More Than Just Friends (The Love Hotel #5)

Chapter 1

ALICIA

‘Is everything okay?’ A kind voice sounded above me. ‘It’s just that you’ve been crying for the past half an hour and we’re about to close. Would you like another tissue or should I call you a cab?’

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, then looked up at the waitress.

‘Sorry. I didn’t realise the time. I’ll… can I just get the bill please? It’s obvious he isn’t coming.’

A fresh tear rolled down my cheek.

It was official. I’d finally hit rock bottom. I was done with dating.

Being ghosted was painful, frustrating and annoying. But sitting in a restaurant for three hours after being stood up was next-level humiliating.

My phone buzzed on the table and my heart raced.

Finally!

That must be him replying to one of my dozen ‘Where are you?’ ‘Are you on your way?’ ‘Is everything okay?’ ‘Wtf?’ messages to apologise.

Maybe he’d got held up at work or slipped on the pavement and broken his leg. I refused to believe he’d stood me up.

We had a connection. I was sure of it.

I tapped the screen and…

Nope.

It wasn’t him. It was my older sister, Sammie, asking how my date with ‘the one’ had gone.

My stomach twisted and I blew out a defeated breath as the memory of me calling her a few days ago to gush about how I’d met my Mr Right came whooshing back.

I couldn’t believe I’d got it so wrong.

Again.

Now I’d have to listen to a lecture about being more careful with my choices.

And listen to her rave about how amazing her boyfriend was.

Oh, and of course be reminded about the fact that now that I was thirty, I should have more of a ‘financial cushion’ so that I had money to invest on important things like going to the Love Hotel and finding my soulmate like she had.

Believe me, I’d love nothing more than to go to a luxury matchmaking hotel.

But unfortunately, as I’d told her repeatedly, I didn’t have a spare three grand for a holiday.

Even if I gave up my daily coffee treat (sorry, no can do), it’d still take me approximately eleventy-billion years to save up to apply.

And after all that, there were no guarantees I’d get matched.

So, no. It looked like I’d just have to continue using the crappy dating apps like the majority of the single population. Sigh.

Once I’d paid the bill, I dragged myself out of the restaurant then took the bus home. Just as I stepped through the door, my phone rang.

Sammie’s name flashed up and I knew that if I didn’t pick up, she’d worry.

‘Hi,’ I said, flatly, taking off my jacket and heels before flopping on the sofa.

‘What’s wrong?’ she replied, concern in her voice.

‘He didn’t turn up.’

‘Oh, shit! But I thought you said—’

‘I know what I said. I really did think he was the one. He said so many nice things. He bought me flowers and chocolates! And the sex was—’

‘You already slept with him? I thought you’d only been on two dates?’

‘Judgemental, much?’ I crossed my arms. ‘Like you never put out on the first date.’

‘So you didn’t even wait until the second date? You shagged on the first one?’ Sammie gasped.

‘I didn’t say that!’ Heat flooded my cheeks. ‘I just said… whatever. Doesn’t matter.’

‘Ali, I told you,’ she said, ‘if you want to find a guy who respects you, don’t give him the goodies until you’re sure he deserves them.’

‘But he had a great job and we got on so well! And he bought me gifts!’ I repeated in case she hadn’t heard me the first time.

‘I know, hon, but as he’s just demonstrated, that proves nothing. I know you think I’m judging, but I’m trying to help you avoid the mistakes that I made. I just want to see you with a decent guy. Someone genuine, sweet and kind who will treat you like a queen.’

‘Like your boyfriend, Romeo.’ I rolled my eyes. Of course I was happy that my sister had found love, but she was one of the lucky few. Now that she was all coupled up, it was like she’d forgotten how tough the dating scene was.

‘Yeah, like Romeo, but there’s plenty of other good ’uns out there. I see them every day at work. And I’m sure you see them around too.’

Sammie worked at the Love Hotel, which was a group of luxury matchmaking resorts.

She was a Love Alchemist there which meant she basically helped the couples fall in love, so of course she’d come in contact with decent blokes.

Whereas I worked in Human Resources for a supermarket and most of the colleagues in my department were women, so it wasn’t the same.

‘Er, no. All the good guys are already taken. All that’s left are the rejects.’

‘Bollocks!’ Sammie shouted. ‘What about Noah?’

‘Noah?’ I scoffed. ‘He’s my best friend. We’ve known each other since we were four. That’d be like dating my brother!’ I squirmed.

‘We don’t have a brother,’ Sammie countered.

‘Doh. I know that. But if we did, it’d be him.’

‘I don’t understand why you two never got together. He’s a sweetheart and you obviously get on well.’

‘Because of a million reasons!’ I blew out a frustrated breath.

If I had a penny for every time Sammie asked me this, I’d be retired and living on a Caribbean island by now.

‘Firstly, like I just said, we’re friends, so it’d be weird to think of him as any more than that.

Secondly, Noah has helped me through some of the toughest times in my life and I don’t want to ruin our friendship.

He’s worth more to me as a friend than a lover. Cringe.’

A shiver ran down my spine as I thought about doing anything remotely romantic with him. Not because he wasn’t nice to look at. It was just because, like I’d told Sammie a zillion times, it’d be wrong to think of him in that way.

‘Thirdly, you know what happened when I crossed that line before, so I’d never, ever date a friend again. And fourthly,’ I added, ‘he’s not my type.’

‘What? You mean he’s not an arsehole?’ She laughed.

‘I don’t only…’ I was about to say that I didn’t exclusively date arseholes, but I stopped myself because based on my string of disastrous dates, I didn’t have enough evidence to support my denial.

