Page 51 of Tempt

He frowned and acted genuinely offended. “Those types of people are the absolute worst. You should avoid them all.” Then he winked. “Seriously though, it’s not for everyone.”

“I have a seat on the board and I’m happy to be part of the company, but I don’t want it to be my life. I never have.”

“Your father wants to retire soon? Is that where the pressure is coming from?”

I shrugged because what I really wanted to do was throw my hands in the air and scream in frustration. “He’s not ready to retire.” I sank a little lower in my seat. “He just wants to be sure his legacy is properly secured. I should be shadowing him right now, kissing his feet and preparing to have the crown handed down.”

Theo chuckled at my dramatic version of nepotism. “Heavy is the head that wears the crown. This I know well.”

“What is with you and Sutherland Industries?”

“Same,” he shook his head. “I have a seat on the board of directors but no real power over there. When I returned, we agreed that I would start my own company. Earn my way back into my father’s good graces. He thought a little competition was just what his sons needed. Unfortunately my father has never been particularly bright.”

“Michael left.”

“Yes.” Theo slowed and then turned down an even smaller road winding up a hill. “So now I’m too busy with iON Innovations and Nicki wants nothing to do with our father, or his company, so he technically has no one to pass the company on to.”

I somehow doubted Theo would turn down his family company if it were offered to him. “You don’t want it?”

His grip tightened on the steering wheel. “No.”

Something in the tone of his voice told me to stop asking questions. He wasn’t angry, but he was definitely dealing with some heavy emotions. So I changed the subject. “Where are we going?”

He didn’t answer. Instead he pulled the car down a dirt road and parked under an enormous tree. “We’re going here.”

Wherever “here” was, it was gorgeous. Untouched hills rolled on and on. A low stone wall dotted the tree line in the distance. Light seemed to glimmer off of what I assumed was a small lake in the distance.

He turned off the engine and unbuckled his seatbelt, relaxing into the seat. “This is why I don’t want Sutherland Industries.”

The view? The stress? Conversations like this? What exactly did he mean? “I don’t follow…”

“You up for a quick walk? I want to show you exactly what I mean.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Of course.”

We took a walk toward the lake. Theo’s hand in mine was warm and steady, but it was also electric. All this stuff we were sharing was so intimate it was as if it were creating a static charge of emotional energy around us. One that originated where our hands connected us, and traveled unrelentingly through my veins to my heart. It was going to be impossible to stop myself from falling head over heels at this rate.

“I come up here because no one gives a fuck who I am up here. Sutherland Industries means shit. iON Innovations is a fairy tale. I’m nobody here.”

“You’reyou.” My heart ached for him. There was so much pain in his voice.

“Just me.” He kicked a branch off the overgrown path. “The life I make here is the one I’ve chosen. It’s like a fresh start. Arealone this time.”

We crested the rise in the path and in front of us was a small, gorgeous lake, sunlight glistening off the surface. “I want to buy this land,” he said.

“Is it for sale?” Most of the Lake District was protected.

“Everything’s for sale, darlin’.” He pulled me against him and I wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my head against his firm chest.

“This is beautiful. Peaceful.” He could use a lot more of this in his life, and so could I.

“I have a… well, I guess I’d call it a fantasy.” He shrugged. “The basic instinct to make a life for myself. To be intimately connected to my destiny and to build it with my own hands.” He took a deep breath and held it for a moment, almost as if he were afraid to confess exactly what it was he wanted in life. “I want to buy this land, build a home, and have a quiet, simple life. I don’t want to conquer the world. I don’t give a fuck how much money is in my bank account. I want a workshop where I can build all the things I see in my head, a pub to drink with my friends, and a quiet place to think. That’s all I want.”

“That sounds nice.” Picturing Theo in jeans, building things with his hands was very, very hot—but a million miles from the life he led at the moment.

“I understand not wanting to take on the weight of your family obligations. You have a gift, Allison. The work you’ve done here is enough for me to know exactly how gifted you are.”

We kept walking, mostly in silence, down to the small dock that jutted out into the water, and sat down. “If this is what you want, why haven’t you done it? You could sell everything and just disappear.” If he did it right, he might even slip away from Toni.

---