Page 36 of The Romance Library

‘Document?’ I frowned.

‘Didn’t you see the email?’

‘No!’ My heart raced. How had he received something from Edwin and I hadn’t? ‘Sorry, Janine. Looks like I need to stay with Theo.’

‘Oh. Okay.’ Her shoulders slumped as she headed back to the front of the coach.

Shit. Sitting there, far away from Theo, would’ve been perfect.

I slid onto the seat, taking care not to make contact with his body. But it was difficult. His arms were so big they didn’t fit within his own seat. I scooted over a little so that some of my bum was hanging off the edge of my aisle seat. Anything to avoid touching him.

The coach engine sounded and seconds later the driver indicated, then set off.

‘So show me this email,’ I said, deliberately trying not to look at him. It should be criminal for a man to look that good. Especially one with his personality.

Theo leant forward, bringing his mouth to my ear. The sensation of his warm breath on my skin sent shivers down my spine.

‘There’s no email,’ he said softly. ‘I just didn’t want to sit next to her.’

He moved his head back casually and sat up in his seat as if he hadn’t just sent my body into meltdown.

But that didn’t make sense. I knew that Theo didn’t like me, and I’d made it obvious that the feeling was mutual.

The redhead, on the other hand, was clearly into him and she was pretty, so why hadn’t he wanted to sit next to her?

12

Theo

I’d dodged a bullet. But in doing so, I’d put myself in the firing line for another dangerous situation.

Never would I have thought that I’d ask Jessica to sit next to me, but it was the lesser of two evils. From the moment that we were introduced, Janine had made it very clear that she liked me.

If the flirtation and suggestive comments didn’t make it obvious, the fact that she’d repeatedly stroked my bicep did. I wasn’t someone who liked physical contact from strangers. I preferred a firm handshake to the cheek kiss greeting that’d become so popular. So Janine’s incessant pawing made me uncomfortable.

In any other situation, I would have no issue with telling her exactly what I thought. But this was Sunshine Bay: the town of endless smiles and happiness. I had to show Edwin I was embracing the community. So if I told Janine to keep her hands off me and caused a scene, that wouldn’t be good.

That was why having Jessica sit next to me was the best solution. I knew with absolute certainty that even if I was the last man on earth and we needed to have sex to ensure the future of the human race, she wouldn’t touch me with a ten-foot bargepole.

A flash of desire shot through me. I’d felt that same sensation when I’d whispered in her ear. I didn’t want to get so close to her, but I couldn’t exactly tell her out loud that I’d made up the whole Edwin email thing because I knew that was the only way she’d agree to sit next to me. Even though there was no one sitting behind us, the people in front might have heard.

When I’d leant in closer to her, Jessica’s scent hit me like a truck. It was so sweet and intoxicating.

I inhaled deeply, then came to my senses. I shouldn’t be thinking about how good she smells. Or about having sex with her.

This was so awkward.

Now we were sitting together, I supposed we’d need to pretend to be friends. Which meant we had to talk. And considering how often Jessica kept shifting away from me in her seat, it was obvious that she’d rather pucker up with a poisonous snake than make conversation with me.

But as much as I didn’t want to, I had to try.

‘Have you been to many theme parks?’

As soon as the words flew out of my mouth, I groaned. That was so lame. It was like saying ‘do you come here often’ to a woman in a bar.

‘No,’ she replied flatly.

As suspected, that went down like a lead balloon.

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