Page 141 of The Romance Library

‘Good,’ I said as I wrapped my arms around her. ‘I’ve already been away from you for too long, so I’m not going anywhere.’

46

Jess

‘Ready?’ Theo asked as he zipped up his jeans.

I knew I’d missed him a lot, but I didn’t realise how much until I saw him again.

Last night was magical. We spoke for hours about what had been happening with the library and then, just like he’d said in the audio, we made love.

It wasn’t just sex anymore. That was very clear. I felt it in the way our bodies moulded together perfectly. The sensation of having his skin pressed against mine felt as natural as breathing. Theo had come home to me.

If he wasn’t here today, I would’ve been okay. But knowing that when I went to see the library for the first time he’d be right beside me was a gift no amount of money could buy.

‘As I’ll ever be.’ I took a deep breath.

There was a knock at the door. That must be Jane.

I slid on my shoes, then went to open it.

‘Oh!’ Jane said as she stepped in the room. ‘Sorry, I didn’t realise you had company.’

I’d completely forgotten that Jane didn’t know about Theo. He’d barely been back in Sunshine Bay for twelve hours, but somehow it seemed like no time had passed. Like he’d always been a part of my life.

‘This is Theo, my…’ I paused, then looked at him sheepishly. I knew what I wanted to call him. We’d said that we were going to make a go of things, but we’d never got around to discussing titles.

‘Boyfriend,’ Theo said, finishing my sentence, as butterflies erupted in my stomach.

‘Oh!’ Jane’s eyes bulged. ‘I didn’t know you, er…’ She blushed and her gaze dropped to the floor before shifting upwards again. ‘Nice to meet you.’

‘Likewise,’ Theo said. ‘Shall we go?’

‘Yep. My stomach’s more tangled than a box of Christmas lights, so the quicker we go, the quicker I can hopefully see that everything’s fine and calm down.’

‘It’s going to be great.’ Theo rubbed my shoulders.

‘I know. I’m just nervous.’

I had a good feeling about it. The team had kept me informed every step of the way and although I’d had a few site visits during the works, when I knew they were getting close to finishing, I decided I didn’t want to see it. I trusted them, so said I’d prefer to see it in person when everything was done.

We set off, and when I spotted the bright pink sign with ‘The Romance Library’ in beautiful white lettering and an illustration of a pile of romance books beside it, my heart bloomed.

‘Oh my God!’ I jumped up and down on the spot. Even though I’d seen the logo on my computer before I approved it, seeing it in the flesh made everything start to feel so real. ‘It looks amazing! I can’t wait to go inside!’

Colin, the project manager, spotted us and came over.

‘Morning, Jess!’ he said brightly. ‘Theo!’

‘Hi, Colin!’

‘I didn’t know you were popping down! Thought you were still in Paris.’

‘Couldn’t stay away.’ Theo faced me and smiled.

‘This is Jane,’ I said.

‘Nice to meet you.’ Colin shook Jane’s hand.

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