Page 82 of Booked for Summer

‘Maybe.’ She smirked. ‘Worked, too.’

‘Newsflash, I’d have said it anyway.’ He studied her. ‘Do you enjoy managing the shop?’

‘Yes. Well, I enjoy interacting with the customers, talking about books, trying new stuff. The spreadsheets are a form of torture that should be outlawed.’

‘What if we spent some time together going through the business model? I could help you plan the next two months so you get the most out of it. If you want,’ he added, acutely aware she’d not actually said she even wanted to see him again after today, never mind continue to build a relationship, even if it was only as friends.

‘Would you really?’

She didn’t get it, he realised. ‘Of course. Christ, Jade, have I not made it clear enough that I want to spend as much time as I can with you? That I’m borderline obsessed with you?’

A smile spread across her face. ‘Well, if you put it like that, I’d love to take some business lessons from you.’

‘I have a feeling we’ll be learning from each other.’

‘Good. One-sided relationships never work.’ For a few beats there was silence, just the gentle hum of the engine and the slap of the waves against the hull. ‘You didn’t tell me what happened with Sabrina,’ she said eventually. ‘How did it end?’

He preferred the silence. ‘I wasn’t rich enough.’

‘Seriously? She had some figure you didn’t match up to? Like she’d carry on dating you if you were worth ten million but not one million?’

‘Her dad told her she needed to ditch me and date someoneappropriate.’ The word still stung, as did the memory of how naïve he’d been to think it would ever have ended any differently. Especially after what had happened with April. Only his grandma had ever really wanted him. ‘Stupidly, I thought she might fight for me. Turns out she loved the sex, the illicitness of fucking one of the staff. But not me.’

Her hand settled over his arm and she squeezed. ‘Lucky escape. She sounds like a right cow.’

Laughter huffed out of him, and he realised it was the first time he’d been able to laugh about that time in his life. ‘Now you have some gossip for Jeremy.’

‘Oh, no, you should tell him. I hear you’re besties now.’

‘God, no.’ Yet even as he denied it, he had to concede that as his only friend, it was likely Jeremy counted as a best friend.

‘Aw, come on, you’re going to be his best man. Can’t get more bestie than that.’

‘You heard, huh.’

‘I was down as substitute if you turned him down.’

‘That makes much more sense.’ Was he seriously jealous that his gay guest-services manager was close to the woman he was infatuated with?

‘Why would it make more sense?’ Jade demanded. ‘The man has a secret, totally platonic, crush on you. Why else would he put up with you for all these years? And don’t tell me it’s because you pay him. I happen to know he was offered a job at Chase and turned it down.’

‘He was?’

‘Yes, so stop fighting with Jeremy and start to realise you’re both on the same side.’ She grinned. ‘And beneath all the sniping, you really like and respect each other.’

He made the mistake of looking at her again. The amused smile, the dazzling blue eyes… His heart tripped.

Fuck.

He knew the signs. He was falling for her, and this felt even more frightening than before because he was actively tryingnotto. It was like he was driving a truck downhill, trying desperately to slam on the brakes but the pedal didn’t work and the damn thing kept hurtling forward, gaining momentum.

All he could see ahead was a mangled mess.

‘Liam? You look like someone’s walked over your grave.’

Just glimpsing into my future.

‘Sorry. All this talk about Jeremy being my bestie. It’s disconcerting.’

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