14. Theo
14
Theo
A fter closing my room door, I plonked myself on the edge of the bed and dragged my hands down my face.
What a day.
I’d just got back from the theme park and I was drained. Not physically—mentally.
Turned out that trying not to look at someone you’re attracted to for hours was exhausting. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt like this. And it was just my luck that the woman I was drawn to was the one woman I absolutely could not have.
Jessica was off limits for so many reasons.
Despite the crap Edwin said about there being no competitors in this town, the bottom line was that Jessica was standing in the way of me fulfilling my lifelong purpose: becoming CEO of Eaves Enterprises. That meant she was the enemy. Pure and simple.
I’d spent my whole life working towards taking over from my father. I couldn’t let my goal get derailed because I was attracted to her.
Secondly, even if she wasn’t my rival, which she most definitely was, we came from two completely different worlds, so we could never have a relationship. Father had made it clear that he expected me to settle down with a woman who came from the same background—like Penelope. Which reminded me, I was supposed to call her.
Penelope was the kind of woman I should be with. But if that was true, why couldn’t I get Jessica out of my head?
I blamed that stupid roller-coaster ride. Up until that point, I had things under control. Sort of. Whilst I’ll admit that things had steered slightly off course with that email exchange, I’d reined it in. It was all going well until I saw the look of pure terror across Jessica’s face.
Competitor or not, I couldn’t just sit there knowing she was petrified. Despite what she thought of me, I wasn’t an arsehole. Which was why I did what any gentleman would do: tried to calm her down by reaching for her hand.
It wasn’t planned. I didn’t even realise I’d done it until I felt an electric sensation shoot through me. And then it was too late. She’d grasped my hand tightly like she was falling off a cliff and gripping my palm was the only thing that would save her.
Jessica’s hand was so cold too. It was like the fear had sucked all the warmth from her body and she needed my heat to revive her. So I couldn’t exactly pull away.
And if I was being perfectly honest, I didn’t want to.
I liked the feeling of her hand in mine.
I liked knowing that in some way it helped to calm her down .
I liked that for once I’d done something useful. Made a nice change from the constant criticism from my father.
Just mentioning him turned my blood cold and snapped me out of my thoughts.
What the fuck was wrong with me? If he knew I was thinking about how nice it was to hold my competitor’s hand, he’d kick me out of the company. And then where would I be?
I couldn’t afford to have these thoughts about Jessica. I had to keep my eyes on the prize.
After reaching for my phone, I selected my youngest brother’s number. I needed a distraction.
‘Brother!’ I smiled at the screen. I always preferred to video-call him so I could see his face. He had tanned skin and dark hair that was slightly shorter than mine, and whilst my eyes were blue like Mum’s, he’d inherited Father’s brown eyes. ‘How are you?’
‘Mr. T! I’m good, bro, can’t complain! Enjoying life here in LA, you know how it is!’ Ben grinned. It must be early afternoon over there, and in the background I could see clear blue sky and palm trees.
‘Actually, I don’t. What are you up to over there?’
‘Bit of this and a bit of that. Mainly that .’ He flipped the screen and I saw a woman stood beside the pool in a rather revealing bikini.
That was typical of Ben. He was always enjoying himself. Usually with multiple women and as far away from London as possible.
After getting his degree, he’d gone travelling around Asia and Australia for a few years.
When he’d returned to London, he’d never managed to hold down a job, much to our father’s dismay .
Then last year, when he’d started getting pressured to join the family business, he’d jetted off to the US—allegedly to study, but I wasn’t entirely convinced he spent much time in a classroom.
‘How’s the studying going?’ I asked.
‘Careful, you’re starting to sound like Daddy Dearest. Where are you anyway? Looks like you’re trapped on some awful 1970s film set.’
‘I’m in a B&B in a seaside town called Sunshine Bay.’
‘A B&B ?’ He wrinkled his nose. When I explained all about the pitch and why I was here, Ben couldn’t stop laughing. ‘That’s hilarious!’
‘It really isn’t.’ I shook my head.
‘What are the women like in this town?’
‘That’s irrelevant,’ I said, pushing thoughts of Jessica out of my head. ‘I’m here for business. To seal the deal, that’s all.’
‘Lighten up, dude! All work and no play makes a very boring Theo. You need to get laid. When was the last time you had a decent shag?’
‘None of your business,’ I snapped, thinking I couldn’t actually remember. A month ago? Maybe three? Could be more.
‘That long, huh? You need to get back on the horse pronto. Better still, come over here. I’ve lost count of the amount of women who’ve asked if I have a brother. There’s not enough of me to go around!’
He laughed again and I rolled my eyes.
I loved my brother dearly, but he really was a man whore. I supposed I should be happy that at least one of us was enjoying life.
‘Thanks, but some of us have work to do. You know Father doesn’t believe in taking holidays.’
‘Ugh,’ he groaned. ‘That man is suffocating. Why do you think I came here? Way too much pressure. I take my hat off to you, T. Can’t be easy carrying the weight of the Eaves name on your shoulders.’
I sighed. It wasn’t. As the eldest, I didn’t have the luxury that Ben had as the youngest brother. I was next in line, so I never had the opportunity to swan off whenever I wanted like Ben or our middle brother, Tom.
‘It is what it is. Anyway, I’d better go. I was just calling to check on you.’
‘Appreciate that, big brother. Don’t work too hard and catch up soon!’
After I hung up, I leant back on the bed. I missed Ben. As much as he had that party boy image, he was a good guy, and as well as being my brother, he was one of the few people I considered a friend.
