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Love was powerful.

Love was brilliant.

Love had changed my life.

And my romantic adventures with Romeo were only just beginning.

EPILOGUE

SAMMIE

Five days later

‘Oh my God!’ I glanced down at the phone screen, my heart almost leaping from my chest. ‘It’s ringing!’

‘Answer it.’ Romeo squeezed my hand. ‘It will be fine.’

‘You’ve got this, Sammie.’ Linda gave me a reassuring smile.

I was at a gorgeous beach in Salento having a picnic with Romeo, Linda and Biscotti and was about to find out whether I’d got a position on the Love Alchemist trainee programme and a job in California.

After spending two blissful days with Romeo in London (okay, a lot of that time was spent in my bedroom) and begging my boss for some last-minute unpaid leave, we flew to Puglia and the next day I had a series of interviews, which I think went well. But now, forty-eight hours later, it was the moment of truth.

I was about to find out whether I’d be able to start a new adventure with Romeo or whether we’d be kept apart.

Here goes…

‘Hello,’ I answered.

‘Hi, Samantha, it’s Victoria. Thanks for attending the interviews. We were really keen to speak to you, particularly because of your ties to the hotel, both from your own unique experience of being a guest there and your connections with Jasmine and Romeo. We felt that gave you a special insight into how important and powerful the work we do is.’

‘Great!’ I said, wishing she’d just cut to the chase and put me out of my misery.

‘So, unfortunately, you won’t be going to California with Romeo next week…’

‘Oh.’ My heart plummeted. At least I’d tried. Even though I didn’t get the job, I was still going there anyway.

When I’d begged my boss for the unpaid leave, I’d also told her I was handing in my resignation. It was a risky move, but I knew I couldn’t be away from Romeo. I’d waited so long to find a man like him, so I couldn’t let love slip through my fingers.

‘That’s because we’d like Romeo to go to Spain with you first, where you’ll be personally trained by Jasmine before all four of you head off to California.’

‘Wait, what?’ I shouted, then put the phone on loudspeaker because I wasn’t sure she’d said what I thought she had and I needed two extra pairs of ears to confirm it.

‘I said we’d love you to join the Love Hotel team and train to become a Love Alchemist. Congratulations!’

‘Oh my God!’ I jumped around on the sand and Romeo did the same before lifting me up and spinning me around. ‘Thank you so much! This is amazing!’

‘So I take it you’re happy?’ Victoria laughed.

‘Soooo happy!’

‘Excellent! Like I said in the interview, the initial role in California for you and Romeo will be for three months. The main objective is to help get the resort set up and off to a flying start. After that, we’ll reassess because in Romeo’s case and several other Romance Rockstars, we have to look at work visas and other boring paperwork stuff. But we have several new resorts opening around the world, so there’s the possibility of more travel and we know you’re a couple, so we’ll look for opportunities where you can be together.’

‘That sounds perfect!’

‘Grazie, Victoria!’ Romeo called out.

‘Prego, Romeo. I appreciate you putting Samantha forward. I know she’ll be a real asset to our team.’