Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 105850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
“Okay, thanks. I’ll text Harvey in a bit and let him know.” I finished downloading and installing the mods and handed Theo back his laptop. “I still can’t believe we’re about to do this.”
“Why not? Is it really that crazy?”
“What, is it crazy that we’re about to play a pixel farming simulator game while you’re wearing dinosaur-patterned socks and eating gummy bears?” I raised my eyebrows. “If it’s not crazy, let me take a picture of you.”
“All right.”
I stilled. “Did you just give me permission?”
“Yeah. Go ahead. Take a photo.” Theo grinned. “You can even share it in your exclusive group chat that doesn’t include me.”
He was never going to get over that, was he?
Also, what was going on here?
“I’m going to do it,” I warned, grabbing my phone and standing up.
“I told you to.”
“I’m really going to.” I opened the camera app and showed him the screen to prove it. “I mean it.”
Theo laughed, turning his laptop with the main game screen open. “Then do it. Wait, hold on, get the gummy bears in.”
Maybe we needed to have sex again.
Would another orgasm send me back to where this guy was cold-hearted and demanding?
He grinned, and I snapped the picture of him, making sure to get his t-rex socks in.
This was wild.
“Was it a good pic?” He leant over as soon as I sat back down. “Oh, I look good in that.”
He did.
Irritatingly good.
Which was ridiculous, considering he’d not long showered and his hair was a mess.
Seriously, was there anything this man couldn’t do?
Look at that. I’d found a new reason to mentally beat him with my box file.
Actually, there was plenty he couldn’t do. Like laundry, cooking, and wearing a shirt.
Speaking of… “I can’t actually share this photo, you know.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Because you’re not wearing a t-shirt in it.”
Theo tilted my phone towards him. “You’re right. I forgot because you didn’t yell at me to put one on after I showered.”
My gaze trailed over his bare stomach. “I’ve decided to embrace your half-nakedness outside of working hours.”
“Only half-nakedness?”
“Full nakedness, too, I suppose.”
He grinned, leaning close to me. “You know, I think everyone at the office would be just as shocked by this side of you as they would be the dinosaur-sock-wearing side of me.”
I wrinkled up my face. He was probably right. For all of Theo’s reputation as the demanding bastard of a boss, I myself had one as a picky, cool perfectionist.
And I was.
I absolutely was a picky, cool perfectionist, so I didn’t much care if people thought that about that. It was a label I was happy to embrace.
So, the sex-confident, Stardew Valley playing Chloe St. James would probably really take people by surprise.
“Either way, this picture is a bust. I can’t share it with anyone,” I said, putting my phone away and bringing my laptop back to my legs.
“Are you going to delete it?”
“No. I can’t use it now, but that doesn’t mean I can’t ever use it in the future.”
“Just admit it.” Theo touched his lips to my bare shoulder. “You just want a shirtless picture of me.”
“Your self-confidence is astounding. How did you jump to such a conclusion?”
“It was the logical one to arrive at given the evidence.”
I turned my head so I could meet his eyes. “Theo?”
“Yes?”
“Shut up and open your parsnip seeds.”
***
The next few days seemed to drag.
Theo and I split our time between the cottage and the Adair Travel office, depending on what was on the schedule. Neither option was enjoyable for me—when we were at the cottage, I was all too conscious of him on the other side of the room, and when we were at the Adair Travel office, I had to deal with Anne-Marie and her endless flirting.
It bothered me more than it should. More than I should have allowed it to.
I had no business letting it bug me.
Especially not since I was the one on the receiving end of his attention the second the clock ticked over to seven p.m.
He’d kept his word and stuck to my boundary of not crossing the line during working hours. As far as work went, nothing had changed. He wasn’t as demanding as he had been in London, but that’d been the case since we’d arrived in Buckley Heath, so I was somewhat used to it by now.
I was just thankful he was happy to keep that work-life separation, even if he had grumbled a little about it last night.
There was no reason for his grumbling. He’d just done it because he wanted to, and he’d admitted as much.
“Oh, good afternoon, Miss St. James.”
I peered up from my laptop and smiled at Lennon. “Hi, Lennon. Are you just starting?”
“Yes, I had the morning off to take my mum to the hospital.”
“Oh, I hope everything is all right.”
“Just a routine appointment.” He smiled warmly. “How are you? Would you like a drink?”