Harlequin Romance December 2020 Box Set

by Susan Meier, Sophie Pembroke, Jessica Gilmore

  ‘Claustrophobic? How could it feel claustrophobic when the sky stretches all around, when you look out onto the endless sea? But, no, island life isn’t for everyone. A few are born here and never leave, others return after time away and some go as soon as they can and never come back. But people here are like people anywhere, there are those who gossip, there are those who like to stir up trouble, those who don’t pull their weight. But there’s nowhere else like it. Of course, we all have our own boats so we can escape from each other when we need to.’

  She laughed, but the shadows were back in her eyes. ‘And do you? Escape?’

  ‘Ah, well, I actually only live here part of the time. I have a villa in Dubrovnik, I run most of my business from there…’

  ‘In Dubrovnik? There’s more, then, than the café and bakery monopoly?’

  ‘Some holiday lets,’ he said smoothly. Damir wasn’t sure why he was hiding the bulk of his business from Lily. After all, Marija had a very good idea of his situation, all the island did, it was hardly a secret. But he had a sense that it would be easier to get Lily to trust him, to advocate for him, if she saw him as a small-time businessman. Maybe, if she knew just how real his island monopoly actually was, with the hotels and restaurants and the apartments in Dubrovnik, the villas along the coastline, she would be as uneasy about his desire to also own the coveted access onto the beach as her grandmother was.

  There was another reason behind his decision to downplay his wealth, although he barely liked to admit it even to himself. Money had changed how people saw him, changed his standing in the community, in the city. Since his divorce, he’d been the target of local socialites, interested not in him but in the wealth he’d accumulated and the covetable real estate he owned.

  He had no problem with the unacknowledged chasm between himself and his former peers and he certainly didn’t mind the attention of the city’s wealthiest and most eligible young women. But there was a simple pleasure sitting in the morning sun, enjoying getting to know a pretty girl who had no preconceptions about him. A pleasure he hadn’t enjoyed for a very long time. Not since Kata.

  He pushed the memory of his ex-wife away, glad of the reminder that he should never mix business with pleasure. Attractive as she was, Lily clearly had secrets of her own and history had taught him that his dreams and complicated women did not mix. If he married again he would choose one of the socialites, a woman who understood how marriage at his level worked. Someone who in return for a lavish lifestyle would raise his family, be a consummate hostess and need nothing else from him.

  ‘Thank you again for breakfast.’ Lily pushed back her chair and stood up. ‘You must let me repay you when we’re open for business.’

  ‘It was my pleasure, no repayment necessary.’ Although he would take her up on the offer. It would be an excellent way to further the acquaintance. ‘What are your plans for the rest of the day?’

  ‘Explore a little and then I had better go and familiarise myself with the villa before Ana gets here so I don’t look like too much of an idiot. I also need to put my first order together—Marija says if I email it to the supermarket they deliver it to the ferry and I just need to meet the ferry with a golf cart. Much cheaper than the local shop. Although maybe I shouldn’t have said that.’ She clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes bright with a laughing apology. ‘You probably own the local shop too, don’t you?’

  ‘Everyone on the island orders off the mainland.’ Damir neatly sidestepped the question of the shop’s ownership. ‘But they’re very grateful for the shop when the weather is stormy or they’ve run out of milk for their morning coffee. It was nice to meet you, Lily. Let me know if you need any help with anything. I’d love to show you around sometime, you should take the opportunity to explore while you’re here and I am a wonderful tour guide, or so I’ve been told.’

  He also stood up and held out his hand, and after a tiny hesitation she took it, her clasp smooth and warm. His pulse jumped at the contact, electricity zinging up his arm, and it was all he could do not to drop her hand and jump back. What was that about?

  True, he had been working ridiculous hours lately even by his standards so maybe this reaction was a sign he should indulge in one of the short, no-strings relationships he had occasionally embarked on since his divorce. He released her hand, his heart still hammering.

  ‘That’s very kind of you, but I’m not sure how much time I’ll have for sightseeing. Thank you again—and I am sorry for this morning. I forgot how small the island actually is so no more morning rituals on the beach for me. Anyway, as it’s a small island, I’m sure I’ll see you again.’ And with another quick smile she was off, hurrying back along the harbourside to the narrow road that crisscrossed the island.

