Ibiza Insanity

by Aimee Duffy

  Ciara’s face burned like she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t. Elle and Kieran had decided to join them, hand in hand.

  Gem recovered first and saved her. ‘Where do you want me to start? I have a list longer than my arm.’

  ‘Funny, Gem. Seriously though, I came to ask if you wanted to leave the clubbing until tomorrow? Kieran’s also in a band and they’re playing here later,’ Elle said.

  He was in a band? Maybe that explained the eyeliner.

  ‘Is there a hot base player?’ Gem asked.

  Kieran laughed. ‘If you mean in a sweaty way, yeah. The drummer might be more your type.’

  ‘Then I’m in!’ Gem said with a grin.

  ‘Me too,’ Ciara agreed. For some reason she’d lost the drive to party the night away and was actually relieved by Elle’s change in plans.

  ***

  ‘It’s official, I’m so tired I might actually sleep for the next week.’ Elle rolled over on the sun lounger, wincing as she did.

  Gem laughed. ‘If you did more than sunbathe and starve yourself you wouldn’t be so sore today.’

  Elle smiled, stretching out on her stomach. ‘I held my own last night.’

  Ciara wrinkled her nose, trying not to remember Kieran’s less than quiet performance. ‘Who knew he’d be the screamer.’

  ‘He didn’t scream. He was just vocal about what he enjoyed,’ Elle defended.

  ‘Milo was a screamer. And a biter.’ Gem sighed. ‘I really miss him.’

  ‘You should have given the drummer a chance,’ Ciara said, though she’d been secretly glad since hearing one friend hump the night away had been enough.

  Elle wasn’t the only one tired today, and on this trip to the beach Ciara felt more mellow than she had in a while. She didn’t even want to get up and do anything. Even with the dock waiting to be explored and the beach dying to be walked on, sleep sounded as much as she could manage.

  Gem sighed. ‘He was hot, but that kiss after the show barely made me warm and fuzzy. It would be like having an orgasm with a vibrator. Boring and predictable.’

  ‘Some girls would be happy just to have an orgasm,’ Ciara pointed out.

  Gem gasped. ‘Don’t tell me Zack’s shit in bed.’

  ‘Don’t tell her anything,’ Elle chimed in. ‘My stomach’s queasy enough as it is.’

  Ciara decided a little payback was in order since her friend had kept her up past five this morning. ‘He’s amazing. Gem you wouldn’t believe the things he can do with his tongue and a tub of ice cream.’

  ‘That’s disgusting.’ Elle got up, showing off just how amazing she looked in her new bikini. ‘I’m going for a walk if you keep this up.’

  ‘Tell me about the ice cream,’ Gem said. ‘Did he lick it off you?’

  They waited until Elle stormed away before giggling.

  ‘Serves her right for not remembering how thin the walls are.’ Gem turned to lie on her side. ‘I do want the details though.’

  Ciara just shook her head.

  ‘You’re such a bore.’

  Ciara’s phone chimed so she dug it out of her bag and read the text. ‘Zack’s here.’

  She didn’t want to find out why that news wiped away the exhaustion and made her more excited than she’d been waiting for Santa to come on Christmas Eve.

  Gem grinned. ‘Looks like you’ll get your payback tonight.’

  Ciara smiled back, hoping the day went in quickly.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Ciara knew something was wrong the second Zack walked into their hotel room suite. He didn’t say more than a quick hello before disappearing into her room and stripping out of his suit. She couldn’t blame him. The sun was at its hottest around now and he must be boiling in all those layers.

  But she’d come back to meet him, leaving Gem and Elle at the beach, hoping for more than a kiss on the cheek. He hadn’t even looked twice at her new bikini!

  As she waited in the main room for him to shower, the thought of what happened to make him like this was driving her insane. On the other hand, if he wanted to talk about it he would have and pushing wouldn’t do her any good.

  Then she remembered what Gem said about his ex and wondered if he really was a commitment phoebe. That at least would make sense. She’d been having stronger than appropriate feelings for him and maybe he noticed. Maybe coming to meet him looked like she was desperate or something.

