“I was only checking.” His playful grin made my world spin more than it already was. He opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of Perrier. “Would you like one?”
I shook my head. “I prefer not to burp after water.”
Aaron laughed and shut the fridge door. “I think I prefer that too.”
“Did you get a lot of work done?” I asked, reaching for a glass to get some tap water.
“I did. I had a lot of time to think as well.”
“Did you?” I asked, filling my glass.
He nodded. “Do you know what time it is, by any chance?”
“No clue.”
“It’s almost four o’clock.”
“In the afternoon?” I almost choked out.
He smiled and took a sip of his water. “Yep. I knew you were tired.”
“That would explain why I feel so rested...slightly sore but completely rested.” I stretched my arms in front of me and caught Aaron’s gaze traveling along my bare skin. I was only dressed in a skimpy top and loose, cotton boxers.
“Alas, I think the only thing we can blame the soreness on is too much champagne. I hope to change that soon.”
“What exactly do you have in mind?” I asked innocently, as I walked past him with a little extra wiggle.
He let out a slight growl and followed me down the hall. I reached our bedroom, and moved my suitcase to a better place to spread out. I unzipped it and searched for my toothpaste and toothbrush. Finding my baggie, I snatched it up just as I felt Aaron come up behind me. I stood up, almost crashing into him, as he glanced at the iPad I had tossed on the bed.
His gaze dropped to the floor, and he chewed his lip slightly as he contemplated what I’d so carelessly left on the screen.
Damn me for never programming it to sleep!
“So… you haven’t brought up what Tracy mentioned, and I don’t remember it entailing that.” His eyes moved to the iPad and then back to mine.
“You mean that or who?” I arched a brow and he nodded.
I also hadn’t brought up running into who she mentioned either, but I might leave that for another conversation. So far nothing was going as planned.
“I was hoping you’d bring it up,” I confessed.
“Well, I guess I just did…”
“You sure did.” I breathed a long sigh as I walked over to him. He picked up the iPad and tapped a link with his index finger.
There was an awkwardness resting between us that never existed before, and I desperately wanted it to stop.
“So what did you find out about me?” His gaze didn’t leave the iPad as he continued to read over whatever information he came onto.
“Absolutely nothing and would you mind giving that back?”
“I’d say you found out more than nothing, judging by this story.”
I was so irritated and I wasn’t even sure at who. “Believe it or not, I hadn’t clicked on any of the links yet.”
“I’d say not. As nosey as you are, I can’t imagine you not clicking.”
I wanted to protest, but the truth of it was that I was nosey, which was why I loved the idea of practicing law. I’d be able to stick my nose where it didn’t belong. The last thought took me by surprise. Ever since the accident, I hadn’t thought much about law one way or another.
“I’d take complete offense to that if you weren’t right, but it just so happens, I heard you come down the stairs before I managed to click on anything.”
My heart raced as my mind shuffled all kinds of answers that I wanted him to give me without having to look them up. The problem was that I continued to wait. He offered no answers as he threw the iPad back on the bed.
“Aren’t you going to explain things to me?” I asked, trying to hide my anger.
“Explain what to you? It looks like you’ve got a good handle on it. I’m gonna take a shower. Get this dust off me.” He walked toward the bathroom, and my pulse went through the roof.
I detected the same aloofness I’d felt when I uncovered he was flying off to China, and I began to panic. What was happening? What had I stumbled onto that would threaten what we’d built? How could things crumble so fast? Was that why Elizabeth was so helpful in planting these tiny seeds of information? She knew this was how he’d react?
“You’re not going to explain to me what’s going on? You’re just going to take a shower?”
He glanced over his shoulder, but there was coolness resting behind his eyes. “Seriously, just read a couple of those articles, and you’ll be all caught up.” He winked at me and that was when I popped a cork. The dryness in his tone sent me right back to when I ran into his translator, and I wasn’t going back there again. Enough sidestepping. I wanted answers now.
From his mouth, not the internet.
“Are you serious?” I demanded, following him into the bathroom.
He’d already turned on the shower, and steam was rolling out of the tiled basin.
“Deadly,” he said, stripping out of his thermal. My eyes coursed down his sharply defined torso, and my heart literally fluttered despite my best efforts to control myself. He knew what he did to me, and I was having no part of it as I turned around and spoke to the blue tiled wall.
I heard him unzip his jeans and found myself pressing on the wall with the palms of my hand.
“Do you actually think that this is called for?” I asked.
“What in particular?” His voice changed, and I realized he was already under the water. I was safe to turn around.
“Keeping something like this from me?” I seethed.
“So you do know what it is.”
“No. I have absolutely no idea what it is.”
“Then how do you know I’m keeping anything from you?”
A guttural sound rolled out of my mouth as I fisted my hands. “Forget whatever it is you think I saw on the internet. We both were there when Tracy happened to mention your ex-fiancée, Elizabeth. Let’s not forget the obvious. You never once mentioned you had a fiancée.”
“I told you last night, it didn’t mean anything.”
“And like I mentioned last night, that’s more horrifying than finding out you had one.”
