by Alexa Riley
His voice reminds me of the first moment I met him and he was snapping at Christian. I don’t know why, but it makes me smile and heats me up all over.
“I was about to, but you didn’t give me much time,” I laugh, and enjoy how impatient he was for my attention. It isn’t something I’m used to.
“Tell me I can stop by afterwards.” This time he isn't asking and his need to see me makes me smile.
“Stop by for what? A booty call?” Gia asks and apparently her hearing is as good as Elvis’s. I smack her thigh and she lets out an overexaggerated shriek.
Aiden chuckles. “I won’t cross the threshold of the front door. I only want a goodnight kiss.”
What if I want him to cross the threshold? “I seem to remember that not going so well a little while ago.” My face heats and Gia’s mouth falls open in surprise at how bold I’m being.
I get up off the couch and walk away from Gia. This feels so intimate, being on the phone together, and I really do hate that he isn’t coming back sooner.
He groans. “I need to see you tonight. It’s already killing me I have to cancel.” I can actually hear the pain in his voice. I shouldn't like it as much as I do, but I’m glad I’m not alone in this ache.
“Okay. Stop by and kiss me goodnight.” The last thirty minutes waiting for him to come back were nearly impossible, so I have no idea how I’m going to get through the next few hours.
“I’ll be there,” he tells me. He’s quiet for a moment and I’m not sure if I’m supposed to say bye. “Caroline.” He sighs my name and there’s longing in his voice. “I’ll be thinking about you all night until I see you again.”
“Good,” I tease him. “You’ll miss the dress I put on, though.” He groans again and I feel my core clench. “I’ll see you soon.”
“That’s a promise,” he says, and I end the call. I want him to do whatever it is he needs to so he can get here soon.
“Two girls all dressed up and no place to go,” Gia says from the couch. It’s then I remember I did have plans tonight. Ones I’d been on the fence about going to because I didn’t want to go alone.
“Instead of watching the minutes tick by until we can see our men—”
“You called him your man!” Gia shouts, making me cheeks heat. I ignore her and press on.
“We could go to the event I got us tickets to a few weeks ago.” I remind her of the tickets Mrs. Badger gave me because she couldn't make it. She’d been one of my first dog walking clients and was so good to me. I put the tickets aside thinking maybe it would be a good place to meet clients. The event is for an animal rescue charity, so people who attend likely have animals, and it’s all for a good cause.
“Let’s do it.” Gia hops up from the sofa and we get ourselves together before we grab our bags and leave. We hail a cab and soon we’re pulling up outside the hotel where they’re having the event. I see some people brought their pets with them and I smile. I think Elvis is better at home on the sofa taking his seventh nap for the day.
“I hope they have something to eat,” Gia says. “I forgot to before we left.”
“We can grab something after. I’m scared that some of this isn't meant for us.” I motion to a tray a server is holding. It looks fancy, but I’m pretty sure it’s all meant for the dogs.
“Yeah, I’m not risking it.” Even as Gia says the words, her eyes follow another tray that passes us.
I laugh as we each take a glass of champagne and mingle for a while. I run into some people I actually work for and get introduced to more.
“I think I should volunteer,” I tell Gia. “They are doing a lot of good here.”
“I was thinking the same thing. Maybe…” Her words trail off a moment later and I follow her line of sight. She tilts her head and I’m in shock. “Is that—”
“Aiden,” I finish for her and smile when I see him. “What are the odds?” I’m deliriously happy to see him. Seeing him now in his casual suit, I find him impossibly more attractive.
He’s in a pair of slacks and button-up shirt with the top button undone. His hair is a little messy and I know he’s been running his hands through it. I can tell he’s trying to be nice to whoever he’s talking to, but somehow, I know he’s ready to go. I watch as he pulls out his phone and I wonder if he’s checking the time or seeing if I texted him. Maybe I should have, but I didn't want to bother him while he was at his event.