  She scrubbed her face with her hands. ‘What a way to feck up a good thing, Ciara.’

  The sound of the shower cutting off had her pulling herself together. He’d come here after all. If he thought she was too clingy or was planning on cutting their time short he could have easily done that over the phone. Whatever was wrong was clearly unrelated to her.

  She hoped.

  Next she heard the bed springs protest and frowned. It didn’t sound like he was in a rush to get ready and hit the beach.

  Before she could overthink things more, she got up and went to the doorway. Zack was on the edge of the bed in nothing but a towel, with his elbows on his knees and his hands fisted in his hair.

  The sight of him broke her heart. Without her permission her legs carried her across to him and she reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder. Zack looked up and she saw the desolation in his eyes.

  ‘Are you okay?’ she asked stupidly. He clearly wasn’t.

  ‘It’s nothing.’

  He wrapped his arms around her, resting his head between her breasts but there was nothing sexual about it. She guessed he was looking for comfort, just couldn’t figure out why. Still, she ran her fingers through his hair because it was all she could do.

  ‘I’ve missed you,’ she whispered.

  The way he tensed against her was like a slap in the face.

  ‘Me too,’ he said, but it sounded wary.

  Was this how it ended between him and Vanessa? Pulling away from her emotionally so as to lower the blow when it all came crashing down. But that was ridiculous. And she was different to Vanessa. She and Zack were only having a fling. It wasn’t serious.

  So then why did that feel like a lie?

  She wriggled out of his hold. After all she refused to be the clingy woman he didn’t want. Whether she was his cousin’s friend or not, she’d rather be dumped now than become a pity fuck.

  ‘What’s up with you?’ he asked, frowning.

  ‘I asked you first,’ she said, folding her arms across her chest.

  He sighed and rubbed his face with his palm. ‘Munich was rough. My granddad wants me to stop arsing around and grow up. We had a few disagreements.’

  ‘Oh.’ She relaxed her stance. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’

  ‘Truthfully, no. I’d like to pretend it never happened if you don’t mind.’

  It’s not that she was annoyed he wasn’t opening up to her, just knew from personal experience that burying your head in the sand didn’t make anything go away. She’d tried it when her ma left but the pain and heartache was still there, just waiting for her to grow up and deal with it.

  ‘It might be none of my business – and you don’t have to talk to me about it – but I think you should take the time to think about what it is you want to do.’

  He looked at her seriously and nodded. ‘You’re right, I do. First, I’m sure in my moping I forgot to mention how sexy you are in that bikini.’

  It wasn’t misery in his eyes as he took in her body from head to toe and she decided to drop the serious stuff for now. If he wanted to talk things through she was sure he would when he was ready.

  Instead she struck a pose, placing her hands on her hips and pointing one foot in front of the other. ‘Sexy is an understatement. I look incredible, thank you very much.’

  His smile melted away the last of the tension in his expression. ‘You look better than that. Now come here so I can show you how much I missed you.’

  ***

  By the time they got to the beach Ciara was exhausted in the best possi
ble way. They hit the refreshment stand first, grabbing slushies like a couple of kids then walked hand in hand to where she’d left Elle and Gem earlier.

  The amount of heads Zack turned with his beautiful torso was startling, but she reckoned some of the guys were giving her a once over too. Some maybe even twice.

  ‘I love the bikini, but I don’t love the way every boy here is drooling over you,’ he said, squeezing her hand.

  ‘They could be ogling you, ya know.’

  Zack laughed and pulled her in for a kiss. ‘There. Now they’ll have no doubt who I’m attracted to.’

  ‘I’m not sure. That felt more like a friendly peck than a lust fuelled snog.’ She sipped at her drink.

  He pulled her to a stop then dropped her hand. ‘This should change their minds.’

  With his free hand he grabbed her bum and pressed her so close their sun cream was all that stood between them. The kiss he treated her to was long, a little frantic and had a lot of tongue on both sides.

