frazzled brain couldn’t begin to tackle today.
He picked up on the second ring. ‘Hi, Nicholas.’ My voice was a bit pathetic. God, I was definitely feeling sorry for myself.
‘Rebecca?’ I heard what sounded like concern in his voice.
‘Yeah, hi, I’ve had a bad day at work today so I’m going to give my lesson a miss tonight. I’m in a really lousy mood, Nicholas. It wouldn’t be fair to impose it on you,’ I explained lamely, fiddling with a loose lock of my hair.
‘Oh.’ There was a long pause on the other end. ‘Fine.’ He sounded pissed off. Great, now as well as a customer and my employee being annoyed with me, Nicholas was also in a mood with me.
I sighed again, wishing my life were easier and that Nicholas was just my boyfriend so I could vent my anger on him and then fall into bed with him. I rolled my eyes. He’s not, so deal with it, I ordered myself as he politely but speedily ended our call.
Feeling utterly miserable, I settled onto the sofa with my favourite cookery programme, hoping to distract myself from thoughts of Mr Peterson and my “going nowhere” relationship with Nicholas.
Half an hour or so later, I was vaguely considering going for a relaxing bath when the doorbell rang. Not expecting anyone, I guessed it would be Louise coming to check up on me after this afternoon’s little exchange at work. Hopefully she’d have Chinese takeaway with her too as she often did when she visited. God, I hoped she’d brought sticky spare ribs; I could really do with some ultimate comfort food right now.
It would be fair to say I was beyond astounded as I pulled open the door to find Nicholas standing in the hallway of my flat with a very peculiar look on his face. As he leant against the wall, his head was turned down but he was looking up at me from under his brows in a way that could only be described as dark, brooding, and downright desirable. Wow, I totally had not expected this tonight.
Cringing, I glanced down at my “around the house” clothing: a tatty Nirvana T-shirt and baggy tracksuit bottoms that had definitely seen better days. I literally couldn’t look more scruffy if I had tried.
‘Rebecca,’ he murmured in greeting, sending an instant shiver down my spine. Mmm, the way he did that was just so sexy.
‘Nicholas, what are you doing here?’ My tone was probably a little sharper than I’d intended, but to be honest, he looked just as confused by his presence on my doorstep as I sounded.
‘You seemed tense on the phone so I thought I’d drop by and see if you were OK.’ Again, an oddly bemused expression flickered on his face but it was gone before I could read too much into it. ‘The trouble at work, is it anything I can help with? Or is it more issues with your sister?’
OK, time out, I thought. Let me just take a moment to process this. Nicholas is here to see if I’m OK and he wants to help … That sounded very much like the type of stuff a boyfriend would do, so why the hell was Nicholas-fuck-buddy-Jackson here doing it?
Standing back in silence, I indicated for him to enter my flat, which he did with a small nod of his head. As his gorgeous spicy pine scent caught in my nostrils, I found that I was ridiculously pleased he was here.
Remembering his question, I answered, ‘No, no, Joanne’s fine.’ I’d visited her more than usual this week and was pleased that she seemed back on track. ‘It’s a guy at work, just some stupid customer giving me a hard time. He keeps coming in and getting aggravated with me when I’ve told him repeatedly that the book he wants will take me time to get.’ My tone had risen from reliving my anger but I shrugged and headed for the couch, flopping down limply, before watching as he surveyed first the room, and then me with narrowed eyes.
Thankfully, Nicholas made no comment about my scruffy clothing or the slightly messy state of my flat – the pile of washing that had borne the brunt of my anger when I’d
He picked up on the second ring. ‘Hi, Nicholas.’ My voice was a bit pathetic. God, I was definitely feeling sorry for myself.
‘Rebecca?’ I heard what sounded like concern in his voice.
‘Yeah, hi, I’ve had a bad day at work today so I’m going to give my lesson a miss tonight. I’m in a really lousy mood, Nicholas. It wouldn’t be fair to impose it on you,’ I explained lamely, fiddling with a loose lock of my hair.
‘Oh.’ There was a long pause on the other end. ‘Fine.’ He sounded pissed off. Great, now as well as a customer and my employee being annoyed with me, Nicholas was also in a mood with me.
I sighed again, wishing my life were easier and that Nicholas was just my boyfriend so I could vent my anger on him and then fall into bed with him. I rolled my eyes. He’s not, so deal with it, I ordered myself as he politely but speedily ended our call.
Feeling utterly miserable, I settled onto the sofa with my favourite cookery programme, hoping to distract myself from thoughts of Mr Peterson and my “going nowhere” relationship with Nicholas.
Half an hour or so later, I was vaguely considering going for a relaxing bath when the doorbell rang. Not expecting anyone, I guessed it would be Louise coming to check up on me after this afternoon’s little exchange at work. Hopefully she’d have Chinese takeaway with her too as she often did when she visited. God, I hoped she’d brought sticky spare ribs; I could really do with some ultimate comfort food right now.
It would be fair to say I was beyond astounded as I pulled open the door to find Nicholas standing in the hallway of my flat with a very peculiar look on his face. As he leant against the wall, his head was turned down but he was looking up at me from under his brows in a way that could only be described as dark, brooding, and downright desirable. Wow, I totally had not expected this tonight.
Cringing, I glanced down at my “around the house” clothing: a tatty Nirvana T-shirt and baggy tracksuit bottoms that had definitely seen better days. I literally couldn’t look more scruffy if I had tried.
‘Rebecca,’ he murmured in greeting, sending an instant shiver down my spine. Mmm, the way he did that was just so sexy.
‘Nicholas, what are you doing here?’ My tone was probably a little sharper than I’d intended, but to be honest, he looked just as confused by his presence on my doorstep as I sounded.
‘You seemed tense on the phone so I thought I’d drop by and see if you were OK.’ Again, an oddly bemused expression flickered on his face but it was gone before I could read too much into it. ‘The trouble at work, is it anything I can help with? Or is it more issues with your sister?’
OK, time out, I thought. Let me just take a moment to process this. Nicholas is here to see if I’m OK and he wants to help … That sounded very much like the type of stuff a boyfriend would do, so why the hell was Nicholas-fuck-buddy-Jackson here doing it?
Standing back in silence, I indicated for him to enter my flat, which he did with a small nod of his head. As his gorgeous spicy pine scent caught in my nostrils, I found that I was ridiculously pleased he was here.
Remembering his question, I answered, ‘No, no, Joanne’s fine.’ I’d visited her more than usual this week and was pleased that she seemed back on track. ‘It’s a guy at work, just some stupid customer giving me a hard time. He keeps coming in and getting aggravated with me when I’ve told him repeatedly that the book he wants will take me time to get.’ My tone had risen from reliving my anger but I shrugged and headed for the couch, flopping down limply, before watching as he surveyed first the room, and then me with narrowed eyes.
Thankfully, Nicholas made no comment about my scruffy clothing or the slightly messy state of my flat – the pile of washing that had borne the brunt of my anger when I’d
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