As if feeling my eyes on him he lifts his head from his phone and he stares right at me. I watch his face light up with a smile and I start to move towards him. His smile drops just a bit as he stands up a little taller. He looks a bit more rigid than when I first noticed him, but I can’t figure out why.
“Hey,” I say when I finally get to him. It looks like he’s about to reach for me but stops himself.
“Hi,” he says after a beat. “You look beautiful.”
Something about the way he’s looking at me feels off. He’s not leaning down to kiss me or moving closer. He doesn’t touch me in any way, when today he couldn't keep his hands off me. What’s changed? Is it the people around us? I know he comes from money, so does my presence embarrass him?
“Thanks.” I tuck my hair behind me ear, suddenly feeling shy. Maybe he thinks I stalked him. “What are the odds? I got tickets from a client,” I tell him in a rush as I try to explain. “It’s why I’m here.”
Gia stands next to me and her eyes go back and forth between us. She can feel something is off, too. A long pause falls between us and it’s so awkward that I think I might have mixed up the Aiden I know with this lookalike.
Then it’s as if time stands still when a brunette woman walks over and slides up next to Aiden. They stand so close for a moment and I’ve convinced myself she’s going to say she’s his sister or something.
“Aren’t you going to introduce your wife?” the beautiful brunette laughs like Aiden doesn't have any manners and she’s scolding him.
It takes me a moment to realize what she said and still my brain doesn’t want to process it. His wife. My eyes fly to his hand, but there’s no ring on his finger. She glances down to my line of sight and my stomach begins to churn.
“Wife?” Gia whispers next to me as she’s already caught up to what’s going on. I feel her hand fly to elbow and hold me steady.
“Where’s your ring, Aiden?” The brunette asks.
“What the fuck?!” Gia shouts, and I hold my arm out to block her so she can’t move forward.
“Don’t. It’s not worth it,” I say to her, my eyes flying to the brunette woman.
She has a bitchy look on her face, but guilt eats at me. I kissed her husband and had plans to do so much more with him. “He’s not worth it,” I tell the brunette, hoping she gets my message. I turn around and pull Gia with me before she can cause a scene. It’s the last thing I want. Right now, I need to get out of here before the pain hits me.
I hear Aiden say my name, but I keep moving through the crowd with Gia next to me. “I’m sorry,” she says when we burst through the doors of the building and into the night air.
“I just want to get out of here,” I tell her, fighting the tears that are desperate to flow freely. I won't do it here, but I’ve got to hurry.
In a matter of seconds, she has me in a cab and her hand locked into mine. How can it hurt this badly to lose something when it was never really mine to begin with?
7
AIDEN
“Really, Savannah?” I say as I turn to look at her.
“Really, Aiden?” She mimics my voice and rolls her eyes. “My father was right beside us. What the hell were you doing?”
“I don’t know!” I shout as I slam the door to the limo shut and we pull away from the curb.
“Take her home and drop her off. I need to go back into the city,” I say, pulling my phone out to text Caroline.
The first one is marked delivered, then the rest don’t go through. I let out a frustrated growl as I try to call her, but it says I can
’t reach the number I’m trying to call. She’s blocked me.
“Fuck,” I mutter and shove my phone in my pocket.
“Aiden, what’s going on? Who was that girl?”
“I’ll explain later,” I say, leaning forward in my seat to yell to the driver. “Can you speed it up, please?”
“Tell me what the fuck is going on. I’ve never seen you like this before,” she says. She’s looking at me with a mixture of shock and fear.
“I met her in the park. I asked her to have dinner with me tonight, but I forgot I told you I’d go with you to the animal thing.” I let out a frustrated breath and rub the heels of my hands against my eyes.
“Do you know anything about her?” Her eyebrows pull together in confusion. “You can’t just date out in the open like that. See what almost happened tonight. We agreed that if you ever wanted to do that, you’d be discreet.”
“Things got carried away. I got carried away,” I say as I look over at her. “She’s different.”
“She looked desperate,” Savannah says and rolls her eyes again.
“You sound like a bitch right now,” I spit out. I won’t have her talking bad about Caroline.
