Love like the (Real) Reel Thing (Real)

CHAPTER 1

“We’re trending, Kate!” Jess walked briskly beside her old school friend through the lobby of the Charleston Hotel Group headquarters. “Look at this!”

She turned her phone towards Kate, who gave it a polite glance.

Jess read on: “‘Hollywood comes to the west of Ireland: Linford, County Mayo, prepares for Hollywood stars Afric Brooks and Spencer Torres.’ Oh, this is so cute! ‘A romantic comedy at Linford Castle’.”

Kate shot Jess a look. “Uh-huh, I might die of excitement.”

“I suppose you should save that for your wedding,” Jess deadpanned, as they got into the waiting lift. She pressed the button for the second floor. “I’ll just have to be excited for the two of us.”

Kate laughed. “Okay, it’s kind of cool.”

“Beyond cool.” Jess dropped her phone into her bag.

“This is the biggest thing since the celebrity wedding and I kept worrying they might change their mind about using Linford. Actors can be pretty superstitious. At least this time we won’t have to worry about disappearing brides or the Linford Curse.

These are movie people – total professionals. ”

“Hm.” Kate’s eyes narrowed as she checked her appearance in the mirrored wall, before tucking a plain white blouse into her skirt with her free hand. “I’ve been thinking, Jess –”

“So have I,” Jess said quickly. “I was thinking that there’ve been so many problems since the group bought the place, and now for the next six weeks I can just forget about Linford and concentrate on our other hotels.”

The lift stopped, and Kate held the doors for a moment, her gaze gentling. “Listen, Jess, maybe you should take some time to do something nice for yourself too. Why don’t you let me book a spa day for us at the weekend? My treat?”

“Oh, you mean because …” Jess shook her head and smiled brightly. “That’s lovely of you to offer but, seriously, don’t worry, Kate. I’m fine, absolutely fine.”

The doors began to close.

“Lunch?” Kate said

“See you then.” Jess turned away as the door closed and headed down the corridor to her own small office.

She sighed as she went in. Since her relatively recent promotion to head of marketing for the Charleston Group in Ireland, things hadn’t exactly been plain sailing.

The previous July, the four-hundred-year-old Linford Castle in Mayo, which the group had bought and upgraded to a five-star hotel, had hosted the celebrity wedding of the year.

On the same day she and Simon had called off their own wedding right outside the church.

Across the road from the office, a flock of swans swooped down, landing gracefully on Dublin’s Grand Canal, just as the sun slipped behind a dark cloud.

Jess leaned across her desk to switch on her laptop.

As she sat down, her thoughts drifted back.

Ever since that weekend ten months previously, her life had changed dramatically.

Not because of what had happened at Linford Castle, or because of her cancelled wedding but because of Adam – her hen-weekend one-night-stand.

The man she’d leapt into a relationship with then, only to have it fall apart so spectacularly just months later.

She sighed. For a while, her life had felt like a Spanish telé novella without the English subtitles. At least now there was far less drama. Outwardly, at least.

She dug her fingers into her scalp, threading them back through her long, brown hair. Maybe she should listen to her family and just live in the moment.

But, at thirty-one, single, and back in her childhood bedroom, living in the moment was easier said than done. And pretending everything was alright was utterly exhausting.

Things had been especially awkward these last few days, as her parents tiptoed around, afraid to say anything that might upset her. Eventually, she’d have to move out and rent somewhere. For now, it was taking every shred of energy just to show up for work and do her job.

Her office phone rang and she took a breath before answering. “Jess Bradley, marketing manager.”

“Jess!” Frank Charleston’s voice boomed down the line. “Do you have a minute?”

“Sure, I’ll be right there.” Jess hung up and grabbed her phone and a notepad.

Frank was standing looking out the huge window in his office but turned, smiling, when she came in.

“How are you doing?” The head of the Charleston Group studied her for a moment.

“I’m great, thanks.” Everything is great. Maybe if she kept saying it she’d eventually start to believe it. Bright smile, Jess.

“Good, good.” He gestured to the chair nearest Jess before easing himself into his own.

