Page 8 of Filthy Rich Temptation
‘I can’t win. She doesn’t want me working for her and she doesn’t want me doing my own thing either.’
‘She just doesn’t want you to leave.’
‘Manchester isn’t that far.’
‘It’s far enough when she’s used to having you around twenty-four-seven… She’ll miss you.’
My eyes flick his way again. ‘And what about you, Theo? You gonna miss me too?’
I say it like it’s a joke, like it’s light and nothing, but it comes out all wrong. Too heavy. Too loaded.
He looks over at me, and the sudden seriousness on his face almost takes my feet out from under me.
‘Yes.’ His voice is rough, taking on that gruff edge he tries to hide when things get too real, and it makes my heart skip a beat. ‘Of course I’ll miss you.’
We hit the track that runs down to the river. It’s quieter here. Our shortened breaths overlay the kick of gravel beneath our feet, the rush of water, and the wildlife tweeting in the trees. But the only thing I’m attuned to is him.
‘I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through this year without you,’ he says. ‘After Dad… Everyone needed me to hold it together. Mum was a mess. She’s still a mess…’
‘She’ll get there,’ I say, hoping I’m right. I love his mum. Everyone does. But for me and Tay, she was the one who put food in our belly when dad was too drunk or distracted to care. She deserves to be happy again.
‘As for your sister and Axel…’ he says, bringing up his two best friends who should have been there for him, who would have been there for him if he’d given them a chance. ‘They’d just given me their life savings to invest. I had to show them I could do it.’
‘Which you did and then some.’
He’s made a fortune already and it’s growing at an exponential rate.
‘But with you…’
‘You didn’t have to be any of that,’ I say quietly, accepting my heart’s fate with it.
‘Yeah. You never needed me to be anything but me, and I don’t think I ever thanked you.’
He slows to a stop, turning into me as I do the same.
‘You don’t need to thank me,’ I say. ‘You’ve been there for me too. For as long as I can remember… you and Tay have had my back.’
A soft smile touches his lips. ‘Ever the humble one, aren’t you?’
His hand lifts, and with the lightest touch, he sweeps the hair from my face. His fingers linger behind my ear, his unguarded gaze sears mine.
‘And for what it’s worth, I’m happy you’re going after your dreams. You deserve them all.’
His hand falls away slowly – like he doesn’t want to let me go – and I swear he’s breathing faster. My pulse thrums in my throat as we just stand there, staring at each other. His eyes flick to my mouth. My stomach twists, flips, tightens with hope.
He finallysees me. Not as Tay’s little sister. Not as a kid. He sees…me.
And then I lean in without thinking, brushing my lips against his. It’s barely a kiss, more a question I don’t know how to ask. And for one breathless second, he doesn’t respond, doesn’t move, and my heart plummets.
But then… he catches it, his mouth crashing into mine in sudden answer.
His hands slide to my waist, pulling me in. He parts my lips with his tongue and the sudden invasion makes my head spin and my body melt, my moan as wild and wanton as I feel.
And then – just like that – he jerks back. Breath ragged. Eyes wild.
‘Shit!’ The curse cuts like a blade as his hands plunder his hair. ‘Forgive me, I shouldn’t have! What the fuck was I thinking?’
‘Forgive you?’ My voice shakes. ‘I kissed you!’