“Aiden, she looked at me like I stole her happily ever after out from underneath her. What do you really know about her? Because I guarantee you, she knows you’re rich.”
“That’s enough!” I shout, and I’m surprised at my tone. I’m not one to get heated about things. The joke has always been that I’d agree to let someone in the house to murder us instead of being rude and asking them to leave. But right now, the only thing I feel is angry.
I’m angry that I agreed to this fake marriage with Savannah, I’m angry that the night was ruined because of it, and I’m angry that I can’t get to Caroline as fast as I want to.
Savannah lets out a humorless laugh and crosses her arms. “You can be pissed if you want, Aiden, but I’ve known you a very, very long time. And if you think I’m just going to let some freeloader march in and weasel her way into your life without any sort of fuss, then you really don’t know me.”
“I know right now you’re talking out of your ass. You don’t know her, and you don’t know what I feel for her.”
“Don’t tell me you’re in love.” She laughs for real this time and it’s like nails on a chalkboard.
I look out the window and think about what I feel when I’m with Caroline. I’ve never been happier than when she’s near me. We talk nonstop and it’s so easy. Isn’t that what love is supposed to be like? I’ve never been in love before, so I wouldn’t know, but I do know that the feelings I have with her I never want to end.
The limo comes to a stop and Savannah is all too eager to get out of the car. Before she closes the door she looks back at me and narrows her eyes.
“Go ahead and have your fun, Aiden. Just remember that you’re rich and powerful and aren’t the ugliest guy in the city. Women will use you and try to trap you. Make sure she isn’t trying to get into your pants just to get into your bank account.”
“It’s not like that,” I say as I grip the door handle.
Savannah gives me a smug smile. “Look me in the face and tell me you weren’t going to fuck her tonight if you didn’t already promise me you were going with me?”
“That’s none of your fucking business,” I say, grinding my teeth.
“Do what you’ve got to do, but leave the trash by the curb.” She slams the door and before I’m able to respond the driver hits the gas and we’re off.
I don’t know what the hell her deal is. When I got home I had intentions of getting dressed and rushing back out to see Caroline as quickly as possible. But when I got there, Savannah was already dressed up and sitting at the bar in the kitchen waiting on me. I couldn’t just leave her there alone and I felt really bad that I’d already promised her and made her get the tickets. She told me her dad was going and I knew I couldn’t let her go alone. He’s awful to her with his comments about her weight and her clothing, even how she wears her hair. She can’t ever win and I knew if she went without me it would be even worse.
It’s the reason why we got married to begin with. Not only did our families arrange it, but I knew that it would finally be a chance for him to ease up on her. It didn’t last long before he started the comments about her not getting pregnant. Never mind that the two of us are virgins and haven’t even so much as kissed. We didn’t even do it on our wedding day. We made the priest skip that part and we walked down the aisle as quickly as we could. This was all to make him happy and it’s taken some time to realize he never would be.
Me falling in love wasn’t part of the deal. I honestly believed it would never happen. I just assumed I was missing that part of my brain that found other people attractive, making me a perfect husband for Savannah. I had no attraction to her, and I wouldn’t need to have my own love life. But the moment I saw Caroline everything changed.
I found myself hanging off of her every word and unable to take my eyes off her. The simplest touch, the slightest movement and I catalogued it all. There was nothing about her I didn’t notice or remember and I’ve never been that way before. I’ve known Savannah my entire life and I couldn’t tell you what her favorite flavor of ice cream is, or which side she parts her hair on. But in the time I’ve known Caroline I’ve memorized it all and I’m desperate for all of it. I need to know every aspect of her life and habits and then I want to make a future with her.
Savannah’s words hit me in my chest because I know they’re lies. Caroline isn’t just trying to get to my money. She works hard for what she’s got and she’s proud of that. There is so much I don’t know, but what I do know is that she has the kindest heart of anyone I’ve ever met in my life.
