“Yeah, well—”
Aiden stepped up to the villa, his eyebrows raised. “Brittany? Is that you?”
“Aiden! Oh, my goodness. Look at you. It’s been ages!” Brittany rushed at him and pulled him to her. The hug was so tight, Felicity worried Aiden couldn’t breathe.
Aiden’s eyes widened, and he seemed like he wasn’t sure what to do with his hands. He patted her back awkwardly. “What are you doing here?”
Brittany laughed. “Everyone keeps asking me that. I’m here to see you guys, of course. We haven’t seen each other in so long, and when Felicity talked about how wonderful your resort was, I had to come check it out.” She looped her arm through his. “Come in and we’ll chat. I just need to find the light switch.”
“That’s the thing,” Felicity said. “My villa has no power. Aiden came to fix it.”
Aiden held up a flashlight and clicked it on. “Let me go check your electrical panel.”
“Well, aren’t you handy?” Brittany squeezed his arm tighter.
Aiden gave Felicity a look she knew meant, ‘what the heck?’ but Felicity just shrugged in response. He wiggled out of Brittany’s grasp and walked into the villa, his flashlight sweeping back and forth.
Felicity was left alone with Brittany. An awkward silence fell between them. “So, how was the flight?”
“It was good. There was this hunky flight attendant who I think liked me.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “He gave me an extra package of cookies.”
“Well.” Felicity wasn’t sure what to say. “Cool.”
Brittany stood on her toes to peer into the darkness. Her shirt pulled up, exposing her belly button. Felicity resisted the urge to tug her shirt back down. “You and Aiden...you said you’re not a thing anymore, right?”
An uneasy feeling crept over Felicity. What was Brittany doing? “Right,” she said hesitantly.
“So, you wouldn’t mind if I asked him out, would you?” Brittany bit her lip and smiled, like they were sharing a secret. Felicity wanted to throw up.
There it was. The real reason Brittany flew all the way out to Aiden’s resort became glaringly apparent. She wanted Aiden. Nice. What could she say to that?
Why did it annoy her so much that Brittany was after Aiden? She shouldn’t care. She wasn’t getting back together with him. Who was she to stop them?
No, she wouldn’t stop them, but Grams might. The thought of Grams trying to detain Brittany to get her away from Aiden made her smile. Felicity reached out and took Brittany’s hand, patting it. “You go ahead. I think you and Aiden would make a great couple.”
“You do?” Brittany blinked like she was going to cry. “You are just the sweetest thing.” She pulled Felicity into another hug. What was up with her and hugs?
“Go for it,” Felicity said.
“I’ve always found him attractive, but of course, he was with you in high school so I never acted on it.”
A sour taste grew in Felicity’s mouth. “Really?”
“Yes. But now that you’re not seeing him anymore, and I’m single again, I think I’m going to take a shot at it. I mean, it’s a long shot—I don’t know if he even likes me—but I’m going to go for it.”
Aiden came back into the room, rubbing his temple. “I can’t figure it out. All the breakers are working. I can’t find any problems. Yet, I can’t get the power back on. I’ll have to get someone on it tomorrow morning.”
Felicity frowned. “What am I going to do with no power?”
Aiden looked a little uneasy. “Normally we’d put you in a different villa, but we’re booked solid. You’ll have to come stay at my villa. We have a guest room.”
Felicity closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. This trip was just getting better and better.
Chapter 15
Aiden cringed as Felicity balked at his suggestion of coming to his villa. He could see her visibly shrink away from the idea. Her gaze darted around the room. Indecision played cross her face. “Is there no other solution?”
“Other than you staying here with no power? Not that I can think of.”
She twisted her fingers together, an unpleasant expression on her face. “I guess I’ll pack an overnight bag.”
He rolled his shoulders and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. Maybe the men working on repairs to the resort cut the line somehow.”
“Yes. Probably.” She turned on her phone flashlight and disappeared into her bedroom.
