29. Isla
ISLA
Leave it to Aiden to get the nicest room in the hotel where the production crew was staying.
Isla hesitated at the door to his suite, hand gripping the backpack she’d packed as an overnight bag. After he’d driven them back, she’d gone to her room to shower and change, and packed some things to stay in his room with him.
Like she was showing up for sex, not for him. And she hated that.
The moment was gone, the energy of their playful banter and chemistry at the carnival no longer clouding her judgment.
Yet, wasn’t this exactly what she’d asked him not to do? Overthinking hadn’t gotten them anywhere so far.
She knocked before she could chicken out.
Aiden let her in, and she stepped through to the modestly sized room. Probably nothing like he was used to. He’d flown here in a private jet, after all. She grinned, setting her bag down. “Well, it’s no Vegas luxury suite,” she teased nervously. The bad joke didn’t help her feel any more at ease.
He gave her a curious look. “Is that what you want? Because Vegas is only a short flight away.”
“No,” she said, then looked around the room for a place to sit. A small seating area was just past the foyer. She moved past him and sat on the sofa. “I’m not sure what I’m doing here.”
His expression softened, and he sat beside her. “If you weren’t filming tomorrow, I’d whisk you away to France tonight—take you to the original Paris. Spend the week with you there, doing whatever we want to do. No rules. No agenda.”
No agenda.
And...then, it all clicked.
“That sounds perfect,” she admitted, resting against him. She slipped her hand into his, feeling instantly grounded by his touch. “Better than anything I’ve done in...two years.”
Swallowing hard, she fought the wave of tears that threatened her.
Aiden’s hand tightened against hers. “What’s wrong?”
Isla blinked back tears. “Dammit.” She sniffed. “This is going to ruin my makeup.” Pulling away, she reached for a nearby tissue and tugged it free from the box.
He turned her to face him, searching her eyes. “Did I say something?—”
“Yes. But don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. Not really. I’m just so tired, Aiden. So tired of living on a schedule. Every single day of my life over the past few years has been filled with plans, places to be, a to-do list. It’s always what’s on the agenda. ”
She dabbed her lashes, not wanting to smudge the mascara she’d carefully applied before coming over. “When I left London almost two years ago to go to Elle and Quinn’s wedding, I never imagined that it would be for good.”
Hell, she’d been in the middle of auditions for a show. She’d gotten the part, only to turn it down.
“I appreciate what Callum did in buying La Hacienda— I really do—it’s just that I went from one extreme to another.
A life where I never knew what my next job would be, where I was barely scraping by, despite the wishes of my father.
Where I would wake up and do whatever the hell I wanted, free of responsibility. ”
She gulped a breath, appreciative of his watchful gaze. How silently he listened.
Then she said, “And, instantly, it was like...I grew up.” She gave a sad shrug.
“I know it sounds stupid, but every single day of my life since then has been relentlessly planned. It’s never what do I want to do today?
It’s always what do I have to do today? I’m tired, creatively spent, and I feel like I’ve hopped on a hamster wheel for a life I’m not even sure I want. ”
Aiden stood, then went over to the mini fridge and pulled out two small bottles of wine—the sort that came in four packs with screw tops. He uncapped them, then brought one to her. “It doesn’t sound stupid. I understand more than you might believe.”
She accepted the wine from him with a sad smile. “I know. I know you have it worse. I’m no CEO of a company I didn’t want.” With a shaky breath, she swallowed some white zinfandel. “Nice touch, by the way.”
He chuckled. “It was all I could find at the store nearby.” He sat beside her again. “But you’re wrong. You are the CEO of your company. Callum may be bankrolling the inn for you, but you’re the one on the ground doing the everyday work. It’s grueling, soul-sucking, and unending. I get it.”
Aiden took a sip and set the bottle down on the table beside him.
“The first few years I was at Camden Enterprises were more of an adjustment to me than any of my training in the army. I thew myself into it—much the same way you did—and found myself burned out and ready to set the place on fire after about a year.”
Isla frowned and scanned his eyes. She’d gotten the impression that they were in similar places in their lives—neither completely satisfied with their jobs.
But that didn’t really sound like it was the case for Aiden.
Or maybe she hadn’t been listening. He had felt like that. But didn’t now? “So, what stopped you?”