  Lost in the moment, she let go of her slush in favour of the muscles covering his ribs and clung on until he’d worked her into a passion fuelled frenzy. It didn’t matter that she’d had him less than an hour ago. She wanted him again, right there and didn’t care who saw.

  Luckily Zack had a bit more sense and pulled away with a grin. ‘I think that’s enough or we’ll end up giving them a show they didn’t bargain for.’

  She pouted and he swooped down for another, gentler kiss.

  ‘I can’t wait to get you back to the hotel,’ he said.

  ‘I vote you take me now.’ She was still clinging to him, tracing the ridges of his muscles with her fingers and thumbs. But there was so much more to touch, that was just a teaser.

  ‘Ciara!’

  Gem’s shout snapped her mind out of the gutter.

  She turned to see her friend waving a flyer around a few meters away.

  ‘Later,’ Zack promised and took her hand again. They started towards her friends. ‘I take it you weren’t a fan of the slush?’

  Ciara’s cheeks flamed. ‘I had better things to hold.’

  He laughed and the deep, happy sound made her smile. Whatever had happened in Munich was clearly forgotten about for the moment and, though she was glad he was in a better mood, she still worried about what happened.

  But Gem and Elle’s obvious excitement distracted her.

  ‘Look!’ Gem said, shoving the flyer into her hands.

  It was advertising a British magazine’s competition for the next Ibiza Top Model. The grand prize was a private party with other models, a few top photographers in the industry and David Call would be there too.

  ‘We’re so entering. Three chances are better than one,’ Elle said.

  ‘What? I’m not entering.’ She may look sexy in her new bikini but she was not model material.

  ‘Cia you have to. One of us should win and we’ll get to meet Dave!’ The way Gem turned his name into a sigh was impressive.

  ‘I’m sure you and Elle will manage without me.’

  Zack squeezed her hand and she looked away from Gem’s disappointed pout and into his dark eyes. ‘I think you should.’

  ‘Come on! I’m not embarrassing myself when there will be gazillions of gorgeous, stick thin girls.’ Despite being trimmer than normal, she didn’t have the lean, petite frame to pull it off.

  ‘You’re stunning and incredibly sexy. There’s no reason why you can’t win it.’ Since Zack sounded serious and her friends didn’t immediately laugh like he was joking, she wondered if they’d all lost their grip on reality.

  ‘He’s right, you know,’ Elle said.

  She turned to Elle, completely speechless. If any of them could go by stunning it would be her.

  ‘Of course I’m right, and you’re not just beautiful with make-up, you’re naturally gorgeous,’ he added.

  Her face burned so hot she swore it was on fire.

  ‘Obviously, I’m going to win.’ Elle said with a smile. ‘But if for some unknown reason they don’t love me, then you and Gem will be in with a chance.’

  ‘Modesty isn’t your strong suit, Elly.’

  Gem giggled and Elle frowned. ‘I don’t see anything wrong with stating the facts. Anyway, how was Munich?’

  His hand squeezed so hard on hers that her bones creaked. ‘Ow, Zack!’

  He loosened his hold and brought her hand up and pressed it against the cold slush. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘Guess that answers that,’ Elle said and Zack’s expression got hard like he was going back to the place he’d been earlier.

  ‘Elle, enough,’ Ciara said, glaring at her friend.

  Though Elle’s chin dropped for a second, the surprise vanished under that pity look she hated. Now she knew about Vanessa, she could relax a bit because if it was commitment that was his problem then that was fine by her. They weren’t permanent or anything.

  The thing was it felt like a problem, especially with the way her lungs tightened when she thought of going back to Dublin without him.

  ***

  Becoming Ibiza’s Top Model wasn’t as easy as Gem had told her it would be. Later that day they found a rep who put them through their paces snapping them in different poses, checking how they strutted their stuff and there was even an inspection for flaws that he called ‘skin snakes’.

  Like having stretch marks weren’t bad enough, he had to go and call them something uglier.

  Eventually he was satisfied with their bodies and put them through to the next round. Where Elle and Gem seemed to burst with excitement, Ciara hung back and felt more objectified than anything else.