Brittany clasped her hands and bounced on her toes, although how she did that, he couldn’t understand. Her heels were so high already. “I have a great idea. I’ll come to your villa too, and we can catch up.”
Aiden tried not to frown. What in the world was Brittany doing at his resort? He couldn’t stand her, and Felicity had not really liked her in high school. She was always trying to hang out with the football players. In fact, last he knew, she’d married some rich guy. “Aren’t you married?” he blurted.
Her face blanched and she looked to the floor. “Divorced.”
Oh, great. Now he’d put his foot in his mouth. He didn’t like her, but he didn’t want to be mean either. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” But her face said otherwise. Her rapid-fire blinking made him feel even worse. He mentally urged her not to start crying.
“Yes, come to my villa. Grams made brownies today. She wouldn’t let me touch them, but if you guys come over, I’m sure she’ll serve them.”
Brittany smiled, her ‘I’m about to cry’ face gone. “Sounds good. I love brownies.”
Felicity came back in the room a minute later with her carry-on bag in tow. She looked like she was about to get all her teeth pulled at the dentist, which was flattering. Aiden felt like telling her she could go to his villa with Brittany, and he’d just stay here and sleep in the dark. It would probably be less awkward than what he was about to do.
“I’m ready,” Felicity said.
Brittany grabbed hold of his arm. “I can’t wait to see your villa, Aiden. Is it the largest one?”
Why did that make him bristle? “It’s the same size as all the family villas.”
“Oh. Well, I’m sure it’s super nice. I just booked a single room, so I’m curious to see yours. I want to see how you decorated it. When I first got married and we moved into the mansion, we hired Frank Dubois. We were lucky to get him. He’s usually booked out for months.”
Aiden wondered if Brittany had an important thought in her head. He bit his tongue and opened the door for her. Then he turned back to Felicity and took her bag from her.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Just let me be a gentleman, okay? Grams would chew me out if I didn’t.”
She nodded and he took the bag from her. As he walked, Brittany sidled up to him. “Your resort is amazing.”
“Thank you.”
“I love the imported tile. I can tell it came from Italy. You have amazing taste.”
She kept talking about the resort, but he tuned her out, nodding every once in a while and smiling when she looked at him expectantly. The night air carried the smell of food from the restaurant as well as the light scent of the ocean, and he breathed in deeply. He couldn’t wait for next week when things would settle back to what he was used to.
Brittany slowed and stared at him, so he nodded again.
“Great! I knew you’d love the idea.” She clapped her hands together like a five-year-old.
Wait, what? He glanced back at Felicity, who looked like she was forcing a smile. What had he agreed to? Luckily Brittany kept talking.
“We’ll get up early then, and you can drive us. I think it’s about a two-hour drive. I know I was taking a chance by buying us the tour tickets, but I figured you both would love it. You guys are into that hiking thing, right? I had heard the ATM cave tour was amazing.”
The ATM cave was fantastic, and Felicity would love it, but the last thing Aiden wanted was to be stuck with Brittany all
day tomorrow. How did he space off at the wrong time? He was hoping to disappear tomorrow. Or the rest of the week. Now he was stuck with Brittany prattling on about how much she loved her painted toenails. Just what he wanted to do tomorrow.
He reached his villa and opened the door, letting the women in before following them. He set Felicity’s bag down on the tile. Grams looked up from the magazine she was reading on the couch. She smiled until her gaze rested on Brittany. “Who’s that?”
“Grams! Don’t be rude. This is Brittany. She’s a friend from high school. It’s such a coincidence she’s here. She was at Felicity’s villa when I went there, so we decided to spend a little time catching up before calling it a night.”
Grams stood and crossed the room, her arms outstretched, a fake smile on her face. “Of course. Welcome, Brittany. And Felicity, I heard your villa lost power again. I’m so sorry. Our guest bedroom is perfectly fine, though. I’m sure you’ll be comfortable.”