“And why’s that?” he asked, baiting me. “Would it have changed things between us if you knew?”
This was the Aaron I rarely saw. The cold and calculating businessman who knew how to argue deals for the win and always came out on top. But there was a reason I was the captain of the debate team in high school and college. It wasn’t that I always wanted to win. It was that I never lost. I was just that good.
My cheeks were warm with anger as I marched closer to the shower.
“It has absolutely nothing to do with whether it would have changed things between us. I’ve told you everything about my life. You know things I haven’t even told Gabby and Lily and none of those things include a long, lost fiancé.”
“Well, she’s never been lost. I’ve known right where she’s been this whole time.”
His hands reached out of the shower and pulled me under the droplets with him. I pounded his chest in pure frustration as his body shook with laughter. I didn’t have a chance to argue my side. He wasn’t playing fairly.
“Do you think this is funny?” I scowled.
“I’m laughing, aren’t I?”
“Who are you and what have you done with Aaron? I want my kind, caring, compassionate man back. The one I flew across the globe to be with.”
“He’s here, babe. He’s just trying to get you to relax and realize that he wouldn’t ever do something to hurt you.”
“Quit talking in third person,” I muttered.
He chuckled and poured shampoo onto my hair.
“Seriously though…” he paused and lathered the soap through my hair as my top and boxers continued to drip with water. “It was a time in my life that I’d like to forget. I’d abandoned my little sister, the only father I’d known rejected me, and things outside of my control happened. Bei
ng with you has let me escape all that, and I never wanted to bring it up. Not because I was hiding it from you, but because it wasn’t a version of myself that I was proud of.”
“How many versions of you are there?” I asked.
“Too many,” he murmured, his hands sliding along my bare arms. “And to be honest, being over here the last three weeks alone with my thoughts only made things more confusing.”
He rinsed the shampoo out of his hair as I maneuvered around him in the small shower. The tenderness in his touch as he swept my wet hair out of my face made my body crumble into his, but I was too riled up.
“It’s really difficult having this conversation with you like this,” he groaned, as I pressed my back against him to rinse the shampoo out of my hair. I’d managed to strip out of my boxers and top, but I kept my body turned away from him.
“Then hopefully that’s incentive to get you talking.”
“You have no idea.” He reached for the white towel hanging outside the shower and stepped out of the way of the stream as he dried off.
“So you haven’t clicked on any of those links?” he asked.
I shook my head and let the warm water run down my back as his eyes ran over my body with heated desire.
“How did you know to look up Thatcher?” He glanced over his shoulder and waited for my response, but I didn’t have one to give. I’d just given him hell for not being open with me, and I’d failed to mention that I ran into his ex-fiancée.
I turned off the water and Aaron handed me a towel to dry off with.
“Why aren’t you answering my question?” Aaron asked. He wrapped the towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom as I wrapped my hair in a towel and followed him.
“It’s complicated.” I reached into the suitcase and pulled out a pair of panties and a matching bra. Quickly fastening my bra, I pulled an oversized shirt over my head and pulled up my underwear.
“Shouldn’t be that complicated.” He buttoned his jeans and sat on the bed, waiting for my reply.
I pulled on a pair of leggings and pulled the towel off my head.
“I ran into Elizabeth last night.”
Before I even had a chance to continue, Aaron bolted out of the room.
“I changed my mind. Just check out the links. It sounds like you’d rather find everything out through secondhand sources anyway.”
I’d only managed to make it to the dining room when I heard the front door click shut.
“Fine. Don’t mind if I do,” I whispered to myself as I walked back to the bedroom and picked up the iPad.
With a quick swipe of my finger and a couple taps, I stared down at the screen. My body slid onto the bed as I realized I’d never be able to look at Aaron the same way again.
I couldn’t stop looking and clicking on link after link. Each one painted the same picture of Aaron Thatcher, and it was all I could do not to shatter into a million little pieces. Every image of Aaron tore at my heart, and it created more uncertainty with each new click. I didn’t understand how a man I loved so deeply could hide something like this from me. The images flooded my mind as I scrolled through the online reports and stories about Aaron. My hands were slick as anxiety pulsed through my system, and all I wanted was to hear it from his lips.
Closing my eyes, I tossed the iPad on the bed and fell backward as the first tears of deception fell down my face. How could he not tell me these things? My thoughts were scattered as my emotions turned from one thought to another. I wondered if Gabby knew any of this, but as quickly as I thought about her, my mind went back to Aaron. Did he expect to hide this our whole lives together? My mind was racing with uncertainty and confusion, and all I wanted was to be back home.
As the tears continued to cascade down my cheeks, I half-laughed and half-sobbed as I thought about my first day in Paris. Crying on the bed wasn’t what I’d planned. None of this was what I’d planned. Taking a big sniff in, I reached for my phone and texted Gabby. I was turning into a complete basket case, and I didn’t know how to stop my free fall.
Did you know about your brother?
