Page 42 of The Romance Library

Dammit.

Jessica may have said she didn’t want to have a conversation with me, but even though it was a written exchange rather than a verbal one, we’d still interacted.

And she’d called me smart. Never mind the fact that she probably meant it in a ‘you’re an arsehole for trying to show off some random wildlife facts you know’ kind of way, I’d still take it as a compliment.

I was also claiming the fact that I’d made her smile. Maybe the ice queen was thawing a little towards me.

Although we were still rivals, something inside me wondered if I could chip away a little more at her hard exterior today.

As the driver pulled up outside the theme park, I smiled. Looked like I wouldn’t have to wait long to find out.

13

Jess

We’d arrived at the theme park.

Part of me was relieved. I got the feeling that if I’d continued replying to Theo’s messages, I’d wander into dangerous territory.

I didn’t know why I’d made that comment about there being no point in having something big if you didn’t know how to use it.

Actually, that was a lie. I knew why I’d said it. Because ever since I’d been forced to sit next to Theo, my thoughts had started straying from PG to X-rated.

That comment about there being many things that turned him on didn’t help. It was only natural to want to know what those things were, right? That was when I’d started thinking about what he’d be like in bed.

Then I’d caught myself. Having these thoughts about my competitor wasn’t right, so I’d stopped replying. And I was glad the coach had pulled into this car park not long after he’d messaged so he couldn’t ask why.

‘We’re here!’ Nancy announced.

Everyone gathered their things before getting off.

I quickly headed out to join them. If I could make friends with some of the other residents, I wouldn’t have to hang out with Theo. Or if I set him up with Janine, they could go off together and I could be on my own.

Just as I was about to go over to her, someone touched my shoulder.

‘Can I have a word?’ When I turned around, I saw it was Theo. He gestured me away from the crowd.

‘What’s up?’

‘Thanks for sitting next to me,’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean to lie about the Edwin email thing. It’s just that Janine was getting a bit… handsy and I didn’t want to be rude.’

‘You never minded being rude to me!’

‘That’s different. She made me uncomfortable and I didn’t want to create a scene.’

‘Oh…’

I’d just assumed that he’d like the attention, which I now realised was wrong.

‘Anyway, I just asked around and looks like Edwin isn’t here and no one’s sure if he’s coming anymore. So if you’re not keen on being here, you probably don’t have to stay.’

‘You’d love that, wouldn’t you!’ I crossed my arms. Just when I was starting to feel sorry for him, he showed his true colours.

‘What do you mean?’ He frowned.

‘You’d love me to leave so when Edwin turns up you can tell him I went home and get in his good books!’

‘No!’ He shook his head. ‘That wasn’t why I told you. It’s just, when Glenda and Edwin mentioned going to the theme park yesterday, I got the impression that you were afraid of going.’

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