Chapter 22 Sarah
SARAH
Once I’d dried my hands, I was about to leave the toilets when the door swung open.
‘Hey!’ Jess said. ‘How’d the filming go? And how was your Sunday?’
I’d heard that Jess, Theo, Jane and Jackson got back late from their double date in London last night, so we hadn’t had a chance to catch up. Must be nice to do all those couple things.
‘The filming went well,’ I said.
‘Is the shirt around your dress part of the performance?’
‘Nope, I got my period.’
‘Oh, shit,’ Jess said. ‘Are they still super heavy?’
‘Yep,’ I sighed.
‘Did you ever go to the doctors? It sucks that you have to change so often. Must cost a fortune in pads and tampons.’
‘Yeah. I got checked out because I thought I might have endometriosis, but I don’t. My periods can be painful and heavy, especially during the first couple of days, but I’ve learnt how to manage it.’
‘It’s shitty that you have to go through that, but it’s good that at least you looked into it, just in case. Do you need any pads or tampons?’
‘I’m good. I appreciate the offer, though. Thanks to Ben, I’ve got enough period products to last me a few months.’
‘Ben?’ She frowned.
‘Yeah… listen, I was about to head to the B&B to change my dress. If you’re free, do you want to walk with me so I can fill you in?’
‘Sure!’ Jess said.
As we left the loos and headed over, I told her what’d happened. By the time we’d arrived at the B&B, I still hadn’t finished the story, so we made a little detour to the beach.
I wondered if I’d ever get tired of inhaling the delicious salty sea air or watching the waves lapping at the shore. I doubted it. Even if I lived here for three lifetimes, I reckoned I’d still love it.
‘Wait, so he set you a bath and got you all that stuff?’ Jess gasped.
‘Yeah.’
Next I told her about what happened with the audiobook.
‘That’s hilarious!’ She giggled.
‘It is now, but at the time it was mortifying. And then he saw me munching on cock cookies in Love & Lattes too. He must think I’m obsessed!’
‘I thought you didn’t care what Ben thought?’ Jess raised a suspicious brow.
‘I don’t! It’s just, well, I’m seeing a different side to him.’
‘Oh yeah?’ There went that eyebrow again.
‘I still think he’s arrogant and a dick for hating romance, obviously, but he’s been really helpful.
And kind. And considerate, and as much as I hate to admit it, he’s really hot.
He…’ I hesitated. I didn’t want Jess to tease me about maybe liking him, but I had to tell someone about the whole chest thing.
‘He was the one who saw the stain on my dress, and he whipped off his shirt so I could wrap it around my waist, and his chest is, like, wow.’
‘Awww, that’s really sweet!’ Jess said. ‘So you really fancy him, then?’
‘No!’ I blurted out. ‘I mean, yes, I… I don’t know! All I know is that I can’t fancy him!’
‘Why not?’
‘Because of a million reasons!’ I frowned at her, wondering how she could ask such a crazy question.
‘No, tell me why?’
‘He’s a player!’ I said. ‘And he’s arrogant… maybe,’ I added, unsure about whether he really was. ‘And we work together.’
‘So do Theo and I, and Jane and Jackson.’
‘But you’re in committed relationships! Ben isn’t the settling down type and that’s what I want.
A proper partner, not just a shag. It’d be messy if we were working together.
I’m not into the whole casual thing, so I’d hate to see him flirting with other members, just no.
’ I shook my head as a shiver raced down my spine.
‘Yeah, now that I think about it, that could get awkward. And Theo told me Ben’s not sure how long he’ll be sticking around.’
‘Really?’ I stopped in my tracks. For some reason my stomach sank. We hadn’t been working together long and he did wind me up a lot, but I’d still be a bit disappointed if he left the library completely.
‘Apparently, he doesn’t like to spend too long in one place. He’s a nomad.’
‘Well, there you go, then, another reason to add to the list of why we shouldn’t get involved. What am I even saying?’ I mentally slapped my face. ‘It wouldn’t be an issue because he’s not even interested in me like that.’
‘Yeah, right.’ Jess rolled her eyes. ‘I’m sure he’s interested. You’re a babe.’
‘Says my supportive, completely unbiased best friend,’ I laughed.
