Thea’s eyes grew wide, and blood sang in her ears. She didn’t know what an evening with Felix had cost her, either. Perhaps her dignity. Maybe her sanity. Or worse still, her chastity.
A cough reached her ears, and she looked up to see Josh in the doorway.
“Thea, I think it’s time you told me what’s happening.”
17
FELIX
Felix checked his hair in the rear-view mirror again, reassuring himself it still looked as pristine as when he left his house. After an early gym session, he’d visited the barber and was now on his way to Small Oaks Farm to pick up Thea and Ammy.
He pulled his brows together at the thought. Despite a less frosty, less combative attitude from Thea the other day, she’d still left him a little confused. He’d assumed she knew about the auction. That hers had been the winning bid. But she acted clueless.
The curt, explanatory email he’d received from Persephone Murray had left him astounded, too. Oddly invigorated but shocked. He’d thought long and hard about why Thea had entered a bid.
Despite the snipping and griping when they’d first met, perhaps she desired him, too. And it was time to admit that he wanted her. He wanted to kiss the mouth whose words drove him mad. Wanted to touch the body he couldn’t stop imagining wrapped around his own. Needed to quell the burn in his gut whenever he thought of her.
But now he wasn’t sure. Perhaps he’d read her signals wrong. The last few times they’d been together, they’d been at odds on the surface. But there’d been an underlying tension. A frisson that left him obsessed with thoughts of her. Thoughts of them together, in all the worst ways.
But his feelings weren’t just based on lust. He wanted to help her. He’d cleaned up her house, checked her door lock to ensure it worked properly and adored hanging out with her and the kids. He hoped she might feel the same way. It was why he’d offered to go to the wedding, at great peril to himself. He only hoped Thea cleared it with Daniel and Amber. He didn’t want to be found dead in the hotel gardens with a cake slicer buried in his back.
No, he needed to be on his best behaviour today. Show Thea that he wasn’t as bad as the magazine and no doubt her friends and family thought him. Today was important. It was the day he’d finally work out what the hell he had going on with Thea Fox.
With a sigh, Felix flicked the control on the car’s steering column to turn up the music. It was a song DJ Malcolm had played at the dinner dance, and his lips curved at the memory of Thea slamming into his body. Into his…
“Darling? It’s me.” A nasal voice came over the Bluetooth.
Felix clamped his teeth together. The buttons for that and the volume sat next to each other. He must have accidentally picked up an incoming call. An incoming call from Adrienne. She called everyone darling, but still, the word made his lips roll.
It was the third time she’d tried to contact him this morning. He’d ignored her previous efforts. If anything important came up with Lucas, she’d text him. Poor Lucas. He’d resembled a man going to the guillotine when Felix dropped him off with his mother yesterday evening.
“Hello, Adrienne. I’m busy. What do you need?”
“Nothing! I just called to chat.”
Alarm bells went off in Felix’s body, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood to attention. Adrienne never just called for a chat. There was always an agenda. A reason thinly veiled with pleasantries and flattery. It was her way.
“Really? What did you want to chat about?”
“Oh, nothing much.”
Felix didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Is Lucas there?”
“Not just now, darling. I had the nanny take him to a tennis lesson, then to the cinema.”
Lucas hated tennis. He detested the coach, whom Adrienne insisted he see. Felix had hoped that he and his mum could actually spend some time together this weekend.
“Speaking of Lucas,” she said, her voice becoming saccharin-sweet. “He wanted me to check if you’d be at the Rusty Plough today. He says he left some homework there.”
Felix’s brow furrowed. Lucas knew precisely where he’d be today. Felix had asked him not to tell his mum he was going to a wedding. He wasn’t trying to hide anything, but he didn’t want her getting involved. Because getting involved in things that weren’t her business was also Adrienne’s way.
“I’m always working, you know that.” Well, it wasn’t exactly a lie. He’d be in touch with his EA all day. Hotel business didn’t stop for the weekend.
Felix passed the Tottenbridge village sign near the duck pond, and his spirits lightened to see the little cottages lining the lanes. Perhaps if he extended his stay in the area, he should consider moving to the village. Clavenham was nearer to the restaurant but didn’t have Tottenbridge’s charm. Or its more charming residents.
“And Lucas was telling me about his new friend. Lives on a farm, I hear.”
“Mhmm.” Felix attempted to keep his tone deadpan. Non-committal.
