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 withhim.
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.
23
BEN
Iput the last box on the floor, then closed the door behind me and exhaled.
I’d finally moved out of Theo and Jess’s into the studio above the library and had my own space.
The large, open-plan flat had dark wooden flooring, exposed brick walls and high ceilings.
I loved that there was a partition separating the bedroom area from the living room and kitchen. The bathroom was a decent size and was elegantly decorated with stone walls and flooring and a generously sized waterfall shower.
Yes. I was going to enjoy staying here.
No more third-wheeling or sleeping with headphones to avoid hearing my brother and his missus-to-be scream each other’s names.
Thank God.
It was embarrassing that I couldn’t even remember the last timeI’dgot my leg over. When I was in California, I doubted I went more than a week without getting my dick wet. But since I’d come to Sunshine Bay, it was like I’d taken some kind of involuntary and unconscious vow of celibacy.
When I’d first agreed to take the job, I thought I’d be like a kid in a sweet shop. With the hundreds of women that flocked to the library every week, I was sure that I’d have rich pickings.
But then I’d realised that wouldn’t be a good idea.
I’d still assumed that I could just hook up with some of the locals instead.
Kara, the hairdresser, had given me the eye. So had a few others, but for some reason, I wasn’t interested.
Maybe I was unwell.
The same thought had crossed my mind earlier when I was packing up the last of my boxes and found myself asking Jess how Sarah was.
I hadn’t seen her properly for over two weeks and I… I didn’t miss her per se. It was more her teasing. The banter. And her laugh.
It was unlikely that I’d get to spend more time with her anytime soon. She had a bank of the videos that we’d made, so she wouldn’t need my help for a while.
And I was all good with the renovation works too. The retreat would be ready in a few weeks. There was still a fair bit to do for the bar, so that would take much longer, but nothing required me to work with Sarah.
I hadn’t even seen her to discuss the book she’d given me. I’d been busy in meetings with Theo and the site managers and also been away from the library visiting potential sites Theo could invest in.
After Father had cut him off, he’d tried to find other revenue streams to build up his income. Especially as he and Jess needed to pay for their wedding and wanted to buy their own place.
Once I’d done a little unpacking, I flopped down on the sofa, pulled out my phone and looked up the library’s Instagram page.
