Page 27 of The Heartbreak Hotel

She met Riley’s eyes then looked away again. “That’s sweet of you to say, but I don’t want to be a burden. I’m sure you’re busy.”

Riley frowned. “Ella, you’re not a burden. No one is perfect all the time.”

“I bet you are.” Her words hung in the air between them. Her hand stilled on Ziggy’s tummy, her cheeks reddening to match her hair. “But I should go. I just…” She glanced at Ziggy and smirked. “…Can’t move.”

Riley’s mind hitched on Ella’s words. Perfect? Memories of her drunken stupor the other night flashed before her eyes. Riley was far from perfect; Ziggy would attest to that if he could speak. After he’d demanded he be fed, of course. “You want me to take him?” she asked.

When Ella nodded, Riley scooped the fluffball into her arms and carried him to the bed. Lazy green eyes blinked back at her before he rolled onto his back with a stretch of his legs.

“Your place is really cool,” Ella said. “I guess your favourite colour is blue, huh?”

Riley turned back to face her, surprised to see she’d taken a few steps and was now standing inside her “bedroom”. Riley adored the open-plan design of her cabin, but now that Ella could see everything in her space, she wished she could close the doors and hide some of it away.

“Erm…yeah.” She scratched at her neck. “Thank you.” She followed Ella’s gaze to the paintings hanging on the walls, hoping she wouldn’t ask about them.

“Did you paint these?”

“Some.”

When she didn’t offer anything else, Ella turned to her, raising an eyebrow. “Are you not going to tell me which ones?”

Heat tickled the back of Riley’s neck, and she scratched at it again. “I don’t really share my work with people.”

Perhaps sensing her unease, Ella let it go. Her attention wandered over the frames and canvases, lingering on a watercolour of the olive trees that Riley had painted in her first month on the island.

“Well, whoever painted these is really talented.” Ella threw a smile over her shoulder.

The compliment landed right in the centre of Riley’s chest, and she couldn’t stop the feeling from spreading into her heart. Maybe Ella was just being polite, but the way she continued to admire the small details on the canvas made the compliment resonate even more.

Her focus drifted over Ella’s body, her wide hips and round bum, thick thighs hugged tight in her denim shorts. Someone like Ella was probably never short of dates. Riley’s love life was laughable in comparison.

But there was no harm in just looking, right?

Ella’s voice made Riley’s eyes snap upwards.

“I guess I should get going, but thank you again for letting me use your phone…and pet your cat.” Ella lifted her shoulders, exhaled, and then leaned down to give Ziggy’s belly a tickle. He chirped, and she jumped back, startled.

God. She’s cute.

Riley tucked her hands into her pockets, biting back a grin. “You’re welcome.”

They held eye contact until little tingles rippled along Riley’s arms, making the hair stand on end. Ella’s irises swirled like golden honey in the sunlight, and the way they bore into Riley, confident and alluring, set her heart racing.

Her focus dropped to Ella’s full lips as she wet them with a flick of her tongue, sending a ping of arousal between Riley’s legs. Jesus. She shuffled her bare feet against the cool flooring, looking anywhere but at Ella’s gorgeous pillowy mouth.

How long had it been since she last kissed a woman? She could hardly count the mouth-to-mouth with Ella on the beach. Her spluttering into Riley’s mouth was hardly the stuff of romance novels.

She breathed in Ella’s sweet perfume, mixed with an air of cocoa body butter.

How long had it been since Riley had even held another woman? She’d given up on the idea of relationships a long time ago. They were too fragile, too easily broken. All she could do was focus on the present; the future held no promises and offered no certainties. She couldn’t think about it at all. Her memories of Elodie tried to pull at her, but she couldn’t let them.

She blinked, coming face to face with Ella once again. Ella readjusted the straps of her top, revealing sore red skin underneath.

“Are you sunburnt?” Riley reached for her but thought better of it, her hand hovering awkwardly then dropping by her side.

“It’s nothing.” Ella tried to cover herself but winced in the process.

“Here. Let me help.” Riley moved to root in the kitchen drawer, pulled out some scissors, then snipped a stem off the aloe vera plant sitting on the counter. She split it open with her hands, and the cool juice glistened under the light pouring through the windows.