5. Sweetheart
CHAPTER FIVE
sweetheart
LINNEA
It’s the night of the big augmented reality event for Aiden’s friend Mark’s gaming company.
The Elven forest stretches out in front of me; trees line the walls and cluster in the centre of the main room.
They continue through the long hallway and into the adjoining rooms, creating a vast dense forest for the AR gamers to enjoy.
I step through, checking my team’s work one last time before the doors open to the guests.
The details of the polyurethane bark and the silk leaves of the hanging birches make it lifelike. The leaves stir and rustle lightly when the air moves as I walk past.
But it’s the combination of the twinkling invisible-wire fairy lights and Olga’s idea of using Swarovski crystals throughout that gives it a subtle, shimmering, evening dew vibe.
My team can’t take full credit for this stunning scene, though.
The walls are covered in Rey’s murals. This whole fantasy world is her idea.
But our expertise in lighting, texture, and materials elevates it to a level beyond breathtaking.
Beyond luxurious. It’s … spectacular. I’m so proud of my team.
The space is dotted with hidden speakers for the soundscape of the forest. There are small calibration markers for the AR glasses to know where people will see whatever it is they’re interacting with—elves and talking animals, mostly.
It bothers my designer’s eye to see these small stickers, but the guests won’t notice.
“Hey,” a voice says from behind me and I turn to find Aiden and a couple of others. The tech crew, it appears, with their headphones and AR glasses at the ready.
“The team is ready to do the sound and visuals tests, are you happy with everything else?” Aiden meets my eye then cuts away. Hm.
“Yes, all good,” I say.
“Great.”
“Good luck with the event.” I nod goodbye and make my way down the long room, but Aiden flings out an arm in front of me. I lift my gaze to his to see what he wants. This is highly unusual for him.
“Uh, sorry, I… Do you want to stay?”
“I don’t have a costume. I’d stick out like a sore thumb.
” Maybe not too bad in my navy, sleeveless jumpsuit, but that’s the best excuse I could make up on the spot.
And there’s no way I’ll even consider being dressed up as a sexy elf in front of him.
Or anyone. Especially people Henry still works with.
“You can join the pre-event,” he adds. “I can introduce you to some investors.”
“Thank you, that’s nice of you to offer,” I say, considering it for a moment. “I really appreciate it, but…”
How much do I say? Henry was always the one doing the networking. All the schmoozing. Aiden’s investors will be Henry’s kind of guys. Not mine. Not residential, nor female. “I need to focus on my residential pivot.”
He blows out a breath. “Look, I need to—”
“Aiden, there you are,” a man’s voice comes from the entrance.
Sebastian Vincent.
I’ve seen him in the blog (and pretty much everywhere online, he’s hard to miss), but although he’s been around The Orion I’ve never spoken with him.
His other friend, the more private one, comes up behind him.
What’s his name again? He was involved in last year’s Hotel Fabiano renovation, if I remember correctly.
But he’s not been much in the blog or press like the others so I know nothing about him.
“Guys, have you met my Linnea?” Aiden gestures to me. “I mean, my designer?” He barks out a laugh, and it’s the strangest sound. What is going on with him?
He clears his throat. “Linnea, these are my friends and investors, Sebastian and Elliott.”
Ah, that’s his name.
“Pleasure,” Sebastian says with his infamous, little smirk.
“Nice to see you again,” Elliott says, and I return his smile, but am distracted by Aiden making a weird humming sound next to me. I glance at him and he’s tracing a thumb along his lower lip, staring into space.
“Likewise, Elliott. Nice to meet you, Sebastian,” I say and give them both a quick nod. “I’ll leave you guys to it.”
“No, wait, please,” Aiden says, holding out a hand again.
Seriously, what is happening today?
“Sorry. I need to talk to you. Guys, I’ll see you soon, okay? Just have a look around.” He turns to me, his brow knitting. “Can we go downstairs? I need a word.”
“Okay? Of course.”
Shit, is he going to fire me from the Grafton Street job? This hasn’t happened before. Fuck. I brush a hand over my hair, making sure my waves cover my ears, and walk out of the forest and through the wooden door.
Aiden stops behind me and turns to the guys. “Don’t touch anything.”
I walk down the carpeted stairwell, not sure where he wants me to go.
“Hey,” he says, stopping me with a hand on my bare upper arm. I glare at it and he removes it, muttering an apology. The heat from his skin lingers on mine, and goosebumps travel up my neck. I shake them off, focusing back on Aiden.
“What’s going on?” I ask. He’s two steps above me in the middle of the stairwell, making me crane my neck. And as if he senses the imbalance, he walks down past me, allowing me to look down on him for once.
He fidgets with his sleeves, pulling them as if they weren’t already perfectly in place. “I need a favour.”
I cock my head. It’s not what I expected.
“Okay?”
He drags a hand over his mouth and exhales. “I’m not sure how to explain this, but … I told you my mum’s been setting me up, right?”
I nod.
“Well, she tried again last night, a bit of a surprise attack. I didn’t want to go through another painful date, although she was perfectly nice…” He waves a hand while he babbles. Aiden is babbling. Gesticulating a lot more than usual.
