24. Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Aiden
W hat was she thinking? This wasn’t part of our deal.
The ride to my parents’ place only took around twenty minutes, but if it weren’t for Louise, we’d have spent the entire trip in silence. I hadn’t spoken to Charlotte since she’d torpedoed my perfectly good excuse to go back to London. I just couldn’t understand why she’d done it.
I was barely paying attention to what Louise was nattering on about—something about Tilly’s brother Matthew and a water fountain—more focused on the woman beside her. My eyes drifted to Charlotte’s reflection in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were closed and, if it weren’t for the slight pinch of her features, I’d have guessed she’d fallen asleep.
I shouldn’t have brought her here. It was one thing to see her around the building and keep my distance, but tonight? Having her on my arm as my date? That was something entirely different. And I don’t know what idiotic part of my brain thought that I could handle it. I let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose as I tried to reason away the emotions that were at war in my chest.
The minute I’d seen her on the dance floor, in a haze of shimmering lilac, I’d been pulled to her. Desperate to be closer and move within her orbit. Dancing with her had been a mistake, one that I’d almost made a thousand times worse by trying to kiss her.
‘Don’t mind him,’ Louise said, throwing a pointed look in my direction. ‘He always sulks when he doesn’t get his way.’
Yeah, well. She would be “sulking” too if she were twenty minutes away from lying to our parents. Guilt worked its way up my throat, so sickly sweet and sticky that I had to loosen my tie to drag in a breath. Mum was going to freak out when she found out about all of this. I could already taste the shame of that confession.
My eyes narrowed on Louise’s reflection, and I briefly considered outing her role in all of this to my parents. I wouldn’t. But the idea of not having to bear the brunt of their disappointment was appealing, and I allowed myself a moment’s indulgence at the thought of taking her down with me.
My eyes met Charlotte’s in the rearview mirror, but her typically open expression was shuttered and guarded. And I hated the way that made me feel. I wanted to reach back and smooth away the frown that had formed between her brows, but before I’d even had the time to process the absurdity of the urge, we were pulling into my parents’ drive. The car was barely in park when Louise was hurtling out the door, up the front steps and into the house. Letting out a heavy sigh, I stepped out and into the rain, walking around to Charlotte’s door.
‘Are you mad?’ she whispered as her fingers slid into my waiting hand. The note of uncertainty in her voice had me tightening my grip on her winter-chilled fingers. She pulled her coat tighter around herself as we stood beneath the front porch light, buffeted by the wind and rain.
‘Not at you,’ I assured her.
‘That’s not how it feels,’ she murmured, her gaze focused on the space between our feet. Guilt stretched across my chest in the face of her anxiety, and I let go of her hand to rub at the tension in my neck, trying to work through my thoughts.
‘I’m not mad at you,’ I repeated, coming to a stop in front of her. ‘I just… I feel…’ I pushed a hand through my wet hair and heaved a sigh. ‘I don’t think that Louise has told them about this… about us.’ Charlotte blinked up at me, waiting for me to continue. ‘I don’t like the idea of lying to them… of getting their hopes up, but—’
‘Aiden,’ my mum scolded, pulling the front door open. ‘What are you thinking, standing in the rain, letting Charlotte get soaked?’
I’d just voiced my confusion over whether we should come clean to my parents or continue this little ruse, but one look at the wide smile on my mum’s face, and I knew there was no way I could tell her the truth.
‘Hi Mum,’ I leaned down to place a kiss on her cheek.
‘Come in! Come in!’ Her small hand shoved me past her through the door. I turned to find her beckoning Charlotte into the house and closing the door behind her.
‘Thank you for having me, Ms Park,’ Charlotte said, dipping her head respectfully.
My mum beamed up at her and my eyebrows shot up in surprise. Most people incorrectly assumed that Mum had taken Dad’s last name when they’d married, an honest mistake that was always quickly corrected and followed by a brief, but informative, lecture on cultural customs that always left people feeling a little off-kilter. So how had she known?
A loud thump and muffled curse sounded from behind me and, turning to peer down the semi-darkness of the hallway, the answer came to me just as Louise flicked on the kitchen light. I frowned as I tried to recall more of their hushed whispers in the backseat, but it was futile. Once I’d heard Louise start on Matthew, I’d lost focus and interest, incorrectly assuming that she was launching into her typical tirade against Tilly’s brother.
‘Aren’t you lovely,’ Mum cooed, drawing my attention back to the women in the entryway.
I watched as Mum helped Charlotte peel off her wet coat, transfixed by the soft pink stain that coloured Charlotte’s cheeks as she pushed a sodden curl off her forehead. Mum was right; I don’t know how it was possible, but even with her hair wet and makeup smudged, Charlotte was still one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen.
‘I hear drowned rats were all the rage in Milan last spring,’ Charlotte said self-deprecatingly, unwittingly racking up points as she looked down at the damp skirts of her dress. Mum’s smile turned from one of polite welcome to a dazzling grin at Charlotte’s small dose of “humility.” And I could only watch with a growing sense of unease as she took Charlotte by the arm and led her towards the foot of the stairs. This was all getting so complicated.
‘Aiden,’ Mum said, her voice lowering to a whisper as she stopped at the foot of the stairs. ‘The guest bed is all made up for the two of you. There are spare toiletries in the bathroom. You’ll show Charlotte where everything is?’ She inclined her head towards the stairs.
‘Mum, I can just stay in my room…’ I started, not daring to look at Charlotte.
‘Nonsense.’
‘Yeah, Aiden,’ came a mocking whisper. Louise strolled into the hall, a half-eaten sandwich in hand. ‘We all know that you and your girlfriend hold hands.’
‘Louise!’ Mum admonished, her pitch rising as red flooded her cheeks.
‘It’s nothing to be shy about. Mum’s not a prude.’ Louise snorted, ignoring both mine and Mum’s glares.
‘If you’re not going to offer food to anyone else,’ Mum scolded, her manners overpowering her temporary mortification, ‘then get to bed!’
‘Now!’ she commanded, smacking Louise’s shoulder lightly as she high-tailed it up the stairs, giggling into her sandwich.
‘That girl,’ Mum shook her head as Louise’s footsteps thundered on above us. I opened my mouth to speak, but was quickly cut off by an outstretched hand.
‘Aiden,’ Mum admonished, ‘your father and I are not so ignorant as to believe that you and your sister are waiting for marriage. Your sister is right, we’re not prudes.’
‘Mum—’ I groaned.
‘Besides,’ she continued, matter-of-factly, ‘the school is running a clothing drive for Christmas and the boxes to be donated are all in your room waiting to be sorted.’
‘Fine,’ I muttered, finally allowing my gaze to drift over towards Charlotte, who was staring at her hands. I couldn’t imagine how she felt about all of this—sharing a bed had not been part of the agreement.
‘Now,’ Mum said, looking from me to Charlotte. ‘If either of you are hungry, there are leftovers in the fridge.’