Chapter 5 – Kyle Herrington
"Am I that bad looking?" A man around his mid-twenties grinned at Ashley, his green eyes filled with amusement.
Ashley shakes her head, clearing off the frown on her face before plastering a polite smile. "No, apologies. May I know who you are?"
"A neighbour. I have never seen you before." He stared at her curiously.
"I'm a friend of the house owner. Do you need anything? Sean is occupied." Ashley's mood dipped slightly, hoping that this neighbour was just here to borrow salt or something. She prefers Sean to spend his time sleeping to recuperate as much as he could from his accident.
"I came at the wrong time, for I'm hoping to find a tall, moody guy with a frown that makes you feel oh, so young," he joked with a wink and combs his blond hair back to show how young he looked.
Ashley could not resist and laughed, feeling the dark cloud in her dispersed slightly. Although the neighbour was cringy, he has done it in a way to show that he was just joking about it. "He's sleeping at the moment."
"I'm hoping to return his book and possibly get another new one from him." He held out a thick book with a title that Ashley has no interest in reading.
"I will return it to him for you," Ashley offered.
He grinned, and she suspects that grin had captured tons of women's hearts. "Kyle Herrington."
"What?"
He laughed. "That's my name."
Ashley joined in the laugh, mostly at how slow her brain had processed his words. She must be more tired than she thought. "Ashley Summer."
"So Ashley, a close friend of Sean's?" He raised an eyebrow with a smile that resembled more of a smirk.
Normally, Ashley would just offer a polite response and make an excuse to leave, but she had shown him her bad side which she wanted to fix. Plus, she will be staying for four days and it would be better to be in good terms with Sean's neighbour.
In case she needed help dealing with grumpy Sean.
"I hope you are not jealous of me, Kyle?" Ashley joked, her posture became more laid back. "I will only be here for a few days."
"Why would I be, when I got all of him when he comes over to my place and stays in my bed for many nights?"
"He did?" Ashley fake gasped in shock, knowing full well that it would be impossible. "Such juicy news."
Kyle laughed at her attempt to join the fun. "Only when he's with me, he shows his alluring side," he teased.
"Really? And I thought he would only show that side to his wife?"
Ashley swears his smile slipped slightly before it returned with full force. "I take it you are jealous of Jean?"
"Jean?" But Ashley had an inkling of who she was.
"Sean's wife." He frowned. "You say you are Sean's friend, right?"
Ashley grunted. "Don't look so alarmed. I did say I'm Sean's friend, but I never say I knew his wife."
Ashley does not think she could be friends with Sean's wife.
Kyle was about to ask more but Sean used that moment to appear behind Ashley, looking like he had just got out of the bed with his tousled appearance. Kyle whistled appreciatively at Sean's messy yet undeniably seductive appearance.
"Ashley, who are you talking to?" Sean asked, a little aggressive, and placed one of his arms around her shoulder. Ashley grimaced when Kyle stared at Sean's hand on her shoulder in confusion.
"Don't you remember Kyle, your neighbour?" Ashley hastily reminded him as she discreetly pushed his arm away. Sean gave her a look but did not try to put his arm around her shoulder again.
"I don't remember, Ashley," Sean said, his voice revealing a little annoyance.
"Hey, dude. Something wrong with you?" Kyle asked, his green eyes showing confusion. Even if Sean was usually not friendly, he had not been this terrible to this extent.
"Sean had gotten into an accident and lost a few years of his memories," Ashley explained, as Sean makes no move to explain anything to the younger man.
"Ah, that sucks! No wonder he does not recognize me. We met around a year ago when I moved in right across the street. My name is Kyle Herrington," Kyle grinned as he reintroduced himself to Sean. Then he stared at Ashley interestedly. "But Sean remembers you. Childhood friends?"
"Not that young." Sean narrowed his eyes at Ashley's answer but she ignored him. "It's very nice to meet you, Kyle," Ashley said before Sean would reveal anything of their past relationship. "But it's time for Sean to take his medicine. Doctor's order, you see."
"God, what an insensitive jerk I am," Kyle said in disgust and for a moment Ashley's heart seems to have stopped.
Did he suspect anything?
"I had not asked if Sean's okay or not. Instead, I keep on asking about you." Ashley laughed in relief, relieved that he did not suspect anything between them. It would be terrible if Sean's wife finds out about her and assumes things that will put Ashley in unwanted trouble.
Sean cut in a stiff tone. "I'm fine. It's time for you to go."
Ashley was taken aback at Sean's unfriendly tone that crossed the line to rudeness. "Sean!"
Kyle laughed, not offended at what Sean said. "I will obediently leave now so you can rest. Here, you can have your book back. See you again, Sean, Ashley. If you need help, just ring the bell!"
Sean looked satisfied seeing Kyle walking back towards his house, which was right opposite of Sean's. Sean strolled into the kitchen after closing the door, no doubt searching for food, as he used to always eat whenever he got the free time.
Ashley used to complain about his perfect figure even after eating so much food, but he would always brush it off with a laugh, telling her he would still love her no matter how heavy she would be. Ashley did not get the chance to find out if he meant it, as she was too busy trying to get back his attention from his work onto her to even try for a baby.
With a soft sigh, she followed Sean into the kitchen. Things would get back to normal once his memories or his family return. Then she can go back to her life.
But after living two days with Sean, Ashley felt that it was more of a two, long weeks instead!
At this moment Ashley wishes to go home and leave Sean alone to deal with himself. These two days feels like torture to her. Sean would try every move to get her back, and honestly, it was slightly working!
He was acting exactly like the man that she had first fallen for. The sweet, protective, and caring man with a dash of possessiveness to spice things up.
Sean was shameless enough to use every excuse to touch her and to her dismay, her defences were slowly breaking down. How could she still crave his touch when he was the man that had broken her heart into pieces? Till now, that wound had not even healed completely.
Could her heart be masochistic?
"Let's go to the beach," Sean suggested as he wrapped his arms around Ashley's waist from behind while she busied herself with cooking.
"No," Ashley snapped and wriggled out of his arms. "Can't you see that I'm cooking? Don't distract me!"
Sean raised an eyebrow at Ashley's depressing attempt at cooking. He eyed the messy lasagne in front of her. It was too dry and the top layer was scorched black. "We are not eating this. Didn't Betty make us lunch before she leaves?"
Betty, a very nice woman with ten grandchildren, seemed like she had forever worked for Donovan's household. Sean had told Ashley that Betty had left his father's home to help him, saying he needs someone to look after him, especially with his huge appetite.
Ashley had met Betty before when Sean brought her to their new house when they were still married. They quickly became friends and joked that Marina would not need to worry about losing her job after their marriage when Marina saw how bad Ashley's cooking was.
Much to Ashley's surprise, Marina appeared last night instead of Ashley's guess that she had retired. Marina had actually just returned from her husband's funeral, who had passed away from cancer and wished to return back to his hometown for his burial.
Marina had changed a lot since the last time Ashley saw her, which was when she had bid farewell to her and walked out of the house with her luggage while holding back her tears.
With the added stress of her husband's illness and deceased, Marina had lost most of her weight and looked older than her actual age.
When Ashley finally gathered her courage and asked Marina about Jean, the older lady grinned slyly at Ashley. "You want to know more about your competitor?"