Page 12 of Stuck with the Hot Boss
Evie saw Leo’s mouth and jaw tighten, and for the first time, noticed that the action made a dimple appear right in the middle of his chin. It was the sole bit of softness in a face that cried out for the cliché ‘chiselled’. His nose was so straight you could lay a spirit level on it. And his jawline would have made that triangle guy – Pythagoras? – weep with joy. Though on closer inspection, when it wasn’t compressed into an irritated line, his mouth was full, and his upper lip almost feminine in its curves.
But now wasn’t the time for Evie to be distracted. It had taken alotfor Leo to open up and here she was, immediately shutting him down.
‘Sorry,’ Evie said. ‘I’m being inappropriately jolly again. It’s a lifelong habit – using humour as a weapon.’
Leo frowned. ‘How do you mean?’
Evie sighed. ‘Story as old as time. Scrawny, nerdy kid gets bullied at school until she discovers that she can make people laugh. Instant respect. I still got shaken down regularly on the way home by Crystal Kirby and her gang, but they bashed everyone. By the time I got to fifth form, I’d miraculously become both cute and popular. Humour was my superpower. But itispossible that I overdo it. As I said, it’s a habit.’
‘So, if I understand you correctly–’ Leo’s forehead was still creased by a faint frown. ‘It’s only when you’re being funny that you feel safe?’
In a back room in Evie’s brain, a light snapped on. She blinked as a whole new interpretation was illuminated.WasLeo correct? Had her whole personality – her wholelife– been geared towards feeling safe? Wasthatwhy she chose men she knew would leave? Because with them, she’d never have to take the risk of being fully committed? Never risk being genuinely heartbroken …
Oof.Evie felt winded. This was a revelation, and not the kind that came with angels and trumpets. It was the kind that made you wonder why you’d spent twenty-eight years with your head stuck firmly up your own rear end.
‘Evie?’ Leo’s prompt was slightly concerned.
‘I think youarecorrect,’ she said. ‘But I’m going to needquitea lot of time to process. So can we talk about you now?’
‘Ugh,’ said Leo, with feeling.
It was so unexpected Evie couldn’t help but laugh.
‘What do youmean“ugh”?’ she said. ‘How can anything to do with you be “ugh”?’
Leo looked at her, his expression assessing. His eyes were technically hazel, but up close they reminded Evie more of a rock pool, a soft, speckled blend of blue-green, gold and brown. You could gaze into them for hours.
‘You said you were a scrawny kid,’ he began.
‘Scrawny, knock-kneed and with wonky teeth,’ Evie confirmed.
Leo nodded. ‘Well, I was perfect.’
Not what Evie had expected at all. She thought he’d been leading up to a similar ugly-duckling story. Although while Evie still felt a little awkward and fluffy, Leo had most definitely grown up to be a sleek, beautiful swan.
‘I was perfect from the day I was born, give or take a few hours,’ he went on. ‘I won countless baby modelling competitions, and when I was two, my parents got me an agent. For the next nineteen years, I was in TV commercials and music videos and magazine ads. I travelled all over the world. I was cooed over and fawned over, and I earned an absolute packet. But I had no childhood. No friends, no fun, no proper schooling. And by the time my twenty-first birthday came around, I realised I had no sense at all of who I was. So, I quit. And broke my parents’ hearts.’
Evie wasdyingto ask what commercials and videos he’d been in, but later, later. That’s what search engines were for. Stalking people in private.
‘You were an adult,’ she said. ‘It was your choice.’
‘I wasnotan adult,’ he said. ‘I was an unformed larva, a grub. A handsome, photogenic maggot.’
‘Steady on,’ said Evie.
‘It’s true!’ Leo bit back. ‘I was a pretty moron! The only world I knew about was modelling, and that gets oldveryfast in conversation with anyone outside it. I’d lived for twenty-one years and had nothing to offer the world except ripped abs and designer stubble. There was no point to me whatsoever.’
‘That’s horribly harsh,’ Evie protested. ‘You’re clearlynota moron.Youknow what a strategic marketing function is, and I haven’t a clue!’
Leo made a sound that was half-laugh, half-groan. ‘That’s allbullshit,’ he said. ‘I did a marketing degree, the easiest qualification there is. I read a bunch of books and memorised all the terms that made me sound impressive. And because Ilookhandsome and confident, people assume I also know what I’m talking about.’
Evie’s brain was about to explode with all this new information. But this time, Leo’s claim didn’t ring entirely true.
‘Youdoknow what you’re talking about,’ she said. ‘Keith and Kev would never have hired you, otherwise. They can smell bullshit a mile away.’
‘They’re ex-plumbers,’ said Leo, as if explaining to a child. ‘They didn’t even need GCSEs.’
Oh, no, no, no.
