Page 89 of I Knew You Were Trouble

‘Mm, yes, please,’ I hum, sliding into a chair next to Aidan, craning my neck towards the living room to see Paige’s bare feet sticking out from the end of the sofa, the two children mesmerised by cartoons. Rohan leaves the room. Aidan’s parents don’t appear to be up yet.

‘What time is it?’ I ask and Jo-Jo checks her watch.

‘Nine-forty,’ she says.

I can’t seem to relax into my chair, Aidan’s arm resting across the back of it. I feel the heat of his gaze but keep my eyes fixed on the table surface. Next door, the coffee machine screams into life.

‘How’s the head now, Lexi?’ Jo-Jo asks.

I attempt a smile. ‘Good. Fine. I’m doing better than Paige by the looks of it. What time did you all go to bed?’

Jo-Jo rubs her eyes. ‘Ro says Paige was still up when he went to bed. I’d crashed by half twelve shortly after the fireworks.’

I blush, not bringing up that I missed the fireworks altogether.

‘What’re your plans for today?’ Aidan asks softly beside me.

I swallow. After a couple of seconds, I turn my head. My heart does a little flip because he’s smiling at me.

‘I need to get back to London,’ I say. ‘I fly to New York tonight.’

‘Tonight? I don’t fly until tomorrow.’

My heart races. I’m interviewing Bianca Lawson tomorrow afternoon in Manhattan and he can’t know about it.

‘I’m… meeting my dad,’ I say, the lie sticking in my throat. ‘He’s asked to see me.’

I bid everyone farewell, thanking them for their kind hospitality. I never did manage an interview with Paige, though I realise now that it was never part of her agenda.

Aidan drives me back to his aunt’s hotel, coming to a halt in the car outside. In the passenger seat, I exhale shakily. We made the journey in complete silence.

‘Why don’t I drive you back to London?’ he says, one hand resting on the steering wheel.

I still can’t look his way. ‘I’ll be fine. Really. I’ve ordered a taxi.’

He watches me. I look out of the passenger window. ‘You’re panicking,’ I hear him say.

‘I’m not,’ I reply, and I hate that he can see right through me at this moment.

‘You are, you’re worrying about last night.’

‘I embarrassed myself last night.’

‘At what point?’

‘The entire night.’

He chuckles. ‘Felt pretty honest to me.’

I tuck my hair behind my ear. ‘You do know that you can have any girl you want, right?’

‘I’m not interested in just any girl. I like the one I’m sitting next to right now.’

My cheeks warm again.

‘Lex, I thought I’d messed it all up. You showed me that I hadn’t, but after last night, you’re wrong if you think I’m going to let you get away for a second time.’

I lower my head, pinch the bridge of my nose.

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