Something about the way she said it made Aiden suspicious. “I didn’t say she was staying in our guest room. How did you know I couldn’t get the power back on?”
Grams pointed to the bag. “I just figured. Unless I’m wrong.” She batted her eyes in fake innocence.
That rat. He should have known Grams was behind the power outage. What in the world did she do? Get an electrician to cut the line? He wouldn’t put it past her. He held in a frown. “Nope. Not wrong. You have excellent powers of observation.”
He and Grams exchanged a look, but she faltered and looked away. “Let’s go sit on the deck. Brittany, you can tell me all about yourself.” She looped her arm through Brittany’s and tugged her through to the back of the house. Brittany flashed a worried glance at Aiden, but he just shrugged and followed after them.
He and Grams often sat out on the deck after the sun went down. They would look out at the moon over the ocean and enjoy the night breeze. He pulled over another chair for Felicity and sat down.
Grams leaned back and looked at Felicity. “Oh, I forgot I made brownies. Felicity, would you be a dear and go inside and get them?”
“Sure.” She stood, crossed the deck and disappeared into the house.
Grams patted his arm. “And Aiden, go help her. I haven’t cut them apart yet.”
He raised an eyebrow but did as he was told. When he walked into the kitchen, Felicity was searching through a drawer. She looked up at him and smiled. “I’m glad you came. I can’t find a knife.”
He slid open the drawer and pulled one out, handing it to her. “Sorry about Grams.”
Felicity gave him a nod and took the knife. “Don’t worry. She’s harmless.”
“I think she cut your power.”
Her eyes widened and she met his gaze. “What?”
“I know it sounds crazy, but I think she did something to your power so you’d have to spend the night here.”
“You’re right. You do sound crazy.” Felicity laughed and shook her head. “Grams is persistent, but she wouldn’t go that far. It’s just a coincidence.” She stuck the knife into the brownies.
He wanted to argue with her, but he held his tongue. Wouldn’t do any good. Felicity was pretty headstrong. Funny thing was, he liked that about her. “How was your date?”
“It was fine.”
“Just fine?”
She gave him a flat look. “Do you really want me to tell you how my date with another man went?”
He took a step back. She was right. What was he thinking? He was dying of curiosity, but the last thing he wanted was for her to say she’d enjoyed her time with Harold. He swallowed and shook his head. “No.”
Felicity sighed and pushed back a strand of hair. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to get rid of this awkwardness between us.”
“I’m so glad it’s not just me.” Aiden gave her a smile and she returned it.
“I feel like I’m stumbling around in the dark, afraid to walk into a wall.” She looked down at the counter.
He took a step toward her and put his hand on her shoulder, ignoring the feeling in his chest as his pulse increased. “I don’t know why this is so hard. We’ve been friends for a long time.”
She let go of the knife and turned to face him. “I know. We should be able to remember how things were before.”
That was the problem. Aiden remembered all too clearly how things were. The feeling of euphoria when he was with her. The stolen kisses when Grams wasn’t looking. The way she fit into his arms like she was meant to be there. Before he could stop himself, he reached up and brushed his knuckles across her cheek. An electricity jolted through him and his skin felt alive. “I remember,” he said, his voice coming out husky.
She blinked up at him. “Yeah. Me too.” Her voice barely carried over the inches between them.
He lowered his hand to his side but didn’t step away from her. The same question that had plagued him over the past five years flashed into his mind, and before he could stop it, it was out. “Why did you leave?”
Felicity flinched and looked down. She didn’t answer him right away, and he worried he shouldn’t have asked, but he also really wanted to hear her answer, so he let the silence stretch. Finally, she said, “A lot of reasons.”
“I’m sure that’s true.” He waited for her to continue, but when she didn’t, he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I know we had a misunderstanding about that day.”
Her lips tightened. “We did.”
“I thought we were just going down to the courthouse to elope. I think your exact words were, ‘I’m tired of all these wedding plans. Let’s just get married.’”
She stiffened. “Yes. I did say those words.” It sounded like she was choosing her words carefully.
