Page 12 of A Little Love Song in Seabury (Seabury #16)

LEAH

L eah opened her heavy eyes but didn’t attempt to sit up in bed. For a long minute, she couldn’t figure out why her heart felt like it was in a vice-grip.

The gulls were calling cheerily outside, she could hear the gentle lapping of waves against pebbles, and she was safe and warm in Doris’s little flat.

There wasn’t anything she had to jump out of bed for—she was on holiday!

So why did it feel like there was a broken-hearted elephant sitting on her chest?

Maybe it was because she’d just had the worst night’s sleep of her life.

‘Or, maybe it’s because Will clearly despises you,’ she murmured in a broken voice, sitting up and hugging her knees to her chest.

Of course that was it.

It had been as much as Leah could do to stop herself from heading straight for London the minute she’d arrived back from Seabury House the previous evening. The only thing that had stopped her was the simple fact that she’d been in no fit state to drive.

So, with a thumping head, Leah had half-heartedly thrown her belongings into her suitcase ready for the next morning, before letting the endless flood of tears carry her to bed.

Sadly, sleep hadn’t provided the sweet oblivion she’d been desperate for. Her dreams had been filled with Will—his stern, staring face and cool greeting echoing a thousand times throughout the night.

Leah still couldn’t believe he’d behaved like that towards her yesterday—not just once, but twice.

‘Well, I’m not giving him the chance to do it a third time,’ she muttered.

She’d get up, finish packing her things, and head straight back up to London. There were only two decisions she needed to make before setting off.

One—should she leave her resignation letter here to be passed on to Will? Or would it be better to wait until next week when he’d be back in London?

‘London. Definitely,’ she said, with a little nod.

As much as Leah knew her resignation was now pretty much a foregone conclusion, she didn’t relish the idea of dealing with any fallout over the phone. She’d wait until they were both on neutral territory, then do it in person.

Fast. Clean. Efficient.

Yeah. Right!

In the meantime, she’d make a start on the process of replacing herself and finish putting together the handover manual for whichever poor sucker had to run Will’s life next.

Leah swallowed down a sob. Poor sucker? Who was she kidding? They’d be the luckiest person on earth to inherit her beloved job.

Rubbing her eyes, Leah cleared her throat. She needed to stop… she’d already shed enough tears over William Pepper.

With that decision made, there was just one left before she could leave Seabury behind her forever. What should she do about the hire car? Should she commandeer it and just leave Will to fend for himself… or should she see about catching a train back to the capital instead?

As much as Leah was tempted to take the fastest and easiest route out of town, she was still Will’s PA, which meant his needs had to come first. She’d leave the car behind for him… even if she wasn’t sure he’d use it.

Leah turned to eyeball her phone on the bedside cabinet. She’d been avoiding it ever since she stormed out of Seabury House the previous evening. The last thing she’d wanted was to field angry calls from her boss. Or, even worse—no contact at all!

Well, it was time to face the music. She needed to hunt for whatever public transport made its way down into this sleepy seaside town. With any luck, she wouldn’t have to wait too long until she could make her escape.

Grabbing the mobile before she could chicken out, Leah swiped at the screen—and let out a long sigh. Just three notifications… none of which were from Will.

Leah swallowed, feeling guilty as she opened the first message that had arrived not long after she’d left Seabury House.

Hey, sorry you’re feeling rubbish. If you need anything, call me - day or night. Don’t forget we’ve got a Dr in the house if you need one. Big hugs, Rosie xx

The second message had arrived about an hour later.

Message me in the morning to let us know how you are! Connie x

The next one had clearly just pinged in.

Answer your door in 30 minutes for a welfare check. If you’re ill, we’ll get you sorted. If you’re not, you’re coming to breakfast! C&R

P.S. if you don’t open your door, Doris has got a spare key and someone’s coming in to check on you!

Leah couldn’t help but smile. She was going to miss these two. Even though she’d only met them in person the previous day, the three of them had been messaging and video calling for months now.

Connie and Rosie were more than just friends… they felt like extended family, and she’d been kidding herself that she’d be able to break contact with them just because she wouldn’t be working for Will anymore.

Leah let out a long breath and checked the time, then she double-checked when that last message had been sent.

‘Crap, I’ve got less than five minutes!’ she squeaked, jumping out of bed.

Well, one thing was for sure, she definitely didn’t have time to make a break for London before they’d be banging her door down!

Sure enough, Leah barely had time to grab her hairbrush and drag it through her mop before there was a loud, booming knock from downstairs.

‘Damnit!’ she muttered. She hadn’t even had time for a shower!

Glancing down at herself, she let out a little groan.

All she had on was a pair of boxer-knickers and an ancient Magic Roundabout tee-shirt that she was using as her PJs.

She peered around, hunting for something with a bit more coverage, when there was a second knock at the door, this time louder and more urgent.

To hell with it!

If she didn’t get down there pronto to let the girls in, they’d no doubt make good on their threat and raise the alarm with Doris. Either that or they’d opt for the quicker version, and simply break the door down.

