Secrets of a Chalet Girl by Lorraine Wilson Read Free Book Online Page A

paying guests?” He asked. “I have coffee and croissants if you’re hungry.”
    “Sounds good.” She smiled awkwardly, wondering how he could be so unfazed by this.
    Lots of practice Flora. Get used to it. This is what it’s like being back in the dating world – coping with the morning after…
    As embarrassing as being naked under the duvet was she was more worried about last night. Had her inexperience been really obvious? Had she made a twat of herself?
    It wasn’t the kind of subject you could casually bring up over coffee and croissants though, was it?
    “I’ve got a spare dressing gown in the en suite if you like? I’ll go and get breakfast and you can use the bathroom.”
    With relief she streaked to the bathroom once he’d left the room, touched he’d understood her embarrassment. Once the door was locked she let out a sigh of relief. Then she looked in the mirror and relief turned to horror as she noticed the smudged make-up beneath her eyes.
    She did not look good.
    What am I supposed to do now?
    Didn’t people vanish after one-night stands? Was this even a one-night stand?
    Help!
    She squeezed her eyes tightly shut feeling like a small goldfish plunged into a very large ocean. Perhaps she should eat breakfast but then get quickly out before she outstayed her welcome? Was that the polite thing to do?
    Sex with Zac had been incredible. Nerve endings she hadn’t even known she possessed tingled at the memory of last night.
    I’ve exorcised Tom’s ghost.
    Mostly.
    She hoped Zac wouldn’t talk about Scott and Holly’s wedding too much. It wasn’t his fault, he didn’t know today should’ve been her wedding day and it was hardly a first date topic of conversation. Pain cramped in her stomach and she ignored it. Stress cramps had become a frequent feature of the past six months.
    Flora washed her face quickly and put the white waffle robe on. At least a light tan from the winter sun meant her skin didn’t look too terrible without make-up. She needed to track her handbag down so she could brush her hair though. She ran her fingers through the tangles, trying to tame her blonde locks into some semblance of style.
    I did the right thing by walking out. I had no choice.
    She tried to stifle the hurt that accompanied the thought. Tom’s family hated her guts and she felt the loss of them every day. They’d been one of the reasons she’d put up with Tom for as long as she had. They were practically her surrogate family given that her own parents had upped and moved to Thailand as soon as she turned eighteen, leaving her rootless and alone.
    A fresh wave of fear washed over her as she padded barefoot out of the en suite, submerging her in fear of the future and fear of having to be one hundred per cent responsible for herself with no back up plan and no parents to run home to if it all went wrong.
    Get over yourself and grow up Flora! Other people cope.
    This option was a hell of a lot better than marrying a man who’d been making her miserable. Did she really want to be still living in a minefield, not knowing which step might trigger an explosion? She liked being with Tash, Sophie and Amelia – they reminded her how much she missed the old friends Tom had gradually squeezed out of their life together. How could she have let that happen? It hadn’t seemed to matter too much when she was so close to his sister Cathy.
    That would be the same Cathy who wasn’t even speaking to her now.
    Flora climbed back into the bed. It was a truly gorgeous bed, so much nicer than her creaking bunk-bed back at Chalet Repos.
    Zac came into the room, carrying a tray with fresh croissants and a cafetière of coffee. She didn’t like to say she was strictly a tea girl.
    I’m certainly never being a ‘cocktail girl’ again…
    Her cheeks burned with embarrassment when she thought about what they’d done last night. Those Mojitos had a lot to answer for.
    You did it because you wanted to, the drinks didn’t make