Chapter 3
SARAH
As I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower, I cursed under my breath.
Why did life never seem to go my way? It was just one obstacle after another.
Just over a year ago, I’d thought I was in a committed relationship that was about to move to the next stage. Stupidly, I’d even thought marriage was on the cards, but then, boom! That dream had sunk faster than the Titanic.
Despite knowing that what had happened would always be the greatest betrayal of my life, I’d soldiered on. I’d continued doing my boring admin job for the local council, living in my boring town, living my boring, uneventful life.
During those dark times, it was my romance books, Jess’s friendship, and more recently, running the library’s social media that saved me.
I loved hearing all about Jess’s adventures at the library and I’d wanted to work there from the beginning.
So when the incredible opportunity had come to leave everything I hated behind and have a fresh start, I’d thought my life had finally turned a corner.
I was so sure it was going to be amazing.
Then that bastard Ben had walked in and ruined everything.
When I was on the train, I’d thought it was a cruel coincidence that I was in the same carriage as a romance hater. Little did I know that that coincidence was just the tip of the iceberg.
I should be excited about starting my first official day at the library. But instead, I was dreading it.
And to think I was excited to meet him! Hah! The joke of the century.
What the hell were Jess and Theo thinking when they suggested that we work together?
I doubted Ben knew anything about running a social media account, and you could fit my knowledge of property development, renovation or whatever Ben would be doing on a postage stamp.
If Jess hadn’t gone to Theo’s friend’s engagement party not long after I’d arrived, I would’ve asked to meet privately to try and change her mind.
After she’d left with Theo, I was so pissed I hadn’t even stuck around at the library. Once I’d said a quick hello to Jane, Jackson, and Celeste, I’d headed to the B&B and got myself settled before having dinner with Glenda and going to bed.
Now I had to get ready to spend the day with him.
Ugh.
Once I’d got dressed and eaten Glenda’s epic full English breakfast, I crossed the road and headed straight for the beach.
I wasn’t due to meet Jess until nine, so I had a full twenty-five minutes to go for a morning stroll and calm down before I had to face my new colleague.
I took off my sandals, letting my feet sink into the soft, golden sand.
That’s better.
Although it was only mid-April, it was lovely and mild.
I walked towards the sea, inhaled the salty air, then stood there, taking in the phenomenal views.
Wow.
I still couldn’t believe that I was here. That this was now my home.
The small town I’d lived in before wasn’t in a very cool part of the Midlands.
There wasn’t the buzz of living in a vibrant city like Birmingham or the historic beauty of Shakespeare’s home in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The views I’d seen on a daily basis were either a run-down factory that had closed decades ago or the crumbling high street, where eighty per cent of the stores were boarded up and the rest were betting shops.
So to be here, in a beautiful town like this, so close to the sea, working in a romance library all day with my friends, was what dreams were made of.
As I strolled along the beach, I decided that I’d overreacted. Yeah, we’d established that Ben was a prick, but I couldn’t let that ruin this incredible opportunity for me.
Jess and Theo weren’t stupid. They wanted the best results for the library, so once they saw that Ben was rubbish at online stuff and I was useless working at property tasks, they’d soon see sense and leave us to focus on our strengths.
After that, I was sure that I’d barely have to interact with him. The extent of our contact would just be formalities. Hi, bye and that’s it.
Yeah. It’d be fine.
Once I’d dusted the sand off my feet, I headed to the library. The doors were already open when I arrived, so I stepped inside.
As I was walking down the hallway, I saw Jane and Jackson coming towards me, holding hands.
Jane and Jackson were childhood friends who’d lost contact after they left school, but by a stroke of luck they were reunited when they got jobs at the Romance Library. Their journey to getting together was a bumpy one, but now just like Jess and Theo, they were all loved up.
If only I was so lucky.
‘Hi!’ Jane said.
‘Hey.’ I smiled at them both. ‘How are you?’
‘Good,’ Jackson replied. ‘How about you? How was your first night in Sunshine Bay?’
‘Fine, thanks,’ I lied.
‘Sorry we couldn’t meet up to welcome you officially,’ Jane said. ‘We had to cover for Jess and Theo here.’
‘No worries! I was exhausted anyway, so I just got myself settled in the B&B, had dinner, then crashed out.’
‘Oh, okay,’ Jane said. ‘Looking forward to your first day?’
‘Um…’ I paused. ‘Yeah! Course!’ My voice shot up several octaves. I was trying to think positively. I didn’t want to start bitching about Ben. I wasn’t even going think about him.
‘And you finally got to meet Ben!’ Jane smiled mischievously.
‘Yeah, and I wish I hadn’t.’ The words spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them.
‘Oh? Is that because he—’
‘Did I just hear my name being mentioned?’ a deep, plummy voice sounded from behind me. A delicious woody scent wafted through the air, and seconds later, when Ben appeared in front of me, my eyes popped.
Lord have mercy.
As I caught sight of him, I swallowed hard.
