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She sighed again. ‘Both, I suppose.’
‘Well, come and hang out with me for a while, then we can do some shopping.’
She looked at him suspiciously.
He lifted his hands. ‘What? It’s only fair I foot the bill for shopping. I ate all your food last night.’
She nodded. ‘Okay, then. Let me drink this tea and find some clothes.’
He gave a cheery nod and wandered back down the corridor. She watched his retreating back, but her eyes were drawn downwards. He was still wearing well-fitting jeans and a snug grey T-shirt.
Her two weeks of misery seemed to be looking up.
CHAPTER FOUR
HE MUST BE CRAZY. Why on earth had he invited Lara out for the day?
Sure, she was cute. Sure, they had to share a house for the next two weeks. But that didn’t mean he had to try and be her new best friend.
But there had been something about her. When she’d been telling him about her ex and the pain had been etched in her eyes. The guy was clearly a fool.
He’d cringed last night when she’d asked him why Addison didn’t like him. He tried his best not to think about that night at all. But Lara had seemed placated when he’d padded out his story with a little detail.
Too bad he’d left the biggest detail out.
Caleb had shrugged off what had happened between them. He knew how damaged Reuben had been by his parents’ relationship. But Addison had no idea. He still wasn’t Mr Popular with her.
She probably didn’t even know that Caleb had invited him to stay here.
He finished sending a few emails as Lara walked into the kitchen. She was wearing a pink sequined T-shirt, a pair of hip-hugging blue jeans, black heeled boots and a fitted bright pink raincoat.
Her hair was soft and shiny and hanging in waves around her shoulders. She walked across the kitchen, smiling, pulled a pink lipstick from her pocket and painted it on her lips. ‘Reuben, what exactly did you plan today? I should remind you, I’m not exactly a sports fan.’
He laughed. ‘It will be fine, I promise. I need to visit one of the nearby football stadiums but I’ll be less than half an hour. Then we can sort out some food and anything else you need to buy.’
She gave a thoughtful nod. ‘I might have left some of my things behind.’
‘Things like what?’
She sighed. ‘My whole summer wardrobe. Just about everything I need to put in my case for my holiday is still at the flat. It’s ready to be picked up. It’s all sitting in another case.’
He blinked. ‘No problem. We’ll swing by later and you can collect it.’
Panic streaked across her face. ‘But... I don’t think... I’m not sure...’
‘Calm down.’ He reached over and took her hand, trying to ignore the little pulses he could feel in his palm, ‘I’ll go and get your things.’
Her eyes widened, flooding with relief. ‘You will?’
How on earth could he say no? ‘Of course I will. No problem.’
He picked up his car keys. ‘Now, can we go?’
* * *
For some strange reason the car seemed to be parting the traffic in London. Lara had never managed to get through the London streets so quickly—but, then again, she’d never been in a car like this one before either. The dark red colour alone seemed to command attention but it was so low, so sleek against the road that she wondered if she’d ever be able to get out again.
Reuben handled the car with ease. In the streets of London she would be terrified to drive a hundred yards but he took every corner without a second thought, pulling up outside the vast stadium only thirty minutes later.
He signalled to her to get out and she climbed out, looking up at the glass-fronted stadium. ‘Come on, I won’t be long,’ he said, as he walked into the reception area, waving at the reception staff. ‘Lydia, Carrie, where’s the chairman?’
‘Downstairs in the changing rooms. He’s talking to the manager.’
Reuben gave a casual wave and opened a door to a flight of stairs. Lara struggled to keep up with his long strides, almost running to keep up as he turned corner after corner through a warren of tunnels underneath the club.
He paused outside one of the doors. ‘Wait here,’ he said, smiling. ‘Don’t want you to see anything you shouldn’t.’ He disappeared through the door.
She sighed and leaned against the concrete wall. This wasn’t exactly her idea of fun. How long would this take?
A few seconds later there were shouts and one of the footballers came stomping along the corridor. His eyes only briefly brushed over her before he pulled his top over his head and banged through the changing-room door.
She sucked in a deep breath. Footballers were known for being temperamental, weren’t they?
