Page 30 of The Romance Library

Glenda said she’d make me a sandwich and to come down anytime after one, and now it was five to. Perfect timing.

I quickly swiped the key off the table, then slipped out of the room. When I got down to the terrace overlooking the beach, Glenda was already there.

‘Hello, lovely!’ She smiled. ‘Ready for lunch?’

‘Definitely!’ I said. ‘The views here are stunning,’ I said, taking in the sapphire-blue sea. The seagulls cried loudly as they swooped in the sky, and I spotted a little white boat bobbing up on the water in the distance. ‘I should take a picture and send it to my friend.’ It was so nice to have a decent phone again that could actually take photos. Not like the cheap old one I’d had before. I reached in my pocket and realised it wasn’t there. ‘I left it in my room. Back in a sec.’

I climbed the stairs, but as I approached the top and saw Theo standing there, I froze.

His gaze seared my skin.

‘Jessica,’ he said in his deep, gravelly voice.

‘Theo,’ I replied, stepping onto the landing.

He was blocking the path to my room. Just as I moved to the right, so did he. Then I moved to the left as Theo did the same.

Deciding that moving to the centre was best, I shuffled over, but he had the same idea, so when I stepped forward, I collided with his chest.

As my body connected with Theo’s, a jolt of electricity shot through me. His torso was even firmer than I’d imagined, and the heat radiating from him sent goosebumps erupting across my skin.

‘Sorry!’ I quickly stepped back. ‘I-I need to get to my room.’

‘Of course.’ He moved to the side. ‘I’m… I have to get something from my car.’

‘Cool. Okay. Glenda said lunch is ready if you wanted a sandwich?’

No, no, no. I shouldn’t have said that. Avoiding him was the plan, remember?

‘Thanks, but no,’ he replied sharply before heading to the stairs.

‘Suit yourself!’ I snapped back. There I was trying to be nice and he’d acted like a grumpy arsehole. Again.

After I got my phone, I went back downstairs, and of course Theo had to come inside at the exact same moment. This time, I gave him a dirty look. If he wanted to be hostile, two could play that game.

Just as I was about to breeze past him, I heard my name being called.

‘Jessica! Theo! Just the people I wanted to see!’ I glanced up at the door and saw Edwin with a grin across his face.

‘Hi!’ I said enthusiastically.

‘Are you all settled into your new home?’

‘Yes, thank you. I was about to have lunch with Glenda.’

‘Wonderful! And you, Theo? How’s your room?’

‘It’s… the views are quite something,’ he said.

If I found the decor dated, he must hate it.

‘They are indeed. Are you joining Jessica and Glenda for lunch too?’

‘I thought it best not to.’

‘Oh really? Why?’ Edwin’s face fell.

‘We’re competitors and we’re already working and living in the same space, so it’s best if we maintain some distance.’

---