“Thank you,” he said. “You were so jealous.”
“You sound very pleased at my jealousy.” I decided not to argue.
“It’s made my day,” he said, then took a large bite into the sub.
I looked at him, worried, anxious and utterly confused. “I thought a girl being jealous is a big turn off?”
“Who told you that?” he said, swallowing what had been a hug bite.
“An ex. I asked him once what he’d been doing with another girl and he accused me of being jealous, then told me how much of a turn off it was.”
Owen put the sandwich down and grabbed my hand, pulling it under the table and onto his crotch where his cock was hard. “Now do you think I’m turned off?”
I gave a quick grab and moved my hand back to the table before anyone became suspicious. “That’s because I was jealous.”
“So you admit it?”
“If you want me to ever touch your dick again with any part of my anatomy move on from revelling in me being jealous.”
He laughed, his sandwich back in hand. “Because it means you’re invested and I want you to want this as much as I do. If I’d come into your offices and seen someone pawing at you like Livi was with me, I’d have used them for rugby practice.”
“Oh, okay. I get it.” I felt warm from my toes to the top of my head and was aware I’d probably flushed pink. “You really want this.”
“I really want you. And not just for the nights. I want you for the days as well.” His arms moved around my shoulders and I leaned into him. Affection between us in front of my family or his mum hadn’t been an issue, but we tended—or rather I tended—to be more reserved at his work or while we were out. He kissed the side of my head and for a moment we just sat there, two people, a couple. “Are you busy tonight?”
“I’m going to Ava’s. It’s mine and Seph’s birthdays at the end of June and she wants to plan something. I made her swear that this year she’d let me get involved rather than it being a total surprise,” I said. “Maybe we could have it in one of your stores.” I wanted to take the words back as it was a presumptuous thing to say.
But Owen just gave me his perennial grin. “I like that idea. Would she mind me coming with you?”
“Not at all. Do you want to meet me there or…”
“I’ll see you there. I should get back to work. I need to ring Livi’s agent about the details and I might just mention how tactile she was. It’s not a good thing to be in this industry.”
“Okay, I’ll see you at Ava’s.”
He took the book I’d chosen from me and promised to bring it later, wandering off and leaving me with a smile on my face and feeling both ease and excitement. Everything was going to be more than okay.
* * *
“Just a sec!” The voice was unquestionably Ava’s, her yell louder than most church bells and seemingly coming from just as high up. She was currently living in a townhouse in Southwark that she had renovated and redecorated. It would be going on the market sooner rather than later, as being typical Ava, she was bored of living somewhere she’d finished and she wanted to live in a dump again.
“Have you been napping?”
“Totally. You were late so I made the most of it.” I heard crashing and decided not to ask, instead trying the door and finding it open. Ava was being security conscious, as usual.
There was swearing and another loud bang and then a voice that sounded familiar but I couldn’t place. “Ava? Are you okay?” My imagination ran to the place where Ava was actually being held hostage in her own home and I started to climb the stairs.
“I’m fine, Payts, don’t come up. It looks like a bomb’s gone off up here.” Something else banged.
“Are you sure you don’t want any help?”
“Absolutely.”
“Why’s it so untidy?”
Ava emerged at the top of the stairs, wearing a robe, her hair piled up on top of her head. “I’m starting to pack.”
“The house isn’t on the market yet,” I said, surprised. I knew she was planning on moving soon, but not quite this quickly.