‘You need to stop Groundhogging,’ Sammie added.

‘I’ve no idea what that means.’ I frowned.

‘Get in!’ Sammie cheered triumphantly. ‘I’ve been waiting to try out some of the lingo we learnt in that modern dating training course for ages.

“Groundhogging” is when someone, in this case you, keeps choosing to date the same type of person, but expects different results.

And no judgement – we’ve all been there, sis.

I was the poster girl for bad decisions and choosing the bad boys. But then—’

‘Then you went to the Love Hotel and found the man of your dreams. Yada yada. I know. You’re starting to sound like one of those “Smug Marrieds” Bridget Jones talked about. How’s that lingo for you?’

‘Nice to know you’re still watching your noughties romcoms. I don’t mean to sound smug. I’m just trying to do my big sister duties and look out for you.’

‘I know,’ I sighed. Sammie’s heart was in the right place. ‘Dating’s pants, that’s all.’

‘Yep. I remember. Did he really just ghost you? No call, no text, nothing?’

‘Yep.’ I huffed. ‘And I don’t know what’s worse. The fact that he didn’t show up or the fact that I sat there crying for three hours waiting for him.’

I didn’t even need Sammie to answer that.

Once Johnnie hadn’t replied to my messages after half an hour, I should’ve left. An hour tops. I shouldn’t have sat there like a saddo.

And I definitely should not have started blubbing like a bloody baby.

I blamed my period. The hormones made me extra emotional. If this had happened next week, I would’ve said ‘fuck him’ after twenty minutes and strutted out of that restaurant with my head held high.

Yeah, right.

I could only dream of having that kind of confidence.

‘Oh, hon. I’m sorry. He doesn’t deserve you. You should try Intentional Dating.’

‘Is this another one of your fancy terms?’

‘How did you guess?’ She chuckled. ‘This one is about knowing your relationship values and goals and only dating people who are likely to be compatible.’

‘I want a man who turns up to a dinner date we planned and doesn’t ghost me after we have sex. How’s that?’

‘You can do better,’ Sammie replied. ‘Which was the other reason I was calling.’

‘The other reason?’ I sat up straighter in the sofa, my interest piqued.

‘So, you know Stella and Max are getting married?’

‘Yeah,’ I said, wondering what that had to do with me. Stella was Sammie’s best friend and I assumed they wanted to keep the wedding small, so I wasn’t expecting an invitation. I couldn’t wait to see the pics though.

‘Well, they’re getting hitched at the Love Hotel’s new resort in Santorini.’

‘Nice!’

Talk about a dream destination. It was one of the places on the top of my travel bucket list, but I wasn’t likely to be ticking that off anytime soon considering that my holiday budget was more Southend-on-Sea than Santorini.

‘I know, right? So anyway, originally it was going to be something smallish, but the hotel’s keen to celebrate the fact that a couple they matched are tying the knot and use it as an opportunity to attract more singles to their resorts.’

‘Sammie,’ I jumped in. ‘I don’t know one singleton who wouldn’t give their right arm and probably their left arm too to bag an invite to that place, especially in stunning Santorini, but unless you can get me a 99 per cent friends and family discount, I can’t afford it.’

‘What if I told you that you could?’

‘Wait, what?’ I jumped off the sofa. ‘Seriously? How?’

‘Well, not quite a 99 per cent discount, but a decent one. Like I said, the hotel wants to encourage more people to benefit from their expertise. They know how hard dating is and they’re conscious that at the moment, only people with a certain income level can afford to find love at their resorts.

So they’re looking for ways to make it more accessible. ’

‘I’m listening.’ I sat back down, eager to hear more.

‘They’d like to invite a selected number of singles from Stella and Max’s network of friends to the wedding as part of an experiment.

So you’d fill out a questionnaire that’s less detailed and less costly for them to analyse.

Then they’d run it through their database to see if any other existing applicants could be a decent match.

If they find someone suitable, they’d invite you to Santorini for one week before the wedding, set you up with your match then send you on some romantic excursions.

And if you still get on at the end of the week, they’d be your plus-one for the wedding. ’

‘That sounds amazing!’ I shouted, my heart racing with excitement. ‘And it’d be much better than being lumped on the dreaded singles table. How much would it cost though?’

‘All you’d have to do is cover your flights and pay the hotel a grand, which is what the deposit used to be. It’s gone up a lot since then. That’d cover your five-star accommodation, airport transfers, all the excursions, and unlimited food and drink.’

‘Wow. That’s incredible! But what’s the catch?’

‘There’s no catch!’ Sammie said. ‘The match success rate will probably be lower than if you went through the standard application route, because the matchmakers will spend less time analysing the data, which is reflected in the price.’

‘Fair enough.’ I nodded.

‘They’re also charging less because it’s an experiment and you’ll be there for eight days instead of the normal two weeks. But even if the match success rate is lower, it’s still likely to be a lot higher than using the apps. I think it’s a brilliant idea.’

‘It really is! I mean a thousand pounds is still a lot of money for a week, but like you said, it’s a hell of a lot less than the normal cost. And I’d get to go to Santorini and be part of Stella and Max’s wedding, which I know will be epic.’

‘Yep! If I told you what they’ve got planned, you’d shit your knickers.’

‘Gross, but I love the enthusiasm!’ I chuckled.

‘So, what do you say? You interested?’

‘Hell, yeah! I’m done with the apps and if this gives me a chance to meet my dream man, I’d be a fool to let the opportunity slip through my fingers. And Mama didn’t raise no fool!’ I said in a terrible American accent.

‘Yay!’ Sammie said. ‘I’ll send you the link right now to sign up.’