Obsessed (BBW Billionaire Light Romance) by Juliet Michaels Read Free Book Online

but it was also fun. Working behind the bar, bringing in the customers, lazing on the beach in between. I know something about small ventures."
    "What happened then?" Leah was intrigued.
    "I had to come back. Family commitments. Jake stayed on, married a local girl. I try and go out for a  few weeks each year, just to chill out."
    "But ... ?"
    "No more business talk, it's a rare day off for me. Think about it later. Have you guessed where we're going yet?" Just like that, he’d cut her many questions off.
    "No, I haven't been watching the road signs much."
    “Oxford,” he said. “The city of dreaming spires.”
    "You went to uni here?" she asked.
    "Yes, although I haven't been back for a while." James was looking for a parking space now. At last he found one and told her there would be a short walk.
    "To your old college?" Leah was eager to know just what the day held.
    "Not exactly," he seemed to directing her away from too much information. "Ah, here we are Magdalen Bridge, the River Cherwell ..."
    They leaned over the parapet, watching the activity on the water.
    "We're going boating, aren’t we!" Leah guessed. She was delighted, her eyes shining, and she had to stop herself from jumping up and down with excitement. On the river in Oxford! It was something she’d always wanted to do.
    "Punting. Have you been before?" he asked.
    "No, we didn't have punts at Sheffield Uni," Leah replied.
    But it wasn't just a punt; it was a chauffeured punt, with a student waiting to take them on the river, past the colleges and gardens. Leah was handed into the boat and took her seat facing forwards. Just for a moment she hoped that James would sit next to her. After all, there was plenty of room, but instead he sat opposite. He was looking over her shoulder at the student who was standing at the back, his long pole ready to glide them through the river.
    There was a large, wicker hamper on the floor in the middle of the punt.
    "A picnic!" Leah said, swept away. A sunny day, cruising down the sparkling waterway, a picnic somewhere further down, among the meadows and banks of willow. And of course, James, the most fantastic, beautiful man she had ever met, sitting opposite her. Leah was in heaven.
    "What a great idea, what made you chose punting?" Leah asked, trying to stay cool, but even so, she couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice. He must have given the day so much thought.
    "It just occurred to me," he shrugged, "now, lean back, relax and I'll fill you in as we go."
    The Botanic Gardens, Magdalen College Fields, Christ Church Meadows: he described them all as the punt glided slowly on.
    "They filmed some of Harry Potter at Christ Church," James informed her. "The famous staircase, and made a replica of the Great Hall for the Hogwarts scenes ..."
    Leah drank it all in as they drifted slowly by and eventually they pulled into to the river bank. The student punter got out, tied a mooring rope and consulted James.
    "Go and have a drink, come back around two," she heard him say.
    "Do you want to eat on the grass or in the boat?" he asked.
    "Oh definitely in the boat. I'm not getting out of here, it's wonderful."
     
    §
     
    The picnic was exquisite, the hamper full of small delicacies, savoury and sweet, and Leah tried them all.
    "Caviar!" she exclaimed, "how did you think of that?"
    "I just ordered the deluxe version," James smiled, he seemed to be much more approachable, "just eat up, and stop talking."
    As they relaxed in the sun, Leah wished they had some wine, maybe even champagne, but he’d already explained that he was driving and they would be better on fruit juice. Was he a bit of a health freak, she wondered, or did he just not trust her around alcohol after her behaviour at the wedding?
    She became more and more aware of James as he sat opposite her, entertaining her with some stories from his student days; his lean body, grey eyes, and fair, slightly long hair. She could imagine him on the beach in Crete, bronzed