Page 23 of Pretender

Is he offering to pay me? Of course, it’s what the helpless divorcée would respond to.

“You could just tell her the truth.”

Aiden chuckles and steps up another step, now right in front of me, almost a head taller than me. “I’ll find a way to avoid that,” he says, and it’s unclear whether he’s trying to charm me or intimidate me, but either way, it’s making my heart race.

“Pretty please?” he asks again, a grin so wide it makes my ears burn.

As suspected, instead of having a straightforward conversation with his mother, he takes the easy way. Laughs it off. Nothing matters to him, it seems. His eyes are still on me, so I press my lips together. I want to cross my arms again to show him my resolve, but he’s too close, so I tuck them into my jumpsuit pockets instead.

“Aiden,” a deep voice comes from above, and Sebastian’s tall, broad shape appears around the corner of the stairwell wall. “The investors are arriving.” He meets my eyes, and the side of his mouth twitches. “Apologies for interrupting your … conversation, but we need to go to the pre-event.”

“All done,” Aiden says. He looks back at me, not correcting whatever misconstrued view his friend has of this. “Right, sweetheart? See how easy it would be?”

I shake my head. He just called me sweetheart!

Cheeky fucker.

“Absolutely not,” I hiss, and that’s my final word.

I start down the last steps before he can say anything else, but when I turn back instinctively he’s still watching me, and he’s got that lost expression on his face again. Bloody hell, Aiden. He better have found a solution before I see him again next week.

CHAPTER SIX

not tonight

AIDEN

Fuck. That didn’t go very well, and the worst part is that she’s absolutely right. Us dating would look bad for her. I might need to iron out a few kinks before I ask her again.

Anything but have that conversation with Mum.

She won’t understand. This fear she shared with me yesterday, of me being a lonely, sad party boy who’ll never grow up, will be solidified. Especially if she catches me in this lie. This pathetic lie. She’ll never trust me again when I tell her I’m happy.

Of course I am. Look at my life!

I do want to find someone, though. That life-altering love. Like what Mum and Dad had. And I don’t understand why it’s so bloody hard.

But generally I’m fine.

I can’t have Mum focusing on me when she should enjoy her second chance at love, but that’s exactly what she’ll do. It’s what she’s always done.

“You okay there, champ?” Elliott asks as we walk down the stairs, on our way to greet the rest of the hospitality-focused investors of the Aurellan Group before the big event starts. We take every opportunity to make them feel special and discuss further growth before we open the doors to an event. And before it’s too loud to talk business.

“Yeah,” I answer after a beat.

“Have you finally told her you’ve had your eye on her since day one?”

My eyes snap to him. What?

“You need to recalibrate your observational skills.”

“So you haven’t?”

I shrug. I suppose she’s shown up in a fantasy here and there. The way she presses her lips together when I call her Linny, or how her eyes shine when she sees something she likes. Those blushing ears I’ve just learned about.

“If you’re not seeing her, can I?”

I stop short and grab his sleeve. “Don’t even think about it.”