Chapter 27
HARRISON
I stood in front of Aurelia’s espresso machine, staring at it like it was an alien life form.
There were buttons everywhere, a little screen blinking at me, and steam hissing in a way that seemed vaguely threatening.
It’d been at least ten minutes, and in that time, the only thing I’d learned was that I had no idea how to make a proper cup of coffee with this thing.
Just as I was about to admit defeat, my phone buzzed on the counter. I snatched it up, my heart jumping when I saw it was Jameson.
“Hey,” he said, his voice bright over the line. Some of the tension deep within me eased. If he sounded happy, everyone was fine. “Congratulations are in order, Uncle Harrison. Claire has been born and she’s perfect.”
I felt my chest tighten, a smile spreading without me even meaning for it to happen. “That’s great. Is Laney okay?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Sterling was grinning like a fool earlier. They’re all fine. Sadie and I thought we might hold off on visiting for a few hours. We want to give them a bit of time to settle in and recover.”
I ran a hand through my hair, trying to process the news while also glancing at the machine again, wondering where the hell the instruction manual was. “What time are you guys going?”
“Around eleven,” Jameson replied. “Are you coming?”
I hesitated, thinking about Aurelia. She was still fast asleep, her blonde hair fanned across the pillow and her lips slightly parted in a way that had made me want to crawl back into bed, but I knew I had to see Laney, Sterling, and Claire too.
“Yeah,” I said finally. “We’ll go together. I’ll meet you there.”
After he hung up, I set the phone back down on the counter and turned back to the espresso machine. I’d never faced such an aggressively complicated contraption, but I jabbed at a few more buttons, still hoping something would miraculously happen when the phone buzzed again.
I picked it up, assuming it was Jameson again because he’d forgotten to lecture me about bringing a gift, or maybe Callum, calling to let me know about the birth.
I didn’t even glance at the screen, too busy scowling at the godforsaken machine that seemed to be intent on withholding caffeine from us this morning.
“Hello?”
“Who is this?” a sharp, startled, feminine voice said at the other end of the line.
I frowned. “Uh, this is Harrison. You called me, remember? Who is this?”
There was a beat of silence. “I didn’t call you. This is Regina Van Alen and I called my daughter. Why are you answering her phone first thing in the morning?”
On instinct, I pulled the phone away from my ear, but yep. This wasn’t mine. It was Aurelia’s. Mine was still lying where I’d put it down on the other side of the coffee machine.
I chuckled to keep my rising panic in check. “Sorry, Mrs. Van Alen. I didn’t realize. Aurelia’s phone was on the counter next to mine. It was just a mix-up. She’s, uh, she’s still asleep. The phone rang and I just answered it.”
“Well, I suppose that’s practical,” she said, suspicion still tightening her voice. “Harrison. Are you Harrison…Westwood?”
“Uh, yeah?”
She let out a little laugh that made my panic ease. Outside of the initial mix-up, she didn’t seem surprised that I was with her daughter first thing in the morning. Aurelia had spent a lot of time with her this week, though.
I assumed she’d told her.
“Would you like me to give her a message from you?” I asked, then, for the sake of starting to build a relationship with her, I added, “I’m really looking forward to the Christmas Ball.
Aurelia’s told me all about how hard you’ve been working on the arrangements.
We’d sure appreciate your input with the wedding planning.
I, for one, don’t even know where to start. ”
There was another pause, and she hummed with excitement. “The wedding planning. Of course. Tell me, Harrison, does your mother know yet?”
“Yes, she does,” I said, surprised to hear a brief, almost gleeful chuckle at the other end of the line.
“Very well, dear. You don’t need to give Aurelia a message from me, but have her call me when she wakes up.”
“I’ll do that. See you at the ball, Mrs. Van Alen.”
“Yes, we will.” She hung up, but I held the phone for another moment as I processed the fact that I’d just survived my first actual conversation with Aurelia’s mother.
My gaze swept across the espresso machine again when I sagged against the counter, and I realized then that some battles were unavoidable. But others, like the one I was having with this machine, weren’t worth the war.
Abandoning my efforts, I retreated to the bedroom, walking in just as Aurelia started stirring. She sat up in bed, her hair tousled and the sheets held to her chest, her eyes blinking with that half-asleep wariness that momentarily made me nervous about the fallout from last night.
“I fought bravely,” I said, keeping my voice soft in the darkness of her room. We hadn’t even drawn the curtains open yet. “Unfortunately, I lost the battle against your coffee machine. It’s a hopeless cause. I’m fairly certain it’s an alien life form.”
She waved me off with a lazy hand. Pulling the sheets with her, she climbed out of bed and reached for her robe. Slipping into it without flashing me any of her sensitive bits, she gave me a sleepy, half-smile when she turned to face me again, those blue eyes still soft as she looked at me.
“Also,” I added as something of an afterthought, mostly to distract myself from the knowledge that she was naked under that robe. “I might’ve just put us in a bit of an awkward position with your mother. She called and I answered, thinking your phone was mine.”
