Page 134 of The Romance Library

It was decent of him to introduce himself, but unless they’d been living on Mars, I’d imagine there weren’t many people who wouldn’t recognise him.

He had short dark hair and tanned skin, and up until recently there were billboards of him everywhere with his top off either promoting his latest action film or advertising designer underwear.

I wasn’t ashamed to admit that I’d even bought a few issues of the fitness magazines he’d appeared on to read about his exercise regime so I could pick up some tips.

‘Hi, I’m Theo.’ I shook his hand. ‘Nice to meet you.’

‘Theo runs one of the most prestigious real estate companies in Europe. But most importantly, he is a good man,’ Nico said. Technically I didn’t run Eaves Enterprises, but that was typical of Nico. He always had kind words to say about people. ‘And Liam has written a wonderful TV series which we are working on together.’

‘Getting your fingers into more pies, I see?’ I smiled.

‘Oui. You are lucky that I have an English wife. Otherwise I would not understand this strange pie phrase!’ He laughed.

Nico’s chef, Fabien, invited us to the dining room, and the three of us chatted easily over dinner.

Liam told me more about the TV series, and Nico discussed how much he was loving family life, so much so that he video-called Cassie and his adorable little daughter, Nicola, just to kiss them both goodnight on the phone, which I had to admit was sweet.

After that, don’t ask me how, but somehow he got me talking about my time in Sunshine Bay and what led me to be shipped off to manage the development in Paris rather than from London.

I’d probably revealed a lot more than I should, but I knew that I could trust Nico, and Liam seemed like a trustworthy guy too. If Nico vouched for him, that was good enough for me.

‘So basically, your dad sent you here because he wants to keep you away from the woman you’ve fallen for?’ Liam asked.

‘Yes. And of course he’s still dangling the CEO carrot in front of me.’

Now that the deal had been done in Paris and I’d made my father a load of money in the process, he had no reason to deny me the position. I’d be speaking to him tomorrow and then I was expecting him to announce that he’d be recommending to the board that I officially took over.

‘You do not need him.’ Nico shook his head. ‘You are very good at what you do. And forgive me, but your father is too… how do you say? Brash? He is not the kind of man that I like to do business with. You should start your own company.’

The thought had crossed my mind, but as much as I wasn’t my father’s greatest fan, I knew how hard he’d worked to build the business, and the idea of competing against him seemed wrong.

‘I’m not sure that’s what I want.’

‘Give it time,’ Nico said. ‘The path you are destined to follow professionally will come to you. And in the meantime, if I can help you with something, tell me.’

‘Thank you.’

‘And what about this woman who you like, this Jess?’ Nico raised his eyebrow.

‘It’s difficult…’

Two glasses of the most exquisite wine later, I’d talked them through how we’d got off to a bumpy start and how, despite our attempts to fight it, our relationship had developed.

‘Sounds very familiar.’ Liam took a sip of his scotch.

‘It does.’ Nico smiled. ‘My wife, Cassie, hated me when we first met. She used to call me a dickhead!’

‘No way?’ I laughed.

‘It is true,’ Nico replied.

‘And my girlfriend used to be my best friend, then we had a major fallout when we were teenagers and ended up hating each other too.’

‘So what changed?’

‘Long story. Our romance is enough to fill a book!’ Liam grinned. ‘But you miss Jess, right?’

‘So much.’

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