  While they waited by the pool at the Ibiza Rocks hotel with a dozen other gorgeous girls, Zack pulled her onto his knee and rested his chin on her shoulder.

  ‘You don’t look happy to be here,’ he said, wrapping his arms around her waist.

  ‘I just wish it was over already.’ She looked around at all the women preening in the sun, feeling alone with her wish. Even Elle and Gem were fixing their hair and applying subtle make-up.

  ‘Every other girl is eating up the attention but you’re shying away from it,’ Zack said, sounding confused like he couldn’t figure her out.

  ‘I was the ultimate geek growing up. My classmates teased me all the time and the fact I dressed like a boy didn’t help much either. I liked my baggy jeans and loose jumpers.’ She smiled as she remembered how horrified Elle and Gem had been when they discovered she’d never owned a dress.

  ‘What changed?’ he asked, sounding more curious than put off.

  ‘Me, I suppose. Elle and Gem helped a lot too. I was done being the brainy outsider and going to Oxford meant I was in similar company. Instead of being a geek, I was just another statistic.’

  He kissed her shoulder. ‘You don’t have a high enough opinion of yourself.’

  ‘I’m honest. There’s no point pretending to be someone I’m not.’

  ‘I know exactly what you mean,’ he said.

  She wondered if he was referring to working with the family business instead of following his dreams, or remembering how he broke up with his girlfriend.

  Since he didn’t know she knew about Vanessa and her friends were well out of ear shot, she decided to pry a little.

  ‘What about you?’ she asked, relaxing back into him. ‘I thought a stud like you would have been snapped up years ago.’

  He laughed, holding her close. ‘My parents. Granddad always said how much they loved each other. Even though he had someone else lined up for my dad, he accepted my mum into the family.’

  It was old fashioned to think about arranged marriages this side of the century but her upbringing had been so different. She’d thought her parents were in love till her ma did a disappearing act. Her da hadn’t found anyone else. It was like his heart and trust had both been shattered beyond repair.

  ‘Still, you didn’t answer my question,’ she pressed.

  Zack paused for so long she was sure he wasn
’t going to answer, but then he said, ‘There was a girl I thought I loved. When it came down to it, I knew we were all wrong for each other.’

  She wished she could see his face because the calm tone of his voice sounded too forced.

  ‘That must have been rough for both of you,’ she said, linking her fingers through his over her stomach.

  ‘Mmm,’ he said, but it didn’t sound like an agreement. ‘What about you, since we’re sharing? Has no one tried to solder a ring onto your finger?’

  Shaking her head, she said, ‘Geek, remember?’

  He hugged her closer. ‘Cutest geek I’ve met by a long shot.’

  As they watched photographers and journalists appear from the hotel, Ciara reckoned her chance to find out more would have to be later.

  ‘God, I hate getting my picture taken,’ she grumbled.

  ‘Maybe we should have practiced in private. You know, to help you get over your embarrassment,’ he said.

  ‘I think this is a little different than those kinds of pictures,’ she said, imagining posing in inviting positions while Zack snapped her with his phone.

  ‘Much less fun though,’ he said.

  She had to agree.

  ***

  To no one’s surprise, Elle scooped the title of Ibiza’s Top Model 2014 and would be featured in not just the magazine, but in advertisements for clubs and other things over the coming year. She got a healthy cheque for her troubles too, but Elle had her eye on the biggest prize.

  A section of the beach was being closed off for the private party and Elle managed to get them all invites – to Gem’s delight. So they were back at the hotel for a quick bite to eat, shower and change.

  When she’d finished with the room service meal, Zack said, ‘How about that shower?’

  Elle scowled at them. ‘The walls are paper thin. If you make me bring up my dinner I’ll kick you both out.’

  Gem was the one who jumped to their defence. ‘You only know that because of the racket you made last night. I think it’s our turn for payback.’

  ‘Too much information,’ Zack protested.

  Since a frisk in the shower would be weird with her friends listening in, she told him to go first. Though he looked disappointed, he did and when her friends cleared out for their showers, Ciara went to her room and lay on the bed until he’d finished.