She chuckled, the sound still husky with sleep as she came toward me. “It’s fine. Come on. I’ll make the coffee. You tell me how bad it is.”
I followed her back to the kitchen, taking in the early morning sunlight spilling across the gleaming hardwood floors of her apartment.
Her place was fucking stunning. The more I saw of it, the more I liked it.
Everything was sleek and tasteful, with just the right balance between simplicity and cozy warmth.
On the other hand, she was definitely the most stunning thing in it. Aurelia seemed to be one of those people who woke up looking casually beautiful, somehow moving with graceful ease even though she’d only just opened her eyes.
“Okay,” she said once she’d pressed a few of the buttons on the machine. Miraculously, I heard the telltale whir of it actually doing something. “What did my mom say?”
“Uh, she wants you to call her? You have told we’re engaged, right?”
“No,” she said simply, her ring catching the light as she reached for two mugs from the exposed shelf above the stupid machine. “Did you?”
“Maybe.” I winced. “She wasn’t surprised when she found out the guy who’d answered your phone was me, so I assumed she knew. I might’ve said something about wedding planning.”
Aurelia surprised me when she chuckled lightly instead of exploding on me over accidentally telling her parents she was engaged. “Don’t worry about it. I’m actually really glad it’s out of the way. Besides, we weren’t going to be able to keep her out of the wedding planning anyway.”
“You’re not pissed at me?”
“Nope.” She finally finished busying herself with the coffee and cocked a hip against the counter, turning to me as she tightened the white silk belt of her robe.
“Honestly, I’m happy they know now and that I wasn’t the one who had to tell them.
Maybe that makes me a coward, but our relationship is complicated.
I’m sure they didn’t mind finding out from my rich and powerful fiancé instead of from their daughter. ”
My eyebrows swept up. “That seems wrong. What makes you think that?”
She shrugged. “My parents have always seen me as this perfect little beauty queen. Don’t get me wrong, they love me and I love them, but I’ve never acted like the daughter they wanted.”
“In what way?” I frowned. “You’re awesome. Why would they have wanted anything different?”
“A challenging, purposeful career was never part of their plan for me.” Steam started curling from the machine and the bitter scent of fresh espresso filled the air a moment before the machine started spitting into the mugs.
“They always assumed I was just doing it to pass the time and that eventually I would settle down. Find a husband. Make some babies. Join a few charities and live happily ever after.”
“Fit into their perfect little world,” I echoed what I’d heard Sadie talking about so many times. “Yeah, I’ve heard that can be a bitch.”
As I looked at her, I wondered how it was possible that her family couldn’t understand what made her tick or how much fire she carried beneath that polished exterior. She smiled at me, shrugging as she turned to slide a mug out of the slot and handed it over to me.
“No one ever said life was going to be easy.” She slid her mug out next and wrapped her fingers around it. “Besides, I can take it. I was just tired of having to stare it in the face every day, so I quit.”
“What about now?” I asked. “Technically, you’re settled now.”
“Exactly.” A slow smile curved her lips. “My mother would be ecstatic. I wonder what she would say if she found out that even my impending marriage was just a business arrangement.”
Her eyes sparkled as she caught my gaze and I laughed quietly. “Last night didn’t really feel like business.”
She raised an eyebrow at me, her smile turning into a mischievous grin. “Oh? Well, that’s a pity. I was hoping to schedule another meeting with you tonight if you’re available.”
I chuckled. “Careful. I might have to start charging for all this overtime.”
She laughed, the sound bright and melodic, and leaned closer to me, flashing me a hint of cleavage as the top of her robe slipped open just a little bit. “I’ll consider it, but only if you promise to behave as my CEO.”
The sexual tension returned instantly, playful, but thicker and heavier than before. It was also undeniably real. I felt my chest tighten, my pulse spike. “I’ll behave.”
I wasn’t entirely sure that was true. As I took a sip of my coffee in an attempt to calm my body, I caught sight of the clock on the wall behind her. “Shit. I need to get going soon. The baby was born.”
She nearly choked on her coffee. “What?”
“Yep. Laney and Claire are both doing well, and apparently, Sterling is smug as hell. I’m meeting Jameson and Sadie at the hospital around eleven. Do you want to come with me?”
“Of course.” She froze for a second, then laughed. “Well, this changes my plans for the day. We need to get dressed and go shopping. We’ll need flowers, gifts, and balloons. The whole congratulatory parade.”
“Uh, we do? I figured we can just buy a stuffed animal from the hospital gift shop and call it a day.”
“No, sir.” She smirked at me. “Get your suit on, Mr. Westwood. We’re going shopping and not at the hospital gift shop.”
I followed her lead, feeling like everything was falling into place. Aurelia and I were finally giving into the attraction that had been brewing between us, our parents knew about our engagement, and she was fitting into my family like she’d been born to be a Westwood.
It all felt so easy that I grinned on my way to her bedroom. Marrying a friend was the best idea I’d ever had.
This is going to be a breeze.
Of course, I should have known better. Like she’d said, no one had ever said that life would be easy, and I definitely hadn’t been prepared for just how hard it was about to become.