Page 149 of Between the Lines

I read the note several times, lingering over each word in his sprawling handwriting. Then I crumbled it into a ball and threw it into my waste paper basket.

The past is easy to forget until it comes rearing its head again. And it did last night, rightin frontof him. Embarrassment still makes my head feel heavy.

I’m so stupid.

He knows now, and it doesn’t seem like he’s judging me… or he hides it very well. Maybe that’s it. We only have two weeks left until the first draft is due. Two weeks until I have to send it to Aiden and get his thoughts on it. And then it’s time for me to pack up my things and leave. Like with all of my ghostwriting gigs.

Maybe he’s counting on that to be the natural end to things between us.

That’s the nature of my job, after all. I stay for a few months, maybe half a year. Move on when the book is done. Add it to the others in my repertoire and then reinvent myself somewhere new.

Never stay long enough for people to figure out my past.

I failed this time.

I work outside again. I should be finishing his chapters, but instead, I’m writing the pitch I’ve been dabbling on for so long. Pages pour out of me. They’re rough. I still need to do research and talk to experts, but the words suddenly flow for the first time.

It feels too personal, though. I sit back after lunch, looking over what I’ve written, and wonder if it’s anything I could ever share with the world.

The city is bathed in bright, beckoning sunshine. I feel antsy. Like I can’t sit still, can’t stay here. I want to get into the car and drive into the hills. Maybe I should take a hike. Maybe I should go to the observatory again. Or that spot high up on Mulholland that Aiden loves.

He mentioned we could go to see his childhood home.

I call him.

He answers on the second ring. “Everything all right?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry to bother you.”

“You’re not.”

I tuck my phone against my shoulder and pull up Aiden’s schedule on my computer, the one Eric gave me access to all those weeks ago. “Are you free this afternoon? We could drive out to your family house. I feel like… I don’t know. Going somewhere. Moving.”

There’s a brief pause, and then a muffled sound across the line. I hear his voice. Faint, but audible. “I’ll need to sit this one out. Continue without me.”

“Aiden?” I ask. “Are you in a meeting?”

“Not anymore,” he says.

“You didn’t just walk out of one.”

“Okay. I won’t tell you that I did.” There’s a smile in his voice. “I’ll come pick you up. Half an hour okay?”

His calendar finally loads. There are meetings booked throughout the entire afternoon. “Yes, but... you’re busy! I just saw your schedule.”

“Nothing that can’t be moved.”

“Eric is going to kill you. Or me, actually,” I say.

Aiden scoffs. “Nonsense. He loves you. We can stay overnight at the house, if you want. Watch the sunset.”

“Okay. I’ll pack a bag.” I’m already closing my laptop. It’ll be a short trip, but it means being on the road again. Seeing new things. For years, that’s been the best way to soothe my anxiety.

Aiden picks me up right on time. His stubble is thicker today. Did he not shave this morning? Maybe he lingered in bed with me longer than he usually does. The thought makes my stomach flip over.

His hand slides up beneath my skirt, gripping my knee. “How are you?”

“Good. I’ve been working.”

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