Page 114 of The Romance Library

‘Excellent!’ He clapped his hands together. ‘Theo just had to pop out, but he’ll be back shortly, then we can get started.’

So he was here. My stomach fluttered and I sent it another warning to pipe down.

Seconds later, Theo stepped in the room, but he wasn’t alone. Stood beside him was a smartly dressed, stern-looking man that I quickly realised must be his dad. Judging by the tight look on Theo’s face, he wasn’t happy to see him.

‘Jessica.’ Theo nodded in acknowledgement without a glimmer of a smile. My blood ran cold. Less than twenty-four hours ago, his head had been buried between my legs, and now he looked at me like I was a stranger. Theo’s business mode was fully activated.

Time for me to do the same.

‘Theo,’ I said flatly.

‘This is the competition?’ His dad glared at me. ‘This will be a lot easier than I thought.’ He smirked.

Theo gave his dad a death stare and my heart squeezed, knowing that despite the circumstances, he still had my back.

‘I think it’s a little soon to be counting chickens, Mr… I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?’ Edwin added and my heart squeezed again.

‘This is—’ Theo started.

‘George Eaves,’ he interrupted, then thrust his hand in Edwin’s direction. ‘Founder and CEO of Eaves Enterprises, one of the largest and most established elite real estate companies in Europe. We’re very much looking forward to securing this site and transforming it into one of the most luxurious collections of apartments in the south-east.’

From the corner of my eye, I saw Theo wince. Edwin didn’t look impressed either.

‘I’m Edwin. Owner of this precious building, which has been an important part of our small community for almost a century,’ he replied, clearly wanting to get the message across that this wasn’t some soulless piece of land that George could waltz in and make money from. I think that was lost on Theo’s dad, though.

When George released his palm from Edwin’s, I thought maybe he’d shake my hand, but instead he looked me up and down, snarled and turned his back.

‘Shall we get down to business?’ George spat.

‘Father.’ Theo paused. ‘There’s a process that I’m sure Edwin would like to follow, which he’ll explain to us in due course.’

George shot Theo a dirty look. The tension between them was intense.

‘Thank you.’ Edwin smiled. ‘I’d like each of you to present your ideas for the building. You can choose who’d like to go first or we can toss a coin.’

I froze. I thought we’d present our ideas separately to Edwin. But now I realised he wanted us to do it in front of each other. I didn’t mind Theo being here. I trusted him to be kind. But his dad? No way. I got the feeling he’d take every opportunity to ridicule me.

‘I’m happy to start,’ Theo offered. ‘Unless you’d like to, Jess… Jessica?’ Theo quickly corrected himself by using my full name.

If Theo went first, it’d delay my presentation, but if I did, I could just get it over and done with. In the end it didn’t matter. I’d be nervous either way.

‘That’s fine,’ I said.

Theo reached into his briefcase and pulled out printed colour copies of his presentation. My stomach bottomed out. I hadn’t brought any hard copies. I thought I’d only be presenting to Edwin, so had planned to email the file afterwards.

He’d even printed out extra copies. As I clutched Theo’s presentation document in my hands, I swallowed hard. It wasn’t just printed in colour, it had a glossy cover and it’d been bound like a proper book. This was on a whole different level. Even if I’d had the foresight to get hard copies, they’d never have been as polished as this.

Next Theo slid out his slick Mac laptop and opened it. His presentation flashed up on the screen.

You didn’t need to be a genius to see that it’d been created by a top-end graphic designer. The layout, the colours—everything screamed professionalism.

Mine on the other hand was just an amateur presentation I’d knocked up in PowerPoint. I’d only used it a handful of times before when I was at school and it was going to be obvious when they saw it.

My heart thundered in my chest. I’d thought I was out of my depth before, but now seeing the way Theo, a proper businessman, operated made me feel like I was swimming for the first time in an ocean without a life jacket. And at this rate, it wouldn’t be long before I sank to the bottom.

Theo hadn’t even started his presentation yet and I already knew he was going to win. Bile rose in my throat. I quickly grabbed the bottle of water in my bag and took a swig.

‘Edwin.’ Theo turned to face him. ‘It’s been an absolute pleasure to spend time in your beautiful town over the past three weeks, and I’d like to start by thanking you for your hospitality and for giving Eaves Enterprises the opportunity to present to you this morning. I’m delighted to share our plans of how we’d love to enhance the natural beauty of Sunshine Bay.’

---