‘I’m coming, don’t panic!’ she yelled on a half-laugh as she darted down the steps. They’d just have to put up with her just-out-of-bed state. She was sure they’d seen worse.

Leah couldn’t help but smile as she unlocked the door. At least she was going to see the pair of them one last time before she left. Hopefully, she could make them understand…

‘You’d better have brought breakfast with you, I’m starving!’ she laughed, opening the door with a flourish.

The laughter promptly died on her lips. There, staring at her as if he’d never seen her before, was William Pepper.

Leah froze, blinking in confusion for several long seconds. Then, it slowly started to dawn on her that she was standing in front of her boss, wearing nothing more than a pair of knickers and a knackered tee-shirt that may or may not be see-through in places from all the washing and wearing.

Leah promptly unfroze and did a funny little dance as she wrapped one arm around her boobs while simultaneously trying to stretch the hem of her tee-shirt as low as it would go to cover as much as she could.

‘Hey,’ said Will, who’d been staring at her but hastily lifted his eyes skywards.

‘What are you doing here?’ said Leah, half-considering slamming the door in his face.

Nope. Too rude.

The other option was to just leave him standing on the doorstep and sprint back up the stairs. Unfortunately, though, that would just give him an unrestricted view of her bum.

‘I thought the girls messaged you this morning?’ said Will, glancing at her before quickly looking at the sky again. ‘We wanted to check you’re okay. After your headache.’

‘We? I thought they were coming.’

Leah felt her face flush hot with shame.

She was basically standing in front of her boss half-naked right now!

Her boss who she was definitely still in love with.

Her boss who she clearly couldn’t stay cross at for more than five seconds.

Her boss who kept looking at her like he wanted to eat her for breakfast.

What was happening?!

‘No,’ said Will. ‘They thought it might be better if I came instead. I mean… because I know you best.’

Leah raised an eyebrow at that.

‘Look, I’m sorry,’ said Will. ‘I’ve clearly caught you at a… erm… bad moment?’

‘No, I’m sorry,’ said Leah, tugging at her tee-shirt again. ‘You must think I’m… I mean… I’d never wear this if I thought… I mean… I thought you were the girls!’

‘Don’t worry about that,’ said Will, shooting her a sheepish grin. ‘As long as you’re feeling okay?’

‘I’m…’

She was about to say fine, but was she? Really?

Leah gave her head a little shake. There was no trace of yesterday’s headache. She was fine… physically, at least. And just seeing Will looking so adorably himself had somehow managed to banish the shadows of her long night of bad dreams, overthinking and worrying.

Maybe him turning up unannounced like this was a good thing…?

Or maybe not.

Leah tugged the hem of her tee-shirt down a bit further.

‘I’m okay,’ she said. ‘I mean, loads better than last night. I’m sorry I ran out on the girls like that. It was just… you?—’

‘Are you hungry?’

Leah blinked at the interruption.

Hungry? If it had been Rosie and Connie standing there, asking that, she’d have been all over it. But…

‘Not really,’ she muttered.

‘Liar,’ chuckled Will.

‘Excuse me?!’

‘I heard you yelling about breakfast before you’d even opened the door,’ he said. ‘Besides, I literally just heard your stomach rumble.’

Leah let out a huff, then winced as it did it again.

‘Fine. Yes, I’m hungry. But I’ve got plenty of food in the flat for breakfast, so…’

Will shook his head. ‘Come to breakfast with me.’

‘Is that a demand from the boss?’ said Leah.

The audacity of this man!

‘No,’ said Will, looking adorably contrite all of a sudden. ‘It’s a humble request from a friend who’s got quite a bit of grovelling to do.’

Leah opened her mouth, then closed it again. She wasn’t sure which word to focus on first. Friend? For some reason, that stung. And as for grovelling, was he really going to apologise for being weird all day yesterday?

‘Fine. We’ll have breakfast,’ she said, too curious to see what he had to say for himself to tell him to sod off straight away. ‘You want to come up?’

Will shook his head. ‘Come out with me for breakfast.’

‘I’m not going anywhere wearing this,’ she said, glancing down at her tee-shirt with a wince. ‘And I need a shower.’

‘Fine,’ said Will. ‘That’s cool… I can wait for you out front.’ He fished his mobile from his back pocket.

Leah raised an eyebrow. ‘I might be a while. You sure you don’t want to come up?’

‘Go,’ said Will. ‘Take as long as you need. I’ll be waiting for you.’

Leah didn’t need to be told twice. She was about to turn around and scarper upstairs to make herself a bit more presentable when she paused, more than aware that Will’s eyes were still on her.

‘What?’ he said, looking amused.

‘Would you mind… turning around?’ said Leah, her cheeks flushing hot again.

‘Oh… right… sure!’

Will turned away in slow motion. Leah waited until he’d retreated several steps before turning on her heel and sprinting back upstairs.