Nobody Puts Romcoms In The Corner


 
 
 
 
 NOBODY PUTS ROMCOMS IN THE CORNER
 
 
 
 KATHRYN FREEMAN
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 One More Chapter
 a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
 1 London Bridge Street
 London SE1 9GF
 www.harpercollins.co.uk
 
 
 
 First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2022
 
 
 
 Copyright © Kathryn Freeman 2023
 
 
 
 Cover design by Lucy Bennett © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2023
 Cover illustration © Amelia Flowers/Folio
 
 
 
 Kathryn Freeman asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
 
 
 
 A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
 
 
 
 This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
 
 
 
 All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
 
 
 
 Source ISBN: 9780008560331
 Ebook Edition © February 2023 ISBN: 9780008560324
 Version: 2022-12-09
 
 
 
 
 
 
 To Andrew, Harry and Ben
 
 The three most important men in my life. I love you to bits, even though you all moan when I suggest watching a romcom.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Prologue
 
 
 Chapter 1
 
 
 Chapter 2
 
 
 Chapter 3
 
 
 Chapter 4
 
 
 Chapter 5
 
 
 Chapter 6
 
 
 Chapter 7
 
 
 Chapter 8
 
 
 Chapter 9
 
 
 Chapter 10
 
 
 Chapter 11
 
 
 Chapter 12
 
 
 Chapter 13
 
 
 Chapter 14
 
 
 Chapter 15
 
 
 Chapter 16
 
 
 Chapter 17
 
 
 Chapter 18
 
 
 Chapter 19
 
 
 Chapter 20
 
 
 Chapter 21
 
 
 Chapter 22
 
 
 Chapter 23
 
 
 Chapter 24
 
 
 Chapter 25
 
 
 Chapter 26
 
 
 Chapter 27
 
 
 Chapter 28
 
 
 Chapter 29
 
 
 Chapter 30
 
 
 Chapter 31
 
 
 Chapter 32
 
 
 Chapter 33
 
 
 Chapter 34
 
 
 Chapter 35
 
 
 
 
 Acknowledgments
 
 
 Credits
 
 
 Thank you for reading…
 
 
 You will also love…
 
 
 About the Author
 
 
 Also by Kathryn Freeman
 
 
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 About the Publisher
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Prologue
 
 
 
 
 
 Sunday morning and Sally was singing in the shower when she heard her phone ring in the next-door bedroom.
 Leave it. This is you time.
 But what if it’s important? How can you relax not knowing?
 With a silent curse she turned off the water and wrapped herself in a big pink towel. Trailing wet footprints across the wooden floor, she padded over to her bedside table to retrieve her phone. The number wasn’t one she recognised.
 ‘Hello?’
 ‘Hi.’ A deep male voice. ‘Harry Wilson here. I think Trixie mentioned me to you?’
 ‘Oh, yes.’ Trixie was a friend of friend, or more precisely a friend of Kitty’s, who was one of her best friends. ‘You know her boyfriend, Mike?’
 ‘He’s my business partner, yeah. I hear you have a room for rent?’
 ‘I do.’ When Trixie had mentioned she knew someone who might be interested in the room, Sally had been unsure. Yes, she needed the money, but did she need it badly enough to share her space with a guy she didn’t know? But only one other person had been interested, and, unlike Harry, that man hadn’t come with the promise that he was highly unlikely to come into her room in the middle of the night and murder her.
 ‘Any chance I can come and see it this morning?’ He paused. ‘Like in half an hour?’
 Sally glanced down at herself and winced. She knew from Trixie that Harry had been sleeping on Mike’s sofa for the last few days, so she could see why everyone was keen for him to find somewhere to live. And as she was pretty desperate to get the room rented, thirty minutes would have to be long enough to get dressed and tidy up the two-bed flat.
 When she opened the door to him exactly half an hour later though, she wasn’t ready for him, in any sense. Her hair was still wet and the kitchen still bore the debris from breakfast, but they were nothing compared to her reaction to the sight of him.
 ‘Hi.’
 She had to crane her neck up at an awkward angle to look at him – and she wasn’t short by any means. ‘Trixie didn’t warn me you were so … tall.’ Or so … wow-snatch-the-breath-from-her-good-looking, she added silently. Not pretty good looks, but gruff, rugged, sexy-enough-to-make-her-toes-curl good looks, though the light-grey eyes, framed with dark lashes were ridiculously pretty.
 He arched a brow in that cool way some people could pull off. ‘Is my height going to be a problem?’
 ‘Not unless you can’t fit in the bed.’
 The bed had been her sister’s and wasn’t intended for six-foot-four hulking builders.
 She led him down her hallway to the room at the end, opposite the bathroom. Unlike her en suite, the bathroom had a shower over the bath. Not ideal for the man behind her.
 Neither was the decor of the bedroom, she realised