arrival. The last thing I needed was to get in the middle of one of their arguments.
I sank into the soft brown leather sofa, propped my feet up on the wooden coffee table and rested my head against the back of the cushion as I closed my eyes. Images of Alex’s face scrolled through my mind and I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, trying to force them out.
My ponytail was yanked painfully and my eyelids flew open to see Marco’s face hovering over me upside down. “Don’t start, Marco. I’m not in the mood,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.