  Frowning, Damir watched her go. She’d jumped back from his offer to take her out as if it were a marriage proposal. It was a long time since he’d been turned down by a woman. Still, it wasn’t yet June and summer was a long season on Lokvar. He had plenty of time to befriend the English girl. By the end of the summer he’d have her exactly where he wanted her—on his side. After all, this was business and that was an area where he always won out in the end.

  CHAPTER THREE

  ‘I CAN’T BELIEVE that in a few days’ time the villa will be full of guests.’ Lily shook a pillow vigorously. ‘I have no idea how we’ll be ready on time. Thank goodness you already took care of hiring the staff and they’ll be here tomorrow to help us.’

  She placed the pillow with exaggerated care on the bed she was making up and grinned at Ana, Josip’s cousin and Marija’s right hand woman. Every summer Ana left her home in the capital, Zagreb, to return to the island of her birth and help run the B&B—and as Lily realised less than hour after meeting her she was a fount of all knowledge about everyone and everything on Lokvar.

  Several times Lily had tried to get up the courage to ask her aunt about Damir but couldn’t quite find the words. His offer to show her around was probably just common courtesy—but there had been something more than mere politeness in his eyes, a curious intentness she couldn’t decipher.

  Neither could she work out her own reaction to him. That jolting physical reaction, unlike anything she had ever felt before on a first meeting, unexpected—and not exactly unpleasant—heat coursing through her body. It wasn’t like her. She always, always took relationships slowly; compatibility, then liking, then attraction. That was the safe, the sensible thing to do.

  But, then again, wasn’t she here to be a little less safe, a little less sensible? She picked up another pillow and pummelled it extra hard, glad to take out her uncertainty on the inanimate object.

  ‘I had no idea just how much there was to do,’ she continued, hoping to banish persistent thoughts of dark, dark eyes from her mind. ‘All the floors to scrub and polish, the curtains to wash and iron, and that’s not even considering outside. I’ve started the weeding, but all the paintwork still needs freshening. It’s a good thing I didn’t assume that spending the summer here on Lokvar was a chance to take things easy, imagine how disappointed I would be! I’ve barely had two minutes to sit in the sun, and I’m not sure that’s going to change any time soon.’

  What she didn’t say, tried not to think, was that it suited her to keep so busy, it stopped her from thinking. Stopped her from missing Izzy, from remembering her promise, a promise she had no idea how to actually keep. How did she change the deeply ingrained habits of a lifetime, start living for today instead of planning for tomorrow? Yes, she had taken leave from her work to come here, but what next?

  The way things were going she was going to be too busy to work out how to be spontaneous anyway. But if she didn’t follow through then not only was she breaking a promise but she’d have failed. Only Izzy had known just how much Lily hated to fail. So somehow she was going to just get on with it. Be spontaneous. Have fun. Live enough for the lost years of hard work and planning, for Izzy
’s lost future.

  ‘Don’t worry about the paintwork. Luka can take care of that.’ Ana took the battered pillow from Lily and placed it beside its fellow, straightening the sheet’s edge as she did so. Immediately the room looked made up, crisp and clean. Ana had magic in her fingers, a way of making everything look just so. A talent Lily knew she didn’t have a chance of emulating.

  ‘We’d best make use of that lazy son of mine while we can. Once tourists start turning up and wanting to hire sunbeds and order drinks he’ll be otherwise occupied. I hope I haven’t made a mistake bringing him here this summer, I don’t want him to waste his time lounging outside, flirting with pretty tourists.’

  ‘I’m sure poor Luka will do nothing of the sort,’ protested Lily. ‘Look at how much help he’s been yesterday and this morning.’

  ‘When he looked up from his books, that was.’ Ana might sound annoyed but she couldn’t hide the proud glow in her eyes. Her other children had all grown up and moved out long ago. Luka, in his second year at the local university, had been a surprise baby, born once his siblings had reached teenhood and quite clearly the apple of his doting mother’s eyes.

