Page 30 of Alluring Adventure

“Idiot,” she hisses but then smiles and give me a gentle kiss on the tip of my nose.

“I’ll miss you,” suddenly bursts from me. Keeley is quiet and for a second I think I’ve made a mistake admitting it, but then she surprises me.

“I’ll miss you too.”

“So promise we’ll stay in touch. At least as friends,” I need her to say it.

She sighs deeply, “I’ll promise. We both know I could do with a friend.” I’ll take that.

“Will me cuddling up to you—” She points at my body.

“Hurt my back?”

“No, arouse little Ollie,” she grins.

“May I remind you there is nothing little when it comes to my dick!” I protest jokingly.

“Fine, the mighty Ollie.”I love this crazy woman. Oh fuck. I did not just think that.I push the thought aside and instead hold out my arm to her.

“Me and the mighty Ollie wouldn’t mind at all if you cuddled up to us.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” She eyes me suspiciously.

“Get over here, Keeley.” If it weren’t for that shitty back brace, I would have pulled her to me already. Instead, I have to wait for her to settle into my arms. Luckily, I don’t have to wait for long. This right now, this is perfection, even if it only lasts for one night.

Chapter 16

Keeley

The noise is relentless.Cars, motorbikes, chitter chatter, sirens, bin lorries, shouting, arguing; London is a far cry from the serenity of Fellside.

Whack! A black umbrella hits me in the face, depositing it’s rain water on me. There’s no apology from the woman who just smashed her brolly into my face. Instead she rushes down the pavement and disappears into the sea of people and umbrellas. I put my hood up again, sidestep a rubbish bag readied for collection, and duck into the entrance to a tall building with a glass front.

“Keeley Hallett for Mark Winter,” I tell the receptionist. She flicks her jet-black hair behind her and then types something into her computer.

“I need ID please.” She holds out her hand. The pink nail varnish stands out in stark contrast to her olive skin.

I pass her my passport and wait until she’s entered my details.,

“Here you go.” She returns my passport together with a visitor pass. “Fourth floor.”

I nod and thank her. I’ve been here a few times, although I prefer to meet with Mark online and he doesn’t usually mind. But today he insisted I travel all the way. I have a small flat in Windsor which makes it easy when I fly out from Heathrow but it isn’t quick to travel into central London. Much easier to have a video call.

“Keeley, we’re so glad to see you,” Mark greets me when his secretary shows me to his office. Withwehe probably means the company, because he’s alone in his office.

“Thanks. Yes, that was definitely an adventure. And thank you for agreeing to post the blog about the rescue.” I take a seat in the chair next to his desk. Mark didn’t hesitate at all in accepting my submission. The blog about the rescue was up quicker than the review of Alluring Adventures.

The crowdfunding page is steadily collecting donations and will probably meet its initial target in the next few days. I saw on theFMR website that the person running their fundraising is Dan, the rescuer who took care of Ols. I’ll drop him an email soon.

“Not at all. The marketing team is also putting the post out on our social media channels this morning and corporate has agreed to match any donations up to ten thousand pounds.” My jaw drops.

“Are you serious?”

“Absolutely. Least we can do,” he smiles. There was a reason I agreed to sell my blog to this company. During the negotiations, they showed real care for the blog and genuinely seemed to be decent people. I’m glad to find out I was definitely right about that.

“So, are you ready for your next trip?” Mark claps his hands together once in a let’s-go gesture. “There’s no pressure, if you need a longer break—"

“No, sure, I’m ready,” I shrug. I’ve been restless since being back so it is probably time to go on another trip.

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