After they left, Grams turned to him. “You have to fix this mess.”
Aiden ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Fix what? Felicity and I are not a couple, Grams.”
He’d figured his grandmother would balk at this, or maybe object. Instead, she pressed her lips together and poked him in the chest with her index finger. “You love her. Don’t try to deny it. I can see it in your eyes. You’ve loved her for years. Now that I’ve finally got her here, you have to win her back.”
And there it was. His grandmother was delusional. He knew all along Grams was playing some kind of game with bringing Felicity here, but she hadn’t come out and said it like that. What was he supposed to say to her? He loved his grandmother to death, but he wasn’t getting back together with Felicity. He tried a different tactic. “What do you want me to do? Go on the excursion with them? How awkward would that be?”
“Not very awkward.” Grams held up a key card, a wicked grin on her face. “I have a feeling Harold is going to miss the bus.”
Chapter 12
Felicity rushed to change out of her swimsuit and wash the sand from between her toes. Going on the excursion with Harold was just what she needed to get her mind off Aiden. After she slipped on a pair of jeans and a top, a knock sounded.
She walked into the living room and opened the door. Harold stood there, patting his pockets.
“Hey, I can’t find my key card anywhere. It must have fallen out of my pocket. I’m going to go retrace my steps.” He motioned back toward Aiden’s villa.
“All right.”
He handed her the tickets. “You should have these in case I’m late.”
“Thanks.” She watched him walk away before she shut the door.
Felicity packed her camera in her backpack with a couple of lenses and headed to the shop to grab a sandwich before the excursion. As she sat on the bench at the waiting area, she was relieved to see other people gathering around. At least it wasn’t going to be like yesterday. Maybe Grams was done scheming.
Not that yesterday had been all terrible. She’d kind of enjoyed talking with Aiden like old times. But it was also hard on her, knowing he was the way he was, and that nothing could happen between them. And this morning proved it. Yes, he had a good excuse, but he could have called her.
She checked the time and scanned the sidewalks. Harold only had a few minutes left before the tour started. Movement came from the shadows and Aiden stepped out. He didn’t look at her as he walked to the pavilion. His movements were stiff and she wondered what was up.
He stepped beside her and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Harold isn’t coming.”
“Why not?”
“Grams took his key card then ambushed him when he came looking for it. She stalled him for a while, but Harold finally gave up and left. He’s at the office getting another card made.”
Felicity had no words. Her mouth popped open, but she felt stupid and closed it. Grams did...what?
“I know. Grams can be kind of headstrong sometimes. I’m sorry.”
He looked embarrassed, and Felicity didn’t want to make him feel even worse, even though she was still upset with him about this morning. She rubbed her forehead. “It’s not your fault.”
“I’ll talk with her about it. She’s taking this matchmaking thing too far. If you want to date men while you’re here, that’s your business. You should go out with Harold.”
She opened her mouth to protest, to tell him she didn’t want to date Harold, but stopped herself. Why shouldn’t she go out with a man who was interested in her? One who took vacations and wasn’t obsessed with work? She fished around in her backpack for her bottle of water. “I’m glad you see it that way.”
He clenched his jaw and scanned the tree line. “Well, I just wanted to tell you Harold wasn’t coming. I’d better get back. I need to talk to Grams about this obsession she has.”
Aiden’s phone rang and he dug in his pocket and pulled it out. He swiped the screen and answered it. “This is Aiden.”
Felicity unscrewed the cap from her water bottle and took a long drink. The water wasn’t cold, but it tasted good on her tongue.
“You’re kidding me,” Aiden said. She looked up at him, annoyance clearly written on his face. “How did that happen?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Was Grams seen in the area? You know what, never mind. I don’t want to know.”
He hung up and pocketed his phone. “She’s gone mad.”
“What happened?”
“Juan accidently locked himself in the supply shed. He was supposed to lead this tour. No one can find the key. They’re calling in a locksmith to get him out, so Derrick asked if I could lead this tour.”
Felicity couldn’t believe it. “You think that was Grams?”
“Who else?” Aiden raked his hand through his hair and blew out a breath. “She’s insane. I’m going to have to put her in a mental institution.”
Felicity bit her lip, trying not to laugh. The thought of Grams stealing Harold’s key card and then locking poor Juan in the shed, all to get them together, was kind of hilarious. Grams always was a quirky person. “She’s just determined.”
“Oh, no. Don’t you defend her.” Aiden glared, although she could see a tiny twitch to his lips. “She is interfering where she shouldn’t be.”
“I know. But the only way to make her stop is to just do what she wants.” Felicity stood. “Do the tour. I’ll go with you. I don’t want to get locked out of my villa or anything. Harold and I can eat dinner together when we get back.”
Aiden made a face but finally conceded and led the group to the white van. Felicity sat in the front passenger seat and fiddled with her camera as Aiden drove and talked on the loud speaker. She’d heard some of the same things the previous day, so she tuned him out and stared out of the window, watching the trees speed by.
