Free Persuading Spring: A Sexy New Zealand Romance (The Four Seasons Book 4) by Serenity Woods Page A

finally gotten
together. Hitch had always professed that he didn’t need anyone and that he was
happy on his own, but he was so much happier since he’d hooked up with Rowan.
    “Nice outfit,” Hitch said.
    Bridget stuck her tongue out at him. “Best
I could do under the circumstances.” She still wore Aaron’s track pants and
sweatshirt. He’d offered to run out and buy her some clothes, but she’d
refused, not wanting to be in his debt any more than she had to be.
    “Where’s your dress?” Rowan asked.
    “I left it behind.” She’d asked Aaron to
dispose of it for her. He’d tentatively suggested she take it and keep it just
in case, but she’d been quite adamant. She had taken the ring back, though.
She’d give it back to Mal at some point. She didn’t want to keep it.
    “I’m so sorry about what happened,” Rowan
said softly.
    Bridget shrugged. “It’s done now. It’s all
about where I go from here. Have you heard from Mal again?”
    Hitch frowned. “He told you.”
    “Yes, Aaron told me. I’m not a child,
Hitch. You don’t have to hide things from me.” She saw a mutinous glow in his
eyes and anger seared through her. “I know what you all thought of Mal, and
that you think I should have dumped him years ago. You’re worried that I’m
going to go back to him. Well, I’m not. I loved him, but I’m not stupid. We’re
done, and that’s not going to change.”
    “Not even if he begs you to give him
another chance?” Hitch wanted to know.
    She hesitated, thinking about times in the
past when he’d come around, told her loved her, and asked her to take him back.
There was no doubt that he’d had some kind of hold over her, much the same as
Aaron’s ex had over him, by the sounds of it, but just like him, she’d finally
reached the end of her tether. She might not have as much self-respect as some
people, but she had enough that she wasn’t going to let a man jilt her at the
altar and then come back for more.
    “No,” she said flatly. “Like I said, I’m
not stupid.”
    A frown flickered on Hitch’s brow as if he
was trying to work out whether she meant what she said. Rowan shifted on the
sofa. “You said it’s about where you go from here. Do you have any plans?”
    Bridget sipped her coffee. “I need time to
work out what I want from life and what’s important to me.”
    “Do you want to leave the Four Seasons?”
Rowan looked dismayed.
    She looked out of the window. “I don’t
think so. I have the flat for two more weeks and then I have to find somewhere
else to live. I just need time to think.” She looked back at Rowan, surprised
to see her friend’s eyes glittering with tears. “Hey, come on. I’m not just
going to give up everything I’ve worked for to sail around the world or
something. I love my job, and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved. I don’t want to
give it all up. But I’ve been coasting for a couple of years, and I need to… I
don’t know… reboot myself, I suppose.”
    Hitch put his arm around his fiancée and
hugged her against him. “So what are you planning to do?”
    “Well, I have two weeks off. I thought I
might go away for a while.”
    “To Vanuatu?”
    “No. I’ll stay in New Zealand. I might go
up north for a bit. Spend some time exploring, visit the beaches.”
    “Auckland?” Hitch asked.
    “Yes, at first, then the Northland. I
haven’t been before, and it’s supposed to be beautiful.”
    They both looked puzzled. “I suppose,”
Hitch said doubtfully. Then he frowned. “Are you going alone?”
    “Yes.”
    “So this isn’t about Aaron.”
    She hesitated for a fraction of a second,
but it was enough for him to notice.
    “Fuck,” he said.
    Rowan’s eyebrows rose. “You’re going away
with the guy you met last night?”
    “No.” Bridget’s cheeks flooded with heat.
    “Jesus, Birdie.” Hitch rested his head on
the back of the sofa and looked up at the ceiling.
    “I’m not,” she said. “Probably.” She