He was dressed in a crisp white shirt with, yep, you guessed it, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a pair of dark blue jeans which looked annoyingly good on him. Today, he wasn’t wearing a baseball cap, which meant I got a full, uninterrupted view of his dark wavy hair.
Not content with looking like a Levi’s and Ray-Ban model yesterday, today he was doing a very good job of resembling a model on a TV advert, promoting a shampoo that made your hair look thicker and shinier.
And don’t even get me started on the stubble around his chiselled jaw.
Or his lips.
Or those eyes, which weren’t green, but more hazel-ish. Like a rich shade of golden brown.
Plus he had those insanely long eyelashes that even had the audacity to curl up at the ends like he’d used eyelash curlers, then mascara.
Arsehole.
I was too angry to study him closely in the office yesterday, but that beach walk had made me feel way too relaxed and now I was suddenly seeing everything.
And I hated that he looked so good.
Damn him.
‘Jane was asking if I’d had the misfortune of meeting you and I was about to confirm that sadly I had,’ I replied, and Jane and Jackson looked at each other in confusion, then back at me.
‘Come on, Jeffries. You’re not still upset over our little disagreement, are you?
Like Jess said, we should have a fresh start.
Why don’t you let me take you out tonight?
I promise one night with me and any bad feelings you have will instantly evaporate.
In fact, I can guarantee I’ll make you feel so good, you’ll forget your own name. ’ He smirked.
‘Firstly’—I folded my arms over my chest—‘I won’t be going out anywhere with you, so jog on, sunshine. And secondly, if anyone’s forgetting anyone’s name it’s you, because my name is Sarah. S-A-R-A-H. Got it?’
‘I prefer Jeffries. That’s your surname, right?’
‘Yeah, but—’
‘Morning!’ Jess chirped, cutting me off as she walked in with Theo.
‘Morning!’ Jane and Jackson replied as Ben nodded and I let out a strangled hello.
‘Sarah, Ben, you ready to join us in the office?’
‘I am indeed!’ Ben said far too enthusiastically.
‘Yay,’ I said half-heartedly before reminding myself for the umpteenth time that I was worrying over nothing. This was my dream job and I would not let a hot—I mean, horrible—man ruin it for me.
‘After you.’ Ben gestured for me to go in front of him.
I followed Theo and Jess into the office, then pulled out a chair from around the small table.
‘We have a meeting in ten minutes, so this will be brief,’ Jess said.
‘But in short, Sarah, I’d love you to continue what you’re doing with the social media.
But we’re also keen to develop our online store so that readers can buy more merch and a selection of paperbacks.
I’ll send you the details of our designer, Stella, who you’ll be working closely with, but I’d like you to get input from Jane and Jackson about what else you think we could sell on the website, and we’d like you to work with Ben re the logistics. ’
‘Yes,’ Theo added. ‘He’s got an eye for these kinds of things. He’ll know what makes financial sense.’
My pulse started throbbing and I opened my mouth to protest, then decided it was probably better to let them finish.
‘Ben will also be overseeing the renovation of the building out back. We’re going to use it for a reading retreat.’
‘That’s a great idea!’ I said, genuine excitement bubbling in my chest.
‘Thanks. So we need you to work with Ben to make it happen.’
‘But Ben doesn’t even know anything about what romance readers want!’ I protested.
‘And correct me if I’m wrong,’ Ben said, tilting his head, ‘but I’m guessing you know very little about property development.’
‘Well…’ I tried and failed to think of a scathing comeback because obviously he was right.
‘Which is exactly why you’ll make the perfect team.’ Jess smiled. ‘And we also want you to work together to create the book bar. We’ve got gorgeous sea views upstairs and we want to make the most of them.’
‘We’re thinking of an area where you can relax on a daybed and read a book whilst listening to the waves and taking in the views of the beach.’
‘I love it!’ I said. ‘The idea,’ I clarified, wanting to make it clear that it was the concept I was a fan of, not the person I had to work with.
‘Great!’
‘Theo’s got most of the groundwork done.
We have the planning permission and other stuff sorted and the builders are all lined up and ready to go, so we need you two to work on these projects hard and fast. We need your feedback and ideas by the end of the week.
We’ve already got a team doing some renovations upstairs, but we want their priority to be on the retreat and the bar. ’
‘What are you doing upstairs?’ I asked.
‘Converting some old classrooms into studio flats,’ Theo said. ‘There’s a real shortage of accommodation in this town and we need somewhere for our team members to stay if they need it. Ben will be using the first one.’
‘It’s going to be very convenient…’ Ben smirked.
I got the feeling he was a bit of a player, so no doubt he’d probably try and charm library members so he could invite them upstairs.
Gross.
I was glad I’d seen his true colours early on. I’d had a lucky escape.
‘I think that’s everything for now!’ Jess jumped up. ‘I’ll leave you two to get down to business.’
Ben smirked again, flashing his dimple (of course he had to have a dimple along with everything else) whilst I glared.
I’d hoped that working at the Romance Library would be my dream job.
But now, thanks to this arsehole, it was about to become a nightmare.