Charlotte Phillips - Your Room or Mine?:

Charlotte Phillips

A division of HarperCollins Publishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk

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 2013 Copyright © Charlotte Phillips 2013 Cover Photographs © shutterstock.com Charlotte Phillips 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 © May 2013 ISBN: 9780007532032 Version 2014-09-30 Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

Dedication For Fran, who is always in my corner. With love and thanks.

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

Charlotte Phillips

About HarperImpulse

About the Publisher

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 2013

Copyright © Charlotte Phillips 2013

Cover Photographs © shutterstock.com

Charlotte Phillips 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 © May 2013

ISBN: 9780007532032

Version 2014-09-30

Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

For Fran, who is always in my corner. With love and thanks.

Izzy Shaw glanced around the hotel lobby full of loved-up couples revelling in the sumptuous luxury and wondered in what universe she’d thought a night here by herself could succeed where ice-cream, wine and support sessions with the girls had failed.

To pass the time as she queued for check-in, and to strengthen her resolve, she mentally ran through the list she’d made of Joe’s faults, which according to her friend Shauna should be referred to at moments of weakness.

1) Leaves boxer shorts on the floor.

2) Watches more than one show at once on TV resulting in infuriating flicking of remote control.

3) Obsessive preoccupation with major football events plus outrageous cash outlay on season ticket.

4) Leaves toilet door open.

5) Has one night stands while supposedly working away.

Of course, that last one was the only one that really counted. She’d put up with all the others for three years, none of them had been deal breakers.

She reached down for the handle of her overnight bag and moved up two spaces in the line. The couple in front of her were so closely entwined together that she could hardly tell where one person stopped and the other began. As she watched the girl nuzzled into her partner’s neck and Izzy averted her eyes and stared at the glossy marble floor.

Urgh! Get a room!

She supposed that’s exactly what they were doing. Just as she would have been, in that parallel universe where Joe hadn’t let her down.

A few nights in the company of her friends in the wake of her discovery of Joe’s betrayal had certainly filled her with temporary bravado. Opting to take this night away herself as a pamper break instead of just cutting her losses and cancelling had seemed like a great idea when she was buoyed up by wine and chocolate and pep talks.

‘It’ll just be a waste of a good room if you don’t go,’ Shauna had insisted. ‘You won’t get the money back now. It’s luxurious, it’s expensive and best of all it’s got the perfect access for Selfridges and Harvey Nicks. An evening in the spa, a gourmet dinner and then you shop until you drop. You’ll be over him within 24 hours.’

The moment six months ago when she’d booked this place flashed into her mind. Just great . Because what she really needed right now was a flashback to a time when Joe had been everything to her. She gritted her teeth hard. This was her Reinvention Mini-Break, her Get-Strong Mini-Break. It was NOT the planned Izzy-and-Joe’s Surprise Romantic Mini-Break. Plans could change.

People could change too.

She reached the front of the line. She carried her bag to the Receptionist and forced a smile across the high marble counter.

‘I have a booking in the name of ‘Shaw’,’ she said.

The receptionist pressed buttons, nodded efficiently.

‘I have a table booked in the restaurant for tonight,’ the receptionist said. ‘And a His and Hers Spa Treatment.’

She’d forgotten about that. The lobby seemed suddenly too warm.

‘Can I change the Spa treatment?’ she said, trying to keep her voice as muted as possible. There was zero privacy at the crowded check-in desk. ‘Something a bit more…’ she groped for the right description and failed. ‘For one?’ she said.

The receptionist glanced up, clearly taking in the fact that she was alone. The warmth of a blush crept upwards from her neck. She might as well have stood on the counter and announced to the room that she was unexpectedly single.

‘I’m afraid the His-and-Hers Treatment is part of the Romantic Getaway Package,’ the receptionist said, not bothering to lower her voice. ‘I can cancel it of course, but I can’t swap it for anything else.’

Izzy stared at her.

‘Of course, you’re welcome to book additional treatments as you like, they will be charged individually. If you’d care to ring down to the Spa when you’ve checked in, they can give you a list.’