by Kyra Lennon
There was a small newsagent type shop right by the hotel entrance, and when I pointed him in the right direction, he said, “Can I buy some sweets too?”
Laughing I said, “Yes, if you must.”
“Yay! Thank you!”
Jamie darted to the shop and Josh said, “I take it you're not coming home today?”
“No. I'll catch a train home tomorrow.”
“So what's going on? You two sorted things out?”
“Almost. Last night he came to see me after we got back from the club.”
“And?”
“We talked. A lot. Christina wasn't so wrong about him after all.”
Josh didn't look nearly as happy at this news as I’d hoped and I said, “This is a good thing, Josh. A really good thing.”
He nodded. “I'm pleased for you.”
“Right,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “You look it too.”
“I'm not going to pretend that I like him, Leah. Not after what he put you through over the last few months. But if you think it's worth giving him a chance, I wish you luck.”
He sounded more sceptical than supportive and it annoyed me. Josh's opinion was important and without him backing me, there would be a dark cloud shadowing my good mood for the rest of the day.
Sensing my thoughts, he said, “Don't look at me like that. I don't have to like him.”
“But you did like him.”
“Before he messed you around.”
“So you're not even going to give him a chance?”
“I won’t make things hard for you,” Josh said. “If this is what you want, fine. I can’t forget that he hurt you though.”
I knew he wanted to say more but I could tell by the uneasy look on his face that Radleigh was on his way over to us. I turned and greeted him with a smile. As he reached us I said, “Everything sorted out?”
He nodded. “Yeah, you have a place to stay tonight.”
“Thank you.”
In response, he smiled then looked nervously at Josh.
“Hey.”
Josh surveyed him for a second. “Hello.”
The tension was unbearable and eventually Radleigh broke the silence.
“Listen, man,” he said. “I know I’m probably the last person you want your little sister to be with but I wanna … I'm gonna take care of her. If she'll let me.”
Once, my reaction would have been to tell him I could take care of myself and even if I did need someone to take care of me, he would be my last choice. And while I was perfectly capable of being on my own, I knew I didn't want to be.
And Radleigh was never your last choice.
“You'd better look after her,” Josh said. “Because she’s been through enough.”
“I have to persuade her to let me first,” he said. “She's pretty stubborn.”
“Careful,” Josh corrected. “She's careful.”
“Okay,” I said, stepping in between the two of them. “It's very flattering to be argued over by two men, even if one is my brother, but this isn’t helping.”
Josh nodded, grudgingly and I gave him a hug. He’d always been protective of me, and it meant a great deal to me that he accepted my decision without too many protests. As we let go of each other he said, “Leah, I think Freya's trying to catch your attention.”
Turning my head, I saw her, standing awkwardly by the lift. She’d promised to come and say goodbye to me and I knew that Will, Bree and Miguel would be along soon too.
“I'd better go and tell her what's happening,” I said, “Can you two please try not to kill each other while I'm gone?”
“We can do that,” Josh answered.
I gave Radleigh's hand a quick squeeze as I passed, then made my way over to Freya, trying not to think about what the two of them might say to each other when I wasn't there to separate them.
“What's going on?” Freya asked with a curious grin. “Are you and McCoy-?”
“It's a long story. I’ll fill you in later,” I answered. “For now though, we're talking.”
“But things are good? It's good talking, right?”
“Yes.”
Letting out a squeak of delight, she said, “That's great!”
“It is,” I said. “But there's a long way to go yet. I'm staying here an extra day and … we'll see.”
“Stop playing it so cool! You're ecstatic, I can see it in your eyes!”
Closing my eyes, I leaned forward, my forehead resting on her shoulder, “I am ecstatic. I don't want to jinx it though, so shush!”
“You won't! I think there might be something in the air here.”
My head snapped up. Freya’s eyes twinkled, and I let out a gasp. “Did something happen with you and Will?”
She nodded. “He was kind of drunk but he … he said he’s been in love with me for a long time, and thinks we should go on a date!”
It was my turn to let out a squeal. “That’s fantastic! I really, really want to hear all about it but I need to go and separate Radleigh and Josh before they start pulling each other’s hair.”
“It’s okay,” Freya said. “We’ll talk later. Let’s meet for drinks tonight.”
I grinned. “It’s a date.”
After saying a brief goodbye to Josh and trying to explain to Jamie why I wasn't going home with them, Radleigh and I left the hotel and went for a walk around the city.
It's funny how, when you live in London, you don't take in how phenomenal it really is. There’s so much you take for granted because there’s never any time to appreciate what's around you. With Radleigh though, it was like a holiday. We did the tourist thing of visiting Buckingham Palace, then Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden and Oxford Street but Radleigh had one final request before we went back to the hotel.