“So, as you know, we’re closing Linford to the public next week because the Hollywood people are arriving.

” He cleared his throat. “But I just heard this morning that Ian Finnegan has had a bit of bad news. His brother in Australia has cancer, and it’s not looking good.

Ian’s taking leave of absence to go out and be with him. ”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” She pushed away a sudden, sharp memory of what she and Ian – Linford’s event manager – had managed to pull off the previous July and instead focussed her attention on Frank.

He was nodding. “Linford’s general manager, Anthony Neary, mentioned that the movie people were hoping to have someone like Ian around – somebody who could troubleshoot.”

Was he …?

“I was hoping you could step in and do that for a few weeks.”

He was!

Frank looked thoughtful. “Anthony was very impressed with how you rescued that celebrity wedding last year. And with the whole cast and crew staying there, he’ll be busy enough with the day-to-day running of the place.”

“Of course.” She hesitated. “That sounds … great.” She could troubleshoot. Strictly, it wasn’t in her job description, but it’d be different. Maybe different was what she needed.

“And, of course,” Frank continued, “if this movie’s a success, other film studios might see Linford Castle as the perfect place for their own productions.”

“Absolutely.” Jess’s smile was genuine now. A romcom in an old Irish castle. Really, the campaign would write itself!

“Excellent, I knew I could depend on you, Jess.” There was a knock on the door. “Excuse me a moment. Come in!”

The door opened and Adam Rourke walked into the room, stopping abruptly when he met Jess’s eyes.

Adam was here? Jess stared at him, a flood of emotions surging through her, her heart pounding as she forced herself not to get up and run from the room.

Yoga breath, Jess. It had been six months since they’d broken up.

Five months, three weeks and two days since she’d seen him.

Bigger yoga breath, Jess. She’d guessed he’d gone back to work at the group’s head offices in Switzerland.

Shit, now she felt lightheaded. She was going to faint.

Breathe out, Jess. Why hadn’t Adam left already?

“Sorry, I can come back,” he said.

She flashed Frank a quick look. Judging by how uncomfortable he seemed, he hadn’t been expecting Adam to walk in either.

He nodded curtly. “That’d be best, Adam.”

Shooting Jess one last, piercing look, Adam turned on his heel and left, closing the door firmly behind him.

For a few moments, Jess concentrated on breathing normally again, while at the same time subtly shaking out her legs and feet, which seemed to be going into spasm. Along with her heart. Christ.

“My apologies, Jess. I knew Adam was back in the country but I wasn’t expecting him until later.” Frank paused. “I assume you didn’t know?”

“Uh, no.” She cleared her throat. “Honestly, Frank, there’s no problem.” It was a huge problem! It was bad enough that both she and Adam were employees. What made it worse was that Adam was her senior, not to mention Frank Charleston’s nephew!

He looked unconvinced. “He’ll be working here in Dublin for the next while.”

He said something else, but Jess didn’t hear him. Why had Adam returned now? Was he back indefinitely? Frank was still talking and Jess nodded, hoping he wouldn’t guess that she was barely able to concentrate.

During the past six months, she’d hardly allowed herself to acknowledge that a part of her still missed Adam.

It was better that way. If she didn’t think about him, things would eventually get easier.

Not right away, obviously, but at some stage.

And no matter how painful it was, at least she’d done the right thing. She needed to move on.

“So, uh, the sooner I can get away the better,” Jess said when Frank finally stopped talking.

He blinked, frowning.

“To Linford,” she added, hurriedly. “The sooner I can get down there and chat to Anthony … there’s probably loads I can do before the Hollywood people arrive.”

Where would she stay? Who cared? She’d sleep in a tent if it meant getting out of Dublin, now Adam was back.

“Good thinking.” Frank shuffled some papers on his desk.

Jess was pretty sure he could guess why she was suddenly so keen to escape. But she didn’t care.

“I’ll get my PA to call Anthony today and see if he can find suitable accommodation,” he said.

“Thank you, Frank.” Jess released a breath.

One problem solved – at least for the next six weeks.