Burn My Hart (The Notorious Harts 2)

‘It’s fine,’ I rush to reassure her. ‘We’re just losing time here by the pool.’

‘Did Theo mention my hens’ night?’ she prompts, pulling her long blonde hair over one shoulder.

Jagger reaches for her hand once she drops it to her side, his fingers lacing through hers. She lifts her face to his, smiling naturally, kindly, and the strength of their connection is palpable.

‘I hadn’t yet, no,’ Theo responds.

Grace rolls her eyes then shoots Theo an impatient look. ‘It’s tonight. You’re invited.’ She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small card. It has the name of a restaurant on it. ‘Sorry about the late notice. I told him about it a couple of weeks ago...’

He lifts his hands in the air. ‘I forgot. What can I tell you?’

‘Yeah, yeah.’ Grace grins, so it’s obvious she’s not really annoyed. ‘It doesn’t matter. You can make it?’

‘Yeah, of course.’ I nod after only the slightest hesitation, thinking of time away from Theo with true regret. ‘I wouldn’t miss it.’

‘Great. I’ll see you there. Eight o’clock.’ Then, after another pause, ‘Do you want me to send a car for you?’

‘No, Grace! You’re the bride. That’s sweet of you but the last thing you should be doing is worrying about me. I’m really flattered you’ve even invited me.’

‘Of course!’ She says it like it’s the most natural thing in the world. I feel like a total intruder. This is a private family event and I’m no one to any of them. Not really. Jagger drops Grace’s hand and pulls her close to his chest, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. I can’t help but contrast their easy familiarity with the way Theo and I are standing a couple of inches apart, carefully not touching.

‘Are you excited?’ I ask Grace, drawing her a little away from Theo and Jagger. We move towards the door by silent, unspoken agreement.

‘Yeah. Nervous too,’ she whispers. ‘Not about the marriage but about the wedding. So many people, all looking at me.’ She shakes her head. ‘I didn’t realise I was nervous about that kind of thing until recently.’

‘Oh, you just have to fake it,’ I say with confidence, putting my hand in the small of her back and guiding her into the house. ‘Come with me. I have something for you.’

She frowns. ‘For me?’

‘You are the bride, right?’

‘Yeah, but you didn’t need to do that.’

‘It’s fine,’ I rush to assure her. We walk towards the bedroom and I’m grateful AF that the maid service has been because a few hours ago the room bore clear evidence of how we’d spent the night.

I push in and lift my suitcase from the wardrobe, unzipping it and removing a couple of heavy-duty shopping bags. A bounty of FS products sits inside each one.

‘Oh, wow.’ Grace stares at them, shaking her head. ‘Asha, this is way too generous.’

‘Don’t be silly. It’s my company, you know.’ I wink at her and she smiles, a beautiful smile that lights up her eyes.

‘That’s really kind of you.’ She throws a look over her shoulder to make sure we’re still alone. ‘So you and Theo...?’

Her curiosity is natural but it makes something inside me sting. How did he introduce me? As a friend, that’s right.

‘Just friends,’ I say, the hole in my chest hurting all the more for the fact that, at its heart, the statement is true. We’re friends who sleep together, nothing more. And we never will be more.

‘That’s what he said.’ She shakes her head. ‘That’s a shame. I kind of liked the idea of him settling down.’

My heart skids to a stop, then rushes back into action. ‘I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon.’

Grace’s eyes narrow and I have the strangest feeling she’s trying to read my mind. Then she lifts her shoulders as though it doesn’t really matter. ‘You’re probably right. Thank you again for this. It’s way too much...’

‘Nonsense.’

Inexplicably, and out of nowhere, my throat thickens with the threat of tears. I shake my head to clear them, forcing a smile to my face. ‘I’ll see you tonight.’

* * *