He could tell she was getting upset, so he backpedaled a bit, moving to give her more space. “I guess I misunderstood that to mean it was more of an informal thing. I’m sorry. I know you arranged for Grams to be there, and she said you had gone to some trouble. She wouldn’t tell me exactly what, but I apologize for not showing up. I didn’t mean to ruin your special day.”
She wrung her hands as her jaw worked. “It wasn’t my special day, Aiden. It was our wedding day. The first day of the rest of our lives.” She shifted her weight and stared down at her hands. “When you didn’t come, I knew if I stayed and married you, I’d be standing alone, waiting for you the rest of my life.”
Her words hit Aiden like a slap to the face. “I was working a deal. It was going to set us up for life.”
“I know. And maybe if I’d known what you were doing, maybe things would have turned out differently.” She turned back to the pan of brownies and continued to cut. “However, something tells me that the problem would have still continued, even after the sale.”
What was she talking about? “What problem?”
She gave him a sad smile. “See? You don’t even realize what you were doing to me throughout the whole time we were dating.”
Aiden was starting to get frustrated. Do to her? He was working for their future. He was earning a billion dollars, for heaven’s sake. He didn’t do anything to her. He was doing it all for her. But she was obviously upset as well, so he let that go. He exhaled and ran his hand over his five o’clock shadow. “I’m sorry.”
Her gaze softened as she lifted out brownies to the serving dish. “I know.” When the serving dish was full, she reached out and took a hold of his arm.
One simple gesture, and Aiden’s heart was in his throat. All his anger melted away, and what was left made his breath catch. “I never meant to make you feel unimportant. You were everything to me. The light of my life.” He stopped talking for fear his voice would betray the emotion swelling in him. He’d loved Felicity with all his being. That wasn’t something you just switched on and off like a lightbulb.
Felicity blinked, her hand tightening. “And you were my world.”
Hearing her say that brought back a rush of memories. Felicity’s lighthearted laugh. The wa
y she closed her eyes when he kissed her. He felt himself drawn to her with a force he couldn’t stop. He reached up and cupped her cheek, almost without thinking. Her soft skin felt like heaven and his heart pounded. “Sweet Felicity.”
She lowered her lashes and snuggled into the palm of his hand.
“Aiden.” The way she’d said his name was a cross between a whisper and a plea. He leaned closer to her until his forehead touched hers. “I’ll always love you,” he whispered.
He wasn’t sure what exactly happened next except that his lips were on hers, moving in that slow dance they used to share. Felicity’s hand slid up his chest and he pulled her closer. How he’d missed this feeling. He had dreamed about this for the last five years. And now, here she was, in his arms.
And then reality hit him like a semi-truck. He couldn’t kiss Felicity. He couldn’t fall back in love with her. His heart couldn’t take another rejection. He broke away from her, his heart hammering out a loud staccato.
Felicity looked at him with wide eyes. He had to say something, but words didn’t want to come out. How could he have let this happen? He shouldn’t have let his guard down. “We shouldn’t...I mean, we can’t...I didn’t mean what I said.”
Wait, what was he saying? That he didn’t love her? He didn’t mean that. But the words were out and he couldn’t catch them and put them back.
Felicity blinked and nodded. “Right.”
Aiden wanted to dig a hole in the sand and jump in. “I’m sorry.”
She turned from him and grabbed the plate of brownies. “No problem. It was a mistake. It won’t happen again.” She brushed past him and out onto the patio.
He stood there, a Felicity-sized hole opening up in his chest. Did he still love her? He swallowed and allowed himself to admit that his feelings for Felicity had not lessened. But he didn’t mean to blurt it out like that. And then take it back?
What had he done?
Chapter 16
Felicity stepped out into the night air and took in several calming breaths before she approached Grams and Brittany. “Here you are,” she said, inserting as much cheerfulness as she could into her words.
Her Big Fat Dreamy Billionaire Ex Page 10
