Aimee Duffy - Flirting in Florence

Book Six of Summer Flings

Aimée Duffy

A division of HarperCollins Publishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk

HarperImpulse an imprint of

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

77–85 Fulham Palace Road

Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2014

Copyright © Aimee Duffy 2014

Cover images © Shutterstock.com

Aimee Duffy asserts the moral right

to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is

available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are

the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to

actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is

entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International

and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

By payment of the required fees, you have been granted

the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access

and read the text of this e-book on screen.

No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted,

downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or

stored in or introduced into any information storage and

retrieval system, in any form or by any means,

whether electronic or mechanical, now known or

hereinafter invented, without the express

written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition © August 2014

ISBN: 9780008106317

Version 2014-07-25

Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

For the ninja, super-graphic-girl and queen Catco.

I couldn't have done this without the support of you 'special' ladies.

Copyright HarperImpulse an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 77–85 Fulham Palace Road Hammersmith, London W6 8JB www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2014 Copyright © Aimee Duffy 2014 Cover images © Shutterstock.com Aimee Duffy asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Ebook Edition © August 2014 ISBN: 9780008106317 Version 2014-07-25 Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

Dedication For the ninja, super-graphic-girl and queen Catco. I couldn't have done this without the support of you 'special' ladies.

Florence Florence

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Aimée Duffy

About HarperImpulse

About the Publisher

‘ This is much, much better,’ Elle said as she led them through the door of another of the Muirs’ luxury properties.

Ciara realised that the Hollywood mansion in LA, the beach house in Miami, the townhouse in Paris and the spectacular multi-levelled house in Santorini were only a taster of their family’s wealth.

Everything here was marble and gold with Renaissance art in the form of statues and paintings she’d have thought would be in museums, not in someone’s entrance hall. Again there was a spiral staircase and she could see their granddad’s style in the structure, or maybe Zack had helped with the design.

Either way, now she knew why Zack was worried about giving all this up. It must be terrifying to go from having everything to nothing. Not to mention the fact he thought he’d be letting so many people down.

‘Elly, you’re talking like you’ve spent the last few days in a Travelodge,’ Zack teased.

Travelodges were perfectly fine accommodation in Ciara’s opinion. The five star hotel they’d just left was stunning.

‘A hotel never has the same comforts,’ Elle said and on that note a woman dressed in black wearing a white apron came to greet them.

Unsurprisingly, both of the Muirs spoke perfect Italian – or at least she assumed it was perfect by the unfaltering string of words delivered with confidence. More staff appeared and Elle must have instructed them to take the luggage upstairs because that’s what they did.

‘Okay, I say we get showered and then hit the bars. The sun’s going down and I don’t want to waste a night stuck in here,’ Elle said, then turned to the stairs assuming everyone would agree instantly.

‘There’s nothing wrong with a quiet night,’ Ciara protested. After all, her funds were running low and she’d promised Elle she’d show Zack he could have a great time without spending a fortune.

Elle whirled on her. ‘A night out isn’t going to break the bank, Cia.’

A night out with those three could put her in debt for the rest of her life. But they had a point too. She didn’t want to spend the last stop of her trip stuck in a house, even if the house was massive and incredible.

Luckily, she’d abused the wifi at the airport and had pre-planned their trip to the city thanks to travel websites. And the cheapest place for a night out was somewhere the tourists didn’t go much, or so said the reviewer.

‘Fine but if we’re going anywhere it’s the bars in Piazza di Santo Spirito. I hear it’s not as touristy as the other places.’

Elle liked exclusive and Ciara took her shrug as a win.

‘I think tonight I’m going for classy rather than slutty,’ Gem said, following Elle up the stairs.

Hand in hand with Zack, they trailed up behind her friends.

Elle laughed. ‘There’s more to it than wearing a nice dress, Gem. If you get on a guy’s knee two minutes after you meet him, it doesn’t matter what you’ve got on.’

‘It’s not slutty if he’s into it. What do you think Zack? Is it better to go with the buzz or be a tease and frustrate the guy?’ Gem turned to them with genuine curiosity in her eyes.

His cheekbones darkened. ‘Um, I don’t think I should answer that.’

Gem stopped on the stairs and scowled. ‘So you think it’s slutty?’

He held his hands up. ‘Didn’t say that. I meant different guys see things differently. Just like you three.’

‘What do you think?’ Gem was relentless when her temper got the better of her.

‘Well, that depends on the girl.’

Ciara was beginning to hate this conversation. ‘Look, to each her own. Can we drop this?’

‘You don’t need to be jealous, Ciara. He’s all about your fufu. I want a guy’s opinion on this.’ Gem folded her arms and waited while Ciara’s face flushed.

‘Just bloody answer her so we can get ready!’ Elle demanded.

Zack took his time in answering, despite Elle’s death glare. ‘Some guys like it when a woman takes charge and makes the first move, and almost every man I’ve met wants complete honesty up front. If you’re clear it’s just about sex, I don’t think that’s slutty. It’s actually kinda hot.’