  ‘You can’t have it both ways,’ Lily said. ‘Either he’s too studious or all he wants to do is ogle tourists, pick one.’

  ‘I’m sure he is quite capable of doing both,’ Ana said darkly, and picked up the pillow to give it another hard shake.

  A warm glow filled Lily. It was nice, this comradely routine. At the high-powered corporate law firm she’d worked for since she’d left Oxford, there was no such thing as chitchat. Everyone was competitive, everybody out for the main advantage and every word a weapon. She hadn’t enjoyed gossip at work like this since she and Izzy had worked together in a local café during sixth form.

  She turned around to survey the bedroom, the first one readied for the expected guests. Marija’s villa didn’t labour under any boutique hotel pretensions. It was simple, clean and homely and Lily loved it. The floors were wooden and covered in brightly coloured rugs, the walls a bright fresh white, hung with Croatian seascapes. The furniture was unpretentious but well made: comfortable sofas heaped with cushions, iron bedsteads and soft white linen. There was no on-site gym, no pool, but there were stunning views from every window and it was less than two minutes from the front door to the edge of the sea.

  A buzzing noise filled the room and Lily darted to the window to see a golf cart cresting the hill that led to the village. ‘Ooh, I wonder what that is?’ She couldn’t get over the charming novelty of receiving her groceries by golf cart once they’d arrived on that morning’s ferry.

  ‘I thought we’d received today’s order,’ Ana said.

  ‘We did but maybe we forgot something. I’ll go check.’ Lily sprang down the stairs, out of the open front door and down the small stone flight of stairs leading onto a wide paved terrace where she almost barrelled into the bronzed young man who delivered orders from the ferry.

  ‘Sorry,’ she gasped. ‘I thought I’d save you a trip. Oh…’ She stopped as she realised that, instead of the expected bag of groceries, he held a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. ‘Are these for us? Hvala.’ Thank you was of the very few words of Croatian she could manage.

  She took the huge bouquet, barely able to see over the top of the colourful blooms and, much more carefully than she had exited the villa, returned to the hallway where Ana was waiting for her.

  ‘Aren’t they beautiful?’ Lily carefully placed them on the perfectly polished reception desk. ‘They must be from Mum and Josip. How thoughtful. That is, if they are for me?’ She looked guiltily at the older woman. ‘Of course, they could be for you.’

  ‘For me?’ Ana’s laugh echoed melodiously around the hallway. ‘Who would be sending me flowers like that? If it was my husband I’d be immediately suspicious about what he was up to.’

  ‘I’m sure he still sends you flowers sometimes. Let’s see.’ Lily extracted the envelope tucked into the side of the flowers and opened it, staring at the words in disbelief, heat infusing her cheeks as she did so. ‘Oh! They’re not from Mum after all. How peculiar.’

  She read the card again, not sure she’d taken it in properly the first time, but there was no change in the words, written in decisive yet elegant script.

  Dear Lily,

  Good luck for the start of the season. I hope to see you at the island party tomorrow.

  If you’ve changed your mind about that personal tour just let me know.

  Damir

  Lily’s cheeks heated even further as she handed Ana the card and watched her read it, her thinly plucked eyebrows almost comically high. Ana whistled long and low as she gave the card back to Lily.

  ‘Damir Kozina,’ she said slowly, drawing out every syllable. Lily couldn’t tell if her tone was admiring or admonishing. ‘I didn’t know you two were acquainted.’

  ‘Hardly,’ protested Lily. ‘I ran into him just before you arrived and he bought me breakfast, nothing more exciting than that.’ She looked again at the flowers, bright and cheerful and clearly expensive. ‘Certainly nothing exciting enough to warrant flowers like these. Maybe he’s just being nice…’ she finished doubtfully.

  ‘Damir? Nice?’ Ana gave a snort of laughter. ‘I’ve never known him do anything if there isn’t something in it for him. You must have made quite an impression.’

  ‘I probably did,’ Lily admitted. ‘He caught me at a weak moment. These flowers are probably a pity gift more than anything else. I bet he thinks I’m not going to last the first week of having to deal with actual people.’