The car stops outside Caroline’s apartment and I jump out. I rush inside and wave to the doorman before I hop on the elevator and hit her floor. Thank god she didn't tell him not to let me in. I have a feeling if she kicks me out now, I’m not going to get lucky a second time, so I pray that I can convince her to hear me out.
I get to her door and I take a breath before I knock. As soon as my knuckles connect with the wood, the door is jerked open and Gia is rushing out into the hall. I look over her shoulder and see Caroline sitting on the couch with Elvis.
“Caroline, listen to me. It’s not what you think.”
“You’re an asshole and a liar,” Gia says as she gets closer to me. She’s flailing her arms as she yells. I don’t want her to hit me and I’m not going to lay a hand on her. But I need to get her to stop screaming so that Caroline can hear me. So I yell something I know will get both of their attentions.
“I’m married, but I’ve never had sex with her,” I blurt out, and Gia stops. I can’t bring myself to say “with my wife” because while we might legally be married, she isn’t my wife.
“What?” Her eyebrows pull together in confusion and Caroline stands up from the sofa to look at me.
“I’ve never had sex with anyone actually.” I should be embarrassed, but if this is what it takes to get her to listen to me, then I’ll do it. “Savannah is a family friend that I agreed to marry because of her father. I’ve never touched her. It’s a marriage in name only.” I tell her the truth. All the reasons I agreed to marry her to begin with aren’t sitting as well with me as they once had.
“She sure as hell didn’t act that way,” Gia says as she crosses her arms, not backing down.
Caroline has moved closer to the door and I try to keep talking.
“Her father was there right beside us. She has to put on a show of being the jealous wife because that’s what he expects. I’m not going to say she isn’t a little rough when you first meet her, but she means well.” She does. She has so much bottled up inside of her she is about to burst. She doesn't know how to deal with it and, to be honest, I don’t know how to tell her to deal with it. I know we still both struggle with my sister’s death. It’s the icing on the cake of our show of a marriage.
“Rough? Is that the word we’re using?” Gia looks at me like I’m stupid.
I glance back up to Caroline and keep my eyes locked on her. “She’s my friend and I won’t talk bad about her. She’s had a tough life and she’s protective of me. But I swear to you that I’m not doing this behind her back. I’m not in love with her. I’ve never felt anything for her like what I feel with you.” I stare into her beautiful eyes, wanting her to see the truth.
I watch her wipe away a tear and I feel like a complete piece of shit for causing those tears. I need her to understand that I’m serious about her and what we could have together. I just need to figure out how to get her on my side.
“Let me prove it to you, Caroline. I can take you home and introduce you to her and we can explain. But I swear, on my honor, that what I feel for you is real.”
“Why would you do all that?” Gia asks, looking down her nose at me. “Why would you agree to marry someone you didn’t love?”
“Because he’s a good guy,” Caroline says as she steps out into the hallway. “I’ll take it from here, Gia. Just give me a second.”
Her friend looks like she doesn’t want to walk away, but after a moment she finally gives in. She steps inside, and when she doesn’t close the door, Caroline reaches in and pulls it shut, leaving us alone out in the hallway.
“I told you I wouldn’t cross the threshold,” I say, trying to make her smile.
When I see the edges of her lips pull up my heart relaxes by a degree.
“Yeah, it’s all going according to plan,” she says, and I sigh.
“I’m so sorry. I should have told you from the beginning, but I didn’t know how to explain that I’m married but not in the way you think. And honestly, I thought it would scare you away.”
“It did,” she says, and it’s my turn to smile.
“I’m going to make this up to you.” I take a step towards her and take it as a good sign that she doesn’t run from me. “It’s late, and I know that tonight I shouldn’t come in. Tomorrow morning, let me walk the dogs with you again and then let’s have that dinner date. You can come to my house and meet Savannah, and then I’ll bring you home.” She doesn’t answer right away and I reach out and take both her hands with mine. “Let me fix this, Caroline. I know what we have is something that comes along once in a lifetime. I’m not going anywhere, so let me make it better.”