I’ve never seen him act like this before.
Never thought him capable of anything but arrogance and confidence.
“So,” he continues, his eyes wide. “I ended up saying that I’m seeing someone to get out of it, and turns out it was a massive deal for my mum because she’s getting married and wants me to have a date.”
He’s practically breathless, letting his arms drop.
Is he okay?
I narrow my eyes at him. “I’m happy for your mum, but I’m missing the point where I have anything to do with this. Pardon my bluntness.”
“Yeah. Hmm.” He turns at the sound of someone talking from the reception area below. “Sorry, I realise we don’t have a lot of time. Can you come with me to my mother’s engagement party next weekend?”
I blink at him. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Just as a favour. Please?” He sucks in his lower lip.
“But why me? You could find someone who’s a proper date. Who actually likes you—like that, I mean.”
He winces. “Ouch, Linny,” he says, clutching his heart, but the corners of his mouth twitch up. “It’s actually perfect like that. Anyone I take to my mum’s engagement party might expect more…”
He presses his hands together, tapping his fingers on his chin. “Please?”
My breath catches and I blink at him. He’s begging. He seems desperate.
Maybe if I… No, I need to put myself first for once.
“You’re my client, Aiden. I’d look a right fool.”
He appears positively nauseous now, and I want to make it stop for him. Make him happy again.
“I sort of already told my mum that I’m seeing you.” He bites his lower lip again and his eyebrows curl up. He’s making puppy-dog eyes at me.
Oh, hell no.
He seemed genuinely desperate before, but I’m not falling for that. I’m not a fool.
I fold my arms across my chest.
“I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to find someone else. I don’t mix work and social life.”
“It’d be a fake date. A business arrangement, if you will.” He shrugs.
Of course…
It makes sense now. Linnea, the pitiful divorcée on the verge of losing her company, she’ll say yes to anything.
That emotion in his eyes, I can’t interpret it as anything but pity. It reminds me of Halloween.
Not. Thinking. About. It.
“No, I’m sorry. What will everyone assume when the only client I have is someone I’m also dating? It’s preposterous, Aiden,” I say, trying to keep my voice down, so I throw my hands up for impact.
He squeezes his eyes shut. “Shit. You’re right.”
“I don’t see how this is an arrangement that will help me in any way. It’ll hurt me more than it helps you.”
When he glances back up at me, there’s something in his expression I’ve not seen before. He looks lost. Helpless.
I hate how it pulls at my resolve.
“Why is it so important for you to have a date? Can’t you just say we broke up?”
Aiden sighs, rubbing his neck, his shirt straining around his muscles. He’s too close.
“My mum was so happy for me,” he says, his eyebrows curling up again and I struggle to tell if it’s real or fake. Maybe it’s an authentic expression I’ve never seen. He drops his arm. “I don’t want to break her heart.”
Oh. My eyes find his.
“You’d have to, eventually. You weren’t planning on fake moving in and fake marrying me, were you?” A laugh escapes me, realising how ridiculous it all sounds.
“I didn’t think that far.” He nibbles his lip, a sheepish grimace spreading across his face. “Not sure you’d like my flat, actually.”
“Oh, we’d definitely not live there where you’ve been with all your women on every surface.” I slap a hand over my mouth. “That was rude. I’m so sorry,” I say through my fingers.
Aiden’s eyes are wide, but he laughs and shakes his head. “You really need to stop reading that blog.”
He steps up one step, very close to me now, meeting my gaze straight on.
“Please think about what I could do to make it worth it for you. I really hate disappointing my mum.”
Is he offering to pay me? Of course, it’s what the helpless divorcée would respond to.
“You could just tell her the truth.”
Aiden chuckles and steps up another step, now right in front of me, almost a head taller than me. “I’ll find a way to avoid that,” he says, and it’s unclear whether he’s trying to charm me or intimidate me, but either way, it’s making my heart race.
“Pretty please?” he asks again, a grin so wide it makes my ears burn.
As suspected, instead of having a straightforward conversation with his mother, he takes the easy way.
Laughs it off. Nothing matters to him, it seems. His eyes are still on me, so I press my lips together.
I want to cross my arms again to show him my resolve, but he’s too close, so I tuck them into my jumpsuit pockets instead.
“Aiden,” a deep voice comes from above, and Sebastian’s tall, broad shape appears around the corner of the stairwell wall. “The investors are arriving.” He meets my eyes, and the side of his mouth twitches. “Apologies for interrupting your … conversation, but we need to go to the pre-event.”
“All done,” Aiden says. He looks back at me, not correcting whatever misconstrued view his friend has of this. “Right, sweetheart? See how easy it would be?”
I shake my head. He just called me sweetheart!
Cheeky fucker.
“Absolutely not,” I hiss, and that’s my final word.
I start down the last steps before he can say anything else, but when I turn back instinctively he’s still watching me, and he’s got that lost expression on his face again. Bloody hell, Aiden. He better have found a solution before I see him again next week.