The silly little unicorn on the keyring dangled in the lock as I pushed open the door to Hayden’s place. Laura barged past me, loaded down by black bin bags.

“Oh my God, this place is amazing! Is he loaded or what?”

I was grateful that Laura was still on lates as she offered to help me move my stuff in. After my trip, I knew the tricks of travelling light, and being away for just six weeks was a breeze in comparison. It still helped to have someone lug a couple of boxes though.

In response to Laura’s question, I pondered an answer. I vaguely remembered an inheritance and Hayden’s parents telling him to invest it wisely. Tom was always going on about how successful Hayden was at work, consistently meeting and exceeding his targets and always getting the maximum amount of commission available. All of those things added together probably made sense.

Still, this place was a revelation. Even the tiny box-room was bigger than some of the places I’d stayed in on my trip.

“I guess he must be.”

Laura was exploring, opening all three of the bedroom doors, including Hayden’s. He hadn’t taken me in there last night, which I was sort of grateful for. Despite the fact I hadn’t forgotten how I thought of him, it felt way too intimate to be poking around his room. I remembered him finding the bra tangled up in the bedding in the second bedroom, and the colour of his face as he removed it. I shouldn’t be jealous if he had been with other women; I didn’t have any claim on him.

Just because I was there for the next few weeks helping him with his son, that didn’t mean anything.

He’d sent me an email late the previous evening that outlined what he expected me to do, sort of like a contract. Then he’d told me how much he was prepared to pay me to do it. I hadn’t expected that at all. Giving me a place to stay that wasn’t Tom’s couch was a bonus to start with. And what he’d proposed would probably get me the deposit on my own place when I started work. Or might get me a room in Laura’s house, if one of her housemates moved out. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about money for a little while.

“Ugh, it’s a tip in there.” Laura slammed Hayden’s door behind her. “Come on, let’s get your room sorted out.”

I followed her. She was standing there, hands on hips, as if casing the place.

“What?”

“Your bed’s in the wrong place. If we move it over to that wall, you’ll get to see out of the window when you wake up.”

The bed currently sat under the window, with the wardrobe, a chest of drawers and a bookcase close to the door. What Laura was proposing was to swap them around. While it wasn’t much work, I wasn’t sure how Hayden would feel about me moving things without his permission.

“There’s not exactly much of a view.” I glanced out and could see rooftops and the sky. Actually, if it was a nice day, it could be something pretty to wake up to.

“Better than looking at a wall, though.”

Laura was right. As usual. It only took us about a quarter of an hour to rearrange the furniture. As I suspected, the wardrobe and chest of drawers were pretty flimsy, so there wasn’t much weight to them, and it had been easy for the two of us to swing the bed through ninety degrees so it could gain its new outlook. Laura set about making the bed, with the duvet cover I’d been saving. It was a shabby-chic pattern of pink and purple flowers, with a white background, and had matching pillowcases. Once she’d smoothed the sheets, plumped up the pillows and shaken the duvet into place, I felt a little emotional. It had been some time since I’d had somewhere to call home, albeit for a short time. I couldn’t be more grateful to Hayden.

“There’s not much room in here.” Laura had started to unpack my clothes into the cupboard.

“It’s fine, I don’t need much stuff. I’m unlikely to be going out on dates or anything, so I basically need baby-proof clothes for now.”

“Good point. I don’t know how you get vomit out of a silk top.” Laura checked the time. “Shit, I’m going to be late. Sorry I can’t help more now; give me a call if you want me to come around later?”

“I will. I think it’ll be okay though; I don’t have much more stuff.”

She hugged me and disappeared.

I spent a little longer unpacking my few possessions and went back into the main area, with the intention of getting a cup of tea and watching telly.

As I boiled the kettle, I spotted the list Hayden had left on the kitchen counter, including delivery times of the things he’d ordered for Alfie’s room. And as if on cue, the intercom went.

I ushered the delivery men in and they left the boxes in the middle of the living room. The same thing happened a further three times, until there was barely room to move. As I crossed the last thing off the list, my stomach rumbled and I decided it was time for a snack. Hayden said to help myself to anything in the refrigerator.

A couple of minutes later, I regretted his kind offer. There was barely anything there, except for some uncooked chicken breasts, a half-empty bag of potatoes and a wizened-looking chorizo, plus basics such as butter and sauces. The freezer at least had some bread, and I ended up making toast.

As I ate, with half an eye on the TV, my phone buzzed. It was Hayden.

I should be home around half-six. Shall I pick up takeaway?

Don’t bother, I can whip something up with the contents of the fridge, lol

You don’t have to do that… You’ve been busy enough this afternoon. Did all the packages arrive?

I’m currently making a cardboard box fort…

Sounds like fun. Wish I could get out of this meeting and join you x

I stared at the last message. Did he really mean it? That he wanted to come home to me? There was also a kiss. It wasn’t unusual; Laura and my other friends did it all the time. But from Hayden? What did it mean?

Oops, I’ve been rumbled. Looking forward to seeing you later xx

Two kisses?

It was closer to quarter to seven when Hayden barrelled through the front door. I’d spent the remainder of the afternoon tentatively opening the packages and trying to put together whatever was in them. On the spur of the moment, I’d chucked the chicken, potatoes, chorizo and a tin of tomatoes, I’d found in the cupboard, into a baking dish and shoved it in the oven. The smell of home cooking permeated the flat.

“What the hell happened here?” He stood stock-still in the doorway, mouth hanging open.

If I looked at the scene through his eyes, I could see where he was coming from. I was sitting in the middle of the floor, surrounded by cardboard, pages of instructions, and various bits of wood, plastic, nails and screws, scattered around me, creating a pretty pattern on the wooden flooring.

“I thought I’d make a start on assembling this stuff?”

Hayden let out a rumbling laugh. “Do you even know what it’s supposed to be?”

I shook my head. “I might have opened more than one of the packs at once, so it’s possible that everything you ordered is here on the floor, but I honestly couldn’t tell you which bit belongs to which.”

Before he could say anything else, the timer on the oven went off, meaning the chicken was ready. I hopped up, trying to stop the pins and needles in my legs, and stumbled towards the kitchen. Hayden caught me before I tumbled over.

“You cooked?”

“I said I would.”

“And here was me thinking we’d order pizza.”

“I’m pretty sure that after tomorrow, we’ll be ready to do that.”

A look of confusion crossed his face as if, for a moment, he’d forgotten that he’d be collecting Alfie in the morning.

“Let me go and get out of these clothes. I’ll be back in a minute.”

I tried to stop thinking of Hayden getting close to naked in his room as I served up the thrown-together dinner. There was a bottle of Spanish red on the side, and I placed that in the centre of the table, before setting it for the two of us. All it needed was a candle and some romantic music. I shook that thought away as I sat down. I was here to look after Alfie while Hayden was at work. That was all.

A couple of minutes later, Hayden reappeared, looking refreshed in a pair of skinny jeans and a tight-fitting T-shirt. It was the complete opposite to his business look and I didn’t know which one I preferred.

If I was honest with myself, both.