He studies me intensely. His tongue traces a path across his bottom lip, and my eyes flick there before I can stop them. He smirks.
“Mr. Stone?” a voice asks from behind the curtain.
“Yes?”
“Your father is asking for you, sir.”
“Tell him we’ll be there momentarily.”
“Of course.”
Aaron looks at me again and reaches a hand across the table. His fingers curl around mine, sending jolts up my arm. “Day, you don’t have to do this. You have a working name for a reason. I won’t ask you to jeopardize that for me.”
I slide my hand from his and stand, smoothing out my dress. “You hired me to do this job, and I’m going to do it. Besides, I can’t have you being eaten alive by the vultures, can I?”
His eyes light up when his smirk turns dangerously sexy. “Very true.”
He stands, and for the first time since I walked in the booth, I take note of how he looks. His black-and-white suit is perfectly tailored to the body that’s bulked out since I last saw it, the jacket stretching across broad shoulders and tucking in at his waist. Dark hair curls against the collar of his white shirt and frames his face perfectly.
Aaron Stone cuts a damn fine figure in that suit.
His hand rests on my lower back as he leads me toward the elevator, and boy am I glad I passed right on over the backless dress in my closet. I’m not sure I could deal with such intimate skin-on-skin contact with this man without being swamped by the past. God knows I can barely breathe through this as it is.
My back straightens a little more each minute his hand is resting there. I take a deep breath and remind myself to act as Mia would. I have to be Mia. I have to be unaffected yet believable.
The elevator doors open and Aaron closes them again. I look up at him, frowning.
“What are you doing?”
“Dayton.” He pushes some hair back from my face, looking at me almost tenderly.
I swipe his hand away. “Standing in an elevator isn’t going to change the fact I have a job to do, Aaron. Can we get on with this?”
He sighs, following it with a small smile. “Fine. But what do I tell my parents when they inevitably recognize the girl who stole me for the duration of our vacation seven years ago?”
Shit. I didn’t think of that. “You let me think of that.”
The doors open again and we walk toward the ballroom.
“Last chance,” he murmurs.
“Shut up and open the damn door for me.”
I hear his quiet laugh before he opens the door. Men in suits and women dressed in expensive dresses fill the buzzing room. A bar takes up one corner and tables line the walls, leaving the main floor free.
As I am standing here in the doorway, surrounded by Seattle’s elite, it’s so very easy to see why this is the top hotel in Seattle. This room reeks of money and class.
Aaron leads me inside, and almost immediately his parents appear in front of us. His mom looks the same as she did back then—perfect brown hair without a grey in sight and flawless skin any woman would be jealous of. Her blue eyes, the same as Aaron’s, survey me before widening slightly.
“Well I never. Dayton Black?” She places a hand on her chest.
I smile. “It’s lovely to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. Stone.”
“I don’t believe this is the little teenager who had our son performing disappearing acts for weeks on end.” Mr. Stone beams at me.
“I plead the Fifth. He acted of his own accord.” I return his smile and he laughs. He leans forward to kiss me on the cheek, Aaron’s mom doing the same.
“And none of this Mr. and Mrs. stuff. Brandon and Carly,” he insists. “Can we get you a drink?”
“A bottle of wine would be great, Dad,” Aaron answers.
“Aaron, darling, why didn’t you tell us you were bringing Dayton?” Carly questions him as we walk toward the bar.
“Yeah, about that,” he replies uncertainly. I try not to roll my eyes.
“We ran into each other a few weeks ago,” I cut in. “Completely by chance. I think both of us were really shocked, right, Aaron?”
He struggles to keep a straight face. “Right.”
“We’ve been out for drinks a couple of times. Catching up, you know? Then this afternoon he calls me out of the blue and tells me he needs a date for tonight. And well, how could I say no to this face?” I raise my eyebrows and brush my thumb across his jaw, giving him a fond smile.
“You didn’t say you’d seen her!” Carly taps his bicep.
“I wasn’t aware I was supposed to, Mom.”
“Well it would have been nice to know she was still in Seattle and you were back in contact.”
“We’ve only seen each other a few times.”
“Stop grilling him, Carly. He’s a grown man now. Let him have his secrets.” Brandon places a bottle of wine and four glasses in front of us then pours. “Well, it sure is a lovely surprise, Dayton. How are your parents?”
Be Mia. Be Mia. Be Mia.
“They, uh… They actually passed away five years ago.” I look down, feeling the same sting that always accompanies the mention of them. Aaron’s hand creeps across my back to my waist. He steps slightly closer to me and I take comfort in the gesture.
“I’m so sorry.” His dad takes my hand briefly. “That must have been terrible so young.”
I nod and take a deep breath. “Yes, but my aunt Leigh was there for me. I got through it eventually.”
Aaron squeezes me gently. “Mom, Dad, I think Mr. Warner is trying to get your attention.”
Carly turns. “Of course. Brandon.”
He steps up, she links her hand through his elbow, and they head in the direction of the guy who was waving at us.
I sigh deeply and sip my wine, using all the restraint I have. I doubt chugging would be acceptable.
“Thank you,” I say softly to Aaron.
“You’re welcome.” He stands in front of me, gazing down at me with his piercing eyes. “I didn’t know your parents passed.”
I smile wryly. “Yeah, well. It’s not exactly a conversation starter, is it?”
“I suppose not. How did they die?”
“Plane crash,” I say flatly. “They were flying back from New York. The plane had some technical difficulties and went down. No one survived.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why? You aren’t the reason they crashed.” My fingers flex around the stem of my glass.