“Besides the fact that I didn’t want to serve a life sentence for arson?” Aiden drew a slow breath, and a muscle flexed in his jaw.
She didn’t get the feeling he talked about this much. If at all.
“Quitting would have been the same as failing. And I realized that if I failed, I’d rather fail trying than by quitting.
” Aiden leaned back against the seat, studying her.
“So I do understand, Isla. This isn’t my dream life.
It’s not the worst job in the world either.
The perks and money are nice—I’m not going to lie. It’s just all a bit empty. For me.”
“But you’re going to keep doing it, right? You won’t quit?”
He shook his head. “Not unless the board asks me to. Which, at the rate I’m going, who knows. That possibility always seems to loom over my head, real or imagined.”
She looked away, wrapping her hand around the bottle. “I think about quitting. Every day. But then it seems crazy because I don’t know what I’d be doing instead. And if I don’t want the inn, then what was the whole point of Callum saving it?”
“I think you discount the fact that maybe Callum didn’t entirely save it for you alone. He thought about your mum a good deal. Not to mention that he may not admit the fact that he needed it for himself, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t true.”
Talking about her brother brought another wave of guilt. Because Aiden did know Callum well. He was his friend. He might be able to give her better insight because of that—yet it felt wrong to be here, like they were forming a relationship that could supersede that.
Like she was stealing her brother’s friend away.
Ugh. Why is this all so complicated?
“I just can’t see myself living such a scheduled life forever.
I know it appeals to so many people, but it’s like poison to me.
Even my trip to Vegas—which was supposed to be fun—had been planned with every single thing scheduled.
I’m so tired of doing what’s expected. You know the only thing that’s unexpected in my life right now? You.”
He raised a brow. “So, I’m the pool boy?”
She wrinkled her nose, then climbed closer to him, straddling his lap to face him. “No, that’s not what I meant.”
His hands slid onto her thighs gently. “I’m not offended. People get together for all sorts of reasons. Boredom included.”
“So, I’m bored and you’re looking for meaning to your empty life?” She quirked a brow.
One hand smoothed around the curve of her ass, tugging her closer. “Could be. And if it is—what’s wrong with that?”
She set her arms around his neck. “Seems like we’d be risking an awful lot if it’s just about scratching those itches, Aiden.”
Aiden searched her eyes. “I never said it was just about that. Not for me, anyway. For me, it’s that you’ve consumed my every thought, Isla Scott.”
He kissed her forehead, and her eyes fluttered close, her throat tightening at his words.
His lips lowered to her eyelids, and he kissed one, then the other. “You’re the brightest spot in my life, yes, but not because there’s nothing else.”
With a deft but gentle touch, he lifted his hands to her face, cupping her head gently, his hands digging into the hair just behind her ears. “I’ve seen what else is out there, and nothing comes close to making me feel what I feel when I’m with you.”
She held his gaze, mesmerized, unable to speak, her body slowly coming alive at his every touch, with each soft kiss.
His mouth hovered near the corner of hers, lips grazing, nuzzling. “You’re my past and my present, and I want you to be in my future.”
A soft brush of his lips across hers, then he pulled back, searching her gaze. “So badly that I’m here, without a single fucking clue what I’m doing, because even if it means less sleep and more on my agenda , I’ll do whatever it takes to be with you in whatever way you’ll have me right now.”
She had to give it to him. Aiden had a way with words that made her completely want to melt into his arms. She kissed him, her heart speeding as she released a tiny moan because this was what she’d been dreaming of and denying herself.
The taste of him, the way his pliant lips sank against hers, molding, fitting perfectly to her own.
As though he’d been at the edge of his patience too, their kiss deepened instantly. He broke the kiss to tug her shirt from her body, then pulled his own away, and they came back together, a tangle of mouths and tongues and arms around each other.
Every inch of her burned for him, and she gasped for breath. “I want you,” she breathed, reaching back and unsnapping her bra. “Right now, Aiden. No more waiting.”
He swallowed hard as his eyes focused on her breasts.
Then his hands were there, cupping her firmly as his mouth skimmed her neck, then lowered to one nipple.
The feel of his mouth against her hardened her nipples to tight peaks, and she groaned, head dropping back as his tongue made a slow circle over her, then drew her nipple fully into his mouth.