Page 28 of The Expiration Date

Act normal, Haley. Act like it doesn’t affect your body in ways you haven’t felt in a long time. For goodness sakes, you’ve been around this man for the past three years. His presence shouldn’t make you melt into an absolute puddle.

Then why oh why is that happening at this very moment?

I clear my throat and walk over to the bed to grab my phone. “You look…decent.”

Behind me, I hear Aidan huff out a small laugh and walk over to me. He stops right behind me, so close that goosebumps sprout up my arms. A visceral reaction. Yet he never laid his hands on me. What the hell is going on with my body?

“Well you look decent too, Hales.” The way he said “decent” should be illegal.

I turn around to face him.

His electric eyes pierce mine and he continues, “Every man, married or otherwise, is going to be kicking themselves in the ass for not locking it down with you once they see you walk out on that lawn.” His eyes ferally survey my entire body, head all the way down to my toes, ending their journey back at my eyes. “Good thing you’re taken.”

Why does he keep talking to me like this? If it’s to make me even more nervous than I already am, he’s doing an excellent job.

I move around him and open the bedroom door. “Yeah, good thing. C’mon, I don’t want to be late.”

We walk onto the beautifully landscaped and decorated backyard. If I thought I had butterflies before, these new ones in my stomach are raging and not going away. I want to throw up. I seriously haven’t seen the majority of these people since one of our friends from college got married. When I was still engaged.

A waiter comes around with tall flutes of champagne. I grab one and immediately down the entire glass. The bubbles harshly crawl down my throat. This is why I absolutely loathe champagne. A fact that I need to ignore tonight, especially if I want to survive the whispers, stares, and inevitable encounter with my ex and the woman who stole him from me. I grab another flute, and so does Aidan.

“Thanks, man,” he says to the waiter, who finally recognizes Aidan in all of his glory. The waiter backs away, mesmerized, almost running into another waiter in the process.

I lean over to Aidan. “Geez, if that’s how a male waiter reacts to you, I can’t imagine what all the women are going to do.” I take just a sip of the champagne this time. Chugging champagne was a dumb idea. Almost as dumb as fake-dating my boss.

“I think he was reacting that way because of you and that dress, Swann.” Aidan takes a sip and winks at me.

I snorted. “Yeah right. You’re sweet for saying so.” Do I actually look that good for Aidan to keep mentioning it? I’m going to text Rachel in a little bit to thank her for pushing me to get a dress I wouldn’t normally pick out. It’s amazing how a piece of clothing can elicit reactions from people. I just wasn’t expecting this dress to elicit any reaction from Aidan. He is a great actor because his compliments seem legitimately genuine.

We walk around and are greeted by a plethora of people from my past. All gawking at Aidan, while also saying how good it is to see me. One of my old classmates, Krystal, who has always been a little clueless and impervious to reading social situations, even has the gall to ask, “How are you doing? Have you seen Robert yet? I can’t even imagine how you must be feeling, being here after everything that happened.”

My mouth turns dry even though I’ve been drinking water after my second glass of champagne. I will get more later at dinner. I needed to take the edge off, but I don’t want to be drunk for this event. This is about Anna, not about me. And that’s what people don’t understand when they ask me these types of questions. I mean, I don’t mind talking about it behind closed doors with Anna, my mom or even Aidan, but I don’t want what happened between me and Robert to be a topic of conversation at my best friend’s wedding.

I purse my lips and I feel a little tug on my right hip from Aidan. He must’ve felt my body tense up at the mention of my own personal Voldemort.

Aidan pipes up, “You know what, I’m sorry–what was your name again, Krissa?”

“Krystal…with a K,” she corrects Aidan, while also batting her fake eyelashes in his direction and standing up straighter to make her cleavage become even more prominent in her deep V-neck dress.

“Krystal, that’s right. Would you mind terribly if I steal my girlfriend away for a little bit. There are a few more people that she wants to introduce me to– right, babe?”

I nod. “Yes…babe.” Bleh that sounded weird for me to say to Aidan Stone. But here I am saying babe. “I’ll talk to you later, Krystal.”

Aidan grabs my hand tightly and leads me to the other end of the lawn, away from the inquirer. I knew people were going to ask, but I still wasn’t ready for it.

“Thanks, Aidan.”

“Well I could sense that you were uncomfortable with the topic, and I don’t like seeing you uncomfortable.”

I smile, even though on the inside I am screaming. Why did the universe send me the sweetest man on the planet as a boss? The more I get to know Aidan and spend time with him, the more I am finding that he is my comfort. And that terrifies me.

“Um, are you going to be okay on your own? I need to run to the ladies’ room. All that champagne and water running through me.” Oh my god, Haley!! Did you really have to disclose that information? You could’ve just left it at “ladies’ room.” But nooooo, you have to be Awkward Haley.

“I’ll be fine,” Aidan assures me. “Don’t worry about me.”

“But what if…”

Before I can finish my thought, he does something completely unexpected: he grabs the side of my cheek with one of his large hands and kisses my forehead. Then looks at me with those ridiculously precarious pools that are his eyes and says, “I’ll be fine, Hales. I’m a big boy and I can handle myself.” He grins. “Now go pee.”

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