Page 126 of The Romance Library

‘Exhausting. I’m going to head straight up.’

‘Okay, love. Oh! Before you go, this just arrived.’ She reached under the desk and handed me a sheet of paper. ‘Thought you might like to see it.’

My eyes flicked to the ‘Good News’ title at the top and I frowned, not understanding why she’d thought I’d want to read what looked like a newspaper article.

As my gaze travelled down the page and I caught sight of a photo of me standing next to Theo in front of a roller coaster, I gasped. That was when I realised it was Sunshine Bay’s newsletter.

The headline read ‘Sunshine Bay Welcomes New Residents’. The article itself was short, just a few paragraphs on the trip to Dreamland which felt like a lifetime ago now.

It wasn’t the words that my eyes were fixated on, though. It was the photo. I loved it. On that day Theo and I were supposed to be enemies, but there was no trace of hatred.

Nancy hadn’t used the one of us smiling like I’d thought she would. Instead, she—or maybe it was Edwin—had picked a candid shot I hadn’t even seen her take where I was staring at Theo with a look of awe and gratitude, which, considering how he’d helped calm me down on that ride, was understandable.

But what surprised me was that Theo was gazing at me like I’d just taught him how to walk on water. Somehow he looked smitten.

We’d only known each other a few days and yet the writing was on the wall. We just hadn’t seen it.

My heart sank.

God, I missed him so much.

When he told me he had to leave that night and didn’t know how long he’d have to stay in Paris, I felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest.

Although I’d always known that because of the circumstances and our different backgrounds, the chances of us going the distance were slim, a part of me had still secretly hoped we’d find a way to make it work.

We’d had such an amazing evening eating fish and chips on the beach, whilst sipping champagne and watching the sunset. We’d laughed and joked together, and I was hoping we’d round off what had been a memorable day by reading together.

So when he dropped that bombshell, I wasn’t prepared. At first I was upset. I wanted him to tell his dad he wasn’t going. But then I reminded myself that Theo was already prepared to sacrifice everything that he’d worked for to see me win.

When he’d suggested he pull out of the pitch, I was shocked. Knowing he’d do that for me meant more than he could ever know. But I couldn’t allow him to withdraw. And I meant what I’d said. I wanted to win because Edwin chose my presentation.

I’d got what I’d wanted. I’d won. Having Theo forever was being greedy. A man as kind and wonderful as him would never choose to settle down with a woman like me. And when the novelty of what we had wore off, he’d dump me and I’d be even more heartbroken than I was now.

The more time we spent together, even if it was a long-distance thing whilst he was in Paris, the harder and more painful it would be when we inevitably broke up. That was why, as much as it hurt, I had to set him free.

Even though it crushed me to walk away, it was for the best. I’d already made things more difficult with his dad, who I couldn’t imagine was happy to find out we’d been together. So now I had to let Theo get his life back on track and leave him to get what he’d worked so hard for: the CEO position.

If I was being honest, based on our conversations, I didn’t think it’d make him happy, but it wasn’t my decision to make.

‘Thanks,’ I said to Glenda. ‘Would you mind if I kept this?’

‘Not at all! I’ve got about fifty other copies, in case you want to cover your bedroom wall with them?’ She chuckled.

‘Um, it’s okay. I’ll just keep this one.’

‘You miss him, don’t you?’

I paused. I was going to deny it, but there was no point.

‘Yeah.’

‘It’s a shame you two couldn’t make a go of it. Theo’s a diamond. I knew he was a good’un, but after what he did when he left, he’s gone right up there in my rank of best men ever along with my husband, God rest his soul.’

‘Sorry to hear about your husband.’

‘Thanks. He passed a decade ago now, so…’ She shrugged.

‘What did Theo do when he left?’

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