As for the lows, they mostly revolve around Aiden. I haven't heard from him much this week. When I text him he takes forever to text back, and when I call he doesn't pick up. We had two video chats but they were brief, lasting less than twenty minutes. I feel like he's been avoiding me but he assures me he's just busy trying to get the offer ready for Tom. He wants to present it to him tomorrow.
The offer would've been done sooner if it weren't for Celine. In addition to the two events she made Aiden go to, she also convinced him to go to dinner with some of their friends. It was for a friend's birthday, so I guess I can understand why he'd go, but he didn't have to play along with being Celine's boyfriend. Then last night, she showed up at his apartment to pick up a sweater she claims she left there. Not surprisingly, she couldn't find it, but it was enough of an interruption that Aiden didn't get his work done.
So now, instead of meeting me in Vermont tonight, Aiden's in New York finishing up the offer. I was hoping we'd get to spend the night together but instead I'm alone. I know it's been a crazy week, for both of us, but I can't help but feel like something's off between Aiden and me, like he's pulling away or losing interest.
As I pull up to the inn, I feel sad knowing Aiden won't be there. Like he said, it's become our place. This whole town has, so being alone here just doesn't feel right.
"We missed you," Tom says, greeting me with a welcoming smile as I come through the door.
I laugh. "It's only been a couple weeks."
"How'd the event go?"
"Great!" I stop at the check-in desk, setting my bag down. "I got the promotion."
"Congratulations! I think that deserves a bottle of champagne at dinner tonight. On the house."
"I'd love that, and thank you for offering, but I'm skipping dinner tonight. I'm just going to go up to my room."
His brows furrow. "Aiden's not coming?"
"He had to work. He'll be here tomorrow for the meeting."
"That's a shame. But you'll both be here tomorrow night?"
"Yes." I smile just thinking about it. It's been almost two weeks since Aiden and I have been alone together. I'm counting down the seconds until he arrives.
"Here's your key." He hands it to me.
"Thanks, Tom. Tell Lois I'm sorry I'm missing dinner."
"Will do. If you'd like, I could bring something up to your room."
"That's okay. I'm not really hungry."
I pick up my bag and head to the stairs.
"Can I help you with that?"
I turn back and see Aiden standing there, a big smile on his handsome face.
"Aiden!" I drop my bag and jump into his arms. "I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow."
"I wasn't, but I couldn't stand the idea of you being here alone." He kisses me. "Or another night without you."
I hug him, and don't let go until I'm convinced he's really here and I'm not just imagining it.
"Should I reserve a table for two?" Tom calls out from behind the counter. "Around eight-thirty?"
"Sounds great," I say, keeping my eyes on Aiden. "I assume you want dinner?"
"I'd like something else even more," he says in a tone that makes me blush. "But sure, we can start with dinner. Let's go up to our room."
Our room. Because we only have one this time. There was no need to get two now that we're together.
We go in the room and Aiden tosses our bags on the floor, his eyes locked on mine. He takes my face in his hands and kisses me, a long intense kiss that has me practically melting to the floor. I've been dreaming about this moment since the last time we were here, imagining him kissing me, undressing me, making love to me. I have no reservations this time. Nothing holding me back. I don't need to wait any longer. We've waited long enough.
Aiden tugs on my coat, trying to get it off. I do it for him, then work on his, sliding down the zipper on his leather jacket. He takes if off while backing me up to the bed.
"I've missed you," he whispers as his hands slide under my sweater. The moment they touch my skin, I feel that charge coursing through me. The spark I feel whenever he's around, whenever he kisses me, or touches me.
I back away from him and yank off my sweater, then reach around to unhook my bra.
Aiden's watching me, his eyes bouncing between my face and my body. "What are you doing?"
"Undressing," I say in a teasing tone as I toss my bra on the chair. "You should try it."
"I don't understand. I thought we were waiting."
