“Why doesn’t Dayton help you? With the wedding?”
No no no no no. My eyes widen. “I, uh, um…”
“Oh! Would you?” Tessa turns to me, her eyes pleading. “It’s just until Mum and Aunt Carly get in tomorrow night.”
“I really have no idea what I’m doing with a wedding,” I admit. “I’d be in your way.”
“So? It’ll be good practice.”
I look at Aaron, my eyes even wider, but he just smirks. What. The. Fuck. No. No marriages. No nothing.
“Please!” Tessa takes my hands.
I meet everyone’s eyes in turns, finally resting on Tessa’s brown ones, and sigh in defeat. “Okay. I’ll do my best.”
“Thank you!” she squeals and hugs me again.
I pat her back with one hand and point in Aaron’s direction with the other. “Don’t get any ideas, buddy,” I warn him.
He smirks again.
***
I drop onto the velvet seat at a table in the bar. Never again. Never again am I helping anyone iron out wedding details.
Shit. Today makes me want anything but marriage. Not that the thought has crossed my mind, but still. From finalizing flowers to a last-minute buffet change and a meltdown over the fact that Tessa’s shoes still haven’t been delivered, I’m all wedding-ed out.
I rub my fingers against my temples and let out a long breath.
“Don’t tell her I said this, but there’s a reason we waited until now to fly over.” Carly sits next to me and places a glass of wine in front of me.
“When I get back, I’m going to string Tyler from a streetlight by a very private part of his anatomy.” I sip the wine. “I mean, she’s lovely, but wow.”
Carly smiles and pats my thigh. “Don’t worry, honey. I have it on good authority that you’ll barely be able to finish… Oh, never mind.”
A hand rests on my neck, and I turn, staring straight into Aaron’s face. “What are you doing here?”
He smiles slowly. “I’m coming to steal you.”
I raise an eyebrow. “What if I’m happy here?”
“Then I’m stealing you anyway.” He leans over the back of the chair and kisses Carly’s cheek. “Mom.”
“Son.” She beams at him. “Go on, Dayton. Tessa won’t mind.” She winks, and I shrug.
“If you’re sure?”
“Positive.”
I nod and finish the glass of wine. Aaron rolls his eyes, and I pause before putting my jacket on. “What? It’s rude to leave wine in a glass if you’re leaving.”
His lips curve slightly, and he wraps an arm around my waist. “See you at the wedding, Mom.”
Aaron leads us from the bar and straight into a waiting car.
“What are we doing?”
“You’ll see.” He takes my hand and rubs his thumb across my knuckles. I watch him as he brings our hands to his mouth and kisses my fingers one by one.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in a meeting?”
“Yes, I am. I canceled it.”
“Why?”
He cups the side of my face. “Because, beautiful woman, I missed you. I have all day tomorrow free, but I want you right now. The meeting wasn’t important, so it can wait. You can never wait, and it’s not an option for me where you’re concerned.”
I turn my face into his palm with a smile. Sometimes he says the right words in the right way and they warm my whole body. They give me a glimpse of the feelings he’s yet to say outright, and it’s comforting. It solidifies my reasoning for being here, for forgiving him, for staying in the place my heart cries so desperately for.
And now I have him to myself for just over a day.
“Did you miss me?” he asks, leaning into me.
“Tu me manques,” I whisper, kissing his wrist.
Aaron’s cheek is soft as he rests his face alongside mine and curls his fingers around the back of my neck. I breathe in his scent, woody and so very masculine. So distinctly him. It wraps around me in a cocooning blanket, making my heart pound and my blood rush through my veins in the most comforting way.
“I have a surprise for you.”
“I hate surprises,” I mutter.
“Not this one. I promise you’ll love it.”
The car stops, and he pulls me out after him. I stop him before he starts walking and bring my hands to his neck. I undo his tie, sliding the silk around his neck until it’s balled in my hand, and tuck it into my purse.
“You’re not working now.” I flick open his top button and brush my fingertips across his chest. “No tie.”
He smiles and kisses the end of my nose. “No tie. Come on, Bambi. I want to show you something.”
He links his fingers through mine and tugs me after him. I look around us, noting the River Thames to my left. A small gasp leaves me, and I pull my hand from Aaron’s, walking to the wall that separates the river and the embankment. I rest my arms on it and lean forward, looking down the river at the reflections in it in the night.
London is still buzzing with life at eight p.m. There are still bright slivers of white and yellow in the building opposite me, casting an eerie glow that’s so beautiful onto the water. The face of Big Ben is lit up like a beacon high above the buildings surrounding it.
“That’s the Houses of Parliament.” Aaron points at the building I was just looking at. “If you walk just down from it, you’ll be at Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lives. If you go in the other direction and walk a little, you’ll arrive at Buckingham Palace.”
I nod. “Tyler took me to see it. I wish we had more time to see everything else though. I’m kind of greedy. I want to see it all just in case I never get to come back.”
Aaron takes my hand. “I promise you. You’ll be back. More times than you can count.”
I smile and bring our clasped hands to my cheek. “Really?”
“I promised, didn’t I?” He half-grins and walks backward. “And we have all day tomorrow. We’ll start early and go wherever you want to go, okay?”
“Really? Anywhere?”
“Anywhere. But now, I want to show you it all.”
“All of London?”
He nods, and I raise my eyes to the majestic wheel behind him. The London Eye.
“Oh!”
His half grin becomes a full one. “Surprise.”
“It definitely is!” I cover my mouth with my hand as he leads me to it and we step into one of the clear pods. “Oh, I’ve always wanted to go on this.”