Page 26 of The Heartbreak Hotel

Chapter Eight

Riley

Riley sat on the bottom step, looking out over the ocean as the sun beat down on her, but her mind kept replaying the same thought. What are you doing?

She’d done the complete opposite of staying away from Ella, and now the redhead was in her cabin. Her cabin! What if she went through her things? What if someone saw them together?

Riley, what are you doing?

Her heart thumped hard in her ribcage, and she plucked the amethyst necklace hanging past her sternum to rub it between her fingers. Sucking in a deep breath, she imagined the air reaching the ends of her fingers and the tips of her toes. Panic pushed back, and she closed her eyes, trying to bring her heartrate down.

She couldn’t help it. Seeing Ella upset triggered a protective urge in her. She just wanted to help; that was all. She’d sprinted over after spotting her with hands covering her face and soft sobs leaving her lips. The absence of her bubbly personality and fierce laughter had caught Riley off-guard. The vulnerability she’d shown her—intentionally or not—made all her reservations take a back seat. She didn’t know why the reaction was so strong, but now Ella was in her home… What was she supposed to do?

Ella’s voice cut through the cries of the birds, followed by laughter, and she grinned. She’s feeling better.

Okay, so that worked. As soon as Ella finished her phone call, she’d leave, and everything would be fine. There was no need to panic. Nobody needed to know.

Riley couldn’t help but wonder who Ella wanted to call. An ex? A friend? She chided herself; it was none of her business. She shouldn’t care—she didn’t.

The murmur of Ella’s voice faded away, but when she didn’t appear, the fear flared up in Riley’s stomach again. What if she looked at her paintings? The photo album of her and Elodie? Oh god. My sex toys under the bed?

She hopped up the steps, dodging a fuzzy bee as it flew across her path, and hovered outside the cabin, straining to hear any conversation. Hearing nothing, she lightly tapped on the wooden door and entered.

Ella lay awkwardly across the yellow sofa, her legs bent at an unnatural angle. A soft bundle of fluff curled up in her lap, her fingers combing through Ziggy’s fur. She looked up when Riley appeared, her eyes wide.

“I was afraid to move,” she said in a hushed tone, as though Ziggy were a sleeping infant. “I didn’t want to disturb him.”

Thick, gooey warmth spread through Riley’s belly. She tried to mask it, but the feeling amplified when Ziggy purred, and Ella shot her a delighted grin.

“Oh my god,” she whispered. “I think he likes me.”

Riley took a seat on the arm of the sofa, peering at her traitorous little baby in Ella’s arms. She couldn’t find herself to be annoyed that Ziggy’s loyalty had jumped at the first pretty woman to walk in here, but she couldn’t get used to the happy feeling swelling in her chest, either.

She glanced down at the floorboards instead. “So, uh, everything go alright? With your phone calls?”

“Yes. Thank you.” Ella spoke so softly, Riley struggled to hear her. “Thank you so much for letting me use your phone.”

Riley chuckled. “You’re welcome, but you really don’t need to be quiet around him. He’ll sleep through anythin’. Even Bernardo’s crows.”

“Ugh! I hate that cockerel.” Ella’s vehement grunt, combined with the whispering tone, made Riley laugh more.

“Really. Ziggy’ll be fine. You don’t need to whisper.”

“Ziggy,” Ella cooed, threading her fingers through his ginger hair. “That name suits you perfectly, doesn’t it?” She gazed at him, batting her thick black lashes.

Okay, now I am a little bit jealous.

“He’s so gorgeous. Is he yours?” she asked.

“He is, but don’t let that pretty face fool you. He’s smashed his share of plant pots when he gets late-night zoomies, and he thinks my surfboard is his personal scratching-post. Not to mention my childhood teddy bear that he did unspeakable things to. I’ve never been able to look at Mr Buttons the same again.”

“Mr Buttons?” Ella cackled, and eliciting that response coated Riley head-to-toe like sunshine.

“You seem to be feeling better,” she noted.

Ella dampened at that, breaking eye contact. She circled Ziggy’s belly a few times before she spoke. “Yeah…thank you for being so kind to me. I’m sorry you had to see that before.”

“You don’t need to apologise for anything.”