Page 49 of Harper's Holiday Romance

“Aren’t you? How would you know if something is suitable otherwise?”

“Sometimes I like to leave it as a surprise.”

The thought gave me instant anxiety.

“You don’t check the reviews?” I pulled my feet along the floor to bring the swing to a halt.

“I check that it doesn’t have a three-star rating, but that’s all. I don’t need to know if the room has an iron.”

I felt personally attacked. “You don’t?” I gasped. “Oh, no, I don’t know how you live like that.”

Julia shook her head. “You’re crazy.”

“I like to think of myself as quirky, not crazy.” I stuck my tongue out.

We had a lengthy conversation about our friends. She had a small group of close friends. Her best friend since high school sounded similar to Billie in many ways, which sparked a humorous conversation about all the embarrassing things our respective friendship groups had gotten up to over the years. She won hands down.

“We all went to a theme park for my twenty-second birthday. We made a beeline for the biggest rollercoaster first. You know they have the cameras that blind you halfway around, right? Usually at the scariest part for maximum effect. Well, my best friend lifted her top and revealed her boobs just as the flash lit up the carriage.”

“No, she didn’t!” My hands flew to my mouth.

Julia was laughing so hard she could barely finish the story. “When we went to the photo booth afterwards, there she was, on the big screen. The other forty people on that ride and all the staff got to see her boobs in HD. My face was a picture; I only had a split second to realise what she was doing, so my hand looks like it’s reaching to grab her boob. It’s honestly to this day, the funniest experience of my life.”

Julia pulled out her phone to reveal said photo; it’d been set as the profile picture for their friendship group, but the nipples were now covered with small pride flags.

We slowly shifted our weight back and forth on the swings long enough for Billie and Sarah to text.

Billie

Where the hell are you?

Sarah

Have you been abducted?

Billie

Reply in five minutes or we’re coming to find you.

Normally my eyelids would give me a clear indication it was way past my bedtime. They obviously liked Julia too.

“Is everything okay?” She nodded towards my phone.

“Yes, I should probably go.”

“Yeah, me too. I have to be up for work early in the morning.” She winked. It was a delicate wink, very smooth, she had just the right amount of confidence to pull it off. The problem wasn’t the wink. The problem was how goddamn sexy I found the wink. I held my breath to the point of collapse.

Breathe you idiot.

Julia was staring at my mouth. She wasn’t staring at my nose, or my hair, or looking me directly in the eye, no; she was staring at my mouth, and she was edging closer.

“I’ve had a really nice time tonight,” I mumbled. The words were barely audible.

“Me too,” she whispered. Her hand gripped the rope of my swing and pulled it slowly towards her own.

Julia placed the palm of her hand against my cheek; the length of her fingertips flirted with the hair behind my ear. Her hand felt smooth against my face.

“Do you moisturize your hands?”