Terms of Agreement

32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Charlotte

F rom what Aiden had told me, the pub wasn’t too far away. If I had the right place in mind, it was actually pretty close to the station, which meant that I’d probably passed it a few hundred times on my way to and from work. Just passed. Never gone in. I frowned as I pulled my jacket more snugly around my waist. Story of my life, really. I shook my head, pulling myself away from that train of thought and focusing on the pavement in front of me.

It had been a week since the wedding and I hadn’t heard from Aiden at all, but that was how it was meant to be, right? That was what we’d agreed on? Anyway, work had got so busy that if something wasn’t in my calendar, I didn’t have time to think about it. Aiden Walsh wasn’t in the calendar, so I didn’t think about him. Simple.

At least it was until about thirty minutes ago when he’d stood there wearing a look of mild panic when Susan had asked me to join them. I couldn’t tell if he wanted me to say yes or to make up some excuse. He’d just stood there, expressionless until I’d caved and said “yes.” That had got him moving.

I thought that he’d followed me into the elevator to talk me out of it, to tell me not to come, and I would have let him. Part of me had even hoped that he would. It had been a long week, and I already knew I’d be back in the office for a couple of hours tomorrow just to get through everything that needed to be done, so all I really wanted to do was have a bath and read my book. I’d been prepared for the polite brush off.

I was not prepared for the way he sent my stomach swooping when he started grumbling on about how he treated “his girlfriend” or the way my heart had raced when he touched my lips. There was even a moment when I thought he might kiss me. But I’d been there and been wrong before, so when the doors slid open, I left before I had the chance to make a fool of myself again.

I grimaced as I felt something dig into the sole of my foot. God, I hated these shoes. They were cute, there was no doubt about it, but they were the least comfortable pair of shoes I owned—something I consistently forgot about in the times between wearing them. The traitorous boot buckled beneath me as I stepped across a loose paving stone. My ankle rolled, and I wobbled. And it was while I was in the middle of deciding whether or not it’d be too cruel to donate them, when Aiden’s voice cut through the quiet.

‘Sorry?’ I asked, shooting him a quick glance before returning my gaze to my feet.

‘I asked how your week has been—you know, work?’

Oh. Small talk. I hesitated. If this were Becky, I’d launch into a moderate diatribe about how annoying it was to be working on a US deal again. And she’d know, without me telling her, she’d know why. I frowned, dodging a mound of fallen leaves. I wondered what Becky would think about my career conversation being cancelled again.

Okay, technically not cancelled—“postponed.“ But this was the third time Amina, my line manager, had moved it. Sure, I was happy to have it moved when I was as overwhelmed with work, but I didn’t like having this unfinished task hanging over me like some corporate sword of Damocles.

Impending doom aside, it was probably better that Amina had cancelled—postponed. I hadn’t had the time to figure out what it was I wanted to talk about in our meeting. Lately, the more that I thought about it, about my future with the firm and what that could look like, the more I found myself lost in the past, in memories of how it’d felt when I’d first joined the firm.

There’d been no great sense of accomplishment when I got the call offering me a spot on the training programme. All I’d felt when I hung up was a resolute kind of urgency and determination for what came next. And that sense of urgency had been my constant companion for as long as I could remember. I don’t even know what my life would look or feel like without it… Maybe like waking up in the middle of a holiday, knowing that there was nothing planned, and I could just lie in bed and breathe and that would be enough.

The idea was laughable, and my chest tightened in awareness as I looked over at Aiden, who I knew was still waiting for an answer as I churned through my thoughts. I shook my head. I doubted he wanted to hear about how I’d built a career chasing a daydream and the idea of a feeling. So, instead I told him, ‘It was fine,’ and then in response to his furrowed brow, ‘It was busy.’

Aiden nodded, turning back to the road ahead of us.

‘How about yours?’

‘Busy as well,’ he said with a heavy sigh, offering me no more or less than I had. Casting an eye over him, I looked a little more intently this time. I’d noticed the slight blue smudging around his eyes back in the lobby, but it was here in the growing darkness that I could see that there was something a little off about his frame, a slight curve to his shoulders, as if whatever he’d been shouldering for the past week had taken its toll.

‘You do look tired.’ No sooner had the words transformed into a foggy breath in front of me than I wanted to suck them back into my mouth. ‘Not that you don’t look good,’ I blurted out, trying to backtrack out of less insulting territory. ‘Because you do. Look good, that is.’ I felt my cheeks warm as my anxious back-peddling turned into pure word vomit. ‘It would take a lot more than a few late nights to have you look anything less than amazing.’ I nodded to myself. ‘Like COVID… or food poisoning.’ The corner of Aiden’s mouth tipped up into a smirk. ‘But even then,’ I assured him, ‘I’m sure you’d still look great.’

My heart hammered in my chest, and I sent a silent plea to my stupid boots—praying that, just this once, they’d have my back. If ever there was a time to trip and fall into oncoming traffic, this would be it. I felt a hand on my elbow, a gentle tug acting against the momentum my embarrassed strides had set in motion.

‘Cupcake,’ came an amused voice from behind me. ‘We’re here.’

Aiden let go of my elbow, his fingers slipping down my forearm and intertwining with mine, stepping ahead of me to forge a path through the crowd and towards a booth near the back. I’d been able to duck my chin and avoid the eyes I felt on us.

‘Ready?’ His murmured question pulled my gaze up from where it had been focused on the floor—too worried about tripping again to allow myself to do more than focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

‘Uhm.’ I swallowed, my eyes darting around the room as apprehension spread like ice across my chest. ‘I don’t think I’ll be very good at this.’

