‘To be fair to him, he came up with this very quickly. He did tell me it had been empty and he hadn’t been able to view it himself.’
‘Well, he can shove it equally quickly.’ Leo paused and looked down into her soft brown eyes. ‘Seriously, Anna. We can share the apartment. We’re both grown-ups, we can make it work. We can draw up rotas so we can minimise contact if that helps – agree to stay out of each other’s way at certain times. I don’t know … Saturdays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, you have the lounge, I stay in my room. Something like that, if that works. Right now, you’re going to order another Uber and we’ll start our descent.’
‘Thanks, Leo,’ said Anna, opening her phone app.
‘And you can take me out for a large beer later today.’
‘Deal.’
ChapterEight
‘I’ve got a suggestion to make,’ announced Leo the next morning, as he bounded into the kitchen looking as fresh and bright as a buttercup in the dawn. She looked up from the text she was sending Steve. Illuminated by a shaft of sunlight from the overhead Velux window, his hair almost looked like a halo, and with that handsome face and, in repose, the slightly sulky (and very sexy) mouth, he could have been a fallen angel. Transfixed, she stared at him, not knowing what to say, while her pulse stuttered a little. For some reason her gaze focused on his lips, always so quick to smile. With his slight tan, that mop of blond hair and the well-washed jeans and soft T-shirt, he looked like a surfer dude. Knowing Leo, he’d probably spent the whole summer on the beach.
She ducked her head and focused on finishing her text, adding a ‘missing you’ that she hadn’t intended as well as a couple of extra kisses.
Having pressed send, she eyed Leo warily, trying not to reflect once again on how flipping good-looking he was. That spontaneous hug yesterday in the middle of the other apartment had unsettled her and she’d spent the whole evening in her room unpacking and rearranging things. Anything to stay out of his way. He’d been so kind to her. She didn’t want him to be kind. She didn’t want to remember the good things about him. Having lost her heart to him once, she couldn’t bear the agony again. She needed to reinforce herself against his kindness and that wonderful irrepressible energy. Leo was the sunshine that attracted everyone. Someone like her would never be enough to hold onto to someone like him – not for ever. It wasn’t that she had a huge inferiority complex – well, maybe a slight one – but she’d witnessed her aunt’s constant vigilance, always looking for the next clue to her uncle’s latest ‘friendship’. Which was why Anna had walked away last time. Before Leo could. There would always be someone waiting to step into her shoes.
She realised Leo was still waiting for an answer to his question.
‘And what’s that?’ she finally asked, all too aware of how the snug T-shirt fitted him a little too well and, despite her self-pep-talk mere seconds before, caused an unwelcome pang of longing. Not going there. She did not fancy Leo, not any more. Muscle memory, that was all, a vestige of how she’d felt a long, long time ago.
‘Want a coffee?’ she asked, feeling it would be churlish not to offer when she’d made a whole pot. She’d nipped out earlier to the bakery down the street to buy fresh bread and had come back with a bag of fresh pastries.
‘Yes, please.’
‘And one of these? A thank you for rescuing me from District Thirteen.’ She pushed the paper bag towards him. ‘They’re still warm.’ The little pastries looked rather like overgrown jam tarts with dough shells and filled with a rich, dark plum jam.
‘Yum. What are they?’
‘Koláce, apparently. They just came out of the oven and smelt so delicious I couldn’t resist.’
‘So,’ said Leo with a playful twinkle in his eye, ‘I have a proposition for you. You can’t spend all your time avoiding me in the flat. It’s not healthy and I don’t want to make you feel you have to. I know I’ve been out a lot but … I can’t keep eating out every night. So how about we pretend we’ve never met before. We don’t talk about the past, don’t make any assumptions or presumptions about each other and don’t bring up old grievances. A completely fresh start.’
The words sounded rehearsed, confirming that they had indeed been considered, but Anna was impressed for all that. They showed a maturity and thoughtfulness that the madcap, impetuous Leo of old wouldn’t have been capable of. Although she wasn’t supposed to be thinking like that. ‘And I’d like to cook dinner for you this evening. It’s daft us eating separately. We might as well take it in turns.’ He held up his hands. ‘I’ll do some shopping.’
‘Okay,’ she said, still wary, wondering how this was going to work.
‘Great.’ He held out his hand. ‘I’m Leo Knight. I’m twenty-eight. I live in Richmond in London and I want to open a craft brewery. I’m here because I’m passionate about beer and the Czechs make the best beer in the world.’
She took his hand and shook it, playing along, trying not to remember the first time he’d held her hand.
‘Anna Love. Also twenty-eight. I’m an orphan and grew up with my aunt and uncle and three older cousins, Becs, James and Tim. I live in a small village outside Milton Keynes and … I want to be head brewer of my family’s brewery one day.’
‘Seems like we have something in common,’ said Leo taking a seat and biting into his pastry. ‘Mmm, this is good, thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’
‘I’m going to play tourist today,’ said Leo with his irrepressible grin. ‘I’m going to drink Pilsen and eat dumplings.’
Dumplings and beer sounded really good. A tug of longing pulled at her even as she nodded politely at him. Leo had always been able to make life more fun, wherever he was and whatever he was doing.
‘We could join forces, you know,’ said Leo. ‘As part of our truce. And you can pretend, just for one day, that you don’t hate me.’
Startled, she turned to face him. ‘I don’t hate you.’
‘Whatever,’ replied Leo. ‘But we could play at tourists and have some fun.’
It was that irrepressible quirk to his mouth that did it. The one that made him look like a naughty toddler about to admit to his latest misdemeanour with great glee.
