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Graham grinned, a grin which didn’t reach his eyes. ‘What can I say? We’re a close family. Or not.’
‘Wow, that’s awful.’
‘It was. At the time. Of course, now I see that in some weird way, he did me a favour. We weren’t meant to be. We weren’t particularly well suited, but we met at college and bumbled along for years instead of admitting the truth, which was we’d both changed.’
‘Oh, right.’ She frowned. ‘Do you still like her? Do you regret everything that happened?’
He smiled at her, his face relaxing. ‘No, I’m not still in love with her, if that’s what you’re asking. We were good together for a while, but we were never soulmates. I’m civil to her and always will be. She was a big part of my life for a long time. Him though, my cousin, well, even though I understand that my relationship with her wasn’t meant to be, I don’t talk to him.’
She shook her head. ‘No.’
‘And it’s not because I want her back or anything. It really isn’t. I promise you that.’ He brought her hands up to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. ‘It’s the fact that he’s family and he lied to me for so long and deceived me.’
‘I understand.’ And she did. She didn’t think she’d forgive him either in that situation.
‘One day I’m sure I will, but that trust won’t be able to be recovered. I guessed she was having an affair, but not for one moment did it cross my mind that it would be with my cousin.’
‘That’s really awful.’ Sliding her hand from his, she reached up and held it against his cheek. ‘I’m sorry you had to go through that.’
Graham shrugged again, mentally shaking away the memories clouding his expression. ‘It’s not all bad. If it hadn’t happened then who knows, I might still be bumbling along in a relationship with her, and we’d have never met.’
She smiled. He’d been through so much and yet was able to make a joke about it. ‘True.’
‘I mean that. I’m glad I’m here with you.’
‘I’m glad you are too.’ She leaned forward, bringing her hand behind his neck as she felt his arms wrap around her middle. Just as their lips touched, she heard the kitchen door swing open and jumped back.
‘Diane...’ Graham’s voice pierced the silence.
Looking down, Layla turned slightly away from him. She could feel the fierce flood of red sweeping across her cheeks.
‘Hey, no need to stop on my account.’ Diane’s voice was laced with amusement.
‘Diane, really.’ Graham chuckled.
‘What do you want me to say?’ Diane walked towards them. ‘How long’s this been going on then? And more importantly, why on earth did you feel the need to keep it a secret from your soon-to-be-sis?’ Diane held her hand over her heart dramatically. ‘I’m hurt.’
‘Since the market.’ Graham glanced at Layla before turning back to Diane. ‘We didn’t say anything because we weren’t sure what was happening between us.’
‘Well, I think that’s pretty obvious, don’t you?’ Diane grinned and raised her eyebrows.
‘Ha, yes, now it is, but we wanted to be sure how we felt about each other before telling everyone.’ Graham rubbed the back of his neck.
‘And...’
‘And I really feel a connection with Layla.’ Graham looked across at her. ‘I hope that’s okay to say.’
Layla swallowed. Why was this so awkward? She felt as though she’d been caught kissing Billy Ridges in the broom cupboard at school once again. She couldn’t help it but a giggle escaped her lips. ‘I’m so sorry. Yes, I feel a connection too.’
Graham chuckled as he took her hand. ‘There you go. We’re officially together.’
Laughing, Diane walked across to them and hugged them both before stepping away. ‘Now, please, don’t ever make me sound like my mother again.’
Taking a deep breath, Layla steadied her breathing once again. ‘You don’t mind then?’
‘Don’t mind what? That my soon-to-be-little-bro is in a relationship with you? Absolutely not. I think it’s great.’ Diane grinned and pointed to the door. ‘I just popped in to say that me and Harry are heading off now. See you both tomorrow.’
‘We’ll come and say bye.’ Graham began following Diane to the kitchen door.
