Now, sitting with the warm Cannes air caressing her skin, the words ballooned in front of her, floating on the water’s surface like giant imaginary inflatables. Abby wanted to sit on them, wrestle them under the water. Submerge them. But inflatables and words uttered in the heat of the moment didn’t work like that, did they? Rather, they wouldn’t be silenced. If you tried to get rid of them, they’d only pop back up and hit you in the head.

“Cheating?” Jordan looked confused as she raised a finger to her chest. “On me?”

Abby gulped. Her next move was going to be critical, wasn’t it? Did she lie, or did she tell the truth?

Sirens blared in Abby’s head. She ignored them.

Yes, she was teetering on the edge, but she was certain of one thing. For the past few months while organising this wedding, she’d been sleep-walking to the aisle.

Until she’d met Jordan. Jordan had woken her up in so many ways.

She nodded. “I know that makes no sense,” she added. “I’m engaged to Marcus and I’m here on my hen weekend, but this is my reality.” Abby shook her head, covering her forehead with her left palm. She fixed her gaze on Jordan.

Shocked, beautiful Jordan.

“I have feelings for you, Jordan. I can’t ignore them. Even though I’m engaged to Marcus, who’s wonderful.” She moved her hand, swirling it in the air between them. “This right here is torture. Because here we are, semi-naked and alone. My ankle isn’t even that painful. I just saw that I could use it to be alone with you. When I was being forced to kiss that poor guy, all I could think was, ‘I wish this was Jordan’.” Abby covered her entire face with her hands, bringing both her feet in front of her.

She’d really blown it now, hadn’t she? She should have kept her big mouth shut. Stayed at the club. Drank more vodka.

As if sensing the magnitude of the moment, the hot tub chose this moment to restart its bubbles.

Jordan had been listening, rapt, leaning in. Now she jerked backwards, as the jets sprang to life and the water began to bubble all around them.

Abby grabbed her wine and swigged, just to give her hands something to do.

She eyed Jordan warily. “Say something, please. Even if it’s that I’m a stupid bride-to-be and that this happens on every job you do. Just something to stop my thoughts going around and around in my head. Because you don’t know the chaos that resides up here.” She tapped her skull as she spoke.

Jordan sucked in a deep breath, then edged back towards Abby.

Then she took Abby’s hand in hers.

That one action stilled Abby under the bubbles. Below the surface, she was frozen.