Page 68 of Between the Lines

“Chaos. What’s wrong?”

She grips my forearms and turns us abruptly, so I’m blocking her view. “Shit. I… nothing. Nothing’s wrong.”

I push back a tendril of her hair. She’s gone white. “Something’s wrong. What can I do?”

Her eyes flick from mine to something over my shoulder.Someoneover my shoulder.

“They’re walking past.” Her voice is a frantic murmur. “I need to hide.”

There’s only a split second to make the decision. She’s clinging to me, curving into me, like she wants to disappear entirely. And if she doesn’t want to be recognized…

I pull her tight and fit her mouth to mine.

CHAPTER 25

CHARLOTTE

Aiden kisses me.

My heart is already pounding out of my chest, and when his lips slant over mine, it skyrockets. His arm wraps around me and pulls me close. Like he can envelop me whole, if he only tries hard enough.

His other hand cups my face. Slides into my hair and musses it up.

What he’s doing is brilliant. No one can see my face when his is pressed against it.

He’s hiding me.

His lips are warm, and I slowly respond to his kiss, moving gently against his mouth. Languidly, I slide my hands up the luxurious fabric that covers his hard chest. He’s always been big, strong, and handsome. I’ve done my best to ignore that these past few weeks.

But it’s impossible to ignore when he’s touching me like this.

Each brush of his lips melts away my panic little by little. Like he’s searing it off, one stroke at a time, and I’m left boneless and heated.

I brush my tongue over his bottom lip.

Aiden groans against my mouth, and his tongue comes to meet mine. The sweet, sugary syrup that has spread through my limbs is replaced by a sudden flash of fire.

It races straight down my body. Makes my stomach tighten and my legs lock together.Oh.

His hand is on my lower back, and I feel it slide down, his fingers splaying before coming to a stop right above my ass.

“Fuck,” he mutters into my mouth. His lips move to my cheek, and he’s breathing hard.

I rest my forehead against his shoulder, hiding my face from view again. My heart is beating so fast, I hear it thundering in my ears.

Aiden locks his arms around my waist. Firm. Strong. A tree to lean on. Somewhere in the distance, music plays. It comes filtering back through the haze I’ve been in since I saw Blake standing mere feet away.

Right next to some actress who probably brought him as a date.

He’s still in the reality show business, after all. The latest season ofEndurance Islandjust started airing—produced by Titan Media—and he’s one of the stars.

Time had been kind to him, the way it is to most men. The twenty-four-year-old I’d fallen in love with onThe Gamble, has now been replaced by a thirty-four-year-old Brit with perfect teeth and a permanent Hollywood tan. He’d filled out, gained little lines on his forehead that make men in this business distinguished, and women so often “past their prime.”

I didn’t expect to see him here.

Had been so sure that no one would recognize me, that I hadn’t even thought I would bump into someone I know.

Aiden’s hand caresses my back. “Your heart is pounding,” he mutters against my ear. “Who did you see? Say the word, and I’ll have them killed.”

---