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)
“And I miss doing that.”
Aunt Fizz pressed her fingers against her temples. “Honestly, sometimes I’m very happy you two aren’t real siblings. I don’t know if I could have dealt with your bickering for eighteen years.”
I grinned. “Don’t worry. I might have drowned him by the time I turned thirteen.”
“Well, you’re still young.”
“Mum!” Harvey exclaimed, banging his fist against the table. “This favouritism is getting out of hand.”
Aunt Fizz grabbed the nearest tea towel, twisted it, and whipped it in his direction. “Don’t sit there whining. Aren’t you the one who came here shouting and yelling about that bastard whisking our Chloe away up north?”
I smiled smugly, slowly turning my face in his direction. “Oh? Were we playing at being big brother again?”
Harvey buried his face in his hands. “I really wish you’d stayed up there, you know.”
I leant against him, grinning. “You don’t mean that. You missed me, didn’t you?”
“Like a hole in the head.”
“That can be arranged.”
“Don’t you have anything better to do than harass me?”
“After four weeks of not seeing you?” I said, hugging his arm and squeezing. “Never. Not ever. Nuh-uh.”
Harvey sighed. “Damn it. Welcome home, Chlo.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE – CHLOE
An Unexpected Guest
Over the past five years, I’d been introduced to a vast variety of gentlemen courtesy of my dear auntie.
On her part, they were genuine introductions to eligible, respectful young men she felt suited me. She wasn’t just setting me up with people for the sake of it—she went to the effort to vet her future nephew-in-law and make sure we were actually compatible before ever connecting us.
It was a wonderfully thoughtful act that never failed to put me in an awkward situation.
Not because I didn’t like any of the men that she introduced me to. On the other hand, I often found myself getting along splendidly with them. They were kind, thoughtful, respectful, and to this day, only one of my many potential suitors had taken my rejection badly.
That was a testament to my aunt’s taste in men.
The problem was that I’d always thought that Aunt Fizz’s taste in men and mine were vastly different.
The one thing her dates always had in common was that they were all handsome, successful, and more than just a little financially comfortable. Some even had some personal connections to the aristocracy and fancy rich people with more money than sense, and a lot of them meant I’d never have to work a day in my life again.
In other words, they were all the very kind of man I worked for—and I knew enough about that life to know that I wanted no part of it outside of the office. I’d always imagined myself marrying someone who was successful enough to have job security but who’d never have to work twenty-hour days, had a solid salary, and wouldn’t be intimidated by the fact I’d one day receive an inheritance from my aunt that would set up our future children and then some.
Idealistic? Perhaps.
Possible? Yes.
I could say that with confidence because the man in front of me was a mix of both Aunt Fizz’s type and what I considered mine to be.
Alex Mullner was thirty-two-years-old with a face that would stop traffic if it were on a billboard… and he had a bank account big enough to put said face on a billboard without breaking a sweat. He’d started his own investment firm after his grandfather had handed him five hundred pounds and told him to start a business if he wanted to inherit shares in his company, and he’d done just that, blowing all his siblings and cousins out of the water.
He'd even handed his grandfather’s money back to him so he wouldn’t be in his debt.
And… he was nice. Really, he was perfectly lovely. He looked at me when he was speaking to me, pulled out my chair for me, and listened to every word I said.
In fact, if my heart weren’t so jumbled, I might have felt very differently about him.
As it were, it took every bit of energy I had to keep my head in the game and pay attention to him.
Well, most of my head. There was a little part of my brain wondering where the fuck my arsehole cousin was and why he wasn’t getting me out of this conversation like he was supposed to.
I was going to beat his arse when I saw him later.
Alex’s phone rang and he excused himself, and I waved him off with a smile. As soon as he left, I let my shoulders sag as a sigh escaped me.
What was worse at this point? Staying in Buckley Heath with the boss I was sleeping with, or being back in London, pretending I wasn’t missing him?
It felt like a lose-lose situation, no matter how I looked at it.
I propped my chin up on my hand with another sigh. All this trip had confirmed was that I really did have feelings for Theo and that I would have to deal with them one way or another.