‘Coming back here has been more complicated than I expected. I won’t bore you with my life story, but it’s been a struggle.’
‘Okay.’
Moving away from the window, he starts to pace. ‘The other night was a bit of a wake-up call for me.’
Was that when he lost the keys to my flat, chose not to sleep with Rory’s sister (whoever Rory is) and came home to have a crisis in my kitchen?
‘I need to stop going out all the time and, as Jamie says, “causing drama”. I am not going to lie, I have a lot on my mind, and I think I have been letting my emotions get the better of me. It’s not just causing me issues with you but with others as well.’
I nod, and he comes back to sit on the sofa. ‘Sharing a bed with you will force me to get out of this negative cycle. I’ll build the wall tonight. It will be so high they will be able to see it in space.’ He’s looking at me. ‘What do you think? I’m a decent person, and I respect your concerns about physical contact. I’m brilliant at building things. If my writing career dries up, I’ll turn to food and… bricklaying.’
The words ‘no way’ are jostling around on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t push them out.
I yawn and wonder whether this will result in me getting a good night’s sleep.
He can read my mind as he says, ‘No more middle-of-the-night wake-ups. I will be the perfect flatmate and bed sharer.’
I wish he wouldn’t make bold claims and follow them up with that dangerous smile of his.
‘If you wake me up in the early hours again this arrangement is over. I mean it, Oliver.’
‘Nelly, if that happens, I will return to this sofa and sleep with a loose spring digging into my bottom as punishment. In years to come, you’ll see me struggling to sit down at author events because of my injured behind.’
My face is getting warm at the thought of his rear end. ‘Can you stop talking about your bottom?’
He smiles. ‘What do you think?’
All want is a good night’s sleep. I can’t believe I am going to agree to this. ‘Yes.’
A huge smile spreads across his face. ‘That’s great. I will build the wall. Nelly, I need something like this as I can’t carry on living the way I have been, and I need to start writing again.’
‘Make sure it is a high wall.’
He chuckles and gets to his feet. ‘Don’t worry, it will be.’
Oh, God, what have I agreed to?
24
Oliver has built an impressive wall of pillows and cushions. He has used all my lounge cushions, my two spare pillows from his cupboard, and a load of new, cheap cushions he bought earlier. I sense he’s been planning this.
‘What do you think?’ he asks, proudly gesturing to the wall.
I nod. ‘Impressive.’
‘Thanks for taking a chance on me.’ He holds my gaze and I can feel an annoying fluttering inside my chest.
‘I need to go out,’ he says softly, and I feel my heart sink. ‘But,’ he says, with a slight smile, ‘I’ll be back in about an hour so we can officially start our bed-sharing.’ There’s something different about his dark eyes. They look brighter and bigger. ‘I promise I’ll be back and there will be no stubbing of toes, bloodied noses, lost keys, the consumption of two and half pints or sad walks in torrential rain.’
I watch him leave and go sit on my chair with Lenny. ‘I believe him,’ I whisper to Lenny. ‘I don’t know why, but I sense he wants to change.’ I pick up Margo Lane’s book and dive into where I left off.
True to his word, he returns after an hour. ‘Nelly,’ he calls out from the hallway after closing the flat door. ‘It’s nearly time to get our pyjamas on.’
We sit in the living room opposite each other. He’s reading a romance book written by one of his author friends. Tonight, he’s wearing a fitted pink shirt and black jeans. His dark hair has been styled and is sporting some beautiful waves. I am trying to focus on Margo’s words about how it feels to be embraced by water, but my annoying mind keeps imagining what it must feel like to be in Oliver’s arms.
I have just been in the bathroom and put on my pink pyjamas which are covered with tiny grey cats. He’s changed in the living room and is wearing a pair of blue pyjamas. As I enter the bedroom feeling anxious, he hands me the rolling pin from the kitchen drawer. ‘Take this.’
‘What?’ I gasp.