"I don't want to wait, but if you do, I could put these back on." I have my jeans off, along with my lace panties, which I'm holding up in front of me.
He yanks them from my hand and throws them on the floor, then kisses me with a passion like I've never felt. He must've been holding back last time, knowing a kiss like this would lead to doing what I told him I wasn't ready to do. Now I am, and he's letting go, letting me feel how much he wants me.
He drops to his knees, gripping my hips as he kisses my neck, then lower, until he's at my breast. He teases my nipple with his tongue, making my knees buckle. I close my eyes and try to breathe as my heart races, pounding against my chest.
His hands dig into my hips as they try to move, desperate to get to him. He holds me in place, and cool air hits my breast as his mouth leaves it. I whimper at the loss, but then feel the heat of his mouth travel lower, his tongue stroking the most intimate part of me, driving me wild. I gasp and my knees nearly give out. He backs me up to the bed and coaxes me down until I’m seated at the edge. His large hands spread me open and I feel his mouth on me again, his tongue circling, probing, consuming me, until a wave of pleasure crashes through me.
Moments later, I hear the tearing of the condom wrapper and open my eyes to see Aiden’s tall, muscular body standing before me. He rolls on the condom, a slight smile on his handsome face. “This is not what I was expecting tonight.”
“Were you hoping to play board games or maybe go on a hike?” I joke.
He leans down to kiss me, moving us up on the bed and lying beside me. He breaks from the kiss and looks into my eyes. “I can’t tell you how much I missed you.”
“You could try,” I say, smiling.
His face remains serious. “This isn’t the time to talk about this but I’m sorry about last week. Things got crazy with work and…everything else.”
He’s talking about Celine, which is not a topic I even want to think about right now.
“Let’s forget all that.” I pull him down to kiss me. His kiss is soft and gentle, making me want more.
Aiden moves over me, then eases inside me, slowly inching his way in as he deepens the kiss, his tongue moving over mine. I’m feeling those sparks again, tingles throughout my body. He awakens so much in me. It’s like I’m doing this for the first time.
He’s moving faster now, and I clutch his back, holding on as he thrusts deep inside me. Then just as I feel that wave of pleasure building again, he pulls out and rolls us over so he’s on his back, my body over his.
His eyes lock on mine. “I want to watch you fall apart for me.”
His words arouse me even more. I straddle him, keeping my eyes on his as he fills me. A slight grin appears on his face as my hips move, his eyes not leaving mine. He plays with my breasts, noticing how I react and doing more of what I like. He’s already learning how to please me. It’s taken other guys months to figure it out. Some don’t even try.
I'm really close but I don't want to finish this way. I want to feel Aiden again. I want to feel the weight of his body over mine.
I get off him and lay beside him.
"Why didn't you finish?" he asks.
"I got tired."
He smiles and gets on top again and moments later I feel the release, pure bliss, reaching all the way to my toes. Aiden follows soon after.
We lay on our backs, panting and sweating, but smiling as we look at each other.
"I say we do that again later," he says.
"And maybe i
n the morning."
"I like the way you think." He checks his phone and gets up. "It's eight-thirty. We're missing our reservation."
"I forgot all about that." I hurry out of bed.
He goes in the bathroom while I race to get dressed.
"Everything okay?" Tom asks when we walk in the dining room, ten minutes late.
"Everything's great!" I smile at Aiden as he takes my hand.
"What's for dinner tonight?" he asks Tom.
"Lasagna's the special, or you can choose from the usual." He seats us at our table. "You still want the champagne or would you rather have wine?"
"Champagne?" Aiden asks.
"For my promotion," I explain. I look back at Tom. "Either one is fine."
"I have a merlot that'd be perfect with the lasagna."
"Let's go with that," I say.
"I'll have the waiter bring you the bottle." He looks back and forth at us. "Something's different about you two. You've got more color in your cheeks. Did you go out for a walk?"
