Good Enough to Share (Good Enough, Book 1 - Christmas) by Zara Stoneley

well
apart from it being the only advertised place of course. Nothing as perverse as
a woman who knows her own mind, maybe, is there?
    When Sophie had
encouraged me to make the move to Cheshire I’d not been completely convinced.
In my heart I’d known I needed a new start, but the sensible side of me kept
reminding me that I knew lots of people in London, there were tons of jobs that
paid well, and, well and nothing really. I guess I was just fighting change.
    London had been
fun, a challenge, but was all about James if I was honest. It was his territory
and although in some ways he appeared weak-chinned and feeble he had this hard
core deep inside that meant what he wanted he got. And he wasn’t bothered how.
I had been his respectable cover, the slim blonde with a degree and good table
manners who put up with his pernickety ways and over the top personal grooming
because I thought I loved him. And all I’d got was the shell and what he got
was exactly what he needed, permission to carry on the lifestyle he really
wanted to. But I wasn’t anyone’s cover story,even
if I had been able to lead my life however I wanted. I wanted to either be part
of a team, or be on my own.
    Sophie poked in
the cupboards and showed me the stunning view of next door’s garbage. Then she
dared to open the bathroom door and that finished it for both of us. We both
let out eeks and I slammed the door shut with a force that shook the glass in
the rotting window frames.
    I thanked Darren,
and Sophie gave him a festive kiss, and we trudged down the dingy stairs and
back into the street. After Christmas I’d try, I would really try and find the
place I wanted to call home. But first I’d make sure that I gave Charlie the
kind of thank you Christmas he deserved.
    “So, you going to treat
me to a mince pie and mulled wine before I have to head over to little sister’s
place to pluck the turkey.”
    “You actually need
to pluck it?”
    “Just a turn of
phrase. Well, peel the sprouts or whatever.”
    We grabbed a cosy
seat by the fire in the pub and I was disappointed and relieved that there was
no sign of Dane. Tomorrow. All I had to do was wait until tomorrow, and with
Sophie it would have been embarrassing. My mobile shuddered just as I took a
tentative sip of the warm wine.
    “Bugger.”
    “Trouble?” Sophie
grabbed my phone to check out my text, she never was one to stand on ceremony.
Confidential was not a word that featured in her very extensive vocabulary for
some inexplicable reason. “Oh yeah, bugger. What does the little shit want
now?”
    It was from James
asking what I was doing for Christmas. “Erm.”
    “His gang bang
fallen through then?” Sophie said exactly what I was thinking.
    “Maybe all the
bangees have family to see at Christmas?”
    She grinned. “I
like that, gang bangees.”
    “I think he’s
feeling all sentimental.”
    “James was never
sentimental, Holly.”
    “True.” I read the
rest of the text, phrased carefully and precisely like all of James messages
were. “Maybe he’s lonely.” Anyone could get lonely, even James.
    “You’re not going
to answer?” She sounded a bit surprised as I dropped the mobile back in my bag.
    “Nope.” I gave her
an impulsive hug. All of a sudden, flat or not, I knew that this was where I
wanted to be. James and my life with him already seemed a hundred miles away, a
different reality.
    When I’d moved the
first thing I’d done was to buy the horse I’d always wanted, but he’d hated.
I’d hit on a job that was okay, and I had friends. Real friends like Sophie and
Charlie who cared about me and loved me enough to trudge round looking at flats
on Christmas Eve, enough not to complain when I invited strange men to stay
over–well that had been Sophie’s doing, but hey ho, semantics. And then of
course there was Dane. Whether we had a fling, a nothing or a bit of a
something I wanted to hang around and find out.
    “Good.” She hugged
me back, and I knew