Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
AVERY
It was late by the time Aiden pulled up in front of The Cozy Maple Inn, the bed-and-breakfast we’d be staying at during our time in Vermont, and I couldn’t get out of the car fast enough.
I didn’t give more than a cursory glance at the ivy trailing up the brick exterior or the cobblestone path lit by old-fashioned lampposts or all the trees that surrounded the property in their varying shades of crimson, orange, and gold.
Instead, I closed my eyes and sucked in a lungful of air that, thankfully, wasn’t tinged with the spicy warmth of Aiden that I’d been inhaling for the past four hours straight.
I thought I’d be fine. I’d managed the entirety of my stay thus far with him just on the other side of a shared bathroom, all while being thrown together at every opportunity by my so-called best friend.
And also while working with him day after day, hearing that low, rumbling voice when he walked me through a task, or watching him roll up his sleeves midafternoon, carefully and methodically, his attention never leaving his laptop, and my attention never leaving him.
But being stuck in a closed-in box for hours on end tested my resolve in a way I hadn’t been prepared for.
Aiden had let me pick the music for the trip, and even my extensive playlist of every Taylor Swift song ever released didn’t help.
We hadn’t spoken for most of the ride, but the silence between us hadn’t been the comfortable kind.
Nope, this had been laced with the kind of sexual tension I loved to read about in books.
The kind that would normally have me squirming in my seat and inhaling the pages as fast as I could to get to the good parts.
Except in this version—in my very much real-life version—there would be no good parts. No release.
Because of me.
I’d drawn a very clear line in the sand that morning following our night together, and Aiden respected that boundary. A boundary I wasn’t even sure I needed to have anymore. Not after that encounter with Mabel. Not after he’d admitted exactly why he kept his secret. And I couldn’t blame him.
Which was a real mindfuck when my body was on high alert around him anyway.
Like now, when he stood with his hand hovering at the small of my back as he held the front door to the inn open for me. Just that barest touch—innocent for all intents and purposes—and I was ready to fold and beg him to fuck me all over again.
It was honestly a miracle I could control myself enough not to push up on my toes, press my nose into his neck, and lick him from collarbone to chin.
And just what kind of crazy-ass horny motherfucker daydreamed about licking someone’s neck, just to get the taste of it on their tongue?
This man had ruined me, though I’d known he would. From the second we’d met, I knew. What I didn’t know was just how much it would fuck with me. And how much it would have me questioning my preconceived notions.
Just as I was stepping past him, my resolve crumbling with every brush of my shoulder against his chest, my phone rang. I was so keyed up, I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound.
“Whoa.” He pressed his hand to the curve of my waist to steady me, his eyes concerned as he stared down at me. With a raised brow, he asked, “You okay?”
I cleared my throat and nodded in a spastic, jerky fashion that probably made me look like I’d just taken a hit of something. “Yeah, fine. Just, um, just let me check this.”
I pulled my phone from my bag, my mom’s contact image lighting up the screen.
We’d been playing phone tag for two weeks—it was one of the longest stretches I’d gone without talking to her, and I was desperate to.
Especially with everything going on with Aiden.
I could use her brand of advice right about now.
I held up my phone, turning the screen toward him. “It’s my mom. I’m just gonna take this really quick.” I jerked a thumb over my shoulder, indicating the bench just off the walkway.
He nodded, his gaze roaming my body in a quick once-over. Though the speed didn’t lessen my reaction to it whatsoever. “Take your time. I’ll go get us checked in.”
I watched him walk away, and I absolutely did not stare at the way those jeans hugged his ass or how that long-sleeved Henley stretched over him like a second skin, putting every flex and bunch of his muscles on display for my very horny perusal.
Blowing out a shaky breath, I shook my head and answered the call. “Hey, Mom.”
“Oh!” she said, sounding surprised. Like she hadn’t been the one who’d called me. “It’s you.”
“Did you mean to call your other daughter?”
She laughed, breathy and light. “No, I just mean I thought this was a replay of that time someone stole your phone and it ended up in Florida.”
“Why would you think that?”
“I got a notification that you were in Vermont, which is definitely not Rosewood.”
I could count on one hand the number of times my mom had checked in on me via the location-sharing app. It was and had always been more for my peace of mind than hers.
