Free Just Between Us by Hayley Oakes Page A

mine, it’s only a small overnighter, and I’ll get yours.”
                  “Are you sure?” I asked, picking my handbag out of the car and then joining him at the boot.
                  “Of course, come on.” He shut the boot and nodded to an outside door, which required another code. He inputted the code and led me to a lift. We got inside and shot up to the fourth floor, which was also the top.
                  The doors opened, and ahead of us was only one front door, which must have been his. We stepped inside and I was shocked. This apartment was huge. Our house with our parents was big, extremely big and luxurious, but this place in London must have cost a fortune, and the floor space alone was monstrous.
                  “My God,” I said eyes wide, “what on earth did you say you do?”
                  “I make money, baby!” he said, smiling.
                  I followed him inside to the clean, neutral, spacious lounge, modern kitchen, dining area, and what looked like another lounge area with a wall of windows that had fantastic views. There was the balcony, and I smiled at the sight.
                  “Come on, I’ll show you your room, and then I’ll get your other bags, and we can order some food.”
                  “Okay.” I nodded. “I must look a sight, I need to get changed.”
                  “You always look great.” He shrugged.
                  He led me to the spare room and placed the two cases on my bed. The room was beautiful with crisp, white bedding, understated furniture, and what looked like a dressing room. I clicked the light on to find a walk-in closet that led to an en suite. It was beautiful.
                  “This is the second bedroom?” I asked.
                  “Yep,” he nodded. “The master bedroom will make you lose your shit, it’s awesome.”
                  He left me alone, and I sat on the edge of the bed, prying my case open, wondering again if I had done the right thing. Melancholy washed over me periodically, but I needed to push it away. I texted Mum to tell her I had arrived and contemplated texting Ashley. She still lived in Lytham, round the corner from my old house with Simon. We had stayed close, and she was going to be my bridesmaid, but she was married and heavily pregnant, so she couldn’t spend as much time with me these days. I couldn’t tell her about Kyle, I couldn’t say where I was as she was the only one that ever knew back then, and she would definitely not think this was a good idea.
                  She had seen me cry a river over Kyle Hanson and therefore would most likely be against me staying with him for a few weeks whilst vulnerable and desperate. How could I explain that everything was platonic? How could I tell her that he was just trying to help me recover, especially when I wasn’t sure I could ever trust myself around him? No matter what I would always be attracted to him, and Ashley would know that and tell me to stay away. However, I was broken, and we had both moved on, so we could only ever be friends now. I definitely didn’t think she’d understand, especially if I didn’t.
                  Kyle broke my thoughts, and he brought two more bags in. “Right come on, let’s order food and crack the wine open.”
                  “Okay.” I smiled. “I just want to freshen up, I’ll just be a minute.”
     
    An hour later we sat on the balcony, laughing, having demolished a pizza between us.
                  “This is better,” Kyle smiled, his aviators still on despite the sun going down, “you look happy.”
                  “I am,” I said, “thanks, I think this is what I needed.”
                  “Wine?” He laughed.
                  “That and someone to just