My Year of Saying No - Maxine Morrey Page 0,54

me as we finally said goodnight, having sat up talking into the early hours once again.

God, he smelled good… I stomped on the thought. It’s the year of saying no, remember? I reminded myself. And getting high on Seb Marshall’s aftershave was a definite no.

‘Night, Seb. Thanks for today.’

‘You’re welcome,’ he said, leaning on the door jamb, watching as I tucked Humphrey into his bed beside me. ‘You know you’re both welcome any time. It’s nice having company.’

I plonked down onto my bum and looked up at him, the outlines just slightly fuzzy from a combination of wine and tiredness. ‘You know you could get company really easily, don’t you?’

He frowned.

‘You’re kind of hot,’ I blabbed.

Seb smiled. ‘Kind of.’

‘Quite.’

‘Oh. I’m not really sure what to say to that.’

I shrugged. ‘Just saying.’

‘Thanks,’ he said, focusing on the little dog beside me. ‘It’s not that easy to meet people sometimes though, is it?’

‘No. That’s true. But you could try online dating.’

Seb slid his eyes to me. ‘No thanks.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because I’ve been there, done that, and it was awful.’

‘You have? I didn’t know that.’

‘It was before I met you. But, pretty much, I had the same experience as you did when you did it last year. Not something I’d be in a hurry to repeat.’

I pulled a face. ‘I know there are plenty of people who do find someone special, but, for the most part, everything I hear tends to veer to our end of the experience scale.’ I shifted positions. ‘Something I read recently said that over eighty per cent of people on dating websites don’t have representative profile pictures! Over eighty per cent!’ I threw my arms up.

‘Yep. I definitely had a few of those too. But it was just a weird experience for me. People, in general, don’t seem to be satisfied. They might like you, but there’s this hang-up. It’s like they feel that if they keep seeing you, they could be missing out. They might think you’re great and tick all the boxes, but there’s this niggling doubt that maybe, just maybe, there’s something around the corner even better.’

I flopped back, slouched against the side of the bed, still looking up at him. ‘They’re likely in for a big disappointment. Especially if they passed you up for that slight chance.’

‘Sometimes they were keeping all their options open. But I’m not really into sharing.’

‘Really?’ I asked, trying not to be intrigued. And, judging by the smirk on Seb’s face, failing.

‘No. Probably not a very modern outlook, but if I’m with someone, I’m with someone. Heart and soul.’

Oh bloody hell, Seb. I’m really trying here and you’re so not helping the situation.

‘No, I’d agree with that,’ I said, trying to ensure it sounded casual. ‘I don’t get that whole “we’re not exclusive” thing. That doesn’t really work for me either.’ I smothered a yawn and Seb smiled.

‘Get some rest. Thanks for today.’

‘I didn’t do anything! You cooked and hosted and everything else.’

‘You came. That’s enough.’

OK, he needed to go now. I knew I could do this, but it was a lot harder with him standing there looking drop-dead gorgeous and ticking all my boxes.

‘You should get some rest too. Night, Seb.’

I was still sat on the floor next to Humphrey who had long since passed into the land of nod. Seb took the few short steps from the door, bent, placed the lightest of kisses on the top of my head and turned back to the door.

‘Sleep well.’

With that, he headed out, Scooby sleepily padding just in front of him, and pulled the door to behind him.

18

‘Got everything?’ Seb asked late the next morning as I finished securing Humphrey into his doggy harness.

‘I think so. Thanks again for helping me with the car shopping. I really appreciate it.’

Seb shook his head. ‘My pleasure. I’m glad you found something you liked.’ He bent to look in at the dog who was already curled up and looking sleepy. ‘Someone seems comfy enough.’

I smiled at Humphrey. ‘He’s had a great time with Scooby. I think we’ve worn him out.’

Seb straightened back up and shifted his weight. ‘I hope you had a good time too.’

‘I really did,’ I said, looking up at him. He was close now and I could smell the citrus tang of the shower gel I’d borrowed this morning. ‘Thanks for having us.’

‘Do you think we could do this again?’

‘Of course. If you don’t mind, that is. You could come down to me, although I don’t have a spare room so