“But yet you didn’t call when it showed I was still in Starlight Cove…”
“Our cell service has been spotty here in Fiji, so the app hasn’t been working very well. And I’m—wait, did you say you were still in Starlight Cove?”
“Took you a minute, huh?”
“Oh, shut up, you. Stewart’s been keeping my champagne flute filled with Cristal all day. I’m a little tipsy. Now, quit dodging the question, missy.”
“Yes, I’m still in Starlight Cove. Well, not this very second, but generally speaking, yes.”
“What’re you still doing there?”
I leaned back against the bench and stared out at the front lawn of the bed-and-breakfast, the lampposts softly illuminating the leaves as they cascaded down from the trees. “I needed a temporary job. Addison offered me one.”
“Really? That’s great! And how fun that the two of you are together again! You better stay out of trouble, though. I’m not there to bail you out of jail.”
“That was you, Mom.”
“Oh. Right. Well, still. I’m glad you’ve got a friend close. Especially because Stewart’s asked me to accompany him for a few more weeks, so it turns out I won’t be home before Thanksgiving.”
“Really? Didn’t see that one coming.”
Her laughter rang over the line. “Oh, stop.”
“It’s fine, Mom.” And I meant that. I loved her more than anyone else in the world, but I’d learned a long time ago not to put too much stock in her plans until they were staring me in the face. “I hope you have fun.”
“I will. And maybe you’ll find a man to pass the time with while you’re there and have some fun of your own.”
I shifted on the bench, twirling a lock of hair around my finger. “Actually…”
“Actually?” she prompted, voice bright, and I could picture her—elbow on the table, chin propped in her hand, eyes wide. “Who is he? Where did you meet him? How’s the sex?”
“Oh my God.”
“What? No point in sticking around if it’s not good, honey. And don’t you fake it to save his pride. If he can’t find your clit, he deserves to hear nothing but silence coming from you.”
“I know, Mom. Play silent library until they figure it out. You’ve gone over this many, many times.” I closed my eyes on a laugh, dropping my head back on my shoulders as flashes of Aiden’s and my single night together flitted through my mind. “Believe me, that’s not an issue with this one.”
“But there is an issue…”
It wasn’t a question, and I wasn’t surprised she’d been able to suss that out, even over the phone.
“Kind of, yeah.”
“Well, let’s talk it out,” she said. “What’s going on?”
“You sure you have time?”
“Of course I have time! Stewart can wait. Now tell me what’s up.”
I blew out a heavy breath. “Okay, well, we met my first night in town, when Addison had to bail on dinner. I went to grab something to eat at the bar next to my hotel, and he was there. We clicked right away, you know?” At her knowing hum, I continued, “We had an amazing night together and then we went our separate ways, and I thought I’d never see him again. ”
“But?”
“But…it turns out he’s Addison’s brother, my new boss, and he lied to me that night.” I cringed because what he’d done hadn’t exactly been lying, even though it had felt that way when I’d found out the truth. “Kind of.”
“And we both know how you feel about lies.”
I sagged back against the bench. “Yeah.”
“You said kind of… What does that mean?”
“He didn’t lie exactly. He just…didn’t tell me the whole truth. It’s really a convoluted mess that I can’t tell you without really telling you, and that’s the problem. He wants me to keep it from everyone. Addison included.”
“And have you?”
“Yes.” I hadn’t allowed myself much time to think about the why of that.
Initially, I’d brushed it off as the fact that I just hadn’t had the opportunity to spill the secret.
It would be weird to randomly bring it up.
Oh hey, your brother is an erotic fantasy author, and he’s been lying to you about it for years.
I’ve also been lying by omission because we fucked like bunnies that night you stood me up, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Except I’d had the perfect opportunity earlier today.
I couldn’t have coordinated a better setup if I tried.
But then I’d seen his face, the fear and panic written all over it, and I couldn’t do it.
I couldn’t throw him under the bus when it was clear he wasn’t keeping this secret to himself to be malicious.
He was doing it to protect his family, not ruin it.
“You sound like someone kicked your puppy,” she said. “You know, it’s not the worst thing in the world to keep secrets. If they’re important or for someone who is.”
I hummed noncommittally but otherwise didn’t respond.
Secrets were what had torn our family apart—broken as it had been in the first place—and I knew that clouded my judgment on the subject.
It was hard to come at this from a neutral position when my stance on it since I was sixteen years old had been negative.