“I want to go on that enormous wheel thing that overlooks the Thames,” he said as we made our way through the masses of people in the street. “It looks amazing.”
My heart stopped for a second and I looked at him, panic stricken. “The London Eye?”
“Yeah. Have you ever been on it?”
“No. I’m scared of heights.”
“You are?” he asked, with a small laugh. “Wow.”
“What? Is that so strange?”
He shrugged. “I guess not, I just never knew that about you before.” He gave me a knee-weakening smile and added, “I still want to go on.”
“Then you ‘re on your own.”
We made our way to the famous tourist attraction, where the queue for the London Eye was insanely long. Hordes of people were waiting in line to get a full view of the city from the top of the wheel. Just looking at the height of it made me queasy.
“Oh, it looks like we won't be going on today,” I said, happily.
“What do you mean? I thought British people loved to queue,” he teased.
“Ha ha. That is a myth.”
“Leah, come on. I really wanna go on. Please come with me. I'll look after you, I promise.”
The part of me that couldn't resist him resurfaced.
“Okay,” I agreed. “Okay.”
We waited in line for a full hour, throughout which I continued to get more and more scared. If I’d been with anyone else I would probably have run away way before we got to the front of the line.
When we finally got there I gave one last panicked plea in the hope that he'd take pity on me and take me back to the hotel. No such luck. Radleigh handed over the money and I knew there was no backing out.
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered, as we stepped into the giant pod. “I think you’re pure evil for making me do this.”
With a small chuckle, Radleigh said, “It's good to face your fears.”
“Face my fears?” I repeated. “I'll have you know, I'm more than happy to live with my fear of heights. I don't need to conquer it by getting on an overgrown ferris wheel!”
“It’s supposed to be romantic.”
“You don’t need to be romantic now, you’ve already got me!”
/>
As a few more people filed into the pod with us, Radleigh gently manoeuvred me away from them and with a grin, said, “Maybe I haven't got everything I want from you yet.”
“If I promise to do obscene things to you when we get back to the hotel, will you let me out of here?”
“No,” he replied, laughing. “But you can do obscene things to me anyway, if you like?”
“After this? Not a hope!”
A smile spread across my face and he pulled me close to him. I still wasn't used to the happiness that washed over me whenever I was pressed up against him. It felt so safe, so right to be with him.
Running my hands down his back to the waistband of his jeans I said, “So, why did you bring me on here?”
“Partly so I can say I did something in London other than sleep, and partly so we can talk about the things we didn't have time to talk about last night.”
“Ah, cunning. You drag me up here where I can't escape, so you can get some answers from me. And here was I thinking it was about you having your wicked way with me in public.”
“Quit turning me on when I'm trying to be serious,” he groaned.
“Sorry,” I answered, grinning.
“I want you to come back to America with me,” he said, bluntly.
“Well,” I said, my smile fading a little, “that was abrupt.”
“I'm sorry. That's what I want.”
“I know.”
“You don't want to?” he asked, sounding surprised.
Return of the ego.
Although, I suppose to him it would have been a surprise. After I admitted I loved him, the obvious answer was that we would be together. And that was what I wanted.
“I want to be with you,” I told him, carefully. “I'm just … I'm not sure about moving back to America. I don't want to mess this up by pushing things faster than they need to go. We've already made enough of a mess of things.”
“It's different now. We've argued, and we've apologised. Everything's good.”
“It is,” I agreed. “Really good. But I want things to stay that way.”
“By staying in England?” he asked, pulling away from me slightly. “I thought we’d worked everything out?”
“You really think we can sort everything out with one conversation? Radleigh, we're talking about me uprooting my whole life. Again.”
His arms dropped from around my waist and he turned away from me. It was only then that I realised we were quite a few feet higher in the air than we had been. We’d been so engrossed in each other that the view over London was the last thing on our minds. With a sharp intake of breath, I instinctively reached out to him, just for something to hold on to. He shrugged me off, and I was torn between trying to keep control of my fears and trying to have the serious discussion with him.
I leaned back against the edge of the capsule in order to keep my balance while I got used to the fact that we’d moved, and took a couple of deep breaths.
We weren't anywhere near full height yet and I was already having a panic attack. My palms were sweating, and my legs began to shake.
This was not supposed to happen. I was not meant to be arguing with Radleigh, but telling him how deathly afraid I am of heights and letting him calm me down.
“Well,” I said, trying to keep a quiver out of my voice, “I guess this proves my point. We've not even been together for twenty four hours and we're already fighting.”
He turned his head to look at me. “You're the one being unreasonable.”
“I’ve got no intention of standing here and begging you to hear what I'm saying,” I told him. “So if you're done discussing this, I'll go back to quietly freaking out.”