I waited impatiently for a reply as I became a mess of tears and snot. Things weren’t going well. I used my shirt to wipe the tears, and I continued to stare at the ceiling. The misery of being lied to by omission was more than I could bear, and I felt completely stuck—mentally and physically. Not to mention I didn’t understand why Aaron ran off. Leaving me to discover these things without him only made it worse.
Gabby responded, and I picked up the phone.
Know what about my brother? Is everything okay?
I let out a small amount of air as relief settled over me. At least my best friend wasn’t keeping secrets from me. My hands trembled as I held the phone. This was exactly why I shouldn’t have fallen in love my best friend’s brother. The situation was too sticky, and the thought of losing both Aaron and my best friend…
I shook off the almost paralyzing sensations and texted back.
Look up Aaron Thatcher. That will tell you everything. He took off because I learned of his “other” last name and was going to Google him.
I pressed send and walked to the bathroom. I had to get a grip. If I was going to be getting on a plane to head back to the states, I at least needed to look somewhat decent. If I washed my face with cold water and started over, maybe I wouldn’t look so terrifying. Opening the cabinet door that housed the towels, I searched for a washcloth and came up empty-handed. I opened the armoire that was in the hall and only found sheets and more towels. Why was it this hard to find a washcloth?
Letting out a sigh, I trundled back into the bathroom and turned on the cold water. My phone rang in the other room, but I didn’t even care. As I splashed the water on my face, all I could do was picture Aaron wandering the streets of Paris alone, and my chest tightened. What was he thinking? Why didn’t he just tell me? Would this pattern ever stop?
I grabbed a towel and dried my face. Feeling slightly better about life until I looked in the mirror, I grunted at the madness that had developed in the last twenty-four hours. Was this a sign of things to come? Brandishing these fleeting thoughts around was teetering on insanity. I had to get back to the first problem. Aaron had hid a couple of doozeys from me, and I needed answers. Simple as that.
I dabbed lotion on my face to tone the redness down, but it didn’t help. My eyes and the tip of my nose were red and my chin was all blotchy. This wasn’t a good look, but it would have to do. I needed to find Aaron, but I didn’t want to frighten the Parisians on the way. Something about this scenario had to change. I hated inaction, and that’s what my world consisted of in this very second. Everything in life was in a holding pattern. Being mopey wasn’t going to solve our problems, but my body was completely useless as I trudged back into the bedroom. Whatever I was experiencing was far worse than jet lag. Every second felt like too much for me to handle. I loathed being this out of control with my emotions, and Aaron’s refusal to discuss only added to the helplessness pummeling through my veins.
I groaned at the inconsistencies as my thoughts contradicted themselves. Which was it? Would I powder my cheeks and face the world or hide in the apartment until he returned?
We needed to talk. I shouldn’t have gone behind his back, but he shouldn’t have hid things from me. Not to mention Aaron Thatcher was a man I wanted to know. I needed to learn about him, uncover what drove his actions. After all, the actions of Aaron Thatcher created the man who was now Aaron Sullivan.
That was it. I would go find him in a city I didn’t know, looking like I rolled out of the catacombs. No sense in being vain now.
I glanced at the phone and saw the text from Gabby.
Holy Shit. I had no idea. None. I’m at a complete loss for words…
You and me both. I drew in a long breath and texted back. Not wanting to mention the fact that Jason had failed to mention this to her as well.
I’m off to track him down. I don’t know where he went.
Day one in Paris is going really well. So glad I came. You Sullivans have some really bad habits.
She texted back.
Don’t get lost. Stay close to the apartment.
Here I was about to venture onto the streets of Paris, looking for someone who didn’t want to be found, and I had no idea what I even wanted to say to him. I was hurt that he didn’t tell me about any of these developments, and at this point Elizabeth was a small part of the whole situation. I tossed my phone on the bed and grabbed my makeup, opening it up and quickly patting powder on my face to take away the red. Sort of.
I changed shirts and grabbed my passport and tucked it in a small purse, along with some credit cards. Even though I knew he wouldn’t pick up, I dialed his phone and it went to voicemail.
I grabbed the set of keys off the dining room table and made my way through the apartment. Even with the mess going on, the space was calming, and I hoped with all my heart this wouldn’t be the last day I enjoyed it.
I locked the front door and rather than take the elevator, I found the stairs and descended quickly. With my luck I’d get stuck in the elevator and no one would find me. I hadn’t had the best of luck with elevators, but at least this one didn’t argue with me.
Since I didn’t remember the code to unlock the door to get back into the apartment building, it made me all the more determined to find Aaron. I opened the door and took a deep breath of cinnamon and sugar as I stepped outside to feel the warm air against my skin. I closed the door and began walking down the sidewalk away from La Crêperies Parfaites when a strange sensation ran through my body.
I paused and scanned the sidewalk, and rather than continue walking away from the café, I walked toward it. There were several outside diners sitting at the tables, smoking and chatting. I reached the corner and glanced down the sidewalk to see even more outdoor seating. All the umbrellas were open to shield the patrons from the blazing sun, which made it difficult to see the faces of the people sitting at the tables.
Beyond Chance Page 7