An image of her father taking her hiking as a child flashed through her mind, and she swallowed down the guilt. She really should go see her father when she was done with this trip. Her father had been asking her to come for a while now. She just had a hard time scraping together the funds. And, if she were being honest with herself, it was hard to be in Chicago with all the memories it held.
But it wasn’t a good thing to stay away. She missed her father. Missed the way he’d shout at the television during his favorite baseball games. Missed his “famous” grilled cheese sandwiches, which were really like every other grilled cheese sandwich.
Her thoughts turned to when she was in grade school and how he’d made her feel like a princess, even when they didn’t have the money for the new dress she wanted. He had stayed up late into the night hand-sewing on a piece of tulle to her skirt. He’d turned an old piece of clothing into something magical, to her young eyes. She would never forget that night at the Daddy Daughter dance.
He even came to school every year on parents’ day, letting her know she wasn’t any less because she was the only one without a mother there. Her vision blurred and she blinked.
“You okay?” Aiden asked, looking at her.
She forced a smile. “Yeah. Sorry. Just thinking about my father.”
“Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. I just miss him.”
“Then you should go see him.”
“Right.” She swallowed. Aiden wouldn’t understand if she told him how difficult it was to be in Chicago. Or how tight the funds were. He was a billionaire. That wasn’t part of his world anymore, worrying about money.
Thinking about tonight with Harold made her a bit apprehensive. What would Grams do to separate them? Hopefully she was above giving him food poisoning or anything else dangerous.
The thought made her shake her head. This was Grams, for heaven’s sake. She was not dangerous. She’d never do anything to hurt anyone. All she’d done had been harmless prank kind of stuff.
Still, it might be best if she were proactive about it. “Would you do me a favor?”
“Would you keep Grams busy during dinner tonight?”
Aiden’s gaze seemed to harden a bit before he nodded. “Yes. I’ll make sure she doesn’t interfere with your date.”
Was it just her imagination, or did he spit out the word ‘date’ like it tasted bad? “Thanks.”
Aiden steered the van off the highway onto a dirt road. “We’re almost to the hiking area. Please don’t leave any valuables in the van. There’s a restroom at the start of the trail, so I’ll give you ten minutes. There won’t be any restrooms for the three-hour hike, so take advantage of it. We’ll need the group to stay together on the trail.”
Aiden parked and Felicity got out of the vehicle. She and Aiden were the first to get done in the bathroom, so she awkwardly stood near him, looking for something she could photograph. But there was nothing interesting. Aiden would think she’d gone crazy if she started snapping photos of the bathrooms. She gripped her camera and stared up at the cloudy sky.
“It’s not supposed to storm again.” Aiden put his hands behind his back, like he didn’t know what to do with them.
“I know,” she said quickly. She’d acted a bit stupid last night and was feeling embarrassed.
“That’s good. Because...you know.”
“What are you saying? Because I’m a baby when it comes to storms?”
He put his hands out almost as a shield. “No, not at all. I just didn’t want you to worry is all.”
“I wasn’t.” She didn’t want Aiden to see her as weak.
A couple of people from the excursion had joined them and Aiden fell silent. He seemed to take an interest in the gravel they were standing on.
When the group was back together, Aiden motioned for everyone to gather. “We’ll be hiking up this trail. I don’t want anyone wandering off the path. There are snakes in this jungle.”
A few people gasped, and Aiden held up a hand. “It’s okay. If you stay on the trail you should be fine.”
He turned to Felicity. “Do you want to walk ahead of me to get photos without people in the way?”
She nodded. “Thank you. That’s very thoughtful.” Her heart warmed a bit.
He shrugged and paused so she could take the lead. “Grams would kill me if I didn’t let you get good pictures.”
Of course. That’s what this trip was all about anyway. She stepped ahead of him and he followed close behind. Every once in a while, Aiden would stop and talk about the vegetation or the animal life in Belize, and Felicity would use the pause to get some good shots. Her camera clicked as she crouched to get interesting angles.
Her leg muscles burned as the trail turned a bit steeper. She hoped she didn’t start panting and sweating, revealing how out of shape she was. She’d quit her gym membership five months ago. It was a luxury she couldn’t afford. Not when things like buying food and toothpaste took up her whole paycheck.
“Let’s stop here for a moment while I tell you about the Tata Duende. It is rumored he hides deep in the jungle. The children say he has backward feet and no thumbs. If he asks to see your hands, don’t show them to him, lest he rip off your thumbs.”
Felicity smiled to herself as Aiden talked about the silly legend. She had a sneaky suspicion he’d stopped so she could catch her breath, which melted some more of her anger toward him.
Why did he have to be so nice? Couldn’t he just be a jerk all the time? It would be a lot easier to put up a wall around her heart if he wasn’t so thoughtful.
After a moment, they started up again. The strain on her muscles felt good. She’d been neglecting herself lately. She made a mental note to take some time out of her schedule to get more exercise.