‘It’s true! Have you asked yourself how Ben knew you had a bloodstain on your arse?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘He obviously saw it because he was checking out your bum when you walked away.’
My head snapped round to look at her.
‘Oh…’ I nodded. ‘Maybe. I’m grateful, though. Actually, I’d better get to the B&B and get this shirt off. I don’t want the stain to rub off onto it. You coming?’
‘Okay. Theo, Celeste, Jane and Jackson have got everything covered. I can stay out for another fifteen minutes or so.’
We returned to the B&B. There wasn’t any sign of Glenda, so we went straight up to my room. Once I’d changed, we went back downstairs and just as we got near the front door, Glenda was coming in.
‘Hello, lovelies!’ She beamed, carrying multiple shopping bags.
‘Need some help?’ I offered.
‘That’d be great!’
Jess and I took some of her bags, carried them into the kitchen, then helped to unpack them.
‘You two are angels!’ she said. ‘Thanks a million.’
‘Pleasure!’ I said as we finished putting everything away. ‘And thanks for letting me use the bath yesterday. It really helped.’
‘Glad to hear it! Will you be needing to use the suite again today or tomorrow? I thought you might’ve moved your stuff up there until you felt better.’
My face crumpled.
‘Oh, no! I wouldn’t do that! You were kind enough letting me use it for a few hours. I wouldn’t want to take away paying customers’ business from you. That’d be taking liberties.’
‘But the suite’s been reserved for you to use. Ben took care of it.’
‘Wait, what?’ I gasped. ‘What do you mean reserved?’
‘Did he pay for it?’ Jess added.
‘Yes,’ Glenda clarified. ‘I told him not to and I thought we’d reached an agreement that he wouldn’t. But when I checked my bank account, I’d received a payment.’
‘Whoa.’ Jess grinned. ‘That’s so sweet.’
‘Isn’t it just!’ Glenda said. ‘Those Eaves boys are real good ’uns. Ben’s a sweetheart just like his big brother.’
‘That’s really…’ My brain scrambled again as I searched for the words.
Ben paid for the suite upstairs just so that I had a bath available to use if the pains got too much.
And not only did he do that, he didn’t even use it as an opportunity to gloat about how nice he was. In fact, he didn’t even tell me.
‘That’s really… kind,’ I said.
‘I’ll say!’ Glenda replied. ‘That’s definitely what you call going above and beyond the call of duty. Especially for a colleague. Are you two courting?’
‘No!’ I said quickly. ‘I mean, we…’ I wasn’t sure if I should mention the whole plan to fake-date or not.
Probably best if I didn’t. None of the locals needed to know.
It was only something we’d be doing in Spain.
Once we got back to England, it’d be business as usual.
Co-workers and nothing more. ‘No,’ I said firmly.
‘Ah, shame. Give it time,’ Glenda said.
‘No, it’s not—’ I went to protest.
‘We should get back,’ Jess said.
‘Yeah,’ I replied. ‘See you later.’
‘Bye, ladies!’
I walked to the door in a trance. I was still trying to take everything in.
Ben volunteering to be my fake boyfriend at the wedding.
Ben helping me with the videos.
Ben doing all those things to help ease my pain yesterday.
Ben giving me his shirt today.
Shirtless Ben.
And now Ben paying for the suite.
If you’d asked me about Ben a couple of weeks ago, I would’ve said that he was the red flag poster boy. But now, it was like those flags had all been bathed in green paint.
Normally I’d say that was a good thing. But in this case, it made everything so much more difficult.
In some ways I wished he was still that monumental dickhead I’d first met, because that guy was easy to hate.
But the man that was dishing out all this golden retriever, hot Cinnamon Roll Hero energy by doing all these sweet things for me? I had no idea how to deal with him.
It’d be fine, though. I now had four reels filmed with him and the last I’d heard, the work on the retreat and book bar had been progressing well, so I probably wouldn’t need to work with him so closely anymore.
And the wedding was a couple of weeks away, so if I kept my distance, I’d come to my senses soon enough.
Plus, he’d said his flat upstairs was almost ready for him to move into, which meant that no doubt he’d start shagging millions of different women and remind me why I had to give men like him a wide berth.
Yeah. It was just a temporary crush because he’d been nice to me. The halo would slip soon, though. And then I’d be back to calling him Benjamin Buttface.
It was only a matter of time.