Page 80 of Filthy Rich Temptation
‘You don’t need to thank me…’ He drags in a breath, his eyes lingering on my lips and then he’s stepping back, his eyes snapping up. ‘But I do need you to pack.’
‘What?’ My gut crashes down on the low-burning heat, snuffing it out cold. I close the distance he created, glance at Lottie – still engrossed in her cartoon – and lower my voice. ‘You want usout? I know last night was?—’
‘No,’ he cuts in, hand raking through his hair as he puts the centre island between us. ‘This has nothing to do with what happened last night… unless you count the idea Mum put in my head.’
The flicker of a smile crosses his lips, but it doesn’t touch his eyes. And it’s those green depths that have me teetering on the edge of all-out panic.
‘What idea?’ I ask, setting the milk down before I drop it and clutching my head.
‘To take you and Lottie away.’
‘Away?’
He nods.
‘Where?’
‘Pembrokeshire.’
I blink, hand flying to the counter before I fall on it. ‘You want to take me and Lottie…to Pembrokeshire?’
‘Yes. Today.’
‘Today?’ I gawp.
Either my hangover is scrambling the words coming out of his mouth, or this really is as mad as it sounds.
‘What am I missing?’
‘Nothing.’ He shrugs as he looks away. I can’t tell if he’s looking at Lottie or past her, but I get the impression he’s just not looking at me.
Andcan you blame him, Ms Gremlin?
‘I loved my summers there as a kid. And I think you’d love it too.’
‘I’m sure I would, but?—’
‘Look, I know you said Lottie’s settled here, but she’d get so much more out of being there. Having the beach on her doorstep, rock pools to explore, woodland trails, too. Real space to just… be a kid.’
Yeah, it sounds idyllic. But it’s so left field. And why the sudden urgency?
‘What about your work?’
‘I can work just as easily from my place there. It’s remote but notthatremote.’
‘I was going to meet the girls at the coffee shop this afternoon, maybe we could?—’
His jaw twitches. ‘It’s better for me if we set off this morning.’
‘Right, this morning…’ I drawl, nodding slowly, still convinced I’m missing something. I just can’t work out if it’s agoodthing, or a bad.
‘It’ll be a holiday for you both, Sadie.’ His eyes come back to me, his tone shifting into something softer, more persuasive. ‘You and Lottie deserve that after everything you’ve been through. I should’ve thought of it sooner, but now I have, let me do this for you. For both of you. Please.’
And here come the tears again…
Because Lottie and I have never had a holiday together. Not one. Unless you count the room above the pub Danny booked for a friend’s wedding. And even then, it was to squirrel us away while he drank the night away with his mates. Close enough to keep an eye on, but not too close.
And this is Theo –workaholicTheo – with his ordered life and meticulous routines, the same ones we’ve been derailing ever since we got here, now offering to take us away and derail it even more.