Thirty minutes later, Felicity heard the sound of rushing water right before the trail opened to a wide landing with a railing. Across an expanse was a waterfall. The beauty of it took her breath away. The cascading water hit the rocky hillside, splashing on so many rocks on the way down, it looked like stair steps. She focused her camera and snapped a few photos.
Aiden gathered the group and started talking about the waterfall. Felicity pulled out her tripod and set it up so she could take some time-lapse photos. She twisted the legs to extend them, tightening them back up again when she got the height the way she wanted it.
After tweaking her settings, she stood back and let the camera do the work. Once she captured a few good ones, she noticed Aiden wasn’t talking anymore. She turned and bumped into his chest. “Oh, sorry,” she said, trying to regain her footing.
He reached out to steady her, his arms wrapping around her. “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have snuck up on you.”
She stared up at him for a moment, her heart in her throat, her hands clutching his biceps. Why did he have to smell so good? Why did it have to feel so good in his arms? His blue eyes searched hers and, for a second, she forgot where she was and what they were doing. Then she came to her senses and backed away. He let her go.
“Stunning,” he said.
She looked at her camera. Her last shot still displayed on the screen. “Thanks.”
“The picture too.” Aiden gave her a quick smile then turned and walked away before she could think about what he’d said.
Chapter 13
Had he really just said that? Aiden couldn’t believe he had flirted with Felicity. What an idiot he was. He needed to get home and stay locked up in his villa until Felicity left on Sunday. She was walking around, looking like a goddess and making him do stupid things.
He waited until Felicity had packed up her tripod and had gone ahead of him to start the group back down the trail. As Felicity walked, her hair swayed with the movement of her hips. He tried not to look at her hips. Or the way her legs were perfectly shaped.
Gah. Walking behind Felicity was not what he wanted to do for the next hour, but he had no choice. He supposed he could have gone on ahead of her and let her trail behind the group, but that seemed kind of mean. And he didn’t want to be mean to her.
But being nice to her yesterday had gotten him all confused about things. And when she showed up with Harold, it just proved that he needed to stay away from her.
He needed to take a vacation. Would Grams kill him if he took off tonight? Went to Mexico or something? The thought made him laugh. Who takes a vacation when they own a resort in Belize?
Felicity turned around. “What’s so funny?”
Oh, crud. He hadn’t realized he was laughing out loud. “Nothing.”
She fell into step beside him. “Come on. What is it?”
“It’s stupid.”
An eyeroll answered him. “You know you’re making me want to know even more now.”
“Haven’t you ever had a dumb thought, then chuckled about it?”
“Just tell me.” She nudged him with her elbow. “It must be something good if you’re too embarrassed to say it.”
Heat tinged his neck. Fine. He had to tell her now. Maybe he could withhold a little information and be fine. “I was just thinking I needed a vacation. Then it occurred to me how silly that was, taking a vacation from a great vacation spot.”
He expected Felicity to laugh, but she just looked at him sideways. “You want a vacation?”
“Well, you know. It just popped into my head. That’s all. It was nothing.” Would she give up on this now? He desperately hoped she’d move on to something else. He hooked his thumbs into his pockets.
“I never thought I’d hear the words, ‘I need a vacation’ come out of your mouth.”
He stared at her, not understanding. “Why?”
She looked down at the dirt path and shrugged. “You’re always working.”
Aiden stiffened. This again. She was wrong about him. He wasn’t always working. Couldn’t she see he was living on a resort in Belize? It was a freaking paradise.
Then images of himself as he worked on growing the resort came to his mind. If he
were being truthful, he wasn’t just sitting on the beach enjoying life. He had thrown himself into his work at the resort as hard as he’d been working on his business before. Was there some truth to what she was saying? He sighed and checked behind them to make sure the group was caught up. He didn’t really know what to say to her, so he didn’t respond.
“I’m sorry,” she said when the silence stretched out. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“I’m not uncomfortable.” Lie. He was totally uncomfortable. He’d always thought she was exaggerating when she called him a workaholic. Sure, he was kind of obsessed with his drone when he was building it, but he knew his ideas were going to take him somewhere. He knew it would be something he could profit from.
And the resort...well, he knew once he got it updated and put in the time, he could make it profitable as well. And he had. But he still was spending most of his days working around the place. Aiden drew in a breath. Felicity was right. He was not the kind of guy to take off on a vacation.
He didn’t like that thought.
“I’ve upset you.” Felicity was looking at him, her eyebrows pulled together.
“No. I’m fine. I’m just thinking about...stuff.”
“I’m thinking about shrimp.” As if to punctuate her statement, Aiden heard her stomach growl. Her cheeks colored as she looked down at her middle.
“You should order the Mango Shrimp Ceviche. It’s to die for.”
“I will.”
She held a small smile, and he wondered if it was because of the shrimp or because she was going to eat dinner with Harold. He suddenly wanted to change the subject. “Grams will be happy with the pictures you took today.”
“It wasn’t hard to get great pictures with scenery like this. You’re lucky to live in such a beautiful place. I enjoyed the hike. My muscles needed it.”
Her Big Fat Dreamy Billionaire Ex Page 8