I closed my eyes for a second, in an attempt to steady myself a little, then wiped my perspiring palms on my jeans, silently telling myself that everything was okay. I squeezed my eyes closed again, willing myself to realise that my fear was irrational. I was perfectly safe.
I had two options. I could suffer silently, or ask Radleigh for help.
“Radleigh, could you … I need you to hold my hand.”
Once, a long time ago, I would never have asked and even if I had, I wouldn't have believed he'd be there for me. Even in the middle of our disagreement things had changed enough for me to know that when I reached out for him, he would be there.
His hand closed over mine and he carefully drew me to him. I could tell he was still pissed off from the way he held me, but he was holding me.
That had to mean something, right?
“Have you ever been in a relationship with someone you loved so much you felt like you couldn't breathe without them?” I asked, my voice now trembling almost as much as my legs.
“Not yet,” he answered dryly.
“The last time I loved someone that way, I got screwed over. I've never been that girl. The girl who means everything to someone.”
There was a long, excruciating silence, then Radleigh said, “You are that girl. You'd think I'd get sick of you, always arguing with me, telling me you're not interested, challenging me. I can't get away with anything with you. I’m not tired of you yet and I don't see that happening.”
That was so much what I needed to hear, I let myself sag against him, holding him tightly.
I knew what I wanted. I’d always known. Cornwall was my home only by chance. L.A was where I belonged. Even when I left everyone and everything behind, I knew. But I’d needed time to heal. Time to be with my family, to gather up the bits of me that were broken. Radleigh was offering me the final piece. The piece that would cover up the last gaping hole inside me and I wanted to take it.
God, I really wanted to take it.
Take it. It’s all yours. Those doubts in your head … they’re nothing but excuses. He’s made all the moves to show you he loves you. Now you need to do the same. Be honest. But don’t let him go.
Taking a deep breath, I said, “I want to be with you. In L.A. But I need a little time.”
Radleigh kissed the top of my head. “I didn’t expect you to fly back with me right away.”
“I’ll need to get my stuff packed up again, and search for a job.”
“You don't need a job,” he said. “You can-”
“What?” I interrupted. “Stay at home and clean your enormous house?”
“What makes you think my house is enormous?”
I looked up at him. “Radleigh McCoy, don't you dare try and tell me that size isn't important to you.”
“Okay, so it's huge,” he admitted with a grin. “You don't have to clean it though. I have a housekeeper.”
Shaking my head at the very different lifestyles we led I said, “I need to find work. I’m not the stay at home type. Maybe one day in the future if I had children to look after but-”
Radleigh burst out laughing. “You accused me of rushing things, and here you are talking about having children!”
Narrowing my eyes I said, “If you continue to make this conversation difficult for me, I will make sure you aren't capable of fathering children. Ever.”
“I’m not the one making this difficult,” he said, sliding his hands down to my hips. “And I would love to have children with you, by the way. You'd look really sexy pregnant.”
If I hadn't been aware of how sick I would feel if I moved, I would have turned away from the devilish smile on his face. As it was though, I was pretty much rooted to the spot and the corners of my mouth twitched.
“Are you really that guy I met in the training ground restaurant on my first day at work, who offered me a night of casual sex?”
“Oh, very clever. Are you that girl who spent weeks saying she wasn't interested in me, only to keep me awake all night after a drunken night out at a wedding?”
“We were both guilty of misleading each other. But now we’re being honest. I really think we need to take this slowly.”
He leaned in close to me, and just before his lips brushed against mine, he stopped.
“Slowly,�
�� he repeated, with his trademark mischievous grin.
Feeling his warm breath against my cheek made me shiver, and I nodded. It was all I was capable of doing at that moment.
“I can do that,” he said.
I tilted my head back slightly, waiting for the moment our mouths would meet but it didn't come.
“Is there something you want, Leah,” Radleigh asked, his hand stroking the back of my neck.
“Well,” I began, nonchalantly, “since you've been in London, we haven't really … I mean … you haven't-”
My words were cut off as he finally gave me the kiss I’d been anticipating for so long.
It was just like the first time he kissed me. The intensity, the passion. Except it was better. It meant so much more than the first time. It wasn't about some passing physical attraction anymore, not that that attraction had diminished in any way. But along with it were real feelings. Feelings we had taken far too long to admit. As his hands ran through my hair, I couldn't quite remember why that was.
.
About the Author
Kyra Lennon is a freelance writer, with articles published on numerous websites. One of her main areas of expertise is dating advice, which might explain her love for writing romantic fiction.
Kyra lives on the South Coast of England, and can’t imagine not living beside the sea, which she cites as one of her favourite places to go when she needs a little inspiration.
Table of Contents
Start
