Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 105850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Wow.
Wait.
Was he put out that I hadn’t realised that Lennon was interested in me? Or was he bothered about the fact Lennon had actually asked me out?
“What an excellent point,” I said brightly, logging into my email. “Please take a moment to remove the stick from your backside before you return, sir.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, Miss St. James.”
“You may pretend all you like as long as you return in a better mood, Mr Black.”
Theo grunted and stalked out of the dining room, and it was only a minute later that the sound of the front door swinging shut with a hefty bang rang out through the cottage.
I grabbed my phone and darted through the cottage to the little downstairs toilet room. I poked my head out of the small window that overlooked the driveway just in time to see Theo pulling out onto the road before turning right and disappearing behind the hedge.
And immediately dialled Heidi’s number.
“Is this Chloe St. James? Calling me during working hours? Are you ill? Is there an emergency?” she answered. “Are the gods descending from the heavens to punish humankind?”
“Shut up,” I replied, closing the bathroom window and walking back through to the dining room. “Can you hear me all right?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. What’s wrong for you to be calling me right now?”
“I need your help,” I said, standing in front of the window that overlooked the back garden. “With Theo.”
“Oh, you’re calling him Theo. How cosy of you,” she said, laughing. “What happened?”
“The assistant manager at the store asked me out this morning.”
“Ha! Shit, sorry. I probably wasn’t supposed to laugh at that.” She coughed. “I bet that went down well with your boss.”
“If it did, I wouldn’t be calling you, would I?” I rolled my eyes and leant against the wall. “He basically dragged me out of there, sat me down for an impromptu performance evaluation over my observation skills, and has just marched out of here on his lunch with a stick so far up his arse it’s impaling his brain and killing his cognitive reasoning skills.”
“Okay. One thing at a time. Did you turn down the coworker?”
“Yes, and cleanly. No room for misunderstanding,” I said. “He even heard the whole thing.”
“I’m guessing he noticed this guy had feelings for you and you denied it.”
“How did you know that?”
“Not much is denser than you, Chlo.” Heidi snorted. “Did you have an argument?”
Did we?
“I wouldn’t call it an argument,” I said slowly.
“So, you definitely exchanged some words.”
“That’s how a conversation usually goes, Heidi.”
“Yes, and don’t take this the wrong way, but sometimes you really are dense. Did you actually ask him why he was being a brat?”
I opened my mouth to answer, then stopped. “No.”
“Hmm. I thought as much.” She sighed, making the line crackle. “Isn’t it obvious? He’s jealous.”
I froze. “He’s jealous?”
“Yep. You’re sleeping together, and he heard you get asked out by another man. That’s going to make anyone uncomfortable.”
“But what’s there to be jealous about? If anything, he should be happy. I told Lennon I couldn’t go out with him because I’m seeing someone.”
“Are you, though? You’re not actually seeing Theo, right? You’re just fucking him.”
She didn’t have to put it quite like that.
“Then all the more reason for him not to be jealous. I’ve overstated our relationship.” I paused. “Are you sure he just isn’t uncomfortable with me saying that?”
“Hey, blockhead, use your brain,” Heidi said. “Have you even discussed what your relationship is? Have you considered there’s the tiniest chance that the man might just have feelings for you? Ones that extend past the bedroom?”
No.
I’d never truly entertained such a thought. Was that my problem?
I groaned, lowering myself into the chair. “I can’t wait to come home. I need a break to sort out my head.”
“Wow. You’re down bad, aren’t you? What happened to the woman who downed soju and whinged about the man she called The Bastard?”
I slumped on the table, resting my head on my arm. “She got mesmerised by a penis and lost all sense of rationality.”
“That… Yeah, I think we’ve all been there.” Heidi sighed. “You’re flying back on Saturday morning, right? That’s only a day and a half.”
“Yeah. And I think he’s out most of the day tomorrow doing some stuff at Buckley Manor for the duke.”
“There you go, then. You can get through it until then. Come back, clear your head, and return on Sunday night with a game plan.”
She was right.
If by some insane twist of fate Theo was jealous, then it meant there was more than mere attraction at play between us.
“Yeah,” I said after a moment of silence. “You’re right. Thanks, Heids. I should get back to work before he comes back.”
“Comes back? Did he really storm off?”
“He said he was getting lunch, but he might as well have stomped off like an angry toddler,” I replied. “Anyway, I have to go.”