‘The quiz?’ I nodded. ‘That’s okay,’ Aiden said, his features softening into a smile, picking up on the hint of panic that coloured my words as he squeezed my hand. ‘They just wanted to hang out with you again, and regardless of what Susan says,’ he smirked, ‘it’s all in good fun.’

‘Okay.’ My shoulders sagged in relief and Aiden let out a low chuckle, raising our entwined fingers to his mouth, halting their trajectory just millimetres away from his lips. My eyes widened, my gaze seeking as I looked up into pools of molten brown. My fingers were so close to his lips that I felt the moment his breath caught, but I couldn’t look away. My lips parted and his gaze flicked down to my mouth. But before either of us could move, Susan’s throaty call carried across the room.

‘Over here, lovebirds!’ My skin heated, any of the tightness in my chest loosened by the warmth of Aiden’s gaze. I barely even noticed the few tables who’d turned to look in our direction, keeping my eyes fixed on Aiden’s back as he led us over to Susan.

‘Hi!’ Susan smiled, pushing past Aiden and pulling me into another hug.

‘Hi.’ I patted her back awkwardly, trying—and failing—not to question the double-hug’s intentions.

‘Enough, Babe,’ Susan’s boyfriend said softly, ‘let’s not scare her off.’

‘Please,’ Susan scoffed, releasing her hold just enough to lean back and roll her eyes. ‘If anyone were going to scare her off, it’d be Aiden.’

‘Not yet,’ came a low voice from behind me and I didn’t have to turn my head to know that Aiden was now standing very close to me. The intensity of his peppery-scented cologne was enough of a sign.

‘Fair enough.’ Susan shrugged, shooting a smirk at Aiden over my shoulder. ‘I’ll get drinks—Charlotte?’ Her pale-blue eyes focused on me, but Aiden spoke up before I could answer.

‘Old Fashioned?’ he asked as he pushed my coat from my shoulders, folding it into a neat bundle and setting it on the table before working to undo his own.

I nodded at Susan and watched her leave, something in my stomach fluttering. It had been my cocktail of choice at the wedding and I’d got into a heavy debate with Louise over the appeal of whisky over gin, but I hadn’t even known he’d been listening—let alone paying attention.

‘Don’t let the smile fool you,’ Aiden teased, turning to follow the direction of my gaze. ‘She’s all unicorns and rainbows until her eyes land on the quiz master—then no one is safe.’ Susan. I blinked. Right.

‘Smack talking already, Walsh?’ Susan rasped, reaching past us and setting two drinks down on the table.

‘Wouldn’t dream of it, Ellis,’ Aiden returned, gesturing for me to take a seat. There was something so captivating about watching Aiden’s interactions with his friends, how he lowered the walls he seemed to hide behind when it was just the two of us. With a shy smile, and a mental apology to Julie Andrews, I slid across the seat and into the booth.

Aiden sat beside me, slipping an arm around my waist and pulling me closer to his side, closing the distance between us. My head jerked up to look at him. I couldn’t help it. I hadn’t expected to be shimmied across the bench like a typewriter platen. Aiden leaned forward, lowering his mouth to my ear and whispering quietly, ‘Susan’s boyfriend’s name is Gabriel—Gabe.’

I felt my body soften into his side. I’d remembered, but it was sweet of him to offer the reminder and allowed me the opportunity to revel in his closeness. I felt his smile against my cheek and looked across the table to where Susan was watching us, a knowing smirk on her face and not even pretending that she wasn’t staring.

‘And Cupcake,’ Aiden murmured, his breath caressing my neck. My pulse quickened as his lips brushed the shell of my ear. ‘You might want to straighten your skirt a little.’ With that, he leant back in his seat, a smile twisting his lips as I hastily tugged at my skirt which, post shimmy, had ridden up my thighs.

Aiden reached forward, ignoring the heat in my cheeks, and pulled our drinks towards us. I leant back into the pleather backing of the booth’s seat, reaching for my frosted glass and praying the icy cocktail would neutralise the heat in my face. The cool liquid spilled across my tongue, calming the flush of my cheeks. I was almost back to normal when I felt Aiden shift in his seat beside me, opening his legs and pressing his thigh against mine. I swallowed, lowering my gaze in time to see his hand move to rest on my thigh, the heat from his fingers searing through the thin material of my stockings. The cooling effect of the cocktail was immediately undone as a molten heat spread across my skin.

‘I should probably warn you,’ I choked out, forcing my attention away from the sensation of Aiden’s fingers on my thigh and towards the couple across the table. ‘I’ve never done one of these before.’ I took another sip of my drink—more of a gulp, really—to lubricate my now dry throat.

‘What?’ Susan looked over at Aiden, incredulity etched across her features. ‘How is that possible?’

‘I’m not sure,’ I replied, a little sheepishly. But the slow circling of Aiden’s thumb over the skin of my thigh was enough of a distraction to overwhelm any potential embarrassment.

‘Well,’ Gabriel said, smiling reassuringly, ‘you’re in for a treat.’

‘Oh, absolutely!’ Susan nodded excitedly. ‘It’s so much fun.’

‘Yeah.’ Gabriel shot a meaningful look in Susan’s direction. ‘It’s all in good fun. No pressure.’

‘Of course there’s not,’ Susan scoffed. ‘There’s no pressure when you know you’re gonna win.’

Gabriel let out a low groan and covered his face with his hands.