  ‘If you say so,’ Ana said. ‘Be careful, though, he has quite a reputation.’

  ‘Oh?’ Here was the chance she’d been waiting for. So why wasn’t she jumping straight in with questions? Luckily Ana continued before she could think of something that sounded suitably disinterested.

  ‘He’s been a bit of a playboy since his divorce. High-maintenance girls from the mainland if my sources are right, and they usually are. I wouldn’t have said you were his type, I’ve never known him go after tourists or islanders before. I guess we’ll see at the party. You’ll be turning all the single girls green if Damir is interested in you. Half the seasonal staff only take jobs here in the hope of snaring him.’

  Lily couldn’t help but feel a twinge—well, more than a twinge if she was being honest—of curiosity at the information, but something more pressing had to be dealt with. This wasn’t the first time the harbourside party that kicked off the season in Lokvar had been mentioned over the last few days. It was clearly quite an occasion, but the thought of spending an evening with a lot of strangers, bound to ask about why she was here, was a terrifying thought. ‘Oh, yes.’ Lily turned away, aiming for nonchalant. ‘The party. I’m not sure that I’m going to go.’

  ‘Not go?’ Ana said, her voice incredulous. ‘But, Lily, everybody goes. It’s our last chance to relax and enjoy ourselves before the summer starts.’

  ‘Parties aren’t really my thing,’ Lily said. ‘Besides, this is the island’s party, for the people who live here. I’m just as much a visitor as the tourists and I don’t speak a word of Croatian. I’d probably just make people uncomfortable, hanging around not knowing anyone and not able to join in, needing everyone to translate all the time.’

  ‘You may have noticed, everybody speaks English.’ Ana put her hands on her hips. ‘And you are Marija’s granddaughter, which makes you one of us. Your grandmother never misses a party, in fact she is usually one of the last to leave. If you are here looking after things for her then it’s your duty to represent her. We’ve got a long and busy season ahead of us, Lily, you have to grab your fun where you can.’

  The protest died on Lily’s lips. Hadn’t she just been wondering where to start with her live for the moment project and here she was, failing at the first hurdle. Was it the thought of a whole party full of stranger
s that daunted her—or the knowledge that Damir would be there possibly looking for her? Or, worse, not looking for her and flirting with some heiress.

  ‘Maybe you’re right. I’ll think about it,’ Lily said. ‘I promise.’

  ‘Make sure you do. Don’t shut yourself away, Lily.’ Ana gave her hand a quick squeeze before bustling away to berate Luka for taking a quick break.

  Lily slowly made her way back upstairs, leaving the flowers on the reception desk. Beautiful as they were, they would dominate her small room, be a constant reminder of Damir and the way she’d reacted to him, the way a tingle had shot up her arm when he’d touched her, the way his half-smile had made her want to reach out and touch that unlikely dimple. She’d done her best to put him out of her mind, but when she’d walked to the shop yesterday and seen a tall, lean man in sunglasses and an expensive-looking shirt, an unequivocal quiver of expectation had rippled through her, only to turn to disappointment when he’d turned out to be a complete stranger.

  She paused, torn between returning to work and taking some time out, before heading up another floor to her small attic bedroom. The room was sparsely furnished: a bed, a small wardrobe and a dressing table, a rug on the floor. She had brought little with her, and the room was almost devoid of anything personal except for a framed picture on the dressing table. Lily picked it up, swallowing as she did so.

  She didn’t really need to look at it, she knew exactly what she’d see, could have described every detail down to the flowers in the background and the colour of the subjects’ brightly painted toenails. But she studied it, as if answers could be found in the laughing face of the two girls in the photo.

  The girls were around sixteen, posing dramatically in the back garden of Lily’s parents’ small terraced house in Ealing. They were both dressed up, Lily in a floor-length dress of a deep blue that matched her eyes and made her blonde hair gleam golden in the sun, the neckline and waistline sparkling with tiny crystals, the same crystals studding her elaborate updo. Izzy, disdaining the traditional as usual, had gone for a vintage Fifties look in a vibrant red polka dot that suited her curves and wild, dark curls.