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She unbuttoned the first button, then moved quickly to the next. “I had a bloody nose, and your luggage wasn’t here.”
“It’s on the bus.”
“I don’t know where mine is either. I figured it was better to wear his shirt than nothing.”
“Nothing is always the right choice, pretty girl.”
“You would say that.” She smiled, but then suddenly her eyes welled and mascara dribbled down her cheek. “I didn’t like your conclusions about me the other night.”
“I didn’t mean it. I was angry. And scared. I’m sorry I hurt you.” I pressed my fingers to her lips before gliding the tips up to her cheeks and wiping away the black streaks.
This reminded me of our first conversation, back in the spring. She’d been jet-lagged, her eyes red-rimmed with fatigue and emotion, her cheeks nearly raw. I didn’t want to be in this place again. I closed my eyes.
“I talked to Cynthia. She shed light on quite a few things. My mom was sick for a long time.” I heaved a breath. “It’s just hard, you know? Hard knowing I made the same mistakes.”
Aya pressed her cheek to my shoulder and wrapped her arms around me. “I do know.”
She did. We’d been through so much. No wonder she was such an integral part of me.
“I can’t do this living thing without you, Ay. And I don’t want to. Don’t leave me. Please.”
“I never planned to leave you. We just needed a break from the conversation. You weren’t in a rational place.”
I brushed my lips over hers. “And I jumped to conclusions.”
“Yes, but I’m sorry I didn’t see it from your side. I know my retreating feels like you’re being abandoned.” She rested her head on my shoulder. “My dad’s an arse. He stirred this pot.”
“Yeah, he is. And he did.”
“Why were you with Lindsay?” she asked after a moment. “That made me crazy. Hurt my feelings, too.”
We still had the same old triggers, it seemed, but I had to smile. We were doing the work, both of us. We were having this conversation instead of running away or shutting down.
I collected her closer to me. “Did you know your father hired her as the development director at Clean Water?”
“Yes. She told me, actually.”
“I didn’t know you talked to her.”
“I don’t. Not really. But I alerted her to some of my father’s financial entanglements with Alistair, and when she responded to let me know she appreciated the heads up, she gave me a bit of an update. She also let me know she was officially with Alistair.”
He nodded. “Makes sense, I guess. Well, she was in D.C. for some society thing with Lord Dipshit, so I met up with her. Just to chat about the nonprofit. I didn’t fire her, by the way. She actually seems good at the job, and I figured you’d need to make the choice.” He hesitated. “I bought Clean Water for you.”
She snuggled in closer. “That’s sweet, but also over the top.”
“Yeah, well, it keeps your father out of your life, so it was worth it.”
“Promise me something?” she asked.
“Hit me.”
“Let me fight these battles myself. I asked you to let me do that. I need to know I’m strong enough.”
I cupped her cheeks. “I know you’re strong enough, but you’re right. I promise to listen to you. I’m sorry about how I behaved. Really sorry. I was just so blindsided.”
She seemed to know what I was talking about because she nodded. “I’m not happy with their decisions for us either. I wish my mother had talked to me. But…Nash, I do believe she thought this was the best way to keep my father’s fingers out of my money. He sold Jeddi’s house.”
“I know. I bought it.”