Working around the clock like Father demanded hadn’t left much time to maintain friendships, never mind relationships.
If ever I needed anything or someone to speak to, I always turned to my brothers. They were the only ones who understood what Father was like and the pressure I was under.
I sent a quick message to Tom to check he was okay, then got up, strode to the bathroom and turned on the shower.
Time to wash away the day.
And rid my mind of all those ridiculous thoughts about Jessica.
When my alarm went off at six a.m. I was tempted to hit the snooze button and have a lie-in like most people did on a Sunday. But I couldn’t slack off. It’d already been three days since I’d last worked out, and that wasn’t good. Healthy body, healthy mind.
Plus I’d always found that exercise was good for burning off certain frustrations .
I jumped out of bed, put on my tracksuit bottoms, a vest and my trainers, then was out the door.
As far as I knew, there wasn’t a gym in Sunshine Bay, and I couldn’t exactly bring my gym equipment here. But what I could do is run.
After crossing the road to the beach, I inhaled the fresh sea air. This town might not be what I was used to, but I had to admit, going for a run on a beach wasn’t a terrible way to start my day.
After I’d warmed up, I set off. Running on the soft, dry sand was harder than my usual treadmill runs, but hard was good. I needed to stay strong.
And as nice as the views were from the floor-to-ceiling windows in my home gym, they didn’t compare to the scenic views of the Sunshine Bay coastline.
In the distance, a fishing boat bobbed in the sea. The sounds of the waves crashing against the shore surrounded me. As I picked up the pace, I inhaled and exhaled deeply. This was the best run I’d had in ages.
Forty minutes later, I headed back to the hotel, regretting the fact that I hadn’t taken a towel, because now I was dripping with sweat.
I’d wrongly assumed that because it was cold, I wouldn’t need one.
After wiping my forehead with the back of my hand, I dried it on my vest and used my other hand to open the B&B door. I was glad it was early, so no one else would be up.
I was wrong.
I’d barely taken three steps into the hallway when I spotted Jessica walking towards me.
Good Lord.
She was dressed in a pink vest top with sparkles and tiny matching shorts which exposed her bare legs. And she looked like she’d walked straight out of my dreams.
I swallowed hard and willed my body not to react.
‘Oh!’ Her eyes widened. ‘I, er, I wasn’t expecting anyone to be down here. I… I came to get some water.’
‘So I see.’ I fixed my gaze on the glass in her hand in an effort not to look at her nipples, which were poking through her top.
‘Did you go to the gym or… or something?’ she stuttered, her eyes fixating on my arms.
I was supposed to be looking at her glass of water, not her face, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
Despite not wearing a scrap of make-up, she still looked stunning. Jessica had a colourful silk scarf wrapped around her head and for some reason it made me smile.
It was clear: Jessica loved colour. I hadn’t known her long, but everything about her was always so bright and bold. A world away from the sea of black and grey suits I was used to seeing every day.
‘No,’ I said, remembering she’d asked me a question. ‘I went for a run on the beach.’
‘Very nice,’ Jessica replied, then bit her lip. Her eyes shifted from looking at my arms to my chest, down to my feet and then back up again .
Wait.
She was checking me out.
The woman had shamelessly undressed me with her eyes.
This was new.
I was certain she hated me.
Then again, I’d just done exactly the same thing and I didn’t like her either.
Our eyes locked and we stood there in silence.
Every time I told myself to look away, somehow I couldn’t. It was like there was a magnetic force drawing us together.
‘You’re both up! Excellent.’ Glenda came through the door clutching a loaf of bread in her hand.
‘Um, yes,’ I answered without thinking. Of course we were up. ‘Good morning,’ I corrected myself.
‘I-I just came to get some water,’ Jessica repeated. ‘And he’s looking all hot and sexy, I mean sweaty because he went at it on the beach.’ Jessica shook her head, then winced. ‘That came out wrong—he went for a run on the beach.’
The corner of my mouth twitched as I realised what she’d just said. She’d said I was looking hot and sexy , which must’ve been what she was thinking. My dick twitched in response and I reminded myself to calm down.
Whether she was attracted to me or not was irrelevant.
‘I think you were right the first time, love!’ Glenda winked.
‘I’m going to take a shower.’
‘Okey-dokey!’ Glenda replied. ‘Oh, by the way, I bumped into Edwin earlier and he said he was sorry to have missed you at Dreamland yesterday, but he’ll pop round for breakfast around nine thirty for a chat.’
Good God. What would it take for this man to leave us alone?
‘Great!’ Jessica beamed.
The thought of having to endure more happy talk with Edwin and spending more time with Jessica was suffocating. I had to get to my room.
I strode towards the stairs just as Jessica did and we collided.
As her shoulder hit my chest, I heard her gasp.
‘Sorry,’ I said quickly, expecting her to recoil in horror, then scrub her shoulder to rid her skin of my sweat.
But she didn’t.
Instead, Jessica looked up at me, eyes wide, and bit her lip again.
Before I had a chance to stop myself, my eyes had dropped to her chest, taking in the sight of the beautiful curve of her breasts and her rock-hard nipples, which were straining against her top.
My cock thickened in response and I knew I needed to get to my room.
Fast.
Without saying another word, I marched up the stairs, two steps at a time, pulled out my key, opened the door and closed it firmly behind me.
Going for a run was supposed to help control my mind and my growing attraction to Jessica, but after seeing her this morning, my feelings had only intensified.
And now Edwin wanted to have a chat with us. Together.
It wasn’t even eight a.m. yet, but I already knew that today was going to be a difficult one.