30. Aiden #2
“Tell him I’m working from home today—in case he’s worried. I’m not slacking just because he’s holed up in New York,” Liddy said.
Aiden pulled on a pair of boxer briefs, scrambling to think.
He didn’t want to outright lie to Callum, but what could he say?
He was supposed to be in New York. He’d told Lola he couldn’t meet again until late this afternoon just to make sure he had the morning with Isla.
Liddy knew how important the acquisition was.
His dropping everything to come to the middle of Tennessee to check on a production that didn’t need him present would make no sense.
“I haven’t seen her,” he said at last, a stab of guilt going through him. The words came out too smoothly. Too practiced. And they didn’t just taste like betrayal. They tasted like cowardice.
He’s going to hate me for this if he ever finds out.
“That’s it. I’m calling her to find out where she is. You can be at the airport in an hour, babe,” Liddy said in a determined tone.
“No, I don’t think that’s necessary, I can?—”
Isla’s mobile rang loudly from the other side of the bed.
Fuck!
Aiden dove for it, scrambling to silence it, heart pounding.
Then he whirled back toward his own mobile, which lay face-up on the bed. He whisked it up, turning the speaker off.
The door to the bathroom opened, and Isla stepped out, a towel wrapped tightly around her. “Was that my ph?—”
Aiden lifted a finger to his lips in desperation to silence her, then turned back to the mobile.
Please don’t have heard that. Please.
“Went to voicemail,” Liddy said.
“Callum?” he managed, his throat feeling strangled.
Silence.
“What are you doing?” Liddy asked Callum, a tone of surprise in her voice. “Why’d you take my phone?”
Then Isla’s phone rang once again.
Aiden’s eyes flew to Isla’s. He held a hand out to her, then hit the mute button on his mobile. “It’s Callum. He heard your phone ring beside me.”
“Oh my God,” she gasped, eyes flaring with worry.
“Aiden?” Callum’s tone was measured. Deadly calm. “Is Isla there with you?”
What the fuck was he supposed to do here?
He wanted to tell Callum, not have him find out like this.
Unmuting his mobile and putting the speaker on once again so Isla could hear, Aiden drew a deep breath.
“What in the hell is going on?”
Isla bolted toward him, then snatched the mobile out of his hands. “All right. Stop. Yes, I’m hanging out with Aiden for breakfast this morning.”
Oh, bloody hell. This just keeps getting worse.
Lying about things wouldn’t help.
“Really? Then why did Aiden say he had no idea what you might be up to? And why the fuck is Aiden wherever the hell you are rather than in New York?” The questions came out as furious demands.
“Because I saw you calling, and I told him I wasn’t ready to talk to you,” Isla said calmly, sitting on the edge of the bed and hugging the towel to her chest. Her poise, given the situation, was incredible, which Aiden imagined had to do with her acting skills.
Her answer silenced Callum for a moment.
Aiden finished dressing, watching her with caution. Isla didn’t look at him, her gaze firmly fixed on her free hand.
“Isn’t it six thirty in the morning there?” Callum asked at last.
“Yes, but call’s at seven. Look, Cal, the truth is that I’m still pretty angry with the way you went over my head and interfered with Tomas.
You had no right to go digging up an old boyfriend or to interfere with my production in any way.
If I had ever done anything like this to your professional life, you would have been justifiably furious with me. ”
“I told him all this, by the way,” Liddy sang in the background.
“Isla, look, I don’t know how else to apologize. You’re right; I shouldn’t have interfered. I freely admit that I was in the wrong, and if I could go back and do it all again, I wouldn’t repeat that mistake. But how long are you going to continue to hold on to that?”
Isla sighed. “It’s not that easy when I’m the one who has to pretend I’m my ex’s girlfriend for several days. Each time I work, it’s just another reminder of how little you trust in my decisions. I’m fully capable of choosing what’s best for me—and for our family—without your permission, Callum.”
Aiden sank into a chair opposite the bed and leaned forward, clasping his hands.
She was right, of course. And if they weren’t hiding something massively more important, Isla was justified in making Callum grovel.
But now? This would just be another fissure in an already strained relationship.
And I feel so much worse because of my part in all this.
“I’m sorry,” Callum said at last. “I won’t ever interfere like that again, I promise. Am I still picking you up from the airport on Wednesday?”
“I’d like that,” Isla said. “I’m still going to be there.”
“Good. Hand me back to Aiden, will you?”
Isla gave him a smile that spoke of relief and brought the mobile back to Aiden. Aiden took it, his stomach clenched in a tight knot, and turned the speaker off. “Yes?”
“Sorry, mate. I didn’t mean to get testy. I know I asked you to watch over Isla. I just want everything to be settled by the party, you know? No lingering stress.”
“It’s fine,” Aiden said, the words settling in his gut like rocks. “I’ll see you in a few days.” He hung up, staring at the mobile. “We have to tell him.”
“I know,” Isla said in a quiet voice.
“He’s not going to forgive me. Not after that.” A simple truth. He wasn’t trying to hurt Isla—she’d made the decision to deepen the deception, and the fact was that he’d already decided before this that his loyalty lie with her. He’d made that decision when he’d agreed to be with her.
Isla released a slow exhale, then met his gaze. “I couldn’t tell him, Aiden. Not like this. He won’t understand or realize how much I care about you. He won’t think of this as anything but the two of us fooling around behind his back.”
“Then what is this, Isla? Because we talked about not having a plan, taking this day by day, which is the definition of fooling around, really. But I’m falling in love with you in ways I didn’t think were possible.”
Isla held his gaze for a few beats longer, her gaze unreadable, then stood abruptly. “I can’t talk about this right now, I have to get ready for call.”
She dressed quickly, and Aiden watched her in silence, unable to form the right words.
He didn’t want to demand anything from her because she’d said she didn’t want commitment.
Maybe that was what had even drawn her to him. But we’re married. Legally. And maybe, in his heart, that was what he wanted.
But this situation was spinning wildly out of control, threatening every important aspect of his life. He felt like a man standing on a frozen lake, cracks spidering beneath his feet—and no clue when the ice would give way.
It would. The ice would give way.
He couldn’t stop it.
But when it did—would he lose her, too?