"Yes," I quickly answer. "It was a brisk walk and it was colder out than we thought."
"It's chilly tonight, but it's supposed to warm up tomorrow. I'll go get your wine."
When he leaves, I can't help but laugh.
"If all walks were like that," Aiden says. "I'd be taking a lot more walks."
"Welcome back!" Gus appears with the bottle of wine. "You two are becoming regulars," he says as he pours the wine.
"That's the plan," Aidens says, smiling at me. "We might be coming here for months."
Months? Is he saying we'll still be hiding our relationship months from now?
Gus takes our order, then walks back to the kitchen.
"Aiden," I say, not sure I want to risk ruining our perfect night by asking this, but wanting to know the answer.
"Yes?" He's smiling as he reaches across the table for my hand.
"What did you mean when you said we might still be coming here months from now?"
"We love this place. Why would we stop coming? I'm sure it's just as beautiful up here in the winter."
"That's it? That's the only reason we'd come back?"
"That, and because of the inn. If Tom agrees to the offer, I'll need to come here and check on the renovations." He pauses, noticing the concern on my face. "Sophie, what is it? What's wrong?"
I pause. "I thought you meant we'd be coming here to hide out, since we can't be together in New York. But that's not an issue anymore, right?"
His eyes drop to the table and his hold on my hand loosens. My gut clenches, an uneasiness coming over me.
"The client dinner is over," I rush to say. "And your commitments with Celine are done, so there's no reason to hide anymore. Right?"
He sighs and lets go of my hand as he leans back in his chair. "I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know? That was the agreement. You said when the dinner's over we could be together. We wouldn't have to hide it anymore."
"Sophie, let's just have a nice dinner. We'll talk about this later."
I lean toward him, lowering my voice as Gus comes over to clean off the table next to ours. "I don't want to talk about it later. Tell me what's going on. Why can't we tell people we're dating?"
"We agreed it'd be best to wait. You just got the promotion you wanted. You really want to risk losing it?"
"I'm not going to lose it. Celine hasn't lined up any more events with us and it sounds like she won't for a few months. The client dinner is over so there's nothing she can do to get me fired." I sit back, eyeing him from across the table. "What's going on here, Aiden? Why are you insisting we keep hiding our relationship?"
He rubs his jaw, glancing at Gus who's still cleaning off the table. He waits for Gus to finish, then looks back at me. "If we let people know we're a couple, Roger will take the inn deal from me and give it to someone else."
"That was only if you didn't go with Celine to those events. But you did, so why would he still take it from you?"
"Because it's easier than dealing with his daughter. If she finds out I'm dating you this soon after ending things with her, she'll assume this was going on before I broke up with her. She'll want to punish me for it by running to her father and demanding he fire me, which he won't, but he'll take the inn from me, knowing how much I want it."
"Aiden, this is ridiculous. We can't let your ex-girlfriend control us like this."
"If it wasn't for the inn, I'd tell her we're together and suffer the consequences. But I can't do that, knowing the inn deal might be reassigned if Celine finds out about us."
"You've already written up the offer. You're presenting it tomorrow. It won't even have a chance to go to someone else."
He shakes his head. "It's been delayed. Roger had to go out of town so we couldn't meet. That's why I was able to come here tonight instead of tomorrow. I emailed Roger a copy of the offer and he said it's not ready to present to Tom. He wants to meet about it next week."
"So you're not meeting with Tom tomorrow?"
"We're meeting, but I'm not going to present him the offer." He reaches over and takes my hand. "Sophie, I know this isn't what either of us wanted but keeping our relationship hidden for just a little longer will be better in the long run. Tom will get the deal he wants, and Celine will be less of a problem for us when she finds out we're together."
"But you won't keep going out with her, right?"
"No. Of course not. She and I have the same friends so it's possible I'll see her at a party or when I'm meeting people for drinks, but we won't be there as a couple."
"Is Celine finally telling people you two broke up?"
"I don't know. I can't control what she does. I can only control what I do, and as far as I'm concerned, she and I are done."
"Aiden, I don't like this." I pull my hand from his and sit back. "You'll be seeing your ex more than me."
"I won't be seeing her. If we happen to be at the same place for a party, then yes, she'll be there, but I won't be going up and talking to her."
"How long is this going to go on? When will the deal be finished?"
"It could take months if Roger gets his hands on it. He's been busy with other clients but he promised he'd give this deal some attention this week. So who knows? Maybe it'll be done sooner rather than later."
I'm trying not to get upset about this, but I am. What if the deal really does take months to finish? Is Aiden okay with us hiding our relationship for that long? Secretly meeting here every weekend as if we're doing something wrong? Because that's how it feels, and I don't like feeling like my relationship is wrong.
"What happens when I'm done with community service?" I ask.
"We can still come up here."
"Aiden, we can't. I have to work. I'll be working even more when my promotion is finalized. I'll be in charge of more events. I'll be working every weekend."
He pauses, like he hadn't thought of that, then races to say, "We'll figure something out. We'll make it work. I promise."
It doesn't make me feel better. He promised me this would be over after this week, and now he's telling me we have to keep hiding our relationship.
Our dinners arrive but my appetite is gone. I eat as much as I can and leave the rest. Aiden tries to lighten the mood by telling me stories about his friends and all the crazy stuff they did in college, but it doesn't take my mind off the fact that I won't see him when I get back to New York.
Chapter Twenty
Sophie
At the end of dinner, Tom comes over to us, frowning when he sees I only ate a few bites of my meal. He points to my plate. "Was there a problem?"
"No, I'm just not that hungry."
"It's okay if you didn't like it." He leans down and lowers his voice. "Lois isn't cooking tonight. We called in a substitute chef. He's good, but he can't even come close to what Lois can do in the kitchen."
"Why didn't Lois make dinner?"
"She's a little under the weather," he says, glancing
at Aiden. "She's taking a few days off."
"Oh. Well, tell her I hope she feels better."
"Will do." He takes my plate, then picks up Aiden's. "How about some dessert?"
Aiden looks at me to decide.
"I think we're done for tonight," I say to Tom.
"I'll get your check." He winks at Aiden. "Nice night out. Maybe take her on a stroll downtown?" He smiles as he walks off.
"What do you say?" Aiden asks. "Walk downtown? See the lights?"
"I think I just want to go to bed." I set my napkin on the table.
"Sophie," he says with a sigh. "I know you're upset. I am too. And I promise I will do everything possible to speed up this deal so we can be together in New York like we both want."
"And if it takes months, you're okay with not seeing me?"
"Of course not." He leans toward me across the table. "This is killing me, Sophie. I want to be with you more than anything but there's so much at stake right now."
"What's at stake? This deal with Tom? I don't get why that has to get in the way of us seeing each other. If someone else at the firm takes over the deal and Tom doesn't like it, he can just tell them no and not sell the inn."
Aiden looks down. "It's not that simple."
"Why? What do you mean?"
"I can't tell you." He looks up at me. "I just need to be the one to handle it."
"Even if it means not being with me," I say, a hint of anger in my tone.
Gus stops by with the check. "No rush. You sure you don't want dessert? More wine?"
"We're good," I tell him. I must've sounded angry because he nods and quickly walks off.
Aiden sets some cash on top of the bill. "Let's go."
We get up and leave the restaurant.
"Sophie, wait," Aiden says as I head to the stairs. "Let's go for a walk."
"I can't." I turn back and see him standing there, looking desperate for me to get over my anger so we can enjoy our weekend. But how can I enjoy it knowing on Sunday I'll have to go back to pretending we're not a couple? "I need to go to bed. I have to be up early."
Aiden walks up to me, taking my hand. "Please. Just walk with me."
Falling for Aiden Page 18
