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 notstillupset 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 canguaranteeI’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 outanywherewith you, so jog on, sunshine. And secondly, if anyone’s forgetting anyone’s name it’syou, 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 strangledhello.
‘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 guessingyouknow very little about property development.’
‘Well…’ I tried and failed to think of a scathing comeback because obviously he was right.
‘Which isexactlywhy 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.’
