For one night only. However, commitment has a habit of sneaking up on you. Then you have a choice, is it one night only or something more?
Ava Welsh has split from her toe-rag of a boyfriend and needs a partner for a wedding.
Conal Camlin has waved bye-bye to his grasping girlfriend and needs a partner for an award night.
When they literally bump into each other, they both have the same thought.
Here’s someone to accompany me to a one-off event.
Neither wants commitment, just a partner for that one special thing. Could they make this one night only thing work? Of course, they’ll need to spend time together, to make sure it looks real. But spending time together means you get to know each other. And when you get to know each other, you discover if you like each other.
Can they really say goodbye and thank you, and go their separate ways after each single night, or could it be the start of something more? Will Valentine’s Day be the end of their no-commitment vows?
General Release Date: 11th February 2020
Ava Welsh glanced at the elaborately decorated piece of card in her hand and fought back the desire to rip it into tiny pieces and-or cry her eyes out. Why that on top of everything else?
In the space of a week, she’d split from Malc, her toe-rag of a boyfriend, who thought, as she had the better job, he should just give his up and sponge off her. Never going to happen, and he was most put out when she told him so. On reflection, she’d realised she’d paid for most things anyway, and enough was enough.
He’d retaliated by saying she was rubbish at sex and Ava had replied with, ‘It takes one to know one.’
That had been Monday.
Tuesday she’d had a visit from Clare, her best mate, saying Brad, her brother, was getting married at short notice and no, the bride wasn’t pregnant. They were just mushily in love and didn’t want to wait. Then she’d dropped the unwanted news that Ava was invited.
Just as she became a Billy—or was it Milly—no-mates?
Today was Wednesday and it was shaping up to be as bad.
The invitation to the wedding had arrived. And, to add insult to injury, the ceremony was on Valentine’s Day. Ironic or what? Everyone all loved-up, with cards from not-so-unknown admirers…and her. She would be card-less, admirer-less and less than enamoured with the whole thing. The fact she usually loved anything romantic, Ava chose to ignore. She was off men and romance big time. It was bad enough being partnerless, without love and romance being rubbed in ad nauseam. She knew Brad. He’d be so besotted with his bride, it would be hearts and flowers every which way and no doubt schmaltzy love songs on a continuous loop.
Ava was conscious she was being a damp squib and in any other circumstance she’d be shimmying around the room, high-fiving and deciding what to wear.
Because along with the invite was a note stating where the wedding was—a very exclusive venue in Barbados—and saying it would be a week’s visit. Plus, the information Brad had arranged for her to get the time off, as her boss was a friend of his family, and it was all expenses paid, tickets included.
The scribbled And we got your passport details from Clare solved one problem. The other was that, although there was no ticket for a plus one, another note said one could be accommodated with a flight nearer the wedding day, just email all the details.
Everything sorted except her feelings. And the knowledge that Clare knew Malc the toe-rag was no more and had passed the message on.
The only bright note was that her ratings from the morning radio show she hosted had steadily risen and her boss had hinted of greater things to come as he’d told her to enjoy the break.
“I’ve still got a week to go,” she’d said, wishing it was a month—or never. Why had the sod decided she needed an extra week and added it on? She’d protested she didn’t have the holiday allocation, but he’d brushed her protest aside.
“You deserve it, you’ve been brilliant, and there’s the big charity week later on this year. You’ll more than make up for it then. Enjoy a rest while you can. It’ll fly past,” her boss had said. “Then a week in the sun and that fabulous wedding. You’ll have a ball.”
She’d prefer to take her ball and go home. Or boot it into the sea and find an excuse not to go.
What a wuss. Suck it up, buttercup. Think of it as a holiday with one day of work or something. Not easy, but she’d have to try. After all, who could not be happy in Barbados?
Only fools and miserable buggers, and she was not going to be either if she could help it.
Ava tidied up her desk, said her usual thanks to the crew who had helped her through three hours of early-morning madness, and headed for the lift to the car park. What excuse could she come up with for not attending? She couldn’t. To not go to a wedding to see the ‘til death us do part’ and her almost-except-for-blood brother marry wasn’t on. But to someone called Twensy Cumberland-Bankks—double ‘k’ no less? Weird. And to be all alone with no plus one was going to be a nightmare.
She’d be the one to buck the trend and be unhappy in Barbados.
And would have to remember to take some duty-free rum and gin with her.
Plus mint and lemon. Limes were usually not a problem.
It hadn’t been that many years earlier on holiday there that she’d tried to get a mojito, to be told the island had had a mint shortage and mojitos couldn’t be served.
She wasn’t going to risk that again. Ava was no tippler, but on holiday her G and T or whatever was something to look forward to and enjoy.
After 30 plus years in Scotland, Raven now lives near the east Yorkshire coast, with her long-suffering husband, who is used to rescuing the dinner, when she gets immersed in her writing, keeping her coffee pot warm and making sure the wine is chilled.
With a new home to decorate and a garden to plan, she’s never short of things to do, but writing is always at the top of her list.
Her other hobbies include walking along the coast and spotting the wildlife, reading, researching, cros stitch and trying not to drop stitches as she endeavours to knit.
Being left-handed, and knitting right-handed, that’s not always easy.
She loves hearing from her readers, either via her website, by email or social media.
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