by Sadie Grubor
I took in a few deep breaths to calm myself, as well as preventing myself from flying down the steps and wrapping my legs around him. I began my descent down the stairs. Halfway down, he looked up and his body glided to the bottom of the staircase, his eyes never leaving me. I began to feel self-conscious.
"You look beautiful," his voice was almost a whisper, the undertone of his words almost felt like he was saying something else. Then his lips were on mine. I had to warn him about my make-up before we finally were in the car.
The drive was quiet and, when I looked to Aidan, I realized his eyes were fixated on my leg, my very exposed thigh to be exact.
"Ah-hem," I cleared my throat and raised my eyebrow at him with a playful smirk on my face.
"What?" He played innocent and then smiled crookedly.
"You know what," I bumped his shoulder with my shoulder.
"Um...how high is that slit anyway?" I shrugged. "Well, remind me stay on your left side for the night."
I laughed.
"Hey," he looked at me without humor, "I am dead serious. No one needs to be looking at all of that." He waved his hand around my thigh.
"Oh God, it's because I'm sitting down in the car, Aidan. It's not that high when I‘m standing." I rolled my eyes.
"Okay, then don't sit for the rest of the night either," he smiled playfully and took my hand.
I smiled easily at the hand holding.
Now, let me explain to you that falling for Aidan was not my intention and I was doing my best to fight it, but I was losing. Still, I knew that I had to keep my emotions in check. This was just an arrangement, regardless of how much we 'enjoyed' each other’s company.
Pulling up to the Grand Prospect, we were greeted by three trumpet players dressed in black and white tuxes, even the woman. Viola was right. It was a very nice touch. Arriving at the first landing of the stairs, we could hear the small string quartet was playing softly. Once we were on the second floor you could hear the orchestra music flowing from out of the grand ballroom. The doors of every room were open, the lights brightly lit.
"Lilli, Aidan," Viola moved to us quickly, placing hugs and kisses on both of us. "I'm glad that you have arrived." She turned to me. "I need your help with Pierre." She took my hand and we began to walk away, but Aidan still had my other hand.
A jerk of my arm had Viola and I both looking at him.
"Just give me fifteen minutes of her time and I promise to bring her back," Viola pleaded with Aidan.
"Who is this Pierre?" Aidan raised his eyebrow, still holding my hand.
"Oh my, calm down, Aidan. He would much rather date you," Viola giggled and then finally pulled me from his grip. I shook my head and walked away.
"They will be back soon." Liam patted Aidan on the back.
"So, what is the problem?"
"Pierre is asking about some details about with the menu," Viola was looking around, clearly trying to find Pierre.
"I assure you that we were supposed to have the scallops," I overheard Anne and followed her voice until I came to a frantic Pierre.
"Oh lord, what is that woman up to now?" Viola pulled us toward them.
"Mrs. Iverson, I assure you that this was discussed and it was—"
"What's the matter?" Viola butted directly into their conversation.
Pierre was about to speak, but he caught sight of me and relief washed over him.
"Oh, thank Gucci, Mrs. Iverson." Pierre sighed out.
I briefly caught Anne giving me a look of annoyance and disgust.
"Yes, Pierre?"
"The menu...." He handed the menu over to me, "we went over this thoroughly. However, Mrs. Iverson," he motioned to Anne, "is insisting that..." I cut him off.
"The menu is accurate, Pierre." I smiled, reassuring him.
He exhaled a large breath.
"Thank you," he said quickly and brushed past Anne as he continued on his way.
Viola smiled at me, grabbed my arm, and led us from the kitchen out into the ballroom. The walls were draped with the white fabric and the table settings were done phenomenally.
"Oh, Viola, it turned out even better than I had anticipated," I squeezed her arm.
"You helped, my dear. It is spectacular." I could hear the pride in her voice.
"Lilli!" Maggie shouted as she hurried over with Jason.
"Hey you," I hugged her. "You look fantastic."
"And you look stunning as always," she smiled back to me. "Are you heading to the table?"
"Oh no," Viola shook her head. "We have mingling to do." Viola informed and I sighed. "Hang on tight, sweetie, we have some rounds to make."
I groaned, but put on my best pageant smile. Viola giggled and led the way.
Not even halfway through the crowd, and being introduced as "Mrs. Aidan Iverson", Aidan had caught up with us.
"There you are," he slid one arm around my waist.
"Here I am...in mingling hell," I whispered.
"I know. It doesn't get any better either." He looked apologetic.
"Think of the children," Viola chimed in on the other side of my head. I took a deep breath and forged through the rest of the crowd.
We came across a familiar person, Doctor Johnson.
"Lilli, you know Dr. Johnson, the Iverson family doctor." I nodded and shook his hand.
"It's good to see the both of you." Doctor Johnson smiled warmly. "This is my daughter, Becca."
"It's nice to meet you," I shook her hand. "Do I know you from somewhere? You look really familiar." I felt Aidan stiffen and then Becca's face turned white. I was highly confused.
"No, I don't think that we've met." She smiled warmly.
"Oh, okay." We moved on to another group.
This time we came upon a group with members of the board.
"Lilli, this is Gideon. Gideon, this is—."
"The new Mrs. Iverson," he bent and kissed my knuckles. "This is my daughter, Loreley," he motioned to the very tiny, light brown haired girl next to him.
"Hello, nice to meet you." I tried to be genuine. I saw that Gideon and Aidan had gotten into a private conversation.
"So, I see you just met the Johnson's?" I nodded. "They are a close family friend to the Iverson's. Hell, Aidan Sr. practically put the doctor through college. His daughter, Becca, as well."
I nodded and tried to keep a normal conversation.
"What is it that Becca does?"
Loreley smirked.
"Oh, she is a pharmacist." She chuckled. "You could say that they have their own doctor and pharmacist on hand. And, of course they would do anything the Iverson's ask of them."
Before I could ask anything else, Aidan excused us and we moved on to the next group of people. We were just about finished with the mingling when a familiar face appeared in front of me.
"Lilli," he smiled smoothly and took my hand, raising my knuckles to his lips.
"Demitri?" I said in a very hushed tone, smiling politely. I heard Aidan growl next to me.
His lips had barely brushed my knuckles when Aidan's hand appeared on my wrist pulling my hand back to him and away from Demitri.
"This is my husband, Aidan," I introduced them.
Demitri stuck out his hand.
"It's good to meet the man who was able to convince Lilli to marry him."
Aidan grabbed his hand, it was obvious that they were playing a testosterone driven battle of grips.
"Okay, boys, can we stop with the ridiculousness?" I rolled my eyes and pulled their hands apart.
Aidan pulled me tighter to his side and I wanted to smack him in the back of the head for being so possessive.
"So, Aidan, this is your foundation?" Demitri took a sip of the drink he was holding. I knew that it was a vodka tonic from experience.
"Technically, it’s Lilli's," he said with a smile and a closer tug to his side.
Demitri looked at me with surprise.
"You planned this event?"
"I helped his aunt organize
the event. She is truly the brains behind the operation," I laughed out.
"Nonsense, Lilli," I turned to see Viola. "Don't let her fool you, she is brilliant and as much a part of this as me, if not more." She smiled at me warmly.
"I wouldn't doubt Lilli's brilliance for anything," Demitri said with a sly smirk. I swallowed hard. Was he trying to create a more uncomfortable situation?
Thankfully an announcement was made for everyone to take their seats. I sighed in relief and excused us as Aidan led us to our table.
"What is he doing here?" Aidan hissed into my ear as he pulled my chair out for me.
"Apparently he's here for the foundation, Aidan." I hissed back.
"So, you didn't personally invite him?" I turned to look at him astounded.
"Just stop."
He looked angry.
"So you did?"
"Damn it, Aidan, do not do this here. I sighed. "If you must know, no, I did not. But so what if I had? Do you think that I would just push him onto a table and fuck him here in front of everyone? Is that what you think of me?" I was beyond irate, my tone was starting to rise so I excused myself.
"Where are you—?"
"Away from you," I hissed. "I'll be back," I growled out and headed towards the ladies room.
Leaning on the sink top in the ladies room, the door opened behind me.
"Are you okay?" Celia entered with Phoebe behind her.
I nodded.
"You didn't look okay when you left the room." Phoebe slipped her mask off and so did Celia.
"Demitri is here and Aidan isn't thrilled about it." I rolled my eyes. "He's being ridiculous." I growled.
"Tell us what happened." Celia sat down in one of the plush chairs and Phoebe put her arm around my shoulders. I told them the whole occurrence.
"What a dick!" Celia said bluntly and I laughed.
"So, I'm not overreacting?" I asked unsure of myself.
"Hell no," Phoebe concluded. "He is being jealous, and not a good jealous." She squeezed me tightly.
I took a deep breath.
"Thank you, I feel better." They both smiled at me widely and we group hugged. "We should probably get back before Dixon eats your entire meal," I half giggled toward Celia.
Phoebe and Celia laughed as we exited. Aidan was standing against the wall, waiting. Phoebe and Celia both squeezed my arm once more before walking away toward the ballroom.
I stood with my arms crossed over my chest.
"Lilli—" he was about to run his hand through his hair. I grabbed his wrist, stopping him from messing up his hair so early in the night. That movement had his arms around my waist.
"I’m sorry for being jealous, insanely jealous, of your...friend." The word friend came out in disgust.
"Aidan, I’m not going behind your back. I can barely think past my daily schedule for you to worry about me being with someone else. Besides, I would never do that to you and have never given you a reason to believe that I would."
He hugged me tighter.
"Forgive me? Please?" It was such a pleading question. I didn't understand why he was so desperate for me to forgive him.
"Of course I will, but just stop, okay?"
He nodded. As I pulled away I saw him quickly wipe his cheek.
"Aidan?"
"It's nothing," he mumbled.
"But—?"
Before I could finish my sentence, his lips were on mine. He pulled away from me and looked into my eyes.
"I don't want you to be upset with me. When you left me at the table, it killed me. I don’t want to hurt, especially by making you think that you would—"
I kissed him.
After returning to the table and going through the multiple course meal, the entertainment began. First, would be the speeches. Then, the children's choir would perform, followed by the auction and ending with the orchestra.
Aidan and Viola made their way to the stage. They both took turns discussing the foundation. It was going really well, until...
"I would like for my wife to join us on stage this evening," Aidan announced.
I shook my head.
"Lilli, go," Maggie whisper shouted. I looked at her and shook my head. She grabbed my arm and walked me onto the stage.
I smiled nervously and leaned into Aidan as he pulled me tightly to his side.
"You are so going to pay for this." I whispered.
"Ooh...promise?" He whispered back and when I looked at him, he was sporting his crooked grin. The hot bastard!
He took a step toward the podium after Viola talked about the foundation, the children's homes, thanked the contributors and announced my involvement.
"Lilli is the newest addition to the Isobel's Heart Foundation. I find it a little ironic that the foundation will now be jointly run by another strong woman with a similar passion to my grandmother, Mrs. Isobel Iverson."
At first I was taken aback that he had announced my 'joint’ involvement. Viola was beaming next to him as they both turned to look at me. Viola quickly hugged me and Aidan kissed my cheek, pushing me toward the podium.
"I didn't plan to speak," I hissed to Aidan.
"Just speak from your heart, Lilli. You will do fine." He kissed me chastely, standing close to me as I turned to the podium and looked out over the audience.
I smiled broadly, terrified.
"I, uh, hadn't planned on speaking tonight. I would like to thank you all for coming and for helping the foundation." All of a sudden I found a groove and went with it. "The children that we are helping tonight are not only beautiful and brilliant, they are also strong in their own special ways. Tonight you should congratulate yourself in making a difference for them. Thank you."
I stepped away and Viola was first to my ear.
"You are amazing, dear. That was perfect."
"I'm going to kill your nephew when we get home, by the way." I whispered into her ear and she hid her giggle in my shoulder.
Aidan finished speaking and announced the children's choir from one of the children's homes performing for us tonight. We stayed off stage as they sang multiple songs. Once they were finished, I hugged each one of them, as did Viola, before we returned to our table.
The auctioneer took the stage. I almost did laughing when he announced the first item up for bid.
"Our first item for bid tonight...is a dance with Mr. Iverson, himself." The auctioneer turned to Aidan and motioned for him to take the center stage. Aidan looked nervous. I couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled from within my chest.
I turned to Viola.
"Did you do this?" I whispered across the table.
She winked.
"He likes making you unexpectedly nervous, let's see how he does."
Maggie and I giggled ferociously.
"Remind me to never anger you." Jason mumbled to Maggie. We laughed harder.
"That would be wise, big man," Maggie flicked his nose playfully and then kissed his cheek. They were adorable together.
"So, do I hear one thousand dollars?" The auctioneer started. "Mrs. Iverson?" He looked directly at me.
I tapped my chin.
"I don't know..." the crowd laughed "Is there anyone else back there? You know, like Brad Pitt or..?"
Aidan scowled at me playfully and I laughed hard.
"One thousand dollars!" I turned to see a tall, voluptuous red-head in the middle of the room.
I looked at Aidan who was fixated on my reaction. I shrugged and giggled.
"Two-thousand dollars!" Now it was Aidan's Aunt Anne bidding.
"Three-thousand," Viola shrugged and then whispered to me, "Might as well try to get as much for him as possible."
I laughed.
"Four-thousand," I announced and raised my glass to Aidan, who looked relieved.
"Ten-thousand," Again, it was the red-head.
The auctioneer looked at me and I laughed because he thought he needed my approval. I stood up and headed to the podium.
"Excuse me," I
grabbed the gavel and looked out at the sea of worried expressions.
"Sold! For ten-thousand dollars to the beautiful red-head in the back!" I laughed and the crowd laughed with me. "Oh, but can you return him before the end of the night? He has the keys to the house." I patted down my dress. "No pockets." Shrugging, I kissed Aidan on the cheek.
"Thanks a lot for pimping me out," he laughed, then kissed my lips.
"Hey, it's for the kids," I tweaked his nose and headed back to the table with him. "I can't believe someone paid ten-thousand to dance with you."
"Why is that?" He inquired.
"Oh, honey, you aren't that good." I giggled.
He tapped my butt and I squealed.
Once the auction was complete, the orchestra got set up and began to play. The red head made her appearance at our table. I ushered a hesitant Aidan up from his seat.
"Have fun," I waved and smirked as he headed to the floor with the woman.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Celia appeared next to me.
I shrugged.
"Why not?"
"Maybe because she is clearly interested in him and you just fed him to her." Phoebe appeared on my other side.
I waved it off.
"If he is stupid enough to go with it in front of me then he's an idiot." I snorted and sipped my drink.
They both got really quiet.
"What?" I asked looking between them.
"Lilli, Aidan is a very, very..." Phoebe started.
"Very, very..." Celia added.
"Attractive man." Phoebe continued, "Women will want him, regardless if he is married to you."
I rolled my eyes.
"Do you think I'm stupid?" They both eyed me. "Oh my God, do you think he is going to risk losing his inheritance by messing around with a woman who paid ten thousand dollars for him?" I looked at both of them, realization spreading across their faces.
"I-I guess you're right," Phoebe shrugged, but I could tell she was still hesitant.
"Excuse me." At the sound of his voice my stomach clenched. I slowly turned around. Celia and Phoebe both sucked in a large breath.
"Hello."
"Would you object to a dance?" He reached a hand out.
"Demitri, I really don't—"
"Oh, come on, it's just a dance, as friends." I eyed him leeringly. "